03. Horns ”kungsgård” (State demesne) and Hornsjön (lake)
GPS: 57.19203, 16.92353
Horns ”kungsgård” (State demesne) and Hornsjön (lake)
West of Öland’s only real lake, Hornsjön, is the State demesne “Horns Kungsgårds” nature reserve located. This is a beautiful landscape of lush broadleaf forest, interspersed with pastures and sparsely vegetated meadows with pollarded trees.
The reserve’s many small local environments, ranging from dry meadows and scrubland to the swamp forest, reeds and sparse groves of ancient trees, creates the conditions for a rich and diverse nesting bird fauna.
It is mainly the birds in the groves that attract birders in the spring and early summer. Several pairs of collared flycatcher nest along the hiking trail and sometimes are the Eurasian Golden Oriole also heard in May and June.
Along the trail towards “Klosterholmen” is also a bird watching tower. Here is one, for Öland, unusually large area of reed, from where the, so rarely visiting, Great Bittern has been heard a few times.
Directions/Location:
About 3 km SW of Byrums Sandvik, about 5 km NW of Löttorp. From road 136: turn off towards Löttorp and drive west. After 4 km, when you see the road-sign “Horn 2”, follow the road northwards.
GPS coordinates to the parking lot WGS 84 decimal (lat, long): 57.18521 , 16.93898
© Lantmäteriverket, Ur Geografiska Sverigedata, översiktskartan Dnr. 106-2004/188”
Slideshow pictures: Two-barred Crossbill © MT, Hume’s Leaf Warbler © MT, Collared Flycatcher © MT, Red-breasted Flycatcher © MT, Caspian Tern © LL
LL: Lars Lundmark, MT: Markus Tallroth
Source: Ölands Fåglar © Ölands Ornitologiska Förening ÖOF (authors this chapter: Pav Johnsson)
Translation: Visitoland.com
The book: Ölands Fåglar, 496 pages (only in Swedish), can be ordered at Naturbokhandeln
ISBN: 9789188124555