Summers is over, the autumn is here

I woke up early just before 5:00 this first autumn day. Maybe it was a bite early for my taste even if I usually don´t have an issue getting up early. I had hoped that the deer rut should have begun but that wasn´t the case so I had to make other plans for Saturday.

I made a packed breakfast/lunch and took the car south towards Halland and the different birding locals there. The night before I check 2 new ones and the plan was to at least visit one of them.

The morning was cold and the fog had gathered nicely at some fields. I like fog but it is not the easiest phenomenon to photo. Actually I hope for fog during the deer rut because then you get an extra dimension.

I arrived at Getterön in Varberg at 6:30. When I got out of the car the cold greeted me like an old friend. This old acquainted isn´t one that I appreciate and I could have taken some warmer clothes but that wasn´t the case.

I could hear that there where many birds in the air and that they mostly where Greylag and Canada Goose. They soon came flying in formation but I knew there were more to come so I headed straight for the small photo hide. I just stayed there for a short period because there wasn´t anything interesting even if I saw a juvenile Water Rail. Instead I went to the big hide that primarily is for the twitchers.

This was much more productive and I got a nice interaction photo of two White Wagtails that fight.

White Wagtail fighting, autumn — White Wagtail fighting 120901

The shutter speed is 1/3200s and that is needed if you are to freeze these birds. It is always tricky to get a shot like this one but I was fortunate that they sat on a big rock just 10 meters from the hide.

I could also take photos of Common Snipe, Red-backed Shrike and Wood Sandpiper. The morning might have been to cold for the birds so I headed back to the card and drove towards Morups Tånge that is one of the better places for waders on the west coast of Sweden.

When I arrived the parking lot was full so I knew that there would be many twitchers there. I got a good feeling as soon as I got onto the field that leads towards the beach because a Falcon came swooping low over the field. This was feeling was soon gone as I could see nothing of interest. It was just Gulls and Cormorants everywhere and no waders in sight.

This could be true so I took out my binocular and started to survey the beach to the north. I took me several minutes but at least I saw life in that area so it was just too start the short walk there.

I took some short pauses to see in what direction the waders where heading and I realized they were moving in my direction so I found a nice spot and took my seat there. I sat here for more than an hour taking photos. It was really though because the sun was burning from the clear sky straight at me as you can see in the 2 photos from Morups Tånge.

What made life tougher is that the birds are really small. Many of the photos I took were just to throw away because the camera focused on another object.

Little Stint, autumn — Little Stint 120901

The Little Stint was so quick when it was searching for food so I had to raise the shutter to 1/2000s or more to get a decent result but the longer I stayed the nearer they came so in the end I got a photo or two that I can present here.

The sun took its toll and when I left I headed to Galtabäcks harbor to have lunch but I could see zero activity there so I went back home after eating my sandwiches.