At the request of our daughter, we went on holiday to Denmark in the summer of 2022. The decision about the location was made on the basis of some photos of the holiday home and its surroundings. The area also looked great on Google Maps. Lots of nature, close to the coast and a holiday park where the houses are at a good distance from each other. This, supplemented by reports of a very low crime rate (the ATM is literally in the parking lot) and plenty of peace and quiet, made the choice not difficult.
The travel time is also shorter than what we are used to towards Poland, but that was a bit disappointing afterwards due to a number of reasons. It was already dark when we arrived. The next morning it turned out that we had made an excellent choice. A large garden that consisted largely of heather and surrounded by a large amount of pine and oak trees. At birds we immediately saw Bullfinches, Redpolls and Hawfinches. The silence, except for the bird sounds, was deafening!
From the garden you walked directly onto the heath. The area is quite wet in winter, but unfortunately Denmark also had to deal with a serious drought in the summer of 2022. Since 1989, almost all of Europe has been affected by changes in large-scale air circulation over Europe and the North Atlantic. The result is significantly more sun and less precipitation in spring and summer. At least, that has been the situation in recent years.
A situation that is not favorable for many butterfly species. It ensures that when the caterpillars are there, there is a shortage of food plants. It literally dries up. This jeopardizes the reproductive cycle. The number of caterpillar species I found was therefore limited. This despite intensive searching, especially in the night hours. However, it has produced a number of new species and actually, that was what I’ve been hoping for. The area is home to a number of very interesting plant species, which could produce the necessary special caterpillars, especially in spring. This visit will therefore be continued.
The weather was remarkably cool. On many days the wind was strong and since it came in from the sea, it meant that the jacket had to be put on regularly. And whether the devil played with it, but the raincoat has also been out of the closet a number of times.
The fact that we were clearly further north was also noticeable by the sea water temperature. Especially because the current was northerly, it took some “courage” to take a dip in the sea. With an outside temperature of sixteen degrees, that is of course less inviting, but all that is a matter of persevering. My daughter wanted to swim in the dark, but because of the strong winds that regularly raised their head, we have given up that idea.
But oh well…… shaving stones over the water with your father is also fun.