Tuesday 16th of April 2019 and my alarm went off at 03:55 and they called from the reception 5 minutes later. Tea and oatmeal and I´m on my way at 5 thirty. Lucky that there was almost no traffic on the highway. I had a fox crossing the highway and I thought it would dash off when I stopped to take pictures.
Leaving the hotel at 5 thirty
5 thirty and the sun is coming up
0°C when I get in to the car
A fox crossing the road early morning
A fox crossing the road early morning
13 km to Trandansen
On the way to Trandansen
Arriving to Trandansen
And as it was dark I had to use a crazy ISO speed so the pictures of the fox was not any good, but we can see that it is a fox. I continued towards Lake Hornborga /Hornborgasjön to see if there was any Cranes or any other exciting birds today. I arrive to Trandansen at 05:50 and it was like walking in to a wall coming out from the car.
Lake Hornborga /Hornborgasjön
Lake Hornborga (Swedish: Hornborgasjön) is a lake in Västergötland in Sweden, famous for its many birds, in particular the many cranes that stay here temporarily during their annual migrations.
History
Lake Hornborga was created after the last ice age, approximately 10,000 years ago. The area has been settled since the Stone Age.
In order to relieve starvation, it was decided in 1802 to lower the water level in order to create pastures for cattle to graze. The water level was lowered a further four times after this. The surface area was reduced from 28 km² to less than 4 km², but rather than make way for pastures, reeds took over and turned the lake into a swamp.
Throughout these reductions, the lake remained a popular habitat for birds, but the last reductions in 1933 also reduced its attraction for birdlife. In 1965, a Government investigation suggested that the lake be restored, and between 1992 and 1995, the water level increased by an average of 0.9 metres.
During the restoration, 1,200 hectares of reed and 800 hectares of trees were removed, and animals were reintroduced to graze the shores of the lake.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This was not what I had expected. I need a pair of gloves as my fingers were freezing stiff and I need to take pictures. Anyway, there were plenty Cranes at Trandansen, yesterday it was 10200 cranes and today there are 8200 cranes. The cranes are sleeping in the water in the north part of Lake Hornborga /Hornborgasjön and they count the cranes there. One by one with binoculars
Common Cranes at Trandansen
There were too many Cranes to get any good pictures as they were very close together. But I discovered a Northern Lapwing on the parking and I went to try to get a picture.
People from all over the world come to Trandansen to see the Cranes
Trandansen, Lake Hornborga /Hornborgasjön
Trandansen - Visitor Centre and Cafe
Today´s Crane count
The northern parking place is just below the Visitor Centre and the Cafe, there is one Cafe at the church as well. You are not allowed to drive between the northern parking and the road south of the Visitor Centre. But the entrance south of the Visitor Centre is connected by road to the two entrances/ exits south of the Visitor centre.
It is one huge parking lot south of the entrance and the church in the south and between the road and the highway outside the Nature Reserve.
Driving south towards the church
Driving south towards the church
Driving south towards the church
Looking north from the church
Park the car either north or south of the Visitor Centre and walk along the road. At the visitor Centre there are volunteer bird watchers helping the visitors identifying the birds during the Crane season. And there is also the daily Crane count during the crane season.
There is a coffee shop and souvenir shop. It is a nice area to walk around looking for birds.
Walk path along the road
View from the road / walk path
At the Visitor Centre
Walking back to my car and when leaving Trandansen I use my car as a hide and I can come close to the Cranes without scaring them
I Leave Trandansen much earlier than planned for. So I go back to my hotel where I have breakfast and when the shops open I go to buy gloves. Of course, when I´m back in the car I discover a pair of gloves in my parka pocket from when I was up north looking for polar bears.
I drive around looking for birds in the afternoon and there is many birds, but only the Common Chaffinch on picture.
Male Common Chaffinch/ Bofink
Male Common Chaffinch/ Bofink
Male Common Chaffinch/ Bofink
I find Oh Gustafssons Konditori & Bageri AB
Leaving with my semla
On the way back to my room
I leave Lake Hornborga / Hornborgasjön and I drive to Skara to find Oh Gustafssons Konditori & Bageri AB to pick up my ordered Semlor that I will enjoy in my room back at Best Western Plus Jula Hotell & Konferens.
I also stopped at a supermarket to buy honey for my “Good Morning”oatmeal and I bought picnic lunch to enjoy in the wilderness tomorrow.
In bed at 9 o´clock and my alarm set to go off at 03:55 and I hope to see some excitements around Lake Hornborga / Hornborgasjön tomorrow morning. Click HERE to find out if I have any luck with the Crane Dance at Trandansen.
OK, it has come to my knowledge that we have senior citizens visiting my web page. How hard can it be? So it's not very easy for them to see the blue coloured links to the next page.
Jiffy (also jiff)
noun [in SING.] informal a moment: we'll be back in a jiffy.
ORIGIN late 18th cent.: of unknown origin.
So as you understand, in a jiff pretty much depends on your internet.
So I put a “Next” button here and I hope that there isn't any problem to understand how to use that one. So just CLICK the “Next” button on your left hand side and you will be on the next page in a jiff!
Marunong ka mag-tagalog? Walang problema! Magpunta sa kabilang pahina pindutin ang “NEXT” button sa itaas
Faites vous parlez le français? Pas de problème! Pour arriver à la page suivante faites s'il vous plaît un déclic le bouton “Next” ci-dessus!
Haga usted dice el español? No hay problema! Ver la siguiente página sólo hacer clic el botón “Next” encima!
Farla parla l'italiano? Non problemi! Per vedere la prossima pagina lo scatto per favore giusto Il bottone “Next” sopra
Sprechen sie Deutsch! Kein problem! Wenn Sie die folgende Seite sehen wollen gerade klicken der Knopf “Next” oben!