Skansen, Stockholm

While on a very short trip to Stockholm with my family we went to see Skansen - the oldest open-air museum in the world. Skansen is also a zoological park. It is located on the island of Djurgarden very close to the city centre. Above is an overall map of the Museum courtesy their website - http://www.skansen.se/
The Skansen has a very interesting mix of a recreated village and a highly specialized zoo. The zoo focuses on only animals/birds found in Scandinavia species that I might never get to see in the wild. Here are a few snaps of the animals I saw there.

Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus)

Eurasian Lynx (Lynx lynx)

European bison (Bison bonasus)

Brown Bear (Ursus arctos)

Was surprised to see this Fox (Vulpes vulpes) inside the bear enclave.

Elk or as they call it in America Moose (Alces alces)

The other great thing about Skansen is the beautiful views it offers of the city and it's surrounding harbour.

And last but not the least the mighty Great Grey Owl (Strix nebulosa)


Here's one more pic of this majestic beauty.


View Larger Map
The above Google map shows the outline of Skansen. You can zoom in to see the park better.

Aquaria @ Stockholm

Also managed to seek in Aquaria while in Stockholm. Though this Aquarium is very small and occupies a very cramped location next to the harbour while on your way back to the city centre from Skansen I have to say that it's the best small Aquarium I have seen yet.
I have seen quite a few Aquariums of similar size (especially in India) and none have such an interesting design layout or ambition.

Check out the above design layout courtesy their website - http://www.aquaria.se/

As one walks thru this tiny Aquarium you see many different habitats.

Starting it a small Rainforest section (with down pours every 15 minutes) all with an nice pond full of tropical fish, tree frogs and also a couple of species of waterbirds.

Next up, a section on the importance of Mangroves, followed by a Marine tank with an artificial coral reef (not pictured). The last indoor section is called the Nordic Waters and is dedicated to local fish life.

And just when you think you're done with it all and you step outside on a nice deck facing the bay you see (what according to me is the best part of the Aquaria) the Fish Ladder.

Over the past years the Aquarium has incubated, raised and successfully released large nos. of Sea Trout. A fish that is know to fight all odds and climb back upstream along small channels of water to go back to it's birth place to lay eggs.And amazingly some of the fish raised here have returned years later to do exactly that.

I think that is a great achievement - to release these fish into the open bay and seas beyond and to see them come back. Here a view of the bay and the city across it (the fish ladder is to the left of the snap connecting the Nordic waters section to the open bay thru a series of small but steep steps of waterfall)

A few common birds from St.Petersburg

I had to contend myself with watching birds from Urban areas or Tourist destinations since I was on strictly family tour. So here what I saw along the river and bay area of this great city.

The super common Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus)

And this one below - I had initially dismissed as the Common tern but on closer inspection it looks like I might just have caught myself another 'lifer' in this Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea)
I came to this conclusion because the rump is white, the underparts are darker and the wing lacks the dark wedge on the outer edge, which is a key identifying feature of common terns.

And these two snaps of the Pied Wagtail also know as the White Wagtail (Motacilla alba), the most common bird in the palace grounds around the city.

Map at the lake

A lifer yet again :) .... today at the Kralingse lake here in Rotterdam I saw this beautiful Map Butterfly (Araschnia levana) .
Though I really find this butterfly beautiful - I have to say that the Common Map (Cyrestis thyodamas) back home in India looks a lot more like a map than this one !!!

Also from the lake today are these two fellows...

Female Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla)

Common Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)

Hedge Accentor

Got another lifer! My first Hedge Accentor (Prunella modularis). Also known as Dunnock, the guide book says that it's the regions only widespread Accentor.
(Thanks Ben van den Broek and others from birds-pix for id help !!)

Southern Hawker

Saw this beautiful - Southern Hawker(Aeshna cyanea) - this morning at a city park in Rotterdam. This female was very cooperative and sat still for a some nice snaps.

Though I have seen this species many times before it was always only zooming past me. This species can fly very fast and for very long periods of time. Finally, today I got it !! :)

Check some nice snaps of this species at - http://www.dragonflysoc.org.uk/frameset.htm?aecya&species&aes

If the Southern Hawker on camera wasn't enough reason to celebrate - I also had a feast with these beautiful butterflies... Also at the same small park next to the Euromast almost in the middle of Rotterdam.

Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)

Large White or Cabbage White (Pieris brassicae) Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)

Comma (Polygonia c-album)

And last but not the least this small blue butterfly - the Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus) - The same species that I was unsure of in the Hague a few months ago ... but this time there is no such doubts.. (Read more about this species @ http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/wildlifegarden/atoz/h/hollybluebuterfly.asp)