Distribution and numbers of wintering sea ducks ... - Lunds universitet

figure 8. Number of long-tailed Ducks Clangula hyemalis counted along the line transects in Kalmarsund and off Öland,
southernmost Sweden during the winters 2007, 2009 and 2011. Black lines = transect lines.
Antalet inräknade alfåglar Clangula hyemalis längs inventeringslinjer i Kalmarsund och utanför Öland, södra Sverige,
under vintrarna 2007, 2009 och 2011. Svarta linjer = inventeringslinjer.
1972) but in most other surveys the species was
more spread out than in the earlier years.
Kalmarsund and Öland were totally covered in
three winters (figure 8). 2007 and 2009 were mild
winters with little ice and accordingly the longtailed
Ducks were well spread both in the Kalmarsund
and on the east and north coast of Öland. 2011
was a hard ice-winter and the only open water in
the Kalmarsund was found in the far southern end
of the area. In this winter the long-tailed Ducks
were found east and northeast of Öland, with an
estimated total of 60 000 individuals in this area
(Table 1).
In all years concentrations of long-tailed Ducks
were found on the banks north and northeast of
Öland. large numbers were often counted from the
shore in this area (figure 5). In two of the three surveys
there was also a concentration of long-tailed
Ducks around southern Öland. In the Kalmarsund
there are a number of shallow banks in the southern
and northern parts of the area and most flocks
of long-tailed Ducks were accordingly found here.
The distribution of long-tailed Ducks in the waters
around Öland was similar in the seventies with a
marked concentration to the northern banks and the
northeastern coast of the island.
long-tailed Ducks were wide-spread in the outer
zones of the archipelagos all the way from the
Kalmarsund area to the northern part of the Stockholm
archipelago (figure 9). In the 2009 survey
there were no larger regional differences with the
exception of few long-tailed Ducks in the southern
part of the Stockholm archipelago. The inner parts
of the archipelago were not covered in the 2009
survey, but counts at the countrywide aerial survey
in 2004 did not show any larger numbers of longtailed
Ducks here. The distribution of long-tailed
ducks in the archipelagos was similar in the surveys
during the 1970s.
The best coverage of the offshore waters around
Gotland was obtained in the ice winter 2011 (figure
10). The species was well spread mostly in
smaller groups and some flocks on the east coast
and on the banks between mainland Gotland and
Gotska Sandön with a flock on the isolated offshore
bank Kopparstenarna. A concentration was found
at Östergarn and some parts at Gotska Sandön. The
counts of the east coast of Gotland in 2009 and
2010 show a similar distribution of the species but
all parts were not covered. In the 1970s very large
numbers of long-tailed Ducks were found in the
waters around fårön and the northeast of Gotland,
but during the recent surveys only relatively small
numbers were found here. The situation for the
long-tailed Ducks on Hoburg bank and the Midsjö
banks will be addressed in another paper analyzing
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