Kvismare Bird Observatory

Kvismare Bird Observatory The hill Öbykulle between East and West Kvismaren is the central point in the nature reserve. There are also books, postcards and lithographs for sale here.

Svenska/Swedish:
En skådarguide till området finner ni här: http://www.kvismaren.org/sv/node/28690


English:
The nature reserve Kvismaren consists of two large reed areas, East and West Kvismaren, which have been partly restored to create two shallow lakes, Rysjön and Fågelsjön. From the top of the hill you have a good view over most of the reserve. Here you also find parking places, information

points, picnic areas and toilets. There is also a small information centre, which is open during spring weekends. Here you find further information about the reserve and the bird observatory. Lake Rysjön is situated west of Öbykulle. About 800 metres walk from the hill there is a birding tower where you get a splendid overview of lake Rysjön with its grebes, ducks and geese. In Rysjön you also find a hide where you can get a closer look at the waterfowl. Lake Fågelsjön is situated east of Öbykulle. A track runs from the hill to Åslaholmen, a small peninsula dividing lake Fågelsjön in two parts. On the northern shore of the western part of Fågelsjön, there is a platform for birdwatching. Grazed shore meadows are found at Fiskinge, Hammar and Killingen. At these meadows large numbers of cranes are roosting in the autumn. These areas are also important resting-places for different species of waders during migration. The nature reserve Sörön is a grazed deciduous grove mixed with open meadows. During springtime huge numbers of blue and white anemones covers the ground. Many species of birds are breeding in the grove, among others Icterine Warbler and Ortolan Bunting. The hazel groves and old oak trees of Sörön are well worth a visit! What makes the area around lake Kvismaren so valuable is the mosaic of different habitats that are scattered in the agricultural landscape: wetlands, reed beds, open waters, forest islets and larger forests.

Recently we have been ringing swallows at a roost in Ässön. So far it has been very successful - we have caught 401 swal...
30/08/2025

Recently we have been ringing swallows at a roost in Ässön. So far it has been very successful - we have caught 401 swallows (ladusvala) and 2 sand martins (backsvala) over 3 days. Interestingly, over 90% of the roosting birds are juveniles. This is likely because most of the adults have already left for Africa after breeding.

When the night falls, it can also be a perfect time for ringing! Driving around the roads of the station, a powerful tor...
15/08/2025

When the night falls, it can also be a perfect time for ringing! Driving around the roads of the station, a powerful torch, and with a hand net, we can catch Skylark/Sånglärka (Alauda arvensis) and Northern Wheatear/Stenskvätta (Oenanthe oenanthe).

This ringing method started last year when one of the ringers (Mario Marcos Pérez) of the ringing team had the idea of using this technique instead of placing nets.



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Impressive! We caught the first Black Woodpecker/Spillkråka (Dryocopus martius) of the 2025 season at Ässön. It was such...
13/08/2025

Impressive! We caught the first Black Woodpecker/Spillkråka (Dryocopus martius) of the 2025 season at Ässön. It was such a surprise when we saw it in one of the forest nets.

Something curious is that during the 2024 season, we caught a female Black Woodpecker the same day as the one we caught this year!

Can you tell us if this Woodpecker is a male or a female?

Great Spotted Woodpecker/Större hackspett (Dendrocopos major). After three days of wind, we tried ringing in the station...
08/08/2025

Great Spotted Woodpecker/Större hackspett (Dendrocopos major). After three days of wind, we tried ringing in the station and what a surprise! This adult male Great Spotted Woodpecker fell into one of the nets, becoming the second one of the 2025 season at Kvismaren.

Do you know why this bird is a male and
not a female or a juvenile?

Common Linnet/Hämpling! Yesterday, we got this second year male Linnet in Vallen, becoming the first one of the 2025 sea...
05/08/2025

Common Linnet/Hämpling! Yesterday, we got this second year male Linnet in Vallen, becoming the first one of the 2025 season in Kvismaren. As you can see, male Linnets can be told apart from females or juveniles from the red feathers on the head and the chest.
If we take a close look to the pic of the wing, we can appreciate how this bird has an active moult!

Eurasian Siskin/Grönsiska (Spinus spinus). Yesterday, first of August, we caught the first three Siskins of the 2025 sea...
02/08/2025

Eurasian Siskin/Grönsiska (Spinus spinus). Yesterday, first of August, we caught the first three Siskins of the 2025 season in Banvallen. Autumn is on the way! It seems these three juveniles fell in the nest close to a small forest at the same time. We can tell they are juveniles from the heavy streaked plumage on the head and breast, plus the wing feathers (tertials, secondaries and primaries) are fresh juvenile feathers.

What a great capture! Yesterday, we got an adult Water Rail/Vattenrall (Rallus aquaticus) in Vallen. Thanks to the data ...
31/07/2025

What a great capture! Yesterday, we got an adult Water Rail/Vattenrall (Rallus aquaticus) in Vallen. Thanks to the data of Kvismaren fåglestation (Fågel3) we know the last Water Rail caught in Vallen was in 2020, a juvenile! But the last adult caught was in 1985. This Water Rail was the second of the season but the first in Vallen.
This specie is difficult to catch so it was such a surprise!

Today at Vallen was our best ringing day of the season so far! We caught 186 new birds, as well as 43 recaptures, giving...
24/07/2025

Today at Vallen was our best ringing day of the season so far! We caught 186 new birds, as well as 43 recaptures, giving a total of 229 birds caught in 7 hours of ringing. A fantastic effort from our ringing team.

Can you guess which bird was caught most commonly?

Here is the difference between a juvenile and an adult of Blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) we caught on Banvallen. On the ...
20/07/2025

Here is the difference between a juvenile and an adult of Blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) we caught on Banvallen. On the left, you can see the juvenile one having intense yellow feathers on the face, throat, and belly; otherwise, the adult, on the right, has a white face and lighter blue feathers.

Quail (Vaktel; Coturnix coturnix) ringing!This beautiful male was caught last night at Ängfallet by our ringing team. Th...
18/07/2025

Quail (Vaktel; Coturnix coturnix) ringing!

This beautiful male was caught last night at Ängfallet by our ringing team. This is the first quail caught in Kvismaren since 2013 and only our 3rd ever ringed!

Today we caught a juvenile Common Whitethroat (Törnsångare; Curruca communis) which had obvious "pallid bands" on its wi...
16/07/2025

Today we caught a juvenile Common Whitethroat (Törnsångare; Curruca communis) which had obvious "pallid bands" on its wings and tail. This phenomenon occurs when the chicks experience periods of malnourishment during growth, causing a loss of melanin in part of the feathers whilst they are growing. Luckily the bird survived this rough patch and was caught in Banvallen today!

It was a bit of a shock to find this common snipe (Enkelbeckasin; Gallinago gallinago) in one of the nets at Vallen a fe...
15/07/2025

It was a bit of a shock to find this common snipe (Enkelbeckasin; Gallinago gallinago) in one of the nets at Vallen a few days ago. We typically only catch passerines in our nets so our first wader of the season was a welcome surprise.

Snipe are elusive, well camouflaged birds that spend most of their time skulking in long grass, so can be hard to see. In the breeding season they put on an impressive "drumming" display where they create a rather warped, robotic, vibrating noise with their tail feathers. It's very impressive to witness. In winter our snipe in Kvismaren will move to Southern Europe.

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Norrbyås 421
Örebro
70595

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