When Mattias Nilsson was out birdwatching on the northern tip of Öland, he was met by an extremely unusual sight – a beige-cheeked wood thrush.
The little bird was last found in 1995 in Sweden.
– Now I can tick it off my list of birds I want to see in Sweden anyway, he says.
During Tuesday, Mattias Nilsson was on the northern tip of Öland to bird watch together with other bird enthusiasts. This morning it was windless and a perfect day for spotting rare birds.
And Mattias indeed found an extremely rare bird to see in Sweden – a beige-cheeked wood thrush.
– It’s great fun, he says.
Unusual find in Europe
The last time the little bird was seen in Sweden was in 1995. It usually breeds in the northernmost parts of North America and winters in Central and South America.
– It was fearless and Markus Tallroth, who is also a bird watcher, looks and exclaims: “That’s a damn wood thrush!”, he says.
By looking at pictures that were taken and through a search on the internet, everything was clear – that it was exactly the bird that Mattias and Markus suspected it to be. Then they alerted with pictures and GPS navigation to show where it was.
Navigated error
Seeing the beige-cheeked wood thrush in Europe is unusual and Mattias believes that unfortunately there are not many chances to see it again in Sweden.
– There has been a strong westerly wind and these birds find it difficult to navigate and simply fly the wrong way, he says.
But seeing the little bird is not the first time for Mattias, as he has previously seen them in the United States. But seeing it in Sweden was completely new.
– Now I can tick it off my list of birds I want to see in Sweden anyway, he says.