27th November 2015

Not much is happening in Svångemåla this time of the year. There are a few signs that the pigs have been around but luckily not on our plot. A raven flew over but few other birds can be neither seen nor heard. I was a bit surprised to see that the Black currant (Ribes nigrum) had small buds but guess it is normal when the start of the winter is as mild as it is this year.

The wild Lupine (Lupinus perennis) look like they are made of velvet.

3rd November 2015

Just back from a brief visit to Svångemåla. Hardly any leaves left on the trees. Very few birds in the air. A bit foggy but the sun managed to break through a couple of times.  Quiet, very quiet :)

Amazing but you can still find flowers in the lawn. Just a little bit of spring feeling :)

It's getting dark and misty in Svångemåla. We were there for a couple of days and felt that summer of 2015 is definitely over.  We were still lucky and could move the lawn one more time and it did not rain.

Blueberry leaves are almost as colorful as wine leaves!

It has not been below zero yet or these flowers would not look like this!  

The hops is sagging and has lost it's grip of the top of the pole.

The sunflowers are still standing but just. The smaller ones came much later than the taller ones but seem also to keep their colors a bit longer. Looks a bit like adults and children parading :)

Memories from the summer of 2015

Tomorrow is 1st of September and the summer is over. The small cabin in Svångemåla has been cleared of everything of value and the water pipes are empty. 

Here are some photos that I have not had time to put on the blog before, that will remind me and maybe you of the summer of 2015. It was unusually cold in the beginning but ended with some really warm and sunny weeks. All in all a good one!

As always, click on the picture to enlarge it!

Poplar admiral (Limenitis populi)

Drama ! After having watched each other for some time, they both left the scene unharmed.

 Foxglove, common foxglove, purple foxglove or lady's glove (Digitalis purpurea)

A rose of some sort. Not sure which one but they are common in Svångemåla.

Poor trees

Can trees feel pain?  I have read that they can but on what level or how, I am not sure. I still feel that the practice shown below is wrong. We get upset when we see how poachers in Africa use snares to catch wild animals. This can in no way be compared to what is done to the trees but I think we must protest when trees are being abused like this!

Snails and slugs

There are a lot of different snails in Svångemåla right now thanks to the relatively wet weather. Most of them are harmless but there is a particular one that is called the "murder snail" because it eats other snails and can do serious damage to all kinds of garden plants. It's proper name is Spanish slug (Arion vulgaris) but it is very difficult to separate from the Black slug (Arion ater) so I am not sure if the Spanish slug is in any of the pictures.  Please click on the pictures to enlarge them and, if possible, tell me if you can see any Spanish slug!

Some more pictures of the Red-backed shrike

The red-backed shrike (Lanius collurio) couple I wrote about some time ago has now got off-springs. At least five of them and they still stick together in the same bush. They have gradually got used to my presence and it has become a daily routine to go and see how they are doing.

Can you spot the third bird?

One of the young ones.

Note the insects in the air!

Blueberry

This is the time for blueberries (Vaccinium myrtillus). Depending on how much rain, the temperature earlier during the year and other factors you never know how many there will be but this year is a great year for blueberries in and around Svångemåla. You don't have to spend more than 15 - 20 minutes to get enough for a large blueberry pie!

 

Great Tits (Parus major) invade Svångemåla :)

Please note that this has nothing to do with Playmates or Pamela Andersson. The children of the mother I showed some time ago are now all over the place. I found five (!) of them sleeping under our veranda roof one evening. Since it was a bit dark I was not sure what it was. They were all back the next evening and although I used a flash they did not wake up! They are  no night dwellers since all of them seem to be fast asleep around 21.00. Very cute with their heads folded under their wings but unfortunately they leave a lot of "traces" behind.

Red-backed shrike (Lanius collurio)

A couple of Red-backed shrikes have a nest very close to our plot. I saw them by chance the other day and when I returned today they were kind enough to sit in turn on the same dead bush to be photographed. They were a bit too far away to get really sharp pictures of them but if you click on the pictures, you will get a good idea of what they look like.

Male

Female

Fog

When a bit of warmer, moist air cools down over the Field, a thin fog dances like elves. Beautiful!

Mini dinosaur spotted in Svångemåla!

The largest beetle in Sweden, the stag beetle (Lucanus cervus) is a regular in Svångemåla. This time I saw a female struggling in the grass. They look like mini dinosaurs with their armoured bodies. You can have a look at a male in an earlier post! ( http://svangemalanews.blogspot.se/2014/06/butterflies-and-beetles_22.html )

Summer !

Thanks to the cold weather and plenty of rain, we have been able to enjoy wild strawberries both on vanilla ice cream and with our morning cereals. 

New tenant 2

As many of you might remember, a Wagtail couple (Motacilla Alba Alba) has been a regular in our garden.  They have built their nest under the roof tiles and become very unafraid of us. This year a Great Tit couple (Parus major) has made them move and from what I have noticed, they are a bit more reserved and aggressive compared to the wagtails. Still a nice bird to watch and listen to.
Click on the picture to see what's for lunch today !

The Svångemåla Road

The road that takes you to and from Svångemåla is famous for it's beauty. Someone called it "the green tunnel" and that gives you a good idea of what it looks like. Huge, green trees spread their branches from one side to the other although the road has been widened and straightened during the last ten years or so.

A fairly new species, lupine (Lupinus) has, with a little bit of help, started to grow along the roadside. It is by some considered to be almost a weed but I love it.

New tenant in Svångemåla

Some of you might remember that an old, dead tree became an appreciated multi story building for different birds after a woodpecker had done a wonderful job of making the necessary holes in it. One of this year's tenants is a Nuthatch  (Sitta europaea) couple.  The couple is very busy trying to feed the newly born although it is not easy due to the unusually cold weather that has, so far, kept the number of mosquitoes down. 

"Thermometer"

This "thermometer" is not from Svångemåla but I think it is so good that I would like to share it!  Unfortunately, it is in Swedish but with Google translate it should not be a problem :)