Sweden, June 2016 - neighbours from heaven

'By the way, there's Spotted Flycatchers nesting on your house' was an ideal stage-setter from Paul before we arrived, and they fast became the stars of the show. Nesting on a specially-installed ledge just below the apex of the roof - apparently many rural Swedish properties have them, as they're considered good luck, and are justly valued for their biting insect-catching skills - the adults worked tirelessly to feed their four young, and were permanent fixtures alongside us in the garden.

Our accommodation for the trip - a 1750s farmhouse (right), which we shared with the Spotted Flycatchers and also a family of Great Tits nesting in a crack in the wall

Sweden, June 2016 - garden warblers

As in, passerines that warble in the vicinity of garden.... Wood Warblers were a real treat, being well distributed in the woods nearby; this family were very entertaining with both parents attending these three fledged juveniles, singing and contact-calling constantly while tracking down prey items.

Robins were also well scattered, and it was interesting to recall how much more 'grey and orange' these continental birds are in advance of their arrival in Filey in the autumn.

This Garden Warbler, meanwhile, was the noisiest and most paranoid I've ever encountered - breeding in the garden (as might be expected), merely stepping outside the front door incurred its loud and scolding wrath, and it actively tracked any perceived threat by following any unassuming human around; impressive parenting skills.

Sweden, June 2016 - garden mini-beasts

Birds and more to follow, but for now a couple of beautiful insects that happened to drop by outside the door - Northern Emerald and Small pearl-bordered Fritillary.

Sweden, June 2016 - garden beasts

Eurasian Elk (or Moose if you prefer), watching us eat breakfast, watching it eat breakfast

 
Amity and I have just returned from a mighty fine ten days or so in Sweden - a country which we love and have been lucky to visit various times (although not for some years) - and no, we really didn't want to come back, and yes, we would've stayed there if we could have. The trip was mostly about humans, specifically dear friends and their wonderful kids, and hence the opportunities to chase birds and wildlife were largely incidental, but there was still plenty of nature to enjoy.

Roe Deer, another close-up garden visitor - all were noticeably paler and more ginger-coloured than ours

 
We spent the first five days out in the sticks east of Ängelholm - out in the sticks in the true Swedish sense, hidden away via miles of tracks through a wonderfully mixed, expansive forest - with Paul and Äsa and their irresistible firecracker of a daughter, 20-month-old Marianne. But for a few hours birding around coastal NW Skåne and a day trip to Malmö, it was all about the idyllic homestead - and the equally idyllic surroundings of the garden, adjoining forest tracks and nearby clearings.

After arriving long after dark, catching up and drinking well into the early hours (and thus past dawn), we were woken from our bed in our 18th century cottage (more of that later) by Paul casually announcing "guys, there's an Elk in the garden", which kind of set the tone for the trip.

Surrounded by tits

And as anyone who has seen the regional breakdown of referendum voting percentages knows, that's a fact. In an effort to remind the surviving non-zombies among us of anything vaguely not shit about this particularly poisonous corner of Little Britain, here's a Long-tailed Tit, fresh out of the nest here in Filey.

(Food) chain of fools

Being a young Mallard, Moorhen or Coot at this time of year means your chances of survival are about as likely as England dazzling in a European championship, but then at least these chick-shaped energy bars have a purpose in the grander scheme of things.

More from last month .....

Spring-cleaning the memory card, and so here's a few more (common) bits and pieces from last month on the land here at Filey. (From the top - Barn Owl, Pied Wagtail, Red Kite, Great Spotted Woodpecker, juvenile Starling, Cuckoo vs. Meadow Pipit, Grey Partridge, and a momentarily heart-stopping Herring Gull in disguise).

Diamonds and Perlmans

I'm not the greatest fan of bank holiday weekends - I'm an east coast birder in a seaside town, after all - but when spent in the company of the six-strong Perlman clan, it's a different bag of chips.

Local trips to Bempton Cliffs, the North Yorkshire forests, fossil-hunting on the beach and lots of fun elsewhere made for a blast of a weekend in great company (even Bamba the dog is friendly and chilled).

And there's a nerdily special thrill in getting to show a birding friend the local patch for the first time - a bit like letting your mate from school have a go on your prized, hand-made train set that took you years to build - and this being early summer on the east coast, in appropriately October-like conditions (I hired the smoke machine especially, just for the full effect).

My Mrs on Libby duty (note traces of Bamba)

Picnicking at Bempton - she saved me a crust

Uri digiscoping Puffins...

"And this is where I found ...." Yeah, fascinating....zzzzzz"