European pied flycatcher

A very useful bird when there are too many mosquitoes is the European pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca). At least I hope it can reduce the number of mozzies a bit in addition to contributing to the birds' choir. 

White Wagtail

The White Wagtail (Motacilla alba) is my absolute favorite among the common birds in Svångemåla. It is not spring until it has arrived and started to run around our lawn. We eagerly await them and think they are happy to be back "home". Not a spectacular singer but very social and good looking bird.

Eurasian Blue Tit

Among the most common birds in Svångemåla is the Eurasian Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus). It is a very cute little bird but don't be fooled! It can be both  bold and aggressive when it feels threatened. 

Marsh Tit

Some birds are so tiny and grey that you hardly notice them and if their song is less than spectacular, you can easily forget that they are there and part of the big bird family. The Marsh Tit (Poecile palustris) is one of those birds that I have hardly noticed before and I am therefore posting several pictures so that  you get to know it a bit better!

European Robin

The European robin (Erithacus rubecula) or just Robin is a common bird in Svångemåla, this year more than ever. This time of the year you can hear it singing almost constantly. Lovely! Here are some pictures of one happy fellow :)

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.

The end of 2018

Dark, foggy and hardly any colors. The end of the year is near and it is time to leave Svångemåla for the last time this year. The Field is still beautiful but I like it far more when it is full of flowers and birds.

 It was cold when we arrived on the last day of November and frost formed interesting and pretty patterns and formations.

Large parts of Svångemåla are protected as a Biosphere reserve which means that trees that fall down cannot be removed. Looks a bit untidy but the insects and birds love it!

This time of the year everything is wet, wet, wet.

Strong winds blew some weeks ago and took down a large tree that hit our neighbor's barn.  Luckily no one was injured.

Climate change ?

This summer was one of the driest and warmest I can remember. The ground water level sank and several households with their own wells had problems. A large dam not far from Svångemåla is the water reservoar for Kalmar ( a town of about 40,000 inhabitants,  30 k away from Svångemåla ) as well as a fishing lake and a place to go swimming. Due to the dry weather it now looks like this. Hardly any water left, the fish might even die if the winter gets really cold and all the water freeze. If you have read this blog very carefully and got an exceptional memory you might remember this story : http://svangemalanews.blogspot.com/2012/08/airplane-crash.html?m=0  

The landscape now looks very strange and although it is beautiful and dramatic in some ways, it scares me that this is what most lakes might look like in the future.

Note the boat to the far right of the picture!