Category Archives: Conservation and Environment

Sweden in the Summer – Part II: Grilling in the Wilderness

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If there’s one thing I absolutely have to do whenever I visit Sweden, it’s to go ‘grilling’. The Swedish countryside is dotted with wind shelters; small open-fronted log cabin-like shelters with fireplaces in front. The wind shelters are often close to water or nestled deep inside the forest and, for me, cooking over the open fire gives a real sense of being outdoors in the Swedish wilderness. The shelters are even stocked with wood, ready for visitors to light a fire!

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The windshelters I have used most often are in Färnebofjärdens National Park. The park is quite small but holds a landscape of wide rivers, lakes and dense forest, holding a rich variety of wildlife. While on trips to the Park, I’ve seen so much nature of the northern lands with the birds being particularly evident including cranes, owls, and white-tailed eagles. Walk a few metres into the forest and you’re bound to find signs of elk too and if you want a bit of pudding, there’s always the blueberries and lingon (cow berries) at this time of year.

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My grilling trip during my recent visit to Sweden was in the National Park and at a wind shelter at the edge of a set of rapids. It was a lovely, warm summer’s midday, with the sounds of the rushing water and the crackling fire accompanied by the smells of the forest, wood smoke and cooking sausages.

However, Sweden in the summer isn’t all sun and beauty; there are some smaller creatures that take a great liking for me, particularly my blood, and this trip left me with a very swollen ankle when I returned home.

I could spend hours sat at any fireside but there’s something special about grilling at a windshelter in the Swedish wilderness and I would happily spend days at one, maybe with a spot of fishing too (although I’m a complete novice at catching fish!). Over the years, I have visited the shelters in the height off summer, in the bright colours of autumn and deep in the cold, snowy winter – it doesn’t matter what the season is, I always have to pay a visit!

I’m sure the shelters could catch on in the UK but I think there are many people here who don’t have the same sense of a shared countryside that the Swedes seem to have and the shelters wouldn’t last long. Then again, there’s a belief that the vast majority of people won’t walk more than 100m from their car, so if the shelters were put half a mile from the road or car park, maybe they would last longer and be a reward the the more adventurous.

Sweden in the Summer – Part I: Blue Skies, Red Barns and White Swans

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Walking along the forested dirt track, passing the summer homes, the lake comes into view. Approaching the water, the track gives way to short cut grass surrounded by meadow and marsh. The birch trees enclosing the shallow beach merge into pines around most of the lake. There are gaps in the barrier of trees, providing windows into meadows and glades.

The lake is calm but not mirror-like, with a light breeze rippling the surface and bringing scents of sweet, fresh nordic air with hints of the forest, summer blooms and the damp wetland at the water’s edge. Stepping onto the jetty, more ripples spread out and the creaking and clanking of the wood and metal disturbs the scene. Serenity soon returns and the only sounds are of nature at peace as the evening comes to a close. The last of the sun lights up the trees at the far end of the lake but the rays have lost little of their strength from the heat of the day.

The whoopers are here, two cygnets protected by cautious parents which give occasional trumpets on the far side away from my seat. The small orchestra of birds is given more depth by the willow warbler’s descending song and the far off bugling of the common cranes but a heron stands silent in the shallows, not delivering its harsh call. The screaming swifts add a quicker tempo as they chase in the evening’s closing light.

The deepening blue of the sky reflects in the calmer areas towards the banks with small disturbances triggered by pond-skaters making their punctuated ways over the tension. Fish rising to feast on the emerging insects ‘plip’ as they break the surface with an occasional splash as one leaps clear.

Out on the far edge of the lake are more industrious creatures. Beavers live here; their large lodge growing by the year. They make their way purposefully around their watery home; gnawing can be heard where they are working on their next tree to fell. The whoopers are wary of their presence and a beaver slaps the water with its tail and dives as one of the parents moves to ward off any further advance.

The evening is starting to cool and I return back along the tracks, giving one last look over my shoulder at a view which will have to wait again for another year.

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I’ve just come home after a week and a bit in central Sweden visiting family. While the main purpose for visiting was to spend time with my brother, sister-in-law, nephew and niece, I did manage to indulge my wildlife interests.

The area of central Sweden where I stay is on the dividing line between the south and north of the country – the area immediately south being characterised by broadleaf woodlands and wide, open, hedgeless fields with the area to the north being typically rocky pine forest, dark lakes and bogs, interspersed with smaller meadows and glades. However, everywhere there are field barns in a deep, rich red which bring timeless touch of man to the landscapes.

The land is rich in wildlife and I saw a great range of fauna, many of which are rare or non-existent in my area of England or, indeed, the rest of the UK, while others would require a long trip for a glimpse. The summer house where I have spent some time can be great for seeing some of the specialities with willow and crested tit common visitors, crossbills passing in groups and the occasional sound of cranes and black woodpeckers. The roe deer are seen regularly but I missed the red squirrels this time and the brown hares, but I really dream of seeing a lynx or wolf in my wanderings around the area. I had my camera trap with me and caught a nice night-time video of a deer and her fawn – I say night-time but the skies stay light for 24hrs at this time of year, not a mid-night sun but light enough to walk without a torch.

The whooper swans breeding on the lake were a nice surprise as this is the first time they have done so in the three years I have stayed near the lake. I see these birds in the UK in winter but those are icelandic swans and I suspect these swedish breeders may winter elsewhere on the continent.

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I’ve been visiting Sweden for the past 13 years and I still love to see the wildlife and scenery, and spend time out in the countryside – wilderness is much closer to hand than it is at home.

Mammal Tracker

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Last weekend I came across the Mammal Society’s Mammal Tracker app for smart phones.

I’ve been using the British Trust for Ornithology’s BirdTrack app for quite a while now and have submitted dozens of records but I’ve been wanting a mammal equivalent to use alongside it. To be honest, I have more interest in mammals than birds but they are much more difficult to see.

The Mammal Tracker app couldn’t be simpler to use and like BirdTrack, the information collected through Mammal Tracker will feed directly into conservation efforts. In fact, the information will help to produce the first UK mammal atlas for 20 years.

I’ve just checked the website and my records have already appeared on the national map; it is great to see the immediate contribution I have made.

If you have any interest in conservation and wildlife (and a smart phone) you should get this app.  Actually, you don’t need a phone at all as you can submit records via the Mammal Tracker website – see the link below:

Mammal Society Mammal Tracker website

Well, I’m off to Sweden tomorrow but I think the Mammal Society might be a bit suspicious if I start submitting records for moose, bears and wolves!

A tweet can lead to a good Nose for butterflies

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Last night a friend posted on Facebook a photo of a caterpillar he had seen while working. I’m not great at identifying butterflies or moths, in fact I’m a complete novice, so I tweeted a copy of the photo and included Cheshire East Council Rangers (@CECRangers) in the tweet. Within a few minutes, Martin, the Ranger from Tegg’s Nose Country Park, replied and identified it as a Mullein Moth (no, I hadn’t heard of one of those before either!). Martin then asked whether I was attending the butterfly walk he was leading this morning. As I didn’t have anything else to do, I thought it was a great idea and booked a place via the Council’s (very efficient) on line system.

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As I drove to Tegg’s Nose this morning the weather didn’t look great and as I arrived at the country park, just above Macclesfield, the rain started to fall. However, I pressed on and joined a small, select band of hardy folk who, like me, didn’t really want to let a bit of wind and rain get in the way. Martin was joined by a local butterfly expert, who does weekly surveys of Tegg’s Nose, and the group of us set off to try to find some butterflies.

Slowly wandering around the country park in the rain and wind we didn’t expect to see many butterflies but spirits remained high, as did hopes that the rain wouldn’t last forever. Eventually, as the rain was blown away and the wind dropped, we started to see some movement over the grass. First we saw a few moths and eventually after over an hour of looking we found and caught (then released) a Meadow Brown and then found a Common Blue sheltering in the grass.

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While the number of butterflies wasn’t huge, we were given some very good hints and tips on finding them in better weather and I will probably return later in the summer to check the place again – taking my butterfly education further. However, we didn’t just look at the butterflies on the way around and we were given a good general guide of the different habitats at Tegg’s Nose. The meadows and fields on the way back to the visitor centre had carpets of flowers and I got some nice shots with my phone.

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Some people say that social media reduces face-to-face human interaction – for me, today at least, it has done the exact opposite – used well, it can make life richer and fuller.

Breeding Bird Survey – Getting back more than I put in…

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Today, I completed the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) for Cheshire Wildlife Trust’s Bagmere reserve.  The site is located at the centre of a triangle formed by Sandbach, Holmes Chapel and Congleton and is only a short drive from where I live (well it should be if I hadn’t been caught in rush hour traffic today!).  The survey has involved visiting the site once per month during March, April, May and June, and recording the species of birds seen, the number of each species and their behaviour.  Now at the end of the four visits, I can assess what birds are possibly breeding, probably breeding or confirmed breeding on the site.

Over the course of the four visits, I have noted 41 species at the site. A number of these have been flying over Bagmere and therefore are unlikely to be breeding there (e.g. Lapwing, swallow and jackdaw) but many of the others are either possible or probable breeders.  I was quite excited that in the earlier visits I had recorded both Willow Tit and Water Rail but these species have not put in an appearance more recently but I think I can put the former down as a probable breeder at least. Today I saw young Blue Tits and Great Tits, so these are likely to be recorded as confirmed breeders for the site.

One thing that has struck me over the course of the four visits is how Bagmere and the birds have changed as the Spring has progressed.  During my first visit, the trees were bare, the temperatures were low and there were still some avian winter visitors around (Fieldfares and Redwings).  When I did the surveys in April and May, the grass was starting to grow, the trees were coming into leaf and the migrants gradually started to arrive. My visit today found the reserve in its prime; all of the summer migrants had arrived, the grass was almost too long to walk through, the trees were in full leaf and the flowers were blooming.

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While undertaking the surveys I have also noted the other fauna I have seen within the reserve and today I saw both Spotted Wood and Meadow Brown butterflies (pictured below).  I also saw two brown hares during the May visit to the site – for me, a lovely moment and highlight.

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One of the things that makes this task so special is that I’m the first person to do a full BBS for the site and my list of species is the first complete one done for Bagmere (I think so, anyway).

I have gained so much through doing these surveys. I don’t think I have ever noticed the seasons change as much as I have this year.  I have always thought I was in touch with the changing of the seasons but these surveys have taken it to a whole new level. The surveys have also improved my ear for birds and I now seem to be able to cut through the general cacophony of the modern world and pick out a single bird singing amongst the trees or undergrowth.

I started doing these surveys to help Cheshire Wildlife Trust with its work but I have received far more than I have put in – I think I have really learnt and grown by doing them – I just hope I can continue to do the surveys for the years to come!

Masters of the summer sky

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Since they disappeared during the closing months of last year, I’ve been longing to look up at the sky above my house and see them darting, playing, chasing, gliding and screaming through the warm summer air.

I’m blessed where I live as I have swallows, house martins and swifts all living in the surrounding area. On a summer evening I can stand at my back door, glass of wine in hand, music in the background, and watch an aerial spectacle unfold above my head. Swallows are the popular sign of summer and I have become very attached to the house martins that nest on my home each year; even the twittering during warm nights, when I have my windows open, doesn’t stop me from cherishing their presence. However, it is the swifts that I really love.

Swifts are true masters of the sky, these living scythes in the summer blue don’t land except to feed their young. Constantly on the wing, even sleeping in the air, their dusk screaming parties are a true sign of summer – the season would be empty without them.

The bird surveys I’ve been doing over the course of the last few months have given me a stronger ear for birds and even as I’ve been watching TV I’ve been picking up the birds in the background. It seems to me that a summer scene in any good TV show isn’t complete without the sound of a gang of swifts chasing and screaming above the actors.

However, I suspect my favourite summer domestic views may not last much longer. When I first moved into my house over thirteen years ago, I had two house martin nests under the eves and there was another immediately next door. I now have one, and they turned up late this year; I was worried that they wouldn’t turn up at all. I’m concerned for a future without the swallows, martins and swifts and that if we don’t do something now, they will be lost forever. As I read this morning (I can’t remember where now), if children have never seen something, how will they ever cherish it and how will they ever be driven to fight for it? If these birds disappear in the next few years we don’t have much time to show the current generation of children just how special these creatures are and just how much they should be part of our lives.

It might already be too late.

Tawny Owl

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I went for a walk around Wybunbury Moss this afternoon (it’s getting to be a regular thing when I have a spare hour or so!) and as I was wandering through the woodland, this flew directly over my head and landed in a tall tree in front of me.  It was huge for a tawny owl and it sat in the tree totally unfazed as I walked around the base trying to find the best location for a shot. I’ve never seen one during the daytime before, let alone had such a great view for such a long time – I must have spent about ten minutes trying to find the best spot.

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Wybunbury Moss in Spring

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Yesterday I went for a walk around my local nature reserve, Wybunbury Moss.  I volunteer there quite often with the local conservation group I’m part of but I also like to go for a walk at the Moss and probably do so every three weeks or so.

I usually use the British Trust for Ornithology’s (BTO) BirdTrack app on my phone to record all the bird species I see and hear.  Yesterday, I recorded the most bird species I ever have done at the Moss, a total of 31.  One of the great things about BirdTrack is that you can go onto the BTO’s website and see all the records that you have submitted.  Interrogating my records for Wybunbury Moss reveals that I have recorded 57 species at reserve since January 2013.

While many of the species were fairly common, I did note both Raven and Willow Tit.  Ravens are starting to recover their former territories and I often see them at the Moss – for me their calls give me a real sense of wilderness.  The Willow Tits, as I’ve blogged previously, are a local rarity and have been in significant decline over the past few decades, so it was good to note them at the Moss again.

I first saw the ravens within the woodland that surrounds the Moss and they were calling quite irately for some time.  There was suddenly a call in return and I spotted a sparrowhawk nest high up in a fir tree.  Now I know where it is, I will have to return with my camera to see if I can get some shots of the youngsters after they leave the nest.

On the way out of the Moss, I passed through an area of wildflower meadow and took the following shot…


Visiting the Moss on a frequent basis means I get a real sense of the changing seasons.  From the first warm spring day spent on the Moss itself clearing fir tree saplings, to hearing and seeing some of the first migrant birds returning to breed and the trees coming out into leaf, to the wildflowers starting to bloom in the meadows. The season has been pretty special so far.

 

Malta’s Shame

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Each year, millions of birds make their Spring migration passage across the Mediterranean Sea.  We see and hear these birds at the end of their journeys as they arrive to breed during the British Summer. However, there is a major obstacle in their way; they don’t just have to contend with the long journey, with poor weather, with the sea crossing, with navigation, with finding food, they also have to contend with the hunters of Malta.

Each year, migrating birds are shot out of the sky for no other reason than the pitiful enjoyment of a few gunmen on a small Mediterranean island.  This activity is having a major effect on the populations of many birds, both rare and plentiful, and in many cases the activity is illegal – shooting birds protected by European law.

Chris Packham has gone out to Malta this Spring to highlight the fate of so many migrating birds.  He has made a series of short films about the issue and they can be seen on Youtube.

You can also support the work Chris is doing by donating to the Indiegogo Stop Spring Hunting on Malta campaign via this link.

Chris has now returned to the UK after being questioned by the Police in connection with complaints by hunters about defamation.

As you can see from my other blog posts, I spend some of my time protecting an osprey nest from egg collectors.  If some of these Maltese hunters get their way, I won’t need to do it next year as they will have shot the ospreys on their way past.