Ottenby: autumn at the southern tip of Öland
Eider, long-tailed duck, scoters and brent geese passing the point; falls of goldcrest, robin and thrushes in the Lund; white-tailed eagles; southern dunlin and waders on Schäferiängarna. Ölands södra udde (Ottenby), Kalmar län, Sweden.
Best time: 15 Sep – 25 Oct and 1 Apr – 20 May (April to May, September to October). Where: Ölands södra udde – Långe Jan lighthouse and the point, Ottenby lund (Södra Lundspetsen) (Sweden). Time of day: Seawatching and migration counting from the point run from 30 min before sunrise for about 5 hours.
- You can go on your own
- Free
- Telescope recommended
- Sound 3/5
Open it in the interactive calendarSunrise and sunset listening times for the day you pick, and the map.
When is the best time?
- Peak 1: 15 Sep – 25 Oct — Autumn passerine falls and sea-duck passage
- Peak 2: 1 Apr – 20 May — Spring eider passage and ringing
Active from 15 Aug to 15 Nov (August to November) in a typical year.
Time of day
Seawatching and migration counting from the point run from 30 min before sunrise for about 5 hours; the Lund wakes with goldcrest and robin calls in the first hour of light. Naturum open 11:00–16:00 most autumn days.
- Dawn passage at the point: 30 min before sunrise → 5 h after sunrise
- Naturum and lighthouse hours: 11:00 → 16:00
What will you hear?
On fall mornings the Lund rustles with hundreds of goldcrests and robins ticking; eider and long-tailed duck flocks calling as they round the point; wind and surf; eagles' yelps over the meadows in October.
Binoculars?
Telescope recommended. Sea ducks and divers pass well offshore; a scope is standard at the point. Passerine falls in the Lund are at eye level.
Where to go
- Ölands södra udde – Långe Jan lighthouse and the point — Naturum Ottenby, a restaurant and the bird observatory in the lighthouse village; two big car parks by the point and the kungsgård. Map
- Ottenby lund (Södra Lundspetsen) — Wooded cape, best in spring and autumn falls; closed south of the avenue 1 Apr–31 Aug except on marked paths; north and south lund car parks (no overnighting); sea eagles along the western shore trail (the western spit itself is closed 1 Apr–15 Nov). Map
How to go on your own, and what it costs
Drive road 136 to the end of Öland; park at the point or the kungsgård car parks (day parking for campervans allowed, no overnight). Walk the marked trails only; the Lund and western spit have seasonal closures. Naturum Ottenby: 11:00–16:00 daily late Aug–Sept, Wed–Sun 1–17 Oct, daily autumn-holiday week (2026). Ringing demonstrations exist but must be arranged with the observatory in advance.
Cost: Free; naturum free (check); lighthouse climb: check current prices.
Who runs access
- Ottenby Fågelstation – guided ringing visits (research project) — Bookable guided tours of the ringing; about 3,000 visitors a year.
- Naturum Ottenby – guided walks ('Livet på udden', 'Skådarskola') (park authority) — Short guided walks and birding schools on set autumn dates.
Field-recording notes
The point is wind — plan for it, and use the Lund's lee for passerine falls. The observatory rings daily; ask before recording near the nets. Access rules are strict: parts of the Lund and the western spit are closed in season and areas are closed when hunting is in progress (signed). Loud noise is explicitly banned in the reserve; drones banned. Camping, fires and overnighting are not allowed anywhere in the reserve — stay in Degerhamn/Grönhögen.
Sources
- Länsstyrelsen Kalmar – Ottenby nature reserve (rules, closures)
- Ottenby Fågelstation
- Naturum Ottenby – opening hours
Similar spectacles
Crane autumn staging: Rügen-Bock, Linum, Diepholz, MüritzWaves of trumpeting families flying in at dusk, the roost's night-long murmur over shallow water, dawn's mass departure with tens of thousands calling at once; greylag and white-fronted geese in the same flights.
Wadden Sea autumn: millions of waders and geeseKnot and dunlin flocks in the tens of thousands wheeling with a rushing wing-roar, curlew and godwit calls at the roost, brent geese growling, barnacle geese yapping; wind, surf and the tide-edge trickle.
Cranes at Lac du DerTens of thousands of cranes bugling as they leave the lake at first light in wave after wave, then the evening return with the sky full of trumpeting skeins.
Autumn migration at Lista, Jomfruland and UtsiraDawn flight calls of thousands of thrushes, pipits and finches leaving the coast, waders on the Lista beaches, skuas and gannets passing the lighthouse in a westerly gale; at night, redwing and song thrush calls overhead.
Gedser Odde: autumn migration off Denmark's southern tipRivers of chaffinch and brambling calls over the car park on a big October morning, wood pigeons' wing-clatter, eider flocks crooning as they round the point, little gulls' chatter, the Fehmarn Belt surf; the station's own sound recorder (PUC) logs the night migration overhead.
Autumn visible & nocturnal migrationThin 'tseep' of redwings passing overhead all night, then a stream of finch, pipit and lark flight calls at dawn.
More: all spectacles in Sweden · bird migration hotspots · Sweden in April · Sweden in May · Sweden in September · Sweden in October