Butterflies & Moths
Apollo and 10 species of Blue, Mid July
Central Sweden offers a big variety of Scandinavian Butterfly species, several of which have a very restricted distribution range in Europe.
On this trip
Poplar Admirals, Apollo, Woodland Brown, Scarce Copper, Friggas–, Heath–, and 12 other species of Fritillaries and
11 species of Blue can be seen!
You will be guided by some of Sweden´s most skilled Butterfly experts, known not only for their expertise, but also their enthusiasm in sharing their knowledge.
A majority of the nights we stay at Sätra Brunn Spa & conference hotel in a rural setting nearby the Black River Valley.
From here we do excursions, trying to spend as much daytime as possible in the field with the butterflies. Lunch is usually taken as a picnic on a charismatic place where we can enjoy butterflies and the scenery as we eat. Some of the days we move up to 2 hours by car/ bus to reach certain sites.
Svartådalen is also a very good birding area and we can count on seeing birds like Black Terns, Common Cranes, White-tailed Eagle and Honey Buzzard.
Day 1
Afternoon arrival to
Västerås
Airport 14:50
Pick-nick sandwiches and hot/ cold drinks in a forest clearing with plenty of butterflies on the grassy meadows. We might even start off with seeing some ”leking parties” of
Silver-studded Blues on the gravel road.
This first afternoon we start with getting aquainted with Svartådalen - the Black River Valley -and its grasslands and wetlands, where we enjoy an afternoon walk to look for
Purple-edged Coppers and
False Heath Fritillaries.
Lesser Marbled– and
Small
Pearl-bordered Fritillary can also be seen.
Check in at hotel.
Dinner and night at
Sätra
Brunn Spa & conference hotel
If the weather conditions are right we put up a mercury lamp in the hotel garden to attract moths. Plenty of species have been seen in the area.
Day 2
Breakfast at
Sätra Brunn 09.00
We spend the day in coniferous forest habitats nearby with small lakes and gravel roads with practically no traffic and lots of flowers and butterflies alongside.
Large and beautiful
Poplar Admirals
often comes down on the mud puddles on the roads, offering excellent
photo opportunities.
Relaxing picknick lunch by a small lake with
Black-throated Divers.
A wide variety of Fritillaries can be seen in the same area and
we have chance of seeing up to 9 different species, including
Heath-, Cranberry
–, Small pearl-bordered–, Silverwashed–, High
Brown –, Dark Green –, and
Lesser
Marbled Fritillary.
We continue northwards to boglands in the pineforest-dominated Bergslagen
area just north of us, where the target species are
Baltic Grayling, Large Heath, Northern Grizzled Skipper, Friggas Fritillary
and
Moorland Clouded Yellow.
Several of these northern species are on the southern boundary of their distribution here. A day in exploring spirit. These areas are not very well known in terms of butterfly presence, but has a lot of potential, lying on the south border of the distribution range for several northern species.
Dinner and night at
Sätra Brunn Spa & conference hotel
Day 3
Breakfast at
Sätra Brunn 08.00
09.00 Excursion to the Uppland coastal area (2 hour drive) with
the chance of seeing up to
10 species
of Blue in one single day. For instance
Geranium,
Silvery and
Northern Brown Argus.
The area holds a very good variety of Scandinavian butterfly species,
including
Large Grizzled Skipper, Black-veined White, False Heath Frittillary
and the chance of
Broad-bordered Bee Hawkmoths
hovering like tiny hummingbirds over the flowers surrounding us.
Picknic lunch in the field.
After a full days ”butterflying” we return to
Sätra
Brunn for dinner at a decent time.
Maybe a relaxing hour in the hot pool and sauna would appeal as well.
Dinner and night at
Sätra Brunn Spa & conference hotel
Day 4
Breakfast at
Sätra Brunn 08.00
09.00 Departure for Strängnäs area (2 hour drive) with
Large Blue butterflies as target
species. We enjoy the picknic lunch at viking grave-fields on a
ridge with beautiful views over the countryside and plenty of butterflies,
for instance
Purple-edged and
Scarce
Copper and 2-3 species of
Burnet
Moths.
A bit further south – around the very picturesque smalltown
Trosa we find the mainland core area for the impressively large
and beautiful
Apollo butterflies.
We spend the afternoon looking for them and in the process we´ll
find locally common
Meadow Brown, Silver-spotted
Skipper and more.
Dinner and night in
Trosa Stadshotel. For once we take the opportunity to take part in some streetlife in this pretty little town by the canal, with wooden houses painted in many colours, every second one of which seem to have a bar, restaurant or open-air café.
Day 5
Breakfast at
Trosa hotel 09.00
We spend the first part of the day at excellent site Långmaren in a traditional, Swedish farming landscape and plenty of butterflies including
Niobe
Fritillary, Scarce Copper and 3 species of
Burnett
Moths. Apollos might turn up again. This is also the core
area for one of Swedens most rare insects – the
Rattle Grasshopper (Psophus stridulus). A rather
big, black grasshopper with red wings and a drumming display sound(!)
After lunch we continue west towards Östergötland, where we will wonder in a beautiful, open oak tree forest, the habitat of eastern, rare and carismatic Woodland Brown butterflies.
We spend the night at a very special lodge, consisting of beautiful, wooden houses – each individually designed and… handmade(!). They´re all situated in the clearing of an open deciduous forest, and is known by the name of ”the Eremitage”.
Of course we´ll try our mercury lamps here as well.
Dinner and night at the
Eremitage.
Day 6
Breakfast at the Eremitage 08.00
We allow ourselves a slow start in these beautiful surroundings. Feel free to enjoy Butterflies and flowers or just take a walk down to the lake and have a swim. This is Swedish right-to-roam-countryside as indigenous and unspoilt as it comes. After this relaxing start, we set off to enjoy the scenic surroundings of Omberg, a ridge overviewing large lake Vättern with plenty of Orchids and Butterflies. After lunch transfer back north towards Svartådalen.
Relaxing free time at the Sätra brunn spa.
Dinner and night at
Sätra Brunn spa & conference hotel
Day 7
Breakfast at
Sätra Brunn 09.00
This last day we spend around the Black River Valley forests &
wetlands to look for any of the species of the area that we might
not have seen or would like to see again, like
Poplar Admirals, Scarce– and
Purple-edged
Coppers, Heath– and
False Heath Fritillaries.and more.
Lunch at
Sätra
Brunn
Transfer to
Västerås
Airport
Departure at 15:15
It is possible to see 60 species of Butterflies on this trip, 11 species of Blue and 13
species of Fritillaries.
Mammals:
Although mammals are not in focus on this trip, mammals are often seen on the
excursions. Moose, Roe Deer, Red Deer, Red Fox, Field & Mountain Hare, Red
Squirrel, to mention but a few. Other animal species that roam in the area, but are
rarely seen: Lynx, Wolf, Wild Boar, Beaver, Pine Marten.