Forty years of midwinter Counts of waterfowl along the Coasts of Scania, South Sweden.

The International Midwinter Counts, organised byWetlands International, started in January 1967, butco-ordinated counts were organised along the coastsof Scania, south Sweden, already since January 1964.This paper summarises the results of the first fortyyears. During the first years full coverage was attained,but in later years the counts covered nine larger areas,containing about 75% of all waterfowl. Of the morecommon species, ten showed significantly increasing,four significantly decreasing, and two species no cleartrend. National midwinter indices are available for 11species; in 10 of these the regional trends are similar tothe national trends, Scania forming an important part ofthe national sample. Several of the changes are relatedto the hardness of the winters, the milder winters makingit possible for more waterfowl to winter in Swedennow compared to earlier years. The decreasing trend forAythya fuligula in Scania is an example of such changesin winter distribution within he country, more individualsnow staying in the Baltic archipelagos than earlier