Högenäs orde
A magnificent view
Few places are as lovely as Högenäs orde. From the beacon on the ridge there is a magnificent view of the glittering Baltic Sea and a mild vanilla-like scent of blooming kidney vetch and breckland thyme wafts up from the open pastures in the early summer. It’s a place that is made for an excursion!
Beacons and signalling fires
Orde is the Öland term for a promontory. In the heart of the area, there is a ten-metre high beach embankment with one of Öland’s few remaining beacons. Beacons and signalling fires have sometimes been lit along the Swedish coast to signal danger and beacons have their roots in the time around 500-600 AD. Such beacons are built of both limestone and granite.
Varied pastureland
The land has been used for grazing for many years. The higher areas feature dry open grasslands where western-marsh orchids and early-purple orchids bloom profusely in the spring. The lower areas have predominantly moist soils and tufted meadows, where bird’s-eye primrose thrives, as do a wide variety of orchids, such as military orchids, fragrant orchids, early marsh orchids and fly orchids.
Rich bird life
The grazing pastures around Högenäs orde have a rich bird life, particularly in terms of waders, ducks and gulls. The most common wading birds that breed here include northern lapwings, common redshanks and Eurasian oystercatchers. Somewhat scarcer birds include the Eurasian curlew and the common ringed plover, and even pied avocets appear in some years. Breeding ducks and gulls include common eiders, northern shovellers, tufted ducks, Eurasian coots, Arctic terns and common gulls.
More to discover
There are approximately 15 km of stone walls in the pastures, which were erected after the agricultural reform of 1811 and which are still maintained today. The Källa medieval church is located just north of the reserve and is well worth a visit.
Facts:
Size: 122 ha, (301 acres)
Year of creation: 1972
Purpose: To preserve one of the types of habitat characteristic of Öland’s east coast, with beach embankments projecting out into the sea and grazed pastures in the surrounding area. The area is part of Natura 2000, the EU’s ecological network of protected areas.
Directions/Location:
About 3 km SE of Källa, just over 30 km N Borgholm. Follow route 136 to Källa. Turn off at the sign for “Källa ödekyrka”. From the next crossroads, small blue signs point the way to the Högenäs orde Nature Reserve.
GPS coordinates to the parking lot WGS 84 decimal (lat, long): 57.09004 , 16.97730
Map: Naturcentrum AB, Stenungsund.
Download: the County administrative boards brochure over (in Swedish only) (91 kB): Högenäs Orde
Download: the entire brochure (in Swedish only) (19 MB): Utflyktsguide Öland
© Lantmäteriverket, Ur Geografiska Sverigedata, översiktskartan Dnr. 106-2004/188”
Source: County Administrative Board, Kalmar
Translation: Visitoland.com