Autumn in Lapland 23rd September 2008

Cloudy first thing, then sunny but became overcast late afternoon and cleared just before dark.

This morning I sat and watched a Great-spotted Woodpecker wedge a cone in the crack of a tree trunk as a vice, so it could extract the seeds.

Here is the end result

I decided to make a bird feeder using bits I had found discarded by others. It's amazing how long such a simple thing can take to make when you have limited materials and tools. The seeds drop out of holes at the bottom of the tube.

This afternoon I collected two fallen Birch for firewood for a winter trip I am planning. I cut the trees up using a sabre cut saw (a kind of hand operated chainsaw with teeth pointing in both cutting directions).

Then I carried the sections back to the cabin for cutting up and splitting.

some were too big to carry on my shoulder so using this piece of rope


I made a simple handle for dragging the logs back, which reduced the strain on my back.

On one of the trees there was a really nice bur (a bur in Swedish is called a "kasa" and so as I understand it is not the cup that is truly the kasa, but the item it is made from). In Finland they are called "kuksa".

There has been a male Crossbill singing around the cabin most of the day and a pair of Northern Bullfinch appeared briefly. There was also a black form of the Red Squirrel around and when I rowed to the far end of the lake at dusk there was a female Moose feeding on Bog Bean. A male then appeared calling to her, she replied and then they both disappeared into the forest.

Autumn in Lapland 22nd September 2008

Cloudy, then sunny and warm in the afternoon with many mosquito's and midges.

I was out in my boat fishing early this morning but although i did actually have one bite I didn't catch anything again!

Went walking today and found fresh Reindeer droppings but no sign of any Reindeer. I thought there was a Capercallie calling from some trees but it turned out to be a Raven mimicking a Capercallie (you may have to turn your sound up to hear this!)

A nice find was a Three-toed Woodpecker feeding both on the ground and in trees. I found out when I returned to England that there had been an influx of this species into Sweden and Finland.

I removed a nice flake from a piece of granite and experimented with using it to work in the Reindeer antler to make sewing needles. Although of course not as good as flint, I was able to score through the antler to split it.

But it was very impressive for abrading the antler to shape the needles.

I continued to work with the antler in the evening by lamp light.

Autumn in Lapland 21st September 2008

Overcast with sun later, but cool southerly wind.

I spent this morning fishing and chopping wood. Those of you have read Bushcraft by Mors Kochanski will be aware of the amazing property of Black Spruce Picea mariana to be split into evenly thick boards with a variety of uses. Here I have made a netting shuttle for making fishing nets.

I was splitting a piece of Birch with my knife and got my finger trapped between the Birch and my knife blade.

There is lots of Yarrow Achillea millefolium (Achillea referring to Achilles who is said to have used this plant to treat his soldiers during the Trojan war and millefolium meaning thousand leaves referring to the "feathery" leaves). The crushed leaves are very good for treating bleeding and it is also said to be very good for treating nose bleeds.

I used some bricks to make a simple grill to cook some sausages.

I collected three different types of rock to experiment with for abrading and working the reindeer antler and for creating sparks with a piece of carbon steel file..

It has been very quiet for birds; 50+ Waxwings this afternoon feeding in the Rowan tree, Bramblings, Siberian Jays and a couple of Ravens.

Autumn in Lapland 20th September 2008

Rain first thing and then sunny, 11 degrees.

Went for a row and fished early this morning. Didn't catch anything but the views were beautiful.

We cooked drop scones and entertained ourselves trying to make faces from them..........a bear?

I washed some clothes


I went to help a neighbour put out fishing nets in the lake and was invited to Ingvar and Anki's for a bbq.

Ingvar gave me a Reindeer antler to make things from (the results will come later in the trip).

I spent the afternoon fishing and then baked a blueberry oat cake before returning to Ingvar and Anki's for the evening to learn more Swedish.

Birds included; Fieldfare, a male Crossbill singing at the cabin, 1 Greenfinch, 1 Golden Eagle flying over the forest and 2 Snipe flying around calling at dusk.

Autumn in Lapland 19th September 2008

Cloudy with sunny periods, but only 4 degrees.

There were about 60 Waxwings feeding in a Rowan tree just outside the cabin this morning.


We walked up the hill behind the cabin today

and found a couple of lots of bear shit.

You can clearly see that it has been feeding on berries!

After stopping for a brew and some lunch we returned to the cabin and Phoebe and Liam sorted the berries we had collected.

I cooked the Lingon (Cowberries) with apples and sugar

to make jam and syrup

I also baked an oat cake

In the evening we went to Ingvar and Anki's cabin where they had prepared Reindeer stew and then Cloudberries on waffles with double cream!


Birds for the day included; 3 Northern Bullfinch, 1 Jay, Hazel Grouse and 2 Capercallie

Autumn in Lapland 18th September 2008

Cloudy with showers today and a cold southerly wind.

We went walking today to explore some other lakes.

The colours are just so beautiful even on a dull day.

We found a large number of droppings around the edge of this lake. The owner had clearly been feeding on berries and I was told by a local that they are beaver droppings.

Also found cranberries on a boggy area near to the lake.

At lunchtime we stopped for a brew

And cooked salami, tomato and green pepper kebabs.

Went really well with some local bread

I found a glass bottle in the edge of the lake so demonstrated to Liam and Phoebe that you can boil water in a bottle.

Birds for the day were; Goldcrest, Redpoll, Waxwing, Fieldfare, Siskin, White Wagtail and Willow Warbler (there were no birds on the lakes at all) and we saw 1 female Moose in the forest.

Autumn in Lapland 17th September 2008

Cloudy today with a maximum temperature of 9 degrees. There is light on the horizon at 4am and at 9pm.



Up at 06:30 this morning to make the most of the daylight. I cleaned the stove and then went for a row on the lake.

When I returned Liam and Phoebe were up and so we cooked breakfast and then filtered some water. While Liam and Phoebe went fishing I went for a walk in the forest.

Phoebe caught a Pike (infact the only fish caught during the whole trip!) Liam gutted it and then we baked it for lunch.

After lunch Liam and Phoebe sawed logs and I painted a couple of windows (though unfortunately the frames were very wet).

Birds seen today were; 15 Waxwings feeding on Rowan berries, Willow Warbler, Chaffinch, Siskin, Reed Bunting, 4 mallard, Raven, Redpoll, 1 female Goldeneye, Robin, and 2 Siberian Tits in a Willow Tit party.