Taiga & Mountains, Sweden June
Breath-taking sceneries and charismatic birds.
Combining Västmanland and southern Lapland.
A trip combining some of the most charismatic birds and sceneries
in Scandinavia. Yet without exhausting driving distances or costly
domestic flights. We´ll use plenty of time to enjoy the nature
and the birds. The trip includes some mountain trekking, no climbing,
but you need to be fit. The pace is rather high compared to our
birding trips in Svartådalen.
Day 1
Arrival: 14:50 to
Västerås
Airport
Meet & great stop with coffee/tea and sandwiches by a small
wetland surrounded by Oak forest. We look at
Slavonian Grebes and hopefully newly arrived
Icterine Warblers.
Ortolan Bunting excursion.
Great Grey Owl &
Pygmy
Owl- evening excursion.
Dinner & Night at
Fläckebo
B&B.
Day 2
Breakfast
Early
Woodpecker morning with
Wrynecks,
Three-toed–, Grey-headed–, and
Black
Woodpeckers. On top of that we join ringers when they carry
out their work on
Tengmalms Owls.
Black-throated Divers and
Goshawk
breeds in the area.
Lunch and short siesta
Ural Owl ringing excursion. Outdoor
lunch.
Transfer towards Dalarna.
Species like
Red-backed Shrike, Thrush
Nightingale, Common Rosefinch, can be seen along the way.
Dinner & night at: Tre björnar B&B, Älvdalen (240
km)
Day 3
Breakfast and departure for Fulufjället National Park. We follow
the boardwalk around the impressive forest and look for
Crossbills,
Siberian Jay, Siberian Tit, and
Wood Sandpiper. Below an impressive waterfall we stand good
chances of seeing
Dipper, Rough-legged
Buzzard and
Ring Ouzel,
while we enjoy the scenery. (70 km).
Of course we grab a coffee at the newly established visitors center
of the National park. Stunning summer-plumaged
Bramblings
appear all around.
We will spend most part of the morning here and then leave for lunch
near a nesting area of
Siberian Tits.
(80 km)
Red-throated and
Black-throated
Divers, Common and
Velvet Scoters,
Long-tailed Ducks, Greenshanks and northern
Yellow
Wagtails are often seen in or by the lakes along the road.
After lunch we go to Funäsdalen to check in at our accommodation
in Tännäs. (100 km) where
Rough-legged
Buzzard often breeds on the rocks just above the hotel.
Dinner and night at: Tännäsgården B&B, Tännäs.
(200 km)
Day 4
We spend the whole day on different sites on Flatruet (70 km) –
a high mountain plateau with interesting high alpine flora and fauna.
The species we´ll be searching for are among others
Long-tailed Skua, Willow Grouse and
Rock
Ptarmigan, Dotterel, Snow Bunting, Lapland Bunting, Bluethroats,
Red-necked Phalarope, Whimbrel, Temminck´s Stint, Ruff, Golden
Eagle, Merlin, Rough-legged Buzzard and
Gyrfalcon. There will also be mammals like
Reindeer around.
Outdoor afternoon meal while we scan the mountain sides for raptors
and await the
Great Snipe leking
party to start.
Hawk Owl, Short-eared
Owl and
Hen Harrier might
appear in the area, depending on the lemming-season.
Dinner and night at: Tännäsgården B&B (70 km)
Day 5
The weather in the mountains can often prevent birding on the high
altitudes. An extra day will be saved for the parts we might not
have been able to reach yet. Or we simple enjoy the most beautiful
parts an extra time. You just can´t get enough of the scenery
and the birds up here. Or how about second encounters with plenty
of
Bluethroats, Red-necked Phalaropes,
Long-tailed Skuas or immaculate summer-plumaged
Lapland Buntings and
Dotterels.
Dinner and night at: Tännäsgården B&B
Day 6
This day will be spent mostly in the taiga forest by the feet of
the mountains searching for
Parrot Crossbills,
Hawk Owl, Siberian Jay, Three-toed Woodpecker, Hazel Grouse
and anything we have failed to see so far. If we didn’t see
Gyrfalcon yesterday we will drive
into Norway for a new attempt. (Bring your passports!)
In the afternoon we drive back to Idre.
We visit Nipfjället to look for
Rock
Ptarmigan, Ring Ouzel and
Snow
Bunting. Golden Eagle might visit us.
Dinner and night at: Idregarden. (119 km)
Day 7
Breakfast and optional early morning excursion if we need more
time for
Siberian Tit around the
ancient mountainside forests around Nipfjället.
We will be moving slowly south stopping for
Peregrine
Falcon, Eagle Owl and
Blyth´s
Reed Warbler if they´ve arrived yet. If any of the
lowland species were missed out before we get a second chance now.
A stop at one of Swedens most scenic places –Tällberg
– overviewing the big lake Siljan is the perfect moment to
celebrate with Waffles, whipped cream and cloudberries.
We will arrive to the Black River Valley in late afternoon.
Birdwatching by the wetlands of Lake Fläcksjön with breeding
Black Terns, White-tailed Eagle, Osprey, Common Cranes, Yellow Wagtails
of northern races,
Waders and more.
Dinner
Optional late night birding in the Black River Valley for wetland
birds (
Corncrake, Spotted Crake, Marsh
Warbler, etc.) or last chance to clean-up the Owl section.
Night at
Fläckebo
B&B, 50 mil transfer. (350 km)
Day 8
Breakfast at
Fläckebo
B&B
Short birding trip by the lake Fläcksjön on request. We
look for
Wrynecks, Icterine Warblers,
Red-backed Shrike and
Honey Buzzard.
Transfer to Airport
Departure at 15.10
Note that: Some of the mountain parts requires rather steep or long
walks. Nothing extreme but you need a generally good health for
this trip. If you have any difficulties to walk far we can not recommend
this trip for you.
Some parts of the mountains might be wet. We recommend you to bring
Wellingtons as well as hiking boots. A set of waterproofs is also
recommended.
Mosquito repellents can be useful some years, as can also an extra
woollen sweater in case of cold weather.
The temperature might change a lot this time of the year,
from +25 °C, to below zero.
The journey is a collaboration between
BirdSafarisweden and
Karlmark Travel. (Karlmark Travels holds the travel
warranty insurance that covers this trip)