A day out on "Great Lake" 7 June 2012

A day out on "Great Lake" 

7 June 2012

We decided to go out with the boat today. The idea was that we would try to  

find the entrance to the river flowing between Great Lake and Klämmingsberg  

lake. We were very excited over the birds and animals we would see during our journey through the little river.

Ålsta

  We decided to go along the shoreline to the distal portion of the lake where we hopefully would find the river mouth. Cows looked thoughtfully at us as we 
slowly glided on the water.

European Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) and Common Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus)

Later, when passing the little bridge, I saw to my delight that there was an Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus)  amongst the European Herring 
Gulls and the Black-headed Gulls. This was the first time I have spotted 
the Oystercatcher so it was truly an amazing encounter.

Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus)

The Oystercatcher was unfortunately a bit intimidated by our presence, 

however I was still pleased since I managed to get a few photos when it flew 

away.

The Eurasian Oystercatcher, also known as the Common Pied Oystercatcher

or in Europe just Oystercatcher, is a wading bird, most are migratory birds  
that breed along the coasts of western Europe, central Eurasia and in  

Northeast Asia. 

It is a large and compact wader, the adult has a black and white plumage 
and orange beak and pink legs.  Juveniles have more greyish pink legs 
and more brownish shell and beak tip is dark. They have white spots on
 the throat and on the sides of the neck.The first summer the oystercatchers 
have a white collar and the beak tip is dark. The adult birds also have this 
white collar, but lacks the dark beak tip.

Oystercatchers thrives on the open shore lands and meadows and on  
sandy and gravel beaches. It can also be seen in fields further inland. 
 Those who lives at the coast are active both day and night, while those 
who  lives at the inland areas are only active during the day.

Even though being a wader the oystercatcher swimms fairly well. At the 
coast  it lives mainly of mussels, while the mask is the main breed further 
inland. It opens the larger clams with their beaks in two different ways,  
however an individual always uses the same technology, which it learns 
from his parents and improves with practice. 

Most of the beach Magpies live in monogamous relationships. It lays usually 

three eggs in a nest on the ground, far enough away from the water to avoid 

the tide. Both parents incubate the eggs an average of 26-27 days. Both of the 

parents takes care of the children and those born in inland areas develop 

faster than those born on the coast.

Iris pseudacorus (Swedish name Svärdslilja)

 Iris Pseudacorus is a perennial plant which form large stands. The blades 

have she shape of "swords, the flowers are bright yellow and the fruit is 

a dry capsule 4-7cm long, containing numerous pale brown seeds.

However although looking very beautiful one should not be tempted to 

pick some to bring back home to put in a beautiful vase, since the plant

is classified as toxic, especially tuber, due to its content of irritating 

substances, ingestion can cause pain in the mouth and throat and 

an upset stomach. 

This was something which I did not know and I have several plants

growing in my pond and every year I cut down the dry old pieces 

to make room for the fresh ones arriving at springtime.  Henceforth

I will be very very careful the next time.

Common Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus)

There were several Common Black-headed gulls resting on the river bank.

Common Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus)

 After a while they lifted and flew away towards the cow farm.

The Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) with goslings

 There were lots of Canada Geeses with goslings,  it looked like a "day care 

centre" and I could also see another Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus)

situated to the left side of the photo. During their second year of their lives

Canada Geese find a mate, they are monogamous and most couples stay

together all of their lives if one dies the other "may" find a mate. The female

lays 3-8 eggs which they both protect while the eggs uncubate.The female

spends more time at the nest than the male.

The Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) with goslings

  

As the annual summer molt also takes place during breething season, the 

adults lose their flight feathers for 20-40 days, regaining flight at about the 

same time as their goslings start to fly.

That was probably the main rason to why they were not content with our 

presence and hurried away as we were passing by with the dangerous boat. 

The Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) with goslings

 A feather is a "dead" structure as out hair or nails, since they cannot heal 

themselves when damaged they have to be completely replaced.The 

replacement of all or part of the feathers is called a molt. Molting occurs 

in response to a mixture of hormonal changes brought about by 

seasonal changes. When understanding a little about molting patterns

can be very useful when identifying many species and in determining 

the birds age. 

Iris pseudacorus (Swedish name Svärdslilja)

 More beautiful toxic Irises.

Further out on the Great Lake I could see thousands  Greylag Geese

When heading towards the entrance to the river flowing between Great Lake  

and Lake Klämmingsberg I could see thousands of Greylag Geese with 

their gooslings. 

Heading towards the river mouth

Soon we would be able to find out however the river was wide enough for 

us to be able to continue by boat, or if we were to turn around. We could

clearly see the thick "wall of reeds" ahead of us it was rather exciting 

to hopefully be able to find out what was behind the reeds.

The Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) hiding in the reeds

Lurking in the reeds the Grey Heron catch fish frogs and insects. The

Heron can also take small mammals like reptiles snipes, ducklings

tern chicks etc. They often wait long time for prey, and sometimes 

they stalk its victim. As we came closer the Heron dissapeared in 

among the reeds.  

The river mouth

It was not at all hard to find the river mouth, and the river was wide 

enough for us to enter with the boat, however the weather had 

started to change, hopefully, I had my fingers crossed for luck, 

 it would not start to rain. 

A beautiful white feather on a lily leaf

Discovering the largest Beaver lodge we have ever seen

When approaching an area where we could see some kind of debrise 

which was floating on and under the surface we also noticed a strange 

smell which became stronger as closer we got. 

The Beaver lodge

The first thing we saw when arriving there was a huge Beaver lodge, then 

the smell must be  that the Beaver had marked its territoriy by constructing

scent mounts made of mud, debris and castoreum a urine based substance

excreted through the beavers castor sacs between the pelvis and the base

of the tail. The beavers invest much energy in their territories, they are very 

familiar with the area and even takes time to get to know the scent of 

beavers which have their territories outside their territory. And that 

helps them to know when a rival enters the territory since that beaver has

a "new" smell, and if so, then it is time to truly defend the territory.

Scent mounts made of mud, debris and castoreum

It was difficult to go through the area with the scent mounts, we had to 

push the boat with the oars slowly above the debris. The smell was 

truly heavvy and I can only imagine what it would be like on a very 

hot and sunny day. 

The Beaver lodge

Beavers always live near rivers or lakes, where they build dams and huts of 

branches, twigs and mud. Usually the hut entrance is below the water surface

The Beaver diet consists mainly leaves, bark, herbs and aquatic plants. The 

territory located along the river usually covers a distance of about 1 km (2 km 

of shoreline). The beaver is primarily nocturnal, however can if it is undisturbed

also be moving in the day, unfortunatly we did not see or hear anything from

the lodge or at the area nearby.

I think this is a Damselfly

A beautiful little Damselfly landed on the boat,. I tried very hard to find

information on the internet about what kind of damselfly this little one 

was, however did not find anyone looking like this one.

Made by the Beaver?

We spotted traces from beavers along both sides of the river, the 

sorrounding areas along the river was perfect for the beaver family. 

The water was like a mirror not even a ripple

Made by the Beaver

More traces

Made by the Beaver

Continuing along the river

Beautiful aquatic plants

Suddenly we heard the sound of wild boar

I was curious and stood up in the boat, I could clearly see that something

made movements among the reeds. It might have been at least 5 or 6 

wild boars judging by the movements infront of me, however even though

I was scrutinized the area infront of me I did not even see a glimps of 

the backs on the grunting boars.  Even so, it was exciting to be this 

close without them being scared enough to run away. 

The area around the river changed from dense vegetation to more open areas with reeds

After a while the area sorrounding both sides of the river changed from 

dense vegetation to a more open space with reeds, in the distance the first 

seabird, probably a mallard was scared by us approaching and flew away.

I could clearly hear the sound however did not actually see the mallard.

A bunch of curious male calves approached the river side

The male calves approached us from the sorrounding field, they were 

very curious and one can but wonder what they were thinking 

when looking at us in the boat, hearing the sound of my camera.

We could see the road from where we were

We could see the road from our location on the river, and now it was 

high time for coffee and tasting the sandwiches we had with us, we 

were both very hungry after the long voyage along the river.

 

Yellow Water-lily( Nuphar Lutea)

The yellow Water-Lilly´s strains are rich with starch, and historically the

water-lilly roots have been reduced to powder and used here in Sweden

when baking bread.

The root of a Yellow Water-lily( Nuphar Lutea)

  

The roots can be eaten immediately after cooking, some strains 

however, contains a lot of bitter substances, which ruins the taste. 

Water fun

On the way back I turned off my camera, because the battery level was 

low and I wanted to try my new ND filter if there was any interesting 

clouds when arriving to the Great Lake, the last photo I took was 

of the movements of the water made by the oars. Back home again

I added some more colour in ViewNX2.

Using my Hoya ND4 filter

Using my Hoya ND4 filter

This was the end of an amazing day
hope that you will enjoy looking 
at the photos
Warm greetings to you All,

//Maria