COVID19 - how not to use a mask :)

Nuthatch

Nothing special, not particularly cute just a nuthatch on the wall :)

Squirrel

There are many oak trees, hazelnut bushes and other sources of food for squirrels in Svångemåla but they are still not very common. I see only a couple each year and they are very shy and afraid of coming too close to the house. This little fellow looked for something to eat in a big oak just outside our fence. I hope I can come closer another time.

Robin

There are fewer birds in Svångemåla now compared to a month ago.  Some have left fot warmer regions while others have just gone to look for more insects / food around lakes and the sea.

One, very cute, robin is still here and had to find shelter in a Rhododendron bush when the rain was pouring down.

Ecological burning

A big plume of smoke could be seen from Svångemåla some days ago.

It was a controlled fire / ecological burning about five kilometres north west of us. It was lit by the authorities to enable specific animals and plants to survive and thrive. The fire looked omnibus when I took my drone up to about 100 metres but when I later visited the area I could see how carefully the fire had been prepared with ditches,  water hoses etc. 

It has been unusually dry the last couple of months and it was therefore surprising to see how little the trees had been affected while the undergrowth was completely burnt. 

To be able to publish the drone photo I had to get a special permission so that I unintentionally did not reveal any military installations  :)

Autum

The leaves are slowly turning brown and yellow. Even if the temperature is pleasant it is no doubt that summer is soon just a memory and we have to get ready for chiller times.

Autumn flowers

Our plot or garden is a so called "wood land garden" which means that most of our plants are natural to our part of Sweden. We have, however,  a few that are the result of seeds that my wife sowed in the spring.

Ticks

I love animals. Even snakes and spiders but there are two exceptions,ticks and wild pigs. The pigs are kept away thanks to an electric fence but the ticks are impossible to get away from. As soon as you go out you are at risk of getting one or more crawling all over you. Sounds like no big deal but they carry viruses that can give you both TBE and Lyme disease.  Luckily you can be vaccinated against TBE and there are antibiotics against the Lyme disease but it can still be very unpleasant and take a long time before you are cured.

On this picture you can see how incredible small the ticks can be.

Woody is getting ready for a night out!

Woody the woodpecker really prepared himself well for a night out when he sat at the very top of a dead tree while the sun was setting. Don't you think he looks smashing  ?

Lesser spotted woodpecker

This is not a very common bird in Svångemåla and I was therefore happy to spot it just a few meters from where I was standing looking much further away.

I am not sure what it was doing since it is not the right time to build a nest and I could not see it finding anything to eat.

Beetle

A Carabus nemoralis, sometimes called the Bronze Carabid, a ground beetle managed to get stuck in our bucket today. The violet colour is hardly visible if you don't click on the picture and look very carefully on its sides.

Mourning Cloak or Camberwell Beauty

 A very bad / painful back has forced me to spend most of the last days sitting, lying down or moving very slowly.  Not bad when you are in a butterfly paradise like Svångemåla  :)
This amazing butterfly landed on an aluminium ladder next to me and although it would have looked nicer if it had sat on a flower one can still appreciate its colours and grace.

Blue and Great tits

 Tits are mostly seen in the winter when they are fed by bird lovers. There are, however, a large number of them in Svångemåla all year round.
It has been very hot the last week and could see some looking for shade in one of our apple trees.

Common copper

As you know there are a lot of butterflies in Svångemåla.  Today a tiny Lycaena phlaeas or Common copper sat down next to me.

Map butterfly

This is strange butterfly and a strange picture.  The butterfly is a Map butterfly and if you look it up you will learn, among other things, that it comes in two distinct different versions depending on the time of the year!
The picture is unusual because I took it when the butterfly landed on our kitchen window. What you see is actually the stomach of the Map.

Silver-washed fritillary

Ok, I know that I have shown you a lot of butterflies this year but I like this couple so much that I just have share the picture. :)

Raven

A couple of ravens can be heard in Svångemåla all year round. From time to time they fly over our plot reminding me of the old viking stories that often included ravens. They are supposedly very clever birds and the can reach a surprisingly old age.
The picture is not very good but it is one of the few I have of this special bird.

The apple season..

is not here yet and our hopes for a good harvest are not high after last year's amazing season. There will be some and I have already spotted a few at the top of the tree out of reach :(

Bat !

Not the sharpest picture but the first I have ever taken of a bat. It landed for unknown reasons on our veranda and I did not want to disturb it too much. Bats look almost scary when you look closely and considering the current pandemic I did not want to touch it to get a better angle for my picture.