{"id":41692,"date":"2017-02-05T14:33:40","date_gmt":"2017-02-05T13:33:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/visitoland.com\/en\/?page_id=41692"},"modified":"2017-02-05T14:33:40","modified_gmt":"2017-02-05T13:33:40","slug":"the-night-birds","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/visitoland.com\/en\/birding\/the-night-birds\/","title":{"rendered":"The Night birds"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text]When spring is about to go over to summer, and when the sun has just set, there is chance to encounter birds that are otherwise seldom encountered. Among the Nettles and Cow-Parsley you hear a Marsh Warbler sing. You can tell he is good at imitating other birds. Common Sandpiper, Blue Tit, Barn Swallow comes one after the other as well as a number of other unknown species, whose sounds he might have picked up in Africa during the winter? From all sides Thrush Nightingales are heard and in the distance you may hear a Corncrake.<\/em>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/3″][vc_column_text]\"K\u00e4rrs\u00e5ngare<\/a>Marsh Warbler, \u00a9 Lars Lundmark[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/3″][vc_column_text]\"N\u00e4ktergal<\/a>Thrush Nightingale, \u00a9 Lars Lundmark[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text]To be out in the spring or early summer night to listen for nocturnal birds adds a new dimension to birding. You don\u2019t scout for birds – you listen. The night is full of sounds and all doesn\u2019t come from birds.<\/p>\n

To get as much as possible out of the nocturnal bird listening, is about having the knowledge of sounds and of course about to be out at the right time, the right place and in the right weather. The very best conditions exist when there is no wind and unseasonably warm, preferably after a period of a little worse weather.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]In the night it is mostly males of species that use the quieter time of day when they are without any major competition with other bird species to attract females that are heard, females that pass unseen above them. This means that they rarely start singing until it become so dark it may be in the early summer. The first hours after sunset usually are noticeably silent, but after midnight the vocal activity increases. The hour just before dawn is usually the best.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Car or bicycle?<\/h3>\n

The best way to experience the bird nights on \u00d6land is to be a long time at one place, and to use bicycle for transportation. The downside is that one does not cover so large areas. By car you have time to cover larger areas, but miss the birds during transportation. In calm weather with no wind, most species are heard from a long distance, Corncrakes and Thrush Nightingales are heard from miles away. So a stop every two kilometers for five minutes to listen is recommended.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/3″][vc_column_text]\"dn\u00e4ktergal<\/a>Nightingale, \u00a9 Lars Lundmark[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Where should you go?<\/h3>\n

What has made \u00d6land truly known when it comes to night birds is the accumulation of a series of night singing species, some quite rare, that in the spring and early summer can be heard on the island. In a few nights you can, with the right planning, experience an impressive night concert with many musicians and, if lucky, with a famous guest soloist from a distant land.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/4″][vc_column_text]\"hakedopping<\/a>Red-necked Grebe, \u00a9 Lars Lundmark[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/4″][vc_column_text]\"Gr\u00e4sand<\/a>Mallard, \u00a9 Lars Lundmark[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/4″][vc_column_text]\"Enkelbeckasin<\/a>Common Snipe, \u00a9 Lars Lundmark[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/4″][vc_column_text]\"\u00c5rta<\/a>Garganey, \u00a9 Lars Lundmark[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]What makes that \u00d6land can accommodate as many bird species are the small-scale agricultural landscape. Pastures and fields are succeeded by groves and other forest islets, ditches and ponds, stone walls, field margins, shrubbery and Cow-Parsley thickets. This mosaic of habitat types makes it that in some places you can hear both pure forest birds and, at the same time, species that belong in the meadows and marshes. A night bird tour should be planned so that as many habitat types as possible are covered, plus at least one larger wetland area.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/3″][vc_column_text]\"Hornuggla<\/a>Long-eared Owl, \u00a9 Lars Lundmark[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Spring voices<\/h3>\n

Already in March it may pay off to go out in the woods at dusk to listen for voices associated to Eurasian Woodcock, Song Thrush and Owls. On \u00d6land among Owls is usually only Tawny Owl and Long-eared Owl heard, and these begin hooting from the end of February.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text]From April onwards the wetlands begin to be filled with sound. Water Rails and Red-necked Grebes squeals like a stuck pig and Eurasian Coots cackles in the reeds. Mallards, Garganeys and Teals are chatting discreetly in the dark of night, and from the sky is neighing Common Snipes heard in acrobatic mating games. In early May, the first Reed Warblers arrives and adds to the sounds over the reeds.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/3″][vc_column_text]\"Kricka<\/a>Teal, \u00a9 Lars Lundmark[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Early Summer Nights<\/h3>\n

Towards the end of May and during the first two weeks of June, the night concert culminates on \u00d6land. This time a year the Thrush Nightingales dominates the night. If there is only the slightest of trees or grove nearby, the singing can be heard from all four cardinal points simultaneously. After a while you learn to “listen through” the Thrush Nightingales song after other, not quite so loud vocalizations. From overgrown wet meadows the Common Grasshopper Warblers buzz like song can be heard, and the Marsh Warblers imitating song from the Cow-Parsley thickets. Out on the meadows the Corncrakes and the Common Quail are heard and in the pine grove comes the sound of the Nightjar.<\/p>\n

With some luck, the night\u2019s concert is spiced up with the River Warblers mechanical whirring or some rarer guests from the south like Savi\u2019s Warbler, Blyth\u2019s Reed Warbler, Little Bittern or Little Crake.
\n<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/4″][vc_column_text]\"Busks\u00e5ngare<\/a>Blyth’s Reed Warbler,\u00a0\u00a9 Lars Lundmark[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/4″][vc_column_text]\"Buskskv\u00e4tta<\/a>Whinchat, \u00a9 Lars Lundmark[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/4″][vc_column_text]\"Flods\u00e5ngare<\/a>River Warbler, \u00a9 Lars Lundmark[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/4″][vc_column_text]\"R\u00f6rs\u00e5ngare<\/a>Reed Warbler, \u00a9 Lars Lundmark[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

After night comes morning<\/h2>\n

A Night among \u00d6land\u2019s night singers is a different and powerful experience. If you forward the dawn defies the increasing fatigue and have the energy to stay just a little bit longer into the dawn, the reward will be substantial.<\/p>\n

To experience how the Thrush Nightingales gradually cease to sing, one by one, and how they are replaced by Whinchat\u2019s, Northern Wheatear\u2019s, Song Thrush\u2019s, Eurasian Curlew\u2019s and Northern Lapwing\u2019s is stunningly beautiful. When then the first Lark\u2019s rises to the sky it’s time to go home satisfied.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/6″][vc_column_text]\"olands-faglar-OOF\"[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”5\/6″][vc_column_text]Source<\/strong>: \u00d6lands F\u00e5glar \u00a9 \u00d6lands Ornitologiska F\u00f6rening \u00d6OF<\/a> \u00a0(authors this chapter: H\u00e5kan Alm and Anders Waldenstr\u00f6m)<\/p>\n

Translation<\/strong>: Visitoland.com<\/p>\n

Pictures<\/strong>: see each picture<\/p>\n

The book<\/strong>: \u00d6lands F\u00e5glar, 496 pages (only in Swedish), can be ordered at Naturbokhandeln<\/a>
\nISBN<\/strong>: 9789188124555[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text]When spring is about to go over to summer, and when the sun has just set, there is chance to encounter birds that are otherwise seldom encountered. Among the Nettles and Cow-Parsley you hear a Marsh Warbler sing. You can tell he is good at imitating other birds. Common Sandpiper, Blue Tit, Barn Swallow   …Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41648,"parent":39762,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-41692","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/visitoland.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/41692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/visitoland.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/visitoland.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visitoland.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visitoland.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41692"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/visitoland.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/41692\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visitoland.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/39762"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visitoland.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/visitoland.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}