Blueberries!

2020 has turned out to be a great year for all of us who love blueberries. The weather has been perfect for the nutrious, well tasting and antioxidant berries.  With the help of a small device it has been possible to pick three -four litres in an hour.

European Robin

Common and cute :)

Spotted nutcracker- 2

A few days ago I saw the Spotted nutcracker for the first time but it seems as if it is hanging around :)

Very few birds has a "song" as awful as this bird :)

Örarevet

Örarevet is a small nature reserve about 40 minutes drive from Svångemåla. It is a birders paradise but you can also find a lot of plants, flowers and interesting insects.
Here is a selection of what we saw during the four hours we were there.

Click on the picture below to see how dangerous it can be to walk around Örarevet:)

Polyommatini butterfly

When picking blueberries this tiny butterfly landed on a flower just next to me. It is called a "blue wing " butterfly in Swedish.

Grey heron

The Grey heron (Ardea cinerea) is a fairly common bird in Sweden and I see it almost every time a pass a small pond not far from Svångemåla. It looks like a distinguished old gentleman when stands in the water looking for small fish.

European stag beetle

The European stag beetle (Lucanus cervus) is the largest beetle in Sweden. It is fairly common in Svångemåla thanks to the many old tree we have. This is a female.

One more butterfly

As you have noted there are a lot of butterflies in Svångemåla right now. Today a wonderful Purple emperor showed up. Depending on the light the males look purple or black.

Spotted nutcracker

It always makes me happy to spot a bird I have not seen before or just once or twice.  Today a Spotted nutcracker sat high up in a dead tree and it was not until I enlarged a lot and lightened up the photo I could identify it.

Linden tree and butterflies

When our small leaved linden tree is in full bloom the butterflies descent on it to our big enjoyment!

Eurasian blackcap

This female Eurasian blackcap and her partner have probably been around for some time but this is the first time I have been able to take a picture of of it. She was moving around in a Lowjuneberry bush looking for berries when i spotted her.

Insects and how to help them.

I don't love or even like a lot of insects. Some, like mosquitoes I can tolerate since they are the stable food for many birds but ticks are just disgusting. Butterflies and many beatles are beautiful and this is the time of the year when many of them can be seen in and around our plot. We have stopped cutting the grass on some areas and created islands where we allow wild flowers and tall grass to grow freely. Click on the pictures to enlarge them!

The result is overwhelming! Lots of bumblebees, butterflies and other insects are buzzing around, to our and the birds' enjoyment  :)

Longwings butterfly

Flowers in July

There are not so many flowers in our garden at the moment but two are really beautiful right now, the Martagon lily and the Clematis.