Sunshine over Halland

I spent Saturday on the road through Halland checking a couple of new places to see what they could bring. The alarm wasn´t set, but I woke up when the sun started to rise just before 5:00 in the morning and that meant I was out on the road 20 minutes later.

I wasn´t sure in which direction I would head, I was also think of going to Lake Hornborga, but as I checked the forecast I decided for Halland. I have two places in Halland that I visit once in awhile and that is Getterön and Morups Tånge. Morups Tånge is off limit from April 1st until July the 15th due to it being a bird protection area so I really need to find a couple of more places.

Last time when I visited Getterön someone told me of a photo hide at Trönninge ängar and that I needed to check. That meant an extra 30 minutes in the car, but also that I could check out Källtorp wetlands, just outside Falkenberg. Two new places that hopefully could bring something good.

Trönninge ängar seemed promising when I drove out along the open fields. I could hear many songbirds, but what I came for was to test the photo hide with hope of getting pictures of the Pied Avocet that usually breed there.

The hide was gigantic and could probably take 20-30 persons withot a problem. It was situated with water on both sides. On the south side there were deeper water with reed beds while you had more shallow water on the north side with small islands that should be an ideal breeding ground for many birds.

The first wader I discovered were a Common Redshank, moving along the shore line on the the north side of the hide. This was sadly the only wader here so something wasn´t right. I got company after 30 minutes and he told me there had been both a Black-headed Gull colony here together with 6-8 breeding pairs of Pied Avocet two weeks ago. The only logical explanation he could find was that they all had moved due to Foxes.

I managed to get some decent photos even if there was little activity. This is the one I find most interesting. It is a Hooded Crow that is feeding on the mosquitoes that all seemed to rest on just a couple of grass straws until they were found by the Crow.

Next stop on my road trip through Halland were Källtorp and sadly this area was less productive than Trönninge, but still it was nice to see the first Dragonfly, a Four-spotted Chaser, of the year. Maybe it was the temperatures soaring at 25 degrees that kept everything quite.

I felt I was on a bad strike and therefore I decided to go to Getterön. Getterön always seem to produce good photo opportunities and today was no exception as I got a good opportunity to take photos of a singing Reed Bunting.

The photo hide at Getterön didn´t bring me any pictures, but it was nice to see the activity in the Black-headed Gull colony. It seems like many of the pairs has their first chicks out and that attracted the Herring Gulls that tried to snatch the young from the nests. Maybe one could document this interaction next time at Getterön.

The last stop in Halland was Båtafjorden, another wetland area. The time was now well past midday and that meant a really intensive sun. The activity wasn´t good, but I found a nesting place of a Meadow Pipit. It took me some time to get this photo of one of the parents coming back with a huge caterpillar to feed the chicks.

You can really see the intensity of the sun in this picture, certainly not the best photo light, but still you can get interesting photos like this one.

My hope for the day was to come home with much more than I got. Halland didn´t show itself from its best side, but I feel that I got decent photos from all four stops. I must go back to both Trönninge and Källtorp as I feel both places must have much more to offer. I am not sure what more Båtafjorden could bring, but this place is the nearest and next time I can bring the bag hide to see if I can get better photos of the Meadow Pipit there.

Please enjoy my photos from my trip to Halland.

Photo Gallery: Sunshine over Halland