Fragrances!

When the wind is not too strong the fragrances of  English dogwood and Elderflowers are thick and it feels like you are in a beauty salon :)  As always, click on the pictures to enlarge them!

Moonlight

A Poplar admiral on a bearfoot

This butterfly is considered rare but shows up at least a couple of times every year.  This time it was really interested in my warm foot. It has been above 30 C today :)

Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)

We have always had a few foxgloves on our plot and this year is no exception.  They are, however, larger than they usually are thanks to the good weather we have had.

Aluminium bird :)

To get from many places in Asia to the capitals in western Europe many planes go over Svångemåla. Even now, when COVID19 has put s lot of restrictions on how we travel, I can see and admire at least a couple of planes every day and wonder where they are going, what's the final destination and what is it like to fly these days?

Mrs Flycatcher 3

I am today going to show you how Mrs Flycatcher lives. A woodpecker has damaged her entrance but did, luckily,  not manage to get in. She is therefore very busy feeding her newborns.

Rain!

We got a bit of rain the other night and in the morning it looked as if the bushes were full of diamonds!

Rhino!

A really strange looking beetle showed up today. It has a horn just like a rhino and it of course called European Rhinoceros beetle.

Honeysuckle

Early days but you can already see that this is a good looking flower :)

Heath Spotted-orchid (Jungfru Marie Nycklar)

Not far away from Svångemåla is a very small nature reserve where this lovely orchid can be found in abundance this time of the year.

Our dear Deer family

It had just stopped raining when I looked out the window and saw some small brown spots far away in the field.  I grabbed my camera and got a few pictures of mama deer and her two newborn fawns. They had a difficult time walking through the high grass and disappeared from view from time to time. Very cute!

The king of all birds!

It is hard to believe but the tiny wren is considered to be the king of all birds in many cultures. It is tiny and often difficult to spot when hiding in bushes and dense vegetation. It took many shots until I could get some without too many branches in front of it.

Hawfinch

Sitting in the garden reading a book, a bird sat down in a tree far away from me. I managed to take a picture but I couldn't identify it until I enlarged the photo and saw that it was a female hawfinch. A first for me in Svångemåla.

Mrs Flycatcher 2

Sitting in the shade of our linden tree our much loved flycatcher came and joined me. Lovely little bird with a gentle song. It is also a fantastic mosquito hunter!

Drama

A pigeon met its death close to our house yesterday. According to experts it is probably a hawk of some sort that killed it. Strangely the only missing part was the head. I know that it is common among birds to attack the head of other birds because the brain is rich in proteins.
Today nothing was left thanks to a fox that is living in our forest.

Mrs Flycatcher

Lovely looking lady don't you think  ?

Iris?

Is this an iris?

Snails

Snails are not the most loved animals on earth but they are fun to watch and you can take your time doing it since their top speed is about 45 meter / hour.

Guelder-rose (Viburnum opulus )

Midsummer is just a few days away and as always at this time of the year our guelder roses are in full bloom. Lovely to look at and their fragrance is just amazing.

Lupins

Lupins are not an indigenous plant and is considered invasive but i think it is beautiful and the insects love it! Click on the picture to see the details!

Wagtail yoga?

As you all know, our wagtails are our favourites.  Not only are they very social, they can be funny as well.  Today one of them enjoyed the sunshine but started suddenly to behave very strangely. It even looks like it is trying to stand on its head!

Rhododendron and bumblebee

It has been a wonderful day today. Sunshine and hardly any wind. The oldest of our rhododendrons is in full bloom and the bumblebees are taking full advantage of the flowers.

Breaking news!

The Wagtail's children have left home! One of them sat down to rest just a few meters away from where we were having breakfast. It looked a bit helpless but very cute :)

Granny's Nightcap

This is a common flower in Svångemåla. Beautiful and a favourite among the bumblebee.

Rhododendron - 2

As I mentioned some days ago, we have several different rhododendron bushes. Some have purple flowers, some white. This one has a wonderful creamy color that I like most of all :)

Lily of the Valley

A favourite among the many flowers in Svångemåla is the Lily of the Valley. It is wonderful to look at and its fragrance is equally lovely.  But like many other beautiful things it is very poisonous.

6th June. - The Swedish National Day

Today is the Swedish National Day. It has just recently been a public holiday and the celebrations this year will mostly be online. The weather has been both rainy and stormy.

Glacial erratics / boulders

Småland, the part of Sweden where Svångemåla is located, is famous / infamous for its very stony soil. Very big boulders or glacial erratics can be found in many places.  We have several on our plot and like them a lot. Kids use them when playing and birds when looking for food under the moss.

Urgent times!

One of our many flycatchers on its way to feed his chicks.  A fly catcher makes on average 15000 trips to raise just one brood.

Rhodondenron

Rhodondenrons seem to like the soil in Svångemåla. We have serveral verities but just one can be the oldest and that is this one!

Blackbird

Blackbirds are very common in Svångemåla. Some of them are jumping up and down the lawn looking for worms and insects. This particular fellow is getting more and more used to us and seems to enjoy our company. I got a bit worried when I saw some small, black marks around its eyes since a deadly virus can cause them, but it turned out to be ticks.  Unpleasant but not deadly.

Starlings

This time of the year hundreds of newborn starlings gather in large groups to ... Well, I am not sure What they are doing but they seem to have a lot of fun judging from the noise they make :)