Red Kites, White Tailed Eagles we visit Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

“Where”! We hear your call.
 Lübeck is minutes from former Eastern Germany; today, there is no border, just a roadside information board marking this former Historic crossing point into the GDR. We headed for Rostock in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Following as close to the Baltic coast as possible, we followed what is now Germany’s longest coastline at 354km, Lübeck to Usedom on the Polish border.

We passed by Wismar, with its faded Gothic red brick architecture, and on through Rostock. We ate fish and chips as we made our way out to Zingst. The land was flat and marshy, and a deep blue sky stretched into the Baltic Sea.

At Rügen we look out across the water to the car-free Island of Hiddensee and pass through Binz, Rügen’s holiday capital. It is lined with prettily painted period villas of the German high society, shaded verandas, and avenues of trees for summer shade.

   

         

We stopped at a small harbour close to the community of Saal. This is the view we had of the 

Saaler Bodden and beyond the Baltic Sea.

Wood anemones are now flowering in the Beech woodlands, and spring is at last!

All around, there are spacious forests of deciduous trees.

Out walking, we saw a male Redstart returning from a Winter in Africa.
What a journey he has made to be in Mecklenburg!

Far out over the Saaler Bodden, we were lucky to see a WhiteTailed Eagle pursuing Shelducks, which are not small birds themselves!

Further, Inland Red Kites perch in the trees, ever watching for food. A Hooded crow gets lucky when it finds a frog, only to become the hunted as the Red Kite threatens for the meal.

On the second pass, the Red Kite won the tussle and took the Frog; it can be seen disintegrating!

Supper on the wing.

Another memorable day comes to a close.

It was a fitting end to our journey through Germany, as the sunset reflected the colours of the German national Flag.

Time has stood still for years here; avenues of beautiful specimen trees still line many roads, some still cobbled, but everything changes fast.

Otto von Bismarck once said.

“When the end of the world comes, I shall go to Mecklenburg because everything happens a hundred years later.”

For us, it is time to hit that road and head home with great memories.

Happy Days, indeed!

Hedeby Viking museum at Schleswig and the Gothic city Lübeck in Germany

We had arrived in Schleswig-Holstein the northernmost of sixteen German states.

We spent the next two days in Schleswig, where the Hedeby Viking Museum is located. It has numerous artefacts.
 Hedeby was once the oldest city in Denmark until it was ceded in 1864.

From Schleswig, you can walk, take a bus, or take a ferry to the museum across the Schlei Förde, as seen above. What a treat it is; well worth visiting.
Hedeby Viking Museum




The map shows the former Viking settlement of Hedeby.
A footnote: Outside the museum, the ODINS Historisches Gasthaus Haddeby restaurant serves excellent food, which we happily partook in, followed by a walk back to Schleswig, around the Schlei Förde. And a waterside bench to enjoy the warm sun, oh! and ice cream, a great town
 and an excellent day out!

From here, we are heading to the Hanseatic city of Lübeck with its medieval buildings and narrow streets.
Lübeck is the capital city of the Hanseatic League.

                                                                                             

It is a beautiful morning as we walk into Lübeck, a UNESCO world heritage site
for its brick Gothic architecture.

Our entry is via the Burgtor, the Northern city gate, and its Gothic red brick architecture.

The town hall and market square.

There are probably few Northern  European cities that show their medieval past, as well as Lübeck. For centuries, one of Europe's most influential and wealthiest cities was the Free City of Lübeck a Venice of the Baltic.

A perfect example of Crow-stepped gables.

The Iconic Holstentor, the true star of Lübeck, still impresses travellers today.
We had lunch at the Block House steak restaurant. If you ask for a window seat, you have magnificent views over the Holstentor and fabulous steaks!

Once again, as the band plays on, we beat our retreat! 

Farewell to Sweden, hello Denmark.

We had come to the end of our journey through Sweden. We decided to visit  Ale's Ale'sat Kåsehuvud, high above the tiny fishing harbour of Kåseberga. A piercing ice-cold wind greeted us, like pins hitting the face; it had not been the best day for a visit. Scarfs wrapped around our faces, offering a little relief from the cold; we had joined the few stalwart visitors trekking upwards along the cliff. Strands of Eider ducks, flying below us, still passing North, ever following the coast,
 to their nesting habitats, Hooded crows blew past on the wind,
like tattered black paper!  

Ale's St. (Ales stenar) in Swedish is the site of Sweden's stone ship a mass of 59 massive boulders, 1.8 tonnes each in weight, forming the shape of a boat some 67 metres long and 19 metres wide.

Looking towards the bow of this ship of stones and the Baltic Sea, it was mentioned in land reports as early as 1515 and drawn on coastal charts as a bearing from 1684. It was plainly a landmark even back then.
The charcoal found around the ship has been dated, which gives a clue as to when it was erected, probably around 1400 years ago, at the end of the Nordic Iron Age.

A Hooded crow attempting to fly.

Spring has been approaching, and wildflowers enjoy sheltered positions and dappled sunlight along the coastal path—although it has not felt like it!

Coltsfoot peeping through.

Further along the coast, Greylag Geese head North.

The Tufted duck rested awhile, but then they were off again!

Goldeneye ducks passed over; everybody was heading North whilst we were going South again.

The last night stop in Sweden was Skanör Falsterbo.

The Øresund Bridge linking Sweden to Denmark is just visible across the sea. We returned over it the following morning.

A welcome sight as we walked around the small harbour was a Velvet Scooter.

We have seen thousands of Eider ducks on this journey; they are so photogenic!

At Odense in Denmark, we turned South, heading across Fyn and onto the Island of Langeland. It sits between the Great Belt, Denmark'Denmark's strait connecting the Baltic Sea, and the bay of Keil.

By mid-afternoon, we were looking out over the splendid Tranekær Slot, a Royal residence on Langeland since 1231.

Growing on a roadside, Butterbur, also known as bog Rhubarb or Devil's hat.

Driving to our night stop along the coast at Emmerbølle Strand, we watched this male Marsh Harrier skimming the reeds while hunting for prey.
We visited the nature reserve at Botofte, close to Tranekær Slot, the following day.

Sadly, the weather turned bad during the night, and the morning brought more heavy rain. The first sighting at the reserve was a beautiful Red-Necked Grebe.

Later, in awful weather, we could watch three pairs of the Red Necked Grebes building their nests.

We left the Grebe's Grebe'seir nest building for better weather.

Klintholm Haven is a small fishing harbour on Denmark's South coast of Møn. The harbour was constructed in 1878 by the owner of the nearby Klintholme estate and used for exporting the local chalk.

Taking a walk along the wild beach, which we had all to ourselves, we were lucky to see three Roe deer. The reeds told the time of day as the sun started to set.

The sun setting over the Møns coastline.

Two Shelduck fly along the coast as we did the following day, passing into Germany.

Barnacle Geese, their migration on Öland.

From our night stop at Grüsgard harbour, we are close to the roosting site of thousands of Barnacle Geese.

As the evening light fades, they start to arrive.

We have seen huge flocks of these Geese all day. The wind has been vicious; many just wanted to rest along the coast.

They come into view first in their tens, then hundreds, then thousands,
their calls filling the air.

Early in the morning, the church was across the stonewalled fields of Gräsgård, evident in the early sunshine. The sight and sound of so many Barnacle Geese rising was just amazing.

Only after they had passed did we walk across the fields to find that only a few were left resting.

For millennia, the birds have passed over or settled for a few weeks to brood their young on the island of Öland. Let us hope this continues out there in this Baltic haven.

Happy Days!