A Grey and Rainy Day in October

Although it is raining.......

the landscape is still beautiful.........

soft shades by the water stream ..........

mirror of autumn leaves in the water surface........

soft reds in greens.................

black cattle softer than in the sun .........

drizzle hanging like a painter's light brush.............

grass with coloured messy hair.....................

fungis is a little red lamp

a grey and rainy day in October is not so bad after all..........

photo 101008 grethe bachmann

A Lonely White Stork - Poor is the Garden ........

Poor indeed is the garden in which birds find no homes.
Abram L. Urban
White stork at Borris, West Jutland

The last white stork left on September 11th 2003, and now in 2008 the white stork is considered extinct in Denmark.

The breeding white stork pairs in DK have not had young birds on their wings since 2000. 150 years ago there were 10.000 breeding stork pairs in Denmark. The reason for the decline are several factors in the development of the Danish agriculture which with intensive operations has removed the food subjects of the white stork in a degree, which makes this great bird avoid breeding in Denmark.

DOF (Dansk Ornitologisk Forening) has with a support from Aage Jensen's Fonds made several information activities and collected money for some water holes for the white stork. An establishment of about 23 amphibian water holes have now taken place. Is it too late?

Some white storks visit Denmark during the year like this lonely stork who was on its way to the Skern Aa Delta, where it has been seen for some time now.

photo at Borris, West Jutland, August 2008: grethe bachmann

Queen of Spain Fritillary/Storplettet Perlemorssommerfugl

Issoria lathonia


Queen of Spain Fritillary/ Storplettet Perlemorssommerfugl


Isn't it a beautiful little creature this butterfly - the English name Queen of Spain gives it a perfect image. This fritillary might give the inspiration for a gold jewel with blue sapphires from Cartier or for a luxurious evening gown by John Galliano.

photo August 2008 , Hammer Bakker, North Jutland: grethe bachmann

Lindholm Høje, Viking Burial Site, North Jutland

A guest looks across the burial site...........


..and this is the first sight of the 700 viking graves.


Single graves, systematic arrangements, stone ships......


..similar to Højstrup Viking Burial Site further west of
Limfjorden but much bigger


All those viking burials were sanded up for 900 years
until they were discovered and excavated in the 1950s.


photo: sb
Here's a visible stone ship. Who was this Viking? One of
the Viking chiefs maybe.

Lindholm Høje with 700 graves from the Viking Period is a fascinating place. The graves were sanded up and have been untouched for more than 900 years. The burial site at Lindholm corresponds to the Højstrup Viking Burial Site further west of Limfjorden near Tømmerby church and Aggersborg, also wellknown places with Viking traditions.
At Lindholm are single graves, systematic arrangements and stone ships. The archeological finds are exhibited in a museum close by which was established by Aalborg Historiske Museum. Here is also a museum shop and a café.

Lindholm Høje is placed on a high plateau north of the modern city Nørre Sundby and Aalborg with a fine view to Limfjorden. The place was discovered and excavated in the 1950s. At the same time the archaeologists found a furrowed field under the sand which showed that the viking farmer had left it in a haste under a sand storm. After the storm the field was obviously given up. It is an extremely rare thing to find a field with 900 years untouched visible furrows. Even the farmer's footprints were there.

photo August 2008: grethe bachmann
photo August 2008: stig bachmann nielsen, Naturplan Foto

Orchids, Rold, North Jutland

Red Helleborine and Lady's Slipper



Red Helleborine/Rød skovlilje/Cephalanthera rubra


Red Helleborine/Rød skovlilje


Red Helleborine/Rød skovlilje


Lady's Slipper Orchid/Fruesko/Cypredium calceolus
(withered)

The orchid with the delicate pink flowers is one of our most rare orchids. The name is Red Helleborine/Rød skovlilje - and it grows in the same habitat in Rold Skov as the big orchid Lady's slipper Orchid/Fruesko. Lady's Slipper grows in a big enclosure in the forest, and at this time of the year it has ceased to flower.

photo July 2008: stig bachmann nielsen, Naturplan Foto

A Little Philosopher - Don't worry..........

A Little Philosopher



Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia.
Peanuts

photo : gb

The Kite and the Crow

The crow was attacking the kite like a spitfire until the kite disappeared to another more peaceful place.

photo july 2008: grethe bachmann

A little Bouquet of Butterflies

Silver-washed Fritillary/Kejserkaabe/Argynnis paphia
Bjerre skov, Horsens


Flying Large White/ Stor kaalsommerfugl/ Pieris brassicae


The Map/Nældesommerfugl/Araschnia levana
Boller Slotspark, Horsens


Peacock/Dagpåfugleøje/ Inachis io

photo july 2008: grethe bachmann

His Very First Car

Which car does he want next this little boy?

photo july 2008: grethe bachmann

Roses - Boller Castle Park, Horsens

Boller slot

















The rose park at Boller Castle
Horsens, Jutland

photo July 2008: grethe bachmann

Ground Elder/Skvalderkål

Aegopodium podagraria

Ground elder in the edge of a ditch
Ground elder is found in many forests, in the edge of ditches and in fences. In gardens it is not very popular. This weed is very difficult to eliminate as it is usually growing among other plants. In some areas it is considered among the worst of weeds, since it is extremely invasive and crowds out native species. It is also known as herb gerard, bishop's weed and snow-in-the-mountain. It

Ground elder was introduced to northern Europe by monks from the south in the Middle Ages -and to Britain possibly already by the Romans , as a pot-herb and a medicine against rheumatism and gout (hence the common name). It has a long history of medicinal use and was cultivated as a food crop and medicinal herb in the Middle Ages. The plant was used usually as a food that should counteract gout, one of the effects of the rich foods eaten by the monks, bishops etc at this time. The plant is little used in modern herbalism.

All parts of the plants are antirheumatic, diuretic, sedative and vulnerary. An infusion is used in the treatment of rheumatism, arthritis and disorder of the bladder and intestines. Externally it is used as a poultice on burns, stings, wounds, painful joints.

The plant is harvested when it is in flower in late spring to mid-summer and can be used fresh or be dried for later use. The leaves can be boiled like spinach, or fresh young ones can be added to a salad - too much has a laxative effect. The dried root can be grounded into a flour for baking.
So maybe we could eliminate some of this weed by using it in our kitchen - and it is for free!

It was probably introduced to Denmark by monks in the Middle Ages as a food and medicinal plant. It was used against indigestion, it was used as a spring fodder for the cattle and the pigs and small leaves for the chicken. In the kitchen it was used as a cabbage. A special dish at Easter 'Skærtorsdagskål' (Maundy Thursday Cabbage) contained 7 or 9 kinds of cabbage, and ground elder was one of them.


Nicholas Culpepper, a famous 17th century's physician said about ground elder:
'Upon experiment it is found to heal the gout and sciatica. It is also used for aching joints and other cold pains'.

Common Blue Damselfly/ Almindelig Vandnymfe

Enallagma cyathigerum


The common blue damselfly is widespread and common. Adults can be seen from May to the end of August. It is a common species typical of lakes especially deep open sites. It has been recorded at greater altidtudes than most other damselflies.

Old English country names 'horse-stingers' and 'devil's darning needles' suggest that they were once feared. Neither dragonflies nor damselflies have the capacity to sting although they are predatory insects both in the larval and adult stages.

photo Vest Stadil Fjord 070608: grethe bachmann

Black-tailed Skimmer/ Stor Blåpil

Orthetrum cancellatrum





Black-tailed Skimmer/ Stor Blåpil
Vest Stadil Fjord,West JutlandBlack-tailed skimmer is common in North Africa and the most of Europe. In Norway it is considered extinct. In Denmark it is known from all districts. Since Denmark is on the northern border of its area of distribution it is possible that the Danish occurence of black-tailed skimmer might be influenced by climatic changes.

The male has a blue abdomen with a black tip and transparent wings and the female has a yellowish brown body with black zigzag marks along the abdomen and the transparent wings. It is an active skimmer that patrols its territory aggressively frequently resting on patches of bare ground or stones although it will occassionally rest up in vegetation. It favours open areas of still water that has a hard not muddy substrate.
Leave patches of bare ground around the edges of larger water bodies and leave cut grass and other vegetation to dry out in ‘habitat piles’. These pale areas will attract basking dragonflies. Skimmers hunt from low perches, so placing a few sticks or twigs close to the water’s edge will also encourage them.
photo Vest Stadil Fjord 070608 : grethe bachmann

Sea Kale/Strandkaal/ Crambe maritima




Sea Kale by the beach, Jernhatten, Djursland

The salt-air tolerant Sea Kale/ Strandkaal grows wild along the coasts of Europe from the North Atlantic to the Black Sea. In old garden books the use of sea kale is often described. The young pale shots were popular in dishes in the early spring, often mixed with the winter leftovers of curly kale. The plant contains lots of C-vitamins and was also used as a means against scurvy.

In England sea kale was a common plant until a botanizer in 1799 mentioned its good qualities. Then it was used so much for food that it became almost extinct. The stems taste a little like asparagus, but also the leaves are good with a taste a little milder than curly kale. The young flower shots taste like broccoli. The plant was earlier cultivated in gardens by manors and eaten as an early asparagus. In Denmark it was called 'Herrremandens asparges'. (Herremand = Lord of the Manor).

By the early 18th century sea kale had become established as a garden vegetable and it was very popular in the early 19th century where it was served at the Prince Regent's Royal Pavillion in Brighton. The shoots are fine served like asparagus, steamed with either bechamel sauce or melted butter , salt and pepper.

photo 310508: grethe bachmann, Glatved Strand, Djursland

Honey Buzzard/ Hvepsevåge

Pernis apivorus

Honey Buzzard, Jernhatten, Djursland

The Honey buzzard, sometimes known as the 'pern', is despite the buzzard-name related closer to the kite than to the true buzzard (Buteo). It is a summer migrant to most of Europe and western Asia, wintering in Africa. In Denmark were ab. 650 breeding honey buzzards in the year 2000.

It is mainly living on larvae and nests of wasps, although it will take other small prey. The Danish name hvepsevåge refers to its eating wasps. The Latin apivorus means bee-eater.
It has larger and longer wings than common buzzard, a longer neck with a small head and a longer tail.

This week-end was a big migration of honey buzzards in the wellknown migration places in Jutland.(esp. Skagen & Djursland)

photo 310508: stig bachmann nielsen, Naturplan Foto

June - John Clare

JUNE


Hawthorn
Now summer is in flower and natures hum
Is never silent round her sultry bloom
Insects as small as dust are never done
Wi' glittering dance and reeling in the sun
And green wood fly and blossom haunting bee
Are never weary of their melody
Round field hedge now flowers in full glory twine
Large bindweed bells wild hop and streaked woodbine
That lift athirst their slender throated flowers
Agape for dew falls and for honey showers
These round each bush in sweet disorder run
And spread their wild hues to the sultry sun.
John Clare, (June)

photo: grethe bachmann, Mindeparken, Århus

A Sunny May in 2008 - 347 sunny hours

347 hours of sun in Denmark during the month of May, a record since 1920. The farmland needs water now.

photo 310508: gb