LearnSweden Blog

Sädesärla

I don´t know the English name of this bird, but it doesn´t matter. Maybe someone can help me with that, but this black and white bird has been our friend and inherent this summer. The couple have lived under the roof, just above our outdoor dinnerplace. Everytime we have been eating, the mother and father have been flying in and out, just above our heads.

    

One morning at breakfast, one of them was sitting on the back support of a chair near us and chirping. Not the ordinary chirping, this was continuing for at least five minutes. It was just as she or he was talking to us. I started talking back and said, things like: "So your children have come now, they are out from the eggs?".... and so on. We were chatting together for a while.

Later that day, three lovely small birds were crawling around our table. We don´t know how they got out, it is about three meters high, but they were there and the proud parents were coming now and then feeding them. I was afraid that our dog would have hurt them so I put a fence around them. But they just walked out from it and the dog just sat there watching them. So I realised I couldn´t change  nature, it is what it is. I´m sure my dog, that usually likes to hunt birds, understood that these small birds were not supposed to be hunted.

     

     

    

The rest of the summer we could see the small birds growing, start flying and hunting there own food and helped us to have less flies and knats.

    

Summerflowers

     

From a white and cold winter, to warm and green. The summer is fantastic. Just look at all these lovely flowers, growing wild everywhere around us.

     

    

    

   

   

  

  

 

The Right to Roam

Allemansrätten (Everyman’s Right) is an old tradition which guarantees each person the right to enjoy nature without restricting access to it.

    

You are allowed to pass over any ground, field or woods, as long as you respect the land and the owner’s property. Please, however, do not camp too close to a private home, you can only camp at a place for just one night, but you must put up your tent in a place so you can’t see the owner’s house. You may not walk in a fenced in area, or in cultivated farmland. If you should open a gate you must close it behind you. You are not allowed to pick protected flowers and you must always take your litter with you.

   

   

   

     

Always make sure that if you want to have a campfire that it is allowed and make sure it is completely put out before leaving. Often times after a dry spell it is forbidden to light a fire. This tradition doesn’t just pertain to the land but to the sea as well. You can travel by boat over any water, and gather wild flowers, berries, and mushrooms from anywhere.

    

   

   

Sweden has 26 national parks which have been selected because of their areas of superior natural beauty but you can find incredible green areas within cities as well. In Stockholm you can enjoy wonderful walks and bike rides in Djurgården but for the true nature seekers why not take an excursion to Ekoparken.

Ekoparken is the world’s first national city park stretching in a 7 mile arch from Ulriksdal Palace to the archipelago islands of Fjäderholmarna. This green lung area is so large that you need a full day of some serious hiking to explore it on foot. If you can wait until winter, however, you could do a bit quicker perhaps on skis or on long-distance skates.

There are quicker ways to see the park and that is by boat. The Brunnsviken Runt is an inexpensive boat trip. On it you will see three royal parks; Djurgården, Haga, and Ulriksdal, and the palaces of Ulriksdals Slott, Gustav III’s Pavilijong, Haga, and Rosendals Slott. So enjoy your right to roam.

Tale of a Travelling Kitchen

    

19 Students, 3 teachers, many canoes,backpacks, and tents ......now how do we feed these people? Very easily ! Along with us is our natures kitchen. Nearly every Swede has one for such occassions. You just take it from your backpack, put the parts together.....in the right order, I might add and then voila, you have your travelling kitchen already to use. Just fill it with T-röd or methanol and strike a match to it. This little burning flame is good for tea, coffee, and anything your stomach can think of.

    

                      

                       

                       

     

    

Look at all these talented nature's pantry chefs. Oh .....and don't forget to clean up.

       

    

   

Out in Nature

       Just south of Stockholm in Södermanland lies a crystal clear landscape just waiting to greet us.

 

     

        

        

        

       

       

A Little Canoe Time

    

Every year the eigth graders of Botkyrka Friskola take a canoe trip from Åkers Styckebruk to Gnesta. In all, it is a journey 28 kilometers long....if you go straight....but as many are new to the world of canoeing the distance becomes much longer.

  

19 students and three teachers embarked on this two day waterway event. We were lucky because the weather was just perfect. Sunny and warm with a few clouds, no wind and just a little rains at the very end of the trip.

  

The first day saw us camping in a fantastic place near the water.

    

      

I must admit that during the whole trip that we made a lot of stops for eating, portage of the canoes over roads and just plain resting.

                         

                         

The lakes and rivers were so calm that is was an easy ride for us. It was so lovely riding over the calm water, hearing the birds and watching the beautiful nature passing by without a care in the world. Unfortunately, the water was too cold and so there wasn't any jumping into the water for a swim.

All came back home having a nice time but completely exhausted.

     

    

Today's post and photos are by Per at large.

Nature's Moment

.....there is truly nothing more empowering and breathtaking than viewing nature first hand from a front row seat. Such is what happened to us as we watched a momma fox and her five pups come into "our" collective backyard to share a moment with us.                        

5:30 pm......phone rings, it's little Nic......"foxes in backyard tell your mom to bring her camera."

We ran down the hill very quietly, through the woods, over the log, slid down the mud hill and quietly tiptoed into Little Nics yard.

and there we saw them

             

           

and then

they ran into the forest and the National Geographic Society used their skill to track them out of the yard and up the mountain.

                      

    

With all the researchers behind me, I had a moment to let a little one observe me first. 

                     

Can you see this little fox looking at me ?

                       

                     

and then it scurried into it's den.