The bird watcher: “Dreamed about it since I was little” • Here is the greatest chance that it passes
The eyeglasses very rarely visit Europe. It nestles in small lakes and streams in northeastern Siberia and on the tundra in Alaska, and the International Conservation Union categorizes the species as closely threatened after the number has become fewer. But now Sweden’s bird watchers have been reached by a message of joy.
A lone glasses eager male has been seen in the Netherlands, where it has joined other eider on the island of Texel. Now it remains to be seen whether the unusual bird will accompany its new flock up to Sweden and Finland, where our usual eider hedges.
– It is one of the Arctic species that is most difficult to access. It looks very spectacular, it is a beautiful bird. It has a characteristic peculiar appearance, says Magnus Hellström, a bird station manager in Ottenby.
– It has a greenish head with a large white lot around the eye. It looks like it has a cyclop on it, that’s where it got its name.
Climate change may be behind the emergency of the bird
And the away glasses eager hedge is not alone. Magnus Hellström says that other species have been found in Europe, which have also probably reached us via the Northern Arctic Ocean. The theories of why lonely birds end up wrong are many. Among other things, this is believed to be due to climate change.
– There is a pattern that may have to do with a reduced ice cover in the Arctic. You open these waters to new movements, so it is not impossible that it could have anything to do with it.
If you want to try to see the glasses eager when it hopefully comes to Sweden, there are some places where you can have a greater chance.
– If you are in Skåne, Kåseberga harbor on Ales stones is a good place. In Östra Blekinge, there are some places where much eider is seen. Anywhere in Kalmarsund. The three options are best if you want to maximize your chances.
The regular eider is starting around March 20 to 25 and runs until mid -April, ie just a month in total. If the eyeglasses move towards Sweden and you want to see it, it is important to look a lot in the near future.
– It’s good with a good portion of patience. It is in round slopes half a million eider that will pass us these weeks. It’s like finding a needle in a haystack. You have to look so that the eyes bleed.
“Has a special aura and mystery”
But the fact is that Magnus Hellström has actually seen the spoken glasses, just a few weeks ago.
– I saw this bird down in the Netherlands a month ago when I was on a conference day. I took the opportunity to go out to Texel and watch it. But I want to see it at home.
And if the eyeglasses pass, Magnus Hellström would be ready with the camera.
– It’s something I would save in my heart, but it would be great fun to be able to document as well.
He is supported by his birdwatchers Jonas Bonnedahl, who tells us that there have been several unanswered questions about the bird. For a long time, no one knew where the glasses older has winter somewhere, until with the help of transmitters, the entire world population was managed in a small area in the middle of Bering Sound.
– They went out with airplanes and found watching in the ice. There you saw a hundred thousand glasses in a wake in the pack ice, says Jonas Bonnedahl, adding:
– It has a special aura and mystery.