themorningowl

[themorningowl]

Approaching sunrise, approaching sunset.

[themorningowl]

My five most memorable nature moments in 2024

This was a day in the middle of February when the cold returned after a period of milder, overcast weather. The cloud cover that had long separated the sky from the earth dispersed, exposing its glacial blue arch. Covered with crystal chandeliers of ice, the tree branches illuminated the forest canopy with their frozen light. A gray, chirping cloud of redpolls passed over - a few days later I would count them in the hundreds upon hundreds in the area - and a couple of crows cawed enthusiastically, invigorated by the rays of a sun that felt more and more like a spring sun. In that moment everything felt complete.

Midsummer was approaching and the world was awash in a floral splendor born of the recent days’ rain. On this day the rain clouds had parted and a light mist was drifting through the trees in the forest, leaving glittering dewdrops where it passed. A cuckoo accompanied me on my walk through the forest, sometimes so close to me that I could glimpse its blue-gray form in the dense foliage. The magic of summer danced in the air – along with the mosquitoes, of course.

There were many days of thunder this summer and this morning was the prelude to another such day. Nature was preparing for thunder and a cloud cover built by giants rolled in. The wind rested and a stillness almost unreal held the world in its grip while the electric charge slowly increased in the air. Isn't that the best thing, the drama before it gets too dramatic?

It was the middle of August and the vegetation had brought out its first autumn colours. The mist hanging over the forest revealed the spiders' nocturnal activities; drop after drop from it was caught by the silk threads of the spider webs, nature's own raincatchers. As I crossed a stream on my way further into the forest, a grey heron flew up a few meters from me and disappeared into the fog with slow, mighty wingbeats. It was in no hurry, just as nothing in nature seemed to be then. Neither did I need to be.

This was another foggy day – I love them! The deciduous trees burnt a fiery orange, sharp against the white veil that surrounded them. As I turned off the road into the woods, I found myself face to face with three roe deer, a buck, and two does. For a few seconds, we just looked at each other, sharing a mutual surprise. Then they took a few graceful leaps aside into the shelter of the trees. A few meters away from me, they stopped and looked at me as if they were urging me to move on. I did as they wished and with their eyes on me I slowly walked further into the autumn forest. When I turned around, they had returned to their foraging.

These were my five most memorable nature moments in 2024. I hope your year 2025 will contain many beautiful and memorable moments - in nature as well as elsewhere - and that you now have a great continuation of this new year!

[themorningowl]

Dawn and dusk.

Happy Holidays everyone!

[themorningowl]

What is the likelihood that I will learn about polar stratospheric clouds and observe them the next day? These are nature's beautiful warning lights for the ozone depletion and accumulation of greenhouse gases that is taking place in the atmosphere. If all of nature's warning signs were equally spectacular, would we pay more attention to them?

[themorningowl]

I follow the trail of a lonely roe deer hesitantly, it has stepped over the white blanket of the ground among the trees, towering in thin coats of snow, that watch over the wanderer

The water moves under the lake's ice-covered surface Don't go out on it yet! With every whine and creak the ice gets a little stronger

Some bullfinches break the silence in the forest melancholy whistles from the tops of the spruces with promises of the coming winter What will it be like?

[themorningowl]

A new day dawns.

To everyone who sees this: I hope your world feels bright today!

[themorningowl]

The first winter morning.

[themorningowl]

Frost feathers

[themorningowl]

Hunter's moon

[themorningowl]

My steps on the wet ground echo among the rocks. The pine next to me vibrates slightly from the woodpecker's determined beak; it has its forge there. Over the rocks the path winds, worn by steps taken here for centuries. A flock of goldcrests flutters around in a lichen-covered spruce, small as this moment is in the web of time. The old forest is quiet.

[themorningowl]

Ephemeral

[themorningowl]

See you where the edges meet.

[themorningowl]

A day in bliss.

Species: tansy, funnel chanterelle, Scots pine and yellow water-lily (leaves).

[themorningowl]

Come Autumn

Mushroom species: Marasmiellus perforans, Clitocybe fragrans and Hypholoma capnoides.

[themorningowl]

Ruska

[themorningowl]

Somewhere in time.

[themorningowl]

Mångata

A Swedish word for the road-like reflection moonlight can create on water.