- Joined
- May 13, 2015
- Messages
- 841
Last week I happened to be in Southern Sweden. This season is one of the nicest there. The daylight is long lasting and, if one is lucky enough to get some sunny weather, wandering around, running or just taking a walk its a great pleasure. I was lucky with the weather just for a couple of days and this was enough to allow me having some time for exploring the surroundings. I got a suggestion about a couple of routes close by my hotel, which I could explore safetly. This is how I came to discover Taxås nature reserve, located on Möckelsnäs peninsula in Lake Möckeln. Taxås farm is the main building in the area, surrounded by an interesting landscape of meadows and pastures. Taxås consists of old farmland and deciduous forest. There are elm, oak, linden, hornbeam, maple and beech. Many rare flowers also grow here, such as hepatica, spring onions, golden saxifrage, corydalis pea. The bedrock largely consists of gneiss, but there are long stretches of hyperitdiabas (green stone igneous rock) covered by interesting lichens. From the parking lot, next to the farm, there is an information board displaying the map of the area and the suggested walking footpaths. One leads up to Taxås cliff, approximately 50 meters above lake area, with a beautiful view of the lake Möckeln and its islands, the other leading to a magnificent stretch of deciduous forest, through rich pasture land, where I encountered few grazing cows and horses. Taxås cliff was also a location for the mining of the black granite. Along the track, I met the remains of the many quarries. Also interesting to see (but not super easy to spot) are the few stone cists (burial places) dating back to Neolithic period. In Möckeln lake, common fish species are pike, perch, pike, bream and roach. Especially fishing for walleye is very popular in the lake (I had a great one for dinner 
). The beaches are generally rocky and blocky and lined almost exclusively of hardwood forest with different species of trees such as alder, ash, aspen, beech, oak and birch, mixed with conifers such as spruce and pine. Along the rocky and brushy beaches often grow bog myrtle. The lake has many islands and peninsulas, large and small. In the forest and the shore zones are a very diverse insect and bird life. I spotted myself a woodpecker and few ospreys and loons. No knives with me this time, only my SOG/FOX multitool, in a special edition for Italian Army (Esercito Italiano). An improvised 2 ½ hours long after-work hike and unexpected beauty! Many times its not needed to travel exotic places or embark in very long trips; sometimes nature can be enjoined by just walking around the corner. Just to share. Take care.
). The beaches are generally rocky and blocky and lined almost exclusively of hardwood forest with different species of trees such as alder, ash, aspen, beech, oak and birch, mixed with conifers such as spruce and pine. Along the rocky and brushy beaches often grow bog myrtle. The lake has many islands and peninsulas, large and small. In the forest and the shore zones are a very diverse insect and bird life. I spotted myself a woodpecker and few ospreys and loons. No knives with me this time, only my SOG/FOX multitool, in a special edition for Italian Army (Esercito Italiano). An improvised 2 ½ hours long after-work hike and unexpected beauty! Many times its not needed to travel exotic places or embark in very long trips; sometimes nature can be enjoined by just walking around the corner. Just to share. Take care.
