Ice on the Water - Snow in the Sky.

A Taste of Denmark

Winter

Once again a visit to the small island Alrø in Horsens fjord, the latest couple of visits for the same reason, to see the white tailed eagle, who's always in another place anyway, when we're there - probably sitting on the island of Vorsø, which has got public access for birds only. But it's good to be out in the countryside to get some fresh air instead of the black city air, and the narrow country roads are not very traffic. Although it's a part of our neighbourhood close to Århus then there are still places, we haven't seen yet. In the winter season we take relative short trips. As you can see the day is dark, and the day is short too . The light is quickly disappearing in the afternoon, and it is cold to be out for long.

Two horses in a field often walk together. I think they like company. I feel pity with a horse who's quite alone. Maybe I'm wrong?  Well, two friends, those two horses. The landscape shows that the snow is still here. We've got rid of it in town, this happens quickly, already while it is snowing - and often in the middle of the night.  I can hear the snowmen driving through the streets and in front of our building to remove the snow. They really have to get up early. In the country the snow stays put except on the traffic roads. I wouldn't be able to live in a house in the country. Furthermore there are no shops.

But in this district there is one little village after another, and I took some photos along the way of farms and houses - it was funny, because there were so many halftimbered houses in black and white. Maybe they copy each other. The big halftimbered black and white house is a vicarage. Many priests live in a pretty vicarage, but it's not sunny days always to be a priest. They've got many obligations. A priest is dependent on the parish council and what they decide. If the council don't like their new vicar they can make life difficult for him. I can imagine it's not an easy job to be a priest, and his wife has to be an outgoing and social person. No, the pretty vicarage might be dearly bought!








































                                                                                

what about some weight-control?

There were two fields next to each other, one with a lonely pony with a heavy forelock covering one eye and one with the nice friendly cattle with belts - the belted Galloway. They origin from Scotland, they are hornless and  the earliest British cattle, and the opinion is that they came from the hornless cattle of the Scythians from year 485-425 B.C. The fur is traditionally black-brown. The Galloway cattle has outer and inner fur with long cover-hair and a curly woolen under-fur, which isolates against both cold and heat. The cover-hair is water-repellent. The original Scottish Galloway is lesser than the Amercian. The Scottish bull weighs about 700-800 kilos. The Galloways are peaceful and easy to deal with, but if the flock is threatened,  they stick together and form a united front against the enemy.

listening with one ear...

Then we were passing a couple of white washed churches by the road, and opposite a church was a little village house with an outhouse with the same simple decoration of small red bricks. Three ponies stood in a thick layer of hay. It's important to have warm feet. Everyone knows that!  And not far from each other two buzzards in top of a tree. One was very "light-headed". They were waiting for a traffic victim! Well, yes they actually often are in the winter season. If an animal is run over by a car, it won't last long before it has disappeared, if there's a  predator in the neighbourhood. The birds of prey are among  Nature's garbage men. 

the black stripe is birds

looking for birds on the ice.

the first sight of the frozen sea ...

And now we came to the island Alrø which I have shown you a couple of times. I could see from the first sight when we reached the dam that the water in Horsens fjord was completely frozen. Everything was white, land joined water. I was a little surprised about the difference between this sea and the sea at Århus, where we came from. The sea at Århus was blue and shining like a mirror this morning. Some of the ice on the fjord had been pushed into frozen waves and looked like whipped cream. There was not a bird to see anywhere, not even geese and swans on the fields. There was nothing to eat. The grass was frozen too. Only one car when we came out to the only parking place in the southern end of the island. A young couple tried to take a little walk.  The wind made it colder and they gave up after five minutes. I gave up after almost the same and sat in the car drinking thermo-coffee and eating the traditional Wiener-Pecan-cake. Many birds gathered along an opening in the ice far out. The white-tailed eagle was probably on the next island,  also too far away.

two men with telescope

then outermost farm

the village street

Two men were walking along the coast with a telescope, when we drove back to the main land. They were probably on their way to a place, from which they can watch across and over to some small islands, called the Alrø Poller. The island Alrø is an eldorado for birds of all kinds. The low water and the protected area give optimal conditions for the bird life. Alrø is EF-habitat area, EF-bird protection area and Ramsar area. This means that plants, animals and nature types are largely protected. Hunting is forbidden in a section of the sea, and walking about on the small islands Alrø Poller is forbidden most of the year.
























As you can see from today's photos the day was dark and with snow in the sky. The colours had a dark blue, which grew darker and darker with the vanishing light, the darkest of ultramarine.

No matter if it was cold and I was freezing my feet, I enjoyed being out to see how nature was now on this day in February. But I'm looking forward anyway to some sunny day in March and April, where the first signs of spring are coming. March is not far away.
GB

going home now...

photo February 2012: grethe bachmann

two landscapes just before the town Odder. 

.....

First Day in 2012 - A Bleak Day in a small Island

A Taste of Denmark

Winter

It was a very bleak January day, the first day of the new year 2012 , but the air was warm. The white-tailed eagle had just been seen at the small island Alrø - maybe we would be lucky and see this great bird of prey today. 

Falling church

At the Aakjær manor lived in the 1700s a lady who was extremely vain, Hedevig Margrethe Bornemann. When she died she was buried in a small chapel at Falling church and dressed in a precious silken dress with fine lace - and wearing silk stockings. She had emphasized in her will that  she should have new silk stockings every Christmas -  and it's said that the will was complied up into the 1900s. The parish clerks from Gylling, Ørting and Falling met each Christmas and replaced her silk stockings. In return they were paid 10 rigsdaler  -  this was a big sum of money at that time.

you can see the cut hedgerow in front of the neighbour's hedge.

The present owner of Aakjær, Koed Jørgensen has built a completely new manor, except for the half timbered building, which was restored. Unfortunately he has cut down the beautiful hedgerows along the fields - and this is such a shame, not only for the look of it, but also considering the birds. Hedgerows are perfect living places for small birds. The large fields at Åkjær are now surrounded by cut down hedgerows, and it really looks odd - and not very pretty. I don't understand a farmer who's an enemy of nature.
There is much trouble in his wake. He has destroyed meadows, glades and some water streams. In my opinion it's a serious case, and I'm glad that he's not a common landlord.  His behaviour is obviously rather arrogant - and it seems that he's not at all interested in taking care of nature. It's all about money. 

There is a portal at the forest of Aakjær, which is connected to the legendary figure Svend Felding. He was born at Aakjær, and the bridge across the water stream at Bilsbæk is named  "Svend Feldings Bro". The portal (ruin) is called "Svend Feldings Stald".
( the ruin being the rest of a stable), but old sources say that these ruins were called "spegelhus" = spedalskhedshus (leprosy hospital). In the forest between Hundslund and Ørting is Svend Felding's grave. Svend was said to have the strentgh of 12 men, which was given him by a sorceress - he had promised her not to reveal the secret, but he told the landlord one day -  and the rest of his life he eat and drank as much as 12 men.

the dam to Alrø

But now we'll forget the stories and just take the road to the little island Alrø. Mother Nature has good conditions on Alrø - at least along the coast and in the fjord with a rich bird life. But there are few parking places for visitors. The road from east to west is very narrow, there is only this one road, and it is impossible to do a stop until you reach the western part.































People from other places of the country have recently started restaurants and cafés at Alrø in the summer season. A gourmét restaurant Møllegården has become a popular attraction, the restaurant is established in the old pig house, and parts of the pigsty stands exactly like when the pigs were there. The guests are literally sitting in the booths, where the  feeding troughs and woodwork are kept. This might be the only stable in Denmark with wireless internet, but people like to feel they are in a real stable. The restaurant offers a little, but exclusive dining card, but this means that people don't have to wait long for their dinner. The Café Alrø is in a cosy farm building where they serve a simple, traditional lunch/dinner.

  

some red-breasted mergansers

Lerdrup Bugt

In the outer section of Horsens fjord are two bird sanctuaries, Vorsø and Lerdrup Bugt. This part of Horsens fjord is appointed as Ramsar and EF-birdprotection area. The island Vorsø was listed since 1917, it is owned by the Ministry of Environment. The bird life on and around Vorsø is very rich. Eiders are seen all year, but most wellknown is the large colony of cormorants at Vorsø with more than 4000 breeding pairs. The waters around Vorsø is an important resting place for ducks and waders, especially in winter. A large number of ducks like mallard, wigeon and goldeneye, while common sandpiper, bar-tailed godwit, and Eurasian curlew are often seen.





 Lerdrup Bugt is a low watered bay with beach meadows and dry wades and small uninhabited islets. It is a very important breeding area for ducks and waders and for seagulls and terns. The area is also important as a resting place for ducks and waders. The most common waders are plover, common sandpiper and goldeneye.

view to vorsø

Lerdrup Bugt Vildtreservat (Game reserve) and Vorsø Naturreservat are two among ab. 50 reserves which were established or extended before 2000. The reserves expand the existing network for breeding and migrating water birds in Denmark. The reserves are sanctuaries, where the birds have peace and quiet to rest and seek food. It is expected - based in experiences from reserves in Limfjorden and at the island Møn - that the reserves will increase the numbers of resting birds in the areas. The effect of the reserves will be followed in a surveillance program by the Ministry of Environmen and the Nature Agency.

Source: Naturstyrelsen

And on the southeastern corner we looked for the whitetailed eagle, but it was nowhere to be seen. I guess it was resting high in some tree, digesting the cormorant  or a fat duck it might have caught this morning!

on our way home "upon the continent" we passed Gylling church.

photo 1. January 2012: grethe bachmann

Ærø - an Island in the South Funen Archipelago

 

Ærø is a 25 km long hilly island with a magnificent view across the Baltic and the Funen archipelago.The hills are the prettiest "dumlins" in Denmark. The island has a circumference of ab. 80 km and was originally divided in 2 islands by a land strip, where the road now runs along the water between Ærøskøbing and Marstal. There are several ferry routes from Ærø with a sailing time of ab. 1 hour. 

The first time the island Ærø is mentioned in history is in an Icelandic scald-verse, telling about a fight against the Wends.The Wends were Slavic tribes harrassing the Baltic coasts from their home island Rügen. In the Middle Ages 3 manors upon Ærø were outparcelled, which gave the Ærø-people the opportunity to cultivate some land.Some bought ships and exported corn and cattle.

In the 1200s the island belonged to the Crown, while it from the 1300s until 1864 was a part of the duchy Schleswig-Holstein and was not considered a part of the Danish kingdom. This meant a possiblity of smuggling via Ærø - and much luxurial articles, like French wine, spices and fine fabrics were being smuggled to the  nobility family at Tranekær castle on the island Langeland.

Today is a constant decline in the population. Many young people move from the island for educational purpose, and only few return to their home island. (7.200 inhabitants in 2002)  

Ærøskøbing is one of the most idyllic little market towns in Denmark Here are lots of fine old, well-kept houses with red tiled roofs; the street have pavements - and hollyhocls and roses grow on the walls.  The town is a perfect example of an old Danish market town. There are museums marked by the seafaring people, in the old workhouse is a collection of old bottle ships, created by a sailor, Peder Jacobsen, named "Flaske-Peter", (Bottle-Peter), who built 1700 of these model ships durin a long life's sailing on the oceans. 300 of those ships are at the exhibition. 

There are many fine houses from the 1700s and 1800s, among the finest the earlier pharmacy and a post office. On the market place are some old water pumps by a well which had existed here since 1250. Next to the market place the old Latin school. and town-hall. The present church is from 1758 with a fine view from the tower.

At the western beach, Vesterstrand are some very
picturesque beach houses. They belong to Ærø-families, who use them for their beach trips.

Marstal is the best preserved skipperby (captain's town) in the Funen archipelago. Here was a flowering shipping in the 1700s. The sailors transported agricultural articles in the Danish south sea and into
the Baltic and southern Norway.In the middle of the

1800s many 2 and 3-master schooners set out on a long voyage to places like Marokko, Rio Grande and Arkhangelsk. The shipping had 300 ships and was the largest next to Copenhagen.
Marstal is marked by low houses along narrow streets and alleys,  leading to the harbour. The town has some maritime museums with modelships, marine paintings, bottle ships, ship's bells, compasses, figureheads etc. One of the world's largest sunlight collector systems is in Marstal with ab. 19.000 km2,  which covers an important part of the town-requirements. 

Voderup Klint (Cliff)
Along the southern coast of Ærø is a several km long and about 30 m high cliff,  which has the form of an oversized staircase  from the beach to the top of the cliff. There are often landslides after rain, and in the sunny slides grow various chalk-loving steppe plant. In April grow hairy violet and coltsfoot in the dry grass and in May-June are plants like fairy flax, milkwort, Briza medid (Lady's hair), Carline thistle  and Fragaria viridis (a strawberry species).
Parking place with map, a winding path leads down across the cliff.

Source: Søren Olsen, Politikens Store Danmarksbog, 2002. 

photo Ærø 2005: grethe bachmann