Bäckalund

The name of the village is Svångemåla but the plot or estate is called Bäckalund which can be translated to "The Grove at the Stream". It got its name from a very small stream that runs as our border towards our neighbor's land. It is dry most of the year even when we got normal amounts of rain and 2018 it was dry almost the whole year. This year, however, it is filled with water and you can hear a very tiny water fall on a day without any wind.

Water

As some of you might remember most of Sweden suffered from a severe drought last year. I put some pictures of a nearby dam (Björnasjö)  on the blogg and also some pics of how brown our lawn was. It has not rained a lot since but the water levels are back to normal and if the weather this year is more normal we hope and think that the vegetation will recover.

Above: The channel that links the two parts of Svångemåla lake.

To the left and below: The dam at Björnasjö that was almost empty in December last year. See my earlier post below on the blogg.

 To the far right you can see a small boat that was on dry land just some months ago. Compare it to the second last picture from 3rd December 2018.

Spring time !

The Blue Anemone is a sure sign of spring in Svångemåla. The drought killed the plants in some parts of Sweden but we are lucky to still have a few on  our plot. 

 The Common Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) is not a bird that I associate with spring but this one enjoyed the sun and looked very healthy. I am surprised by its very blue head. 

 The Common Brimstone is one of the earliest butterflies you see and together with the many blue flowers that are common this time of the year, they make for nice pictures :)

 A Middle spotted woodpecker (Dendrocoptes medius) started to let all other know that he is present and will not tolerate any competition!

 It was a sunny day and not only the  Common brimstone was out enjoying the weather. This Camberwell Beauty landed just in front of me on the gravel. 

Various willow bushes are seen as indicators of spring in Sweden.