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It’s a clear blue day, the early morning sunlight reflecting off the water, so bright and clear that were it not for the forested islands breaking up the horizon it would be hard to see where the water ends and the sky begins. The gentle slap of water against the jetty completes the scene. I’m sat on the porch of our little summer cabin in the Stockholm archipelago having breakfast with my wife, looking out across the water to a small uninhabited island about 50 metres away. Uninhabited by humans, that is, but home to a breeding pair of Ospreys who this year have raised two large, healthy and boisterous chicks. They are surprisingly vocal, the chattering cry of the parents carrying loud and clear across the still waters as they circle above the trees, like irate parents berating their lazy children for sleeping in.
Breakfasts are the best part of the day here – a chance to indulge ourselves with all the traditional trappings of a Swedish breakfast that my wife grew up enjoying here and that I too have come to love, and that we both miss terribly in our everyday life in the UK: filmjölk, räkost, tunnbröd, Kalles caviar, the words themselves are enough to make my mouth water.
Mornings are also a great time for wildlife watching on the island, from the hares nibbling quietly on the grass to the roe deer which peer out shyly from the forest. The island is small, but extraordinarily rich in animal life. A couple of years ago, I was sitting quietly on a log in the woods when a pine marten came up almost to my toes. Take care to remain quiet when making an evening trip to the outside loo and you may see a badger snuffling for plums beneath the fruit trees. You may arrive by boat to find an elk standing in the potato patch watching the world go by.
Today was a day for raptors. As the whole family of Ospreys took suddenly to the skies, it was the first time I had had the chance to watch all four Ospreys in flight at the same time – they were heading purposefully straight for us and they passed so close that you could see the outline of every feather.
They seemed agitated, flapping and screeching, and a few seconds later it became clear why. Watching a buzzard at home in the UK being mobbed by crows as they try to defend their nests is a fascinating sight. Seeing an enormous adult White-tailed Sea Eagle being chased off by a squadron of Ospreys in hot pursuit is nothing short of spectacular.
It seems wrong to apply the image to such a graceful and majestic sight, but the first thing I was reminded of as the huge eagle passed overhead was the opening sequence of Star Wars, where an Imperial battle cruiser makes its seemingly neverending progress across the screen. The aerodynamic, sculpted forms of the Ospreys diving and wheeling around it stood in stark contrast to the imposing, solid bulk of the eagle, like rebel X-wing fighters on the attack.
It seemed that the Sea Eagles had also bred successfully this year, as later that day we would watch enthralled as a young eagle landed on the grass just a few metres from the house, looking out across the island with a quiet self-confidence like a young nobleman surveying the lands he would one day inherit.
White-tailed Sea Eagles are Sweden’s largest bird of prey, 70-90cm long with a wingspan of up to three metres. They have a square, “barn door” profile in flight and can live up to 25 years. They form a species pair with the American Bald Eagle.
As alpha predators, White-tailed Sea Eagles suffered severely in the past from accumulation of pollutants from their prey and were also subject to persecution. Between 1800 and 1970, populations declined steeply all over Europe. Numbers in Sweden are recovering well thanks to intensive conservation measures, including legal protection, habitat and breeding site preservation, winter feeding and a sharp reduction in the use of harmful chemicals. While still a rare and thrilling sight, White-tailed Sea Eagles are expanding their territories once more, and their recovery in Sweden and in a number of other European countries is a true conservation success story.
White-tailed Sea Eagles are able to breed from around 4-5 years of age and mate for life. Their mating display is spectacular, ending with both birds locking claws together and cartwheeling towards the ground. They nest in a huge eyrie of sticks on coastal cliffs or in trees, and often reuse the same nest for many generations. Nests may become so large and heavy that the trees collapse under their weight. Mating pairs produce up to three eggs a year between March and April each year.
In the UK, wildlife enthusiasts travel many miles and wait for hours for the sights we were enjoying at our leisure from the breakfast table – yet another reminder of what a special place Sweden is when it comes to nature and the outdoors. The day after tomorrow it will be time to return home to Dorset – but the cries of the Ospreys echoing across the water, the shadow cast by the Sea Eagle as it glided off into the distance, the scent of the birch trees swaying in the breeze, are vivid memories I will take back with me to England and treasure until my next visit.
Best regards
Bob, The Nature Travels Team
Life is busy, and not everyone is able to find time to arrange their train tickets in advance and so get the best fares.
As discussed in our recent blog post about public transport in Sweden, Swedish rail operator SJ releases the most affordable tickets 90 days before travel. These fares are then sold on a “first come, first served” basis, meaning fares will tend to increase steadily the closer to your date of travel you book.
If you are able to make your train bookings well in advance, there are some excellent deals available. But for various reasons, this may not always be possible. Perhaps you are booking your holiday in Sweden at the last minute, or perhaps you have been meaning to get around to booking your train tickets for weeks but other things somehow took priority.
Whatever the reason, it’s worth considering the Swedish bus network as both a cost-effective and comfortable alternative. Sweden is a vast country, and its extensive rail network serves many destinations in even the remotest areas. But there are necessarily huge areas of the country where bus is by far the most frequent or convenient option.
Local bus services (on which we are always happy to advise clients travelling with us) are run by regional operators. Swebus – www.swebusexpress.se – operates regular coach services covering much of the country, with very affordable prices.
For example, if you are travelling from Gothenburg to Karlstad for one of our canoeing holidays in Sweden, current fares for one of the regular direct buses with Swebus cost just £15/adult/way and take around 4 hours.
To book your bus tickets with Swebus, go to www.swebusexpress.se. Click “English” in the top left corner and select your departure point and destination. You can then choose from a variety of ticket options (price depending on flexibility required). You can also call them on +46 (0)771 – 218 218.
You should also note that some bus connections, both Swebus services and local bus services, are listed as part of the timetable information when checking train connections on Swedish rail operator SJ’s website www.sj.se. When these services are listed, tickets for travel can also be purchased through the SJ website. This is often a very convenient way to buy a ticket valid for your whole journey right through to your final destination, perhaps combining the main part of a longer journey by train with the last section by bus. You may also find in some cases that Swebus may offer a more convenient service than the train for the outward journey, but that you wish to take a train for your return. Once again, as long as the bus services are listed by SJ you will be able to buy a ticket for both journeys at the SJ website.
Sweden is a wonderful country to travel in by public transport, whether you are taking a night train up north for one of our hiking holidays in Lapland or over to the Norwegian border for one of our dog sledding tours in Sweden, or a bus to the archipelago to go on a sea kayaking tour! And with Swebus, you can even leave it to the last minute to organise your journey and still get affordable fares!
Best regards
The Nature Travels Team
