Lizard

It looks like a snake but it is actually a lizard. It is still called a "copper snake in Swedish and copper serpent  or common slowworm in English.

It is totally harmless. If a part of its tail is cut off it will regrow!

Fight!

A serious fight took place outside one of the birdhouses on our plot. A flycatcher couple invaded it and forced a couple of willow tits to move. Really sad. The female flycatcher is now busy building a new nest while the male is just watching and sometimes interfering in the female's efforts. You can always click on the photo to enlarge it!

Hops

Our hops plants grow very differently depending on how much sun they are getting. Some are more than 1.5 m while some are only a couple of decimeters. It is fun to watch them grow since you can see a lot of progress from one day to the other and they can easily  be more than five meters high.

Bumblebee

In some parts of Europe it has become fewer and fewer bumblebees but luckily there are still a lot of them in Svångemåla. We, like the rest of the world, need them to pollinate our fruit trees and berry bushes.

Bluetit

 There are several blue tits around our house and one couple has chosen a bird house that I put in a tree as it's residence.

I am glad that the woodpecker has not yet visited it !

Bäckalund from above ....

The proper name of our small plot in Svångemåla is Bäckalund which means the grove at the stream. The stream is so small that it cannot be seen on this picture and dries up most summers. The gravel road is not used by more than a handfull of cars per day. The sounds we can hear are mainly from  birds and the wind :)

Small leaved linden tree

Several years ago we planted a linden tree in the middle of our lawn to give us shade and the bees food. It is also a favorite among the butterflies as you might have seen last year. This spring has been unusually cold and the buds are still small but still very pretty when you look at them very carefully.

Small and big birds - Örarevet

Apple bloom

Just next to our guest cabin is a very small, wild apple tree that has never had any flowers until this year. I am not sure the apples will taste any good but the flowers are beautiful!

In the middle of a gravel road

this butterfly found something to eat and I a nice picture :)

Buzzards...

are common in Svångemåla. This one sat at the top of a dead tree far away from me but was still very impressive. 

Flycatcher

There are at least two couples of flycatchers in our garden. Small but aggressive birds that are good singers.