We spent three days at the cabin last weekend. It rained on Friday and Saturday, but fortunately I spent most of the weekend work in the cabin.
I completed the work fixing tongue and groove panels to the walls and I fixed skirting boards around the floor.
I also completed fixing up coving around the kitchen ceiling. It can be small details that take so much time to complete, like joining two different types of coving in a corner.
On Sunday the sun was shining and so I spent some time photographing birds including this Pied Flycatcher
and House Martins collecting mud to build their nests.
The temperature last Friday was 30 degrees C and and after working out in the heat all day, when we arrived at the cabin, both myself and Emma headed straight to the lake to cool off.
Initially the water was cold, but after a couple of minutes it was warm and relaxing to be in the lake
I spent most of the weekend working on the cabin. This time I was fixing tongue and groove boards around the living room walls, one metre high.
We will then have wall paper on the walls above the boards
Emma was bored, so I asked here to draw a picture on the wall where the boards were going, and she also wrote about our family, so that in future years when the boards are removed, someone can read about who was living there before.
I put up a hammock as a chair on the veranda and Emma spent quite bit of time sitting there birdwatching.
We have a pair of White Wagtails nesting under the cabin roof and they spent a lot of time catching insects.
There were also Black Grouse displaying nearby in the evening.
We will be spending three days at the cabin this coming weekend.
Spring is going to be late this year. A cold north wind has been blowing for three weeks now and although the sun lifts day time temperatures just above freezing, at night temperatures can still go down as low as -30 degrees.
I arrived at the cabin Friday evening and made fire in both the kitchen stove and in the fireplace. After a couple of hours the cabin was warm and with a night time temperature of -20 degrees I kept the fires going all night.
Early on Saturday morning I cooked breakfast; potatoes, sausage, eggs and onions.
I spent some time ice fishing, but it was very cold and I caught no fish, so I decided to do some photography.
There were several different birds coming to the bird feeder and I particularly wanted to photograph Siberian Tit and Siberian Jay. Siberian Jay’s were not so difficult to photograph. After standing for 15 minutes they came to feed.
To get VERY close to the Siberian Tit’s, I put a reindeer skin on the snow, and some food just in front of me and laid there and waited for them to come down. It proved more difficult than expected to get photo’s of them because they kept flying down and sitting on my head!! Eventually they came for the food.
On Sunday, while out in the forest with my snowmobile I came across some very strange tracks.
I called my friend and neighbour at the cabin Erik, and explained what I had found and he drove out immediately to take a look. Eventually we deduced that the spore was that of a displaying male Capercaillie.
We followed the tracks on our snowmobiles and found this fine print where the bird had originally landed (from the right you see where the tail touched the snow, then where the body impacted and finally the imprints of the wings, then he walks away displaying).
I have started working full-time now and am finding it much easier to get around and do things. At the moment I am building a new website for Nattavaara Hembygdsförening and this have given me ideas for a new look to this site, which I will be developing.
Last weekend we were at our cabin. Teres’ cousin and here family were staying in a camper-van there also. Friday was my first day free of medication for three months and so I enjoyed a couple of beers.
During the night and early morning I heard strange noises in the chimney. I thought at first it was a mouse, but then realised it was a bird flapping on the chimney damper. I made a net to catch the bird with out of a net curtain and then opened the damper and two House Martins (Delichon urbicum) dropped out and flew around.
I caught them both and released them to join a large number of House Martin’s flying around over the cabin.
On Saturday evening myself and Teres drove to a large stream to do some fishing. Even with mosquito repellent, the mosquitoes were horrendous! It is the worst year for mosquitoes here for several years and after only a few minutes, the effect of the repellent stops working and clouds of them descend upon you.
We fished at various locations along the stream for a couple of hours. I caught a Pike and Teres caught a Grayling. The Grayling we took back to the cabin, where I made an improvised smoker, with Juniper added for flavour
I made a fire inside the stove I made last year and placed the tin onto the stove.
The weather has been atrocious again today with strong winds, snow, rain and cold.
However, it has been a good day because we have a Rustic Bunting (Emberiza rustica) singing in the garden.
The above image is from NatureGate and you can see more images and read about Rustic Bunting there. If you click the play button next to “Listen to this bird” you can here it singing for yourself.
Last weekend I was in the village of Dokkas where I was helping Dokkas Hunting & Fishing Club with a nestbox project which has been running for many years.
The nestboxes are for Smew
and Goldeneye
We cleaned out the boxes and replaced damaged ones
Here you can see both old and new boxes
After the work was completed we gathered for……you’ve guessed it, coffee and sausage around a fire.
It was a very enjoyable morning and thanks to everyone at “Dokkas Jakt och Fiske” for keeping the project going.
I thought I would put up a few pictures taken recently.
First a couple of sunrises as I have driven to work
In this next picture I am heaping snow up around a cabin to act as additional insulation.
Here is one of the seven reindeer we have at Solberget Vildmarksbyn
This next picture (for me) provides lots of interesting information once you understand how to interpret it….
This picture shows spore from a Black Grouse landing in the snow. From the right lower corner of the picture you see first where the Grouses tail mark in the snow, then above it you see the tip of the right wing and then marks from the whole of the right wing and at the same time, the body coming into the snow. Then you can see footprints as the bird lands and the impact point as it lands into the snow (with left and right wing marks). Finally the bird turns around and runs away out of the top right hand corner of the picture.
The next picture is of the tipi at Solberget, with a glowing fire inside
and finally here is a picture of a cabin at Solberget at dusk, with a the full moon behind it.
I’ve been out and about this week seeing and hearing a few things.
The week began with 9 Capercaillie along a section of road just outside Nattavaara
There was also a White-tailed Sea Eagle sitting in the middle of the road drinking from a puddle, but unfortunately I wasn’t fast enough with the camera to get a picture before it flew off. I have also seen two different Hawk owls, but only managed to photograph one (and the picture quality is not so good).
People in Dokkas have been seeing Pygmy Owl (Sparvuggle in Swedish). Here is a picture taken by my friend Jeanette, from her window in Dokkas
The Pygmy Owl is only about 16cms long and feeds on small birds and mammals. It is most active around dawn and dusk. I did not manage to see the Pygmy Owl, but I did hear it two times singing it’s Autumn song which you can hear here.
On Wednesday morning when I drove to Dokkas, I had a Raccoon Dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) run across the road and into the forest. This is the first time I have seen one, but I wrote about them previously here.
We also have a pair of Siberian Tit coming to our garden bird table most days and I finally managed to take a couple of pictures.
