A walk in the Swedish woods

As a birder and nature enthusiast living in Bristol, England I am always excited to visit Sweden and explore the local wildlife. On this occasion, my partner and I took a walk through a forest, in the Vilsta naturreservat, outside the town of Eskilstuna, west of Stockholm. This is a short account of what we saw. (All photos are by Elin Nyström, https://www.instagram.com/kee.nystrom/)

Satellite view of the forest we walked in. Located just south of Eskilstuna, Sweden.

Birds amongst the houses

We started on the outskirts of the forest in a residential area called Skogstorp. Scattered houses lay across land strewn with granite rocks and tall Silver Birch trees, as well as smaller scrub and hedges. As we set off, we noticed a Nuthatch on top of one of the Birch trees. It flew from the tree and dipped between some houses with a:

pli pli pli pli

We then noticed a flock of a dozen or so birds flying in circles above our heads, they were joined by another small group, we watched the small birds fly against an overcast, heavy sky until they settled in a Birch tree. A closer view in the binoculars revealed plump birds with red on the upper breast and foreheads as well as black striations on their sides. After a little research I narrowed it down to either Redpoll, Linnet or Twite, Redpoll being the most likely. This was a first for me having only seen linnets back home in Bristol.

Redpolls sat in the high branches of a silver birch tree.

Walking through the neighbourhood, along the frozen pavement trying to stick to gritted surfaces, we saw more familiar Blue and Great tits. As we reached the outskirts of the forest which contained a mix of Silver Birch, Scots Pine, Norway Spruce and Oak, we heard the distinct yaffle of the Green Woodpecker. We went to search for it, but instead noticed a Great Spotted Woodpecker high on the trunk of a Norway Spruce. The spruce looked like it was suffering the effects of the Spruce Bark Beetle, unfortunately not an uncommon sight in these woods. Not great for trees but I’d imagine welcomed by the woodpeckers that like to drum on and eat from the standing dead trees. Listening to the bird sounds around us, we then heard the

achoo achoo achoo

of the Coal Tit, presumably abundant in these parts due to the mixture of deciduous and evergreen trees.

In the forest

Walking into the forest I noticed the birches heavy with mosses and lichens. Around the trees on the forest floor grew Blueberry and Lingonberry bushes, some displaying bare stems naked in the winter without their leaves. In this part of the forest, red and yellow Swedish summer houses could be glimpsed off the side of the wide track, nestled amongst the small hillocks and strewn rocks amidst the trees. The air was buzzing with the electric high pitched sounds of Blue Tits.

Tracks through the forest.

While we walked deeper into the woods, the wide track gradually turned into a narrower path and the trees became unbroken and all surrounding. There were very tall spruces and pines here. It seemed that almost one in four trees looked dead due to the Spruce Bark Beetle, a real treat for the bracket/shelf fungi growing from the dead tree trunks.

Bract fungi growing on dead trees.

We walked deeper and deeper into the forest, the bird calls gave way to silence, interrupted only by the crunch of snow beneath our shoes as we headed north. It was noticeable how many fewer birds there were in the depths of the forest when compared to the periphery, something I always find puzzling. We walked for at least 40 minutes deep into the forest, a little lost at one point but eventually regained our bearing and headed for the northern forest edge.

Slowly the trees thinned and gave way to open sloped land, laden with snow.

Along the river

We approached the edge of a small ski resort just outside the forest and walked round the ski tracks until we joined the river on our left. To our right we heard another distinct yaffle and turned to see two Green Woodpeckers fly into a birch tree. Searching for the woodpeckers amongst the branches, we noticed a Fieldfare making a harsh

chhhkk chhk

before it flew of. This surprised me as I thought they should all be more southern at this time of year (20th February 2024). Perhaps some of them overwinter in Scandinavia. The wind was stronger and colder now we didn’t have protection from the forest trees. It blew along and off of the river which itself was frozen along it’s banks, interrupted by clumps of Bull Rushes. Some hardy Mallards and two Common Goldeneyes sat on the river, the latter of which were constantly disappearing below the surface, making it difficult to observe them. Another flock of, again I think Redpoll, flew overhead and landed in the top branches of a riverside Alder. I then heard the distinct

rasssspppp

of Greenfinches but couldn’t spot them in the trees. We followed the river, getting closer to the centre of the small town, Eskilstuna. Finally we saw several Common Mergansers on the river. We continued to the centre of town for a well earned cup of coffee and cake, known in Sweden as Fika. A lovely end to a lovely walk.

Summary of sightings

To summarise, we saw/heard

• >12 Redpolls
• Blue Tits
• Great Tits
• c2 Nuthatch (1 seen, 1 heard)
• 1 Coal Tit
• 3 Green Woodpeckers
• 1 Fieldfare
• 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker
• 10+ Mallards
• 3 Common Goldeneye
• c5 Common Merganser

Not a bad list

Best,

Robbie