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