Uncle Henry´s Universe.

The chance or
risk, depending on how you see it, to encounter a polar bear near Longyearbyen
this time of year is probably as good as non-existent. But only almost! They
have four legs and like to hike, so you can never be absolutely sure, suddenly stand
exception there breathing down your neck. Therefore it is best to stay within
the safe range, at least without armament.

This year we
wanted to do something extra on the summer solstice, it became kayaking in the
Arctic. Only a small day trip, but still, pretty awesome! Advent fjord in
Longyearbyen is located at 78.13 degrees north, so it’s a bit of traveling but
it was really worth it!

The landscape is
wild and enchanting beautiful. Northern Fulmars glide past on stiff wings, only
a few meters away from the kayak, eider and long-tailed ducks resting in the
coves and snow buntings sing intensive from the beach. A quite long and
enjoyable observation of an adult ivory gull, round off the day.

The beaches are
full of driftwood from Siberia, a lot of plastic waste from the world’s oceans,
aircraft remnants from the war and rusty relics from abandoned coal mines.
Nothing to come before 1946 may be moved or removed, it counts as cultural
heritage.

A fantastic day
trip with MS Langöysund gave, among other things, steep bird cliffs, bearded
seal, a large family of Beluga whale and not the least; a loud popping ancient
piece of glacier ice in the whiskey!

The endemic
Svalbard reindeer, a separate subspecies of reindeer that overwintered the last
ice age in the islands, is a charming and quite fearless little chubby thing
that you suddenly can meet on the street, when you go to shop in the village.

The local
supermarket provides gun cabinets directly inside the front door; they do not
want anyone carrying weapons in the store, civilized in any way 😉

From the
middle of Sweden and north, you can now see a gray-brown butterfly patrol
around the sunlit pine trunks in the mire landscape. It’s the Baltic Grayling (Oeneis jutta), a species in the subfamily
Satyrinae with a circumboreal distribution. It occurs in bogs and tundra in the
north of Europe, the Baltic States, the Urals, Siberia, Northern Kazakhstan,
the Russian Far East, Northern Mongolia, Northeastern China, North Korea and
North America. (In Canada it occurs from Newfoundland to British Columbia.)

In Sweden,
it flies from early June to mid-July every two years, so you could not see it
last year and will not be able to see it next. It flies only in even years, so
take the opportunity; the next time will be in 2018!

The
butterfly often starts at the root and then flits rapidly upwards along the
stem, sometimes up into the crown of the smaller pines before popping down to
the next pine and continues.

Flights
season varies in different places in the world. In Canada, for example, Baltic
Grayling flies from late May
to mid-June in eastern Ontario, from late June to late July at Churchill, and
into August in Newfoundland and Labrador. It is biennial, flying in even years
in southwest Manitoba and the west and mainly in odd years from southeastern
Manitoba eastward; at Churchill and in the Mer Bleue bog near Ottawa it flies
every year.

This year
seems to be a pretty bad year for the golden eagle, at least in the central
parts of Sweden. In Värmland, we have only found one successful breeding so
far, in which a fairly large and nice kid has been ringed.

In addition
to weighing and measuring, takes bird ringers now also blood sample for DNA
analysis. Here is the “Lord of the Rings” in place in the nest for sampling.

Big feet
and sharp claws, they have the resources, yet they are surprisingly calm and
kind while they are handled.

This time
of year, nature is like one big nursery. It is a lovely time to gently roam
around. Listening and watching, with all senses open to impressions.

At one
point during the nineties, in the middle of June, I ended up by chance only a
few meters from two wolf pups. They were quite busy, playing with a bone from a
moose calf, the adult wolves left with them. They quarreled almost silently and
very gently, the only sound that could be heard was a little panting breathing
and occasional, puffing snort sound.

One of the
puppies discovers me almost immediately and sneak away, the other continues
energetically its struggle with the bone. It pries and hauls snorts and puffs
but barely manage to dislodge the bone without the other’s help.

It tire of
after a period of struggle and put a sudden course straight toward me. Detects
me; at first frightened, then curious. Thinking whether I’m friend or foe, and
then strolling slowly away after the sibling who had disappeared under a dense
spruce.

… Yet still
unaware that within a few months it turns into a bloodthirsty beast; hated and
persecuted by humanity.

When the guide
locks the massive steel door behind me, I feel the claustrophobia creeping like
an iron band around the chest. It ceases, however, immediately when she
knowledgeable and committed invites us in an amazingly beautiful world with
stalagmites and stalactites from floor to ceiling. 13 km caverns and halls in
different levels and only one who has the key to the doors – I know who I will
hold in, if the light suddenly goes out!

We got during
our drive through southwest France the opportunity to visit the Grotte de
Villars, something that can really be recommended. It is an amazing and
unforgettable experience. There is forbidden to photograph, therefore I borrow
here some of the resort’s image and hope for forgiveness, given how they are
used.

There are
more known caves, such as Lascaux, where the paintings are of a totally awesome
and unique quality. But if you are content with simpler paintings, so is the
Grotte de Villars a good option. Plus, you get to see the originals, at
Lascaux, you make do with copies. Because of e.g. fungal infestation are
caverns with paintings closed; only a few researchers are permitted to visit
them. The visitors are now referred to the caves with cave painting replicas.

Claw marks
after cave bears that once scratched out a sleeping place from the soft clay.

Cro-Magnon
man painted with manganese oxide mixed with animal fat. Paintings, that still
remains 19,000 years later. With time, however, they will disappear because the
calcium deposits slowly covering them. In the Grotte de Villars is the famous
“man – bison” picture, one of the very rare pictures where man
depicted in pre historic art. (One of two sites in France) I have no good
picture of it so it got to be a small horse instead.

There are
no photos available in the souvenir shop, which nearly describes the experience
that rests in my mind after our walk in the cave system. It must be
experienced. Both my wife and I agree the visit to the cave to one of our
absolute greatest experiences so far in life.

In late
April, early May, my wife and I traveled by car through France to enjoy the
early spring and play a week in the sand, with the kite and paraglider.

60 million
m³ of sand! Very fine-grained, soft as flour, wondering if I’ll ever get rid of
it. It will probably follow my equipment for a long time to come.

Dune de
Pilat is the largest sand dune in Europe, located along the Atlantic coast, at
La Teste-de-Buch, 60 km southwest of Bordeaux. It´s almost 3 km long, 500
meters wide and 110 meters high at the highest point.

Foret des
Landes, east of the sand dune is the largest maritime-pine forest in Europe.
10,000 square kilometers planted by man for forestry and for stopping the sand.
(Which still moves about 5 meters inland per year!)

Laminar
winds and the large soft sandy surface, free from all forms of obstacles, make
the area a paradise for paragliders. Here you can train different start
techniques, perform balance exercises and other ground handling.

Here you
can also get very nice flight time.

It was a
useful week for me and my new paraglider.

It has been
a varied week both in weather and tasks. Mostly overcast conditions, when it
has been tracked wolves and wolverines, but also fine sunshine with good
sightings of golden eagles. Only a few degrees below zero at night and a few
degrees above zero in the daytime. Spring is on its way.

One morning
we heard the raven crying outside our cabin, nothing unusual, but it was much
closer than it usually is. It turned out that two wolves during the night, had
killed and eaten, one of the roe deer that terrorize our garden. (I take care
of some small sallow trees grown especially given the bumblebees in the spring.
And who was munching on them last week, if not precisely these roe deer! But as
you all know, crime does not pay and this time got the bad guy to pay with
life!) If we had woken up and looked out the window, down the river, we had
been able to see what happened. But oooh no. We slept sooo well! (It would have
been interesting to see, but it was certainly too dark anyway.)

There is
not much left of a roe deer when two hungry wolves taking a midnight snack.

Some days
later, a moose cow with her two calves passed the place, (yes … we have a new
moose cow with calves discovered the charm of our garden!) she showed great
interest in the wolf tracks and tracked them for a short distance. I have seen
this behavior several times before during tracking, but this was the first time
I saw it happen. Maybe she tried to judge when the wolves passed and which
direction they took. She seemed very suspicious.

Now it is a
difficult time for me and my dear colleagues. Not yet finished with wolf
tracking when the golden eagle demands attention. Frustrating days comes before
us. When you track wolves, are you thinking about all the eagles who wishes to
be registered and when you are waiting for eagles that never turns out, are you
thinking about all the wolves that wish to be tracked. You are never quite
satisfied.

As we say
every year, it’s a crappy job, but someone has to do it!

It was a
gorgeous day in the wolves’ tracks, with continued course straight into Norway.
I became more and more convinced that it was the Gräsmark couple I followed, but
the response in the form of droppings and urine was not found until late in the
day. (And the test results come first in a week or two.)
They
crossed each lake or river they encountered, and I had to go around according
to the safety rules that we have, and which I support with all my heart. The
ice is very sneaky this winter, so I do not take risks.

Even today
I found a moose killed by wolves and it was also completely eaten. It was an
old moose with much worn teeth. The front teeth in the lower jaw were worse
than I’ve ever seen before.

Wolf pack territory changed between years and overlap at times. When last year I thought I tracked the Kerto pack, DNA analysis showed that it was the Gräsmark pack. In January this year, I once again tracked in exactly the same place, and I thought it was Gräsmark … But it was Kerto! Today I tracked again, in the same place as before, and that should reasonably be Kerto because they ate of the moose they killed in January … but the tracking went to our neighboring country, Norway… And that is Gräsmark territory. Perhaps I will get answer during tomorrow’s tracking.

When the wolves cross the watercourses I have to take me around in some other way. It often makes the walk twice as long. Tracked down to the river and went back the same way, then took the car via Norway into Sweden again, and continued to track when the tracks were found. Wolves do not care for cold water. Wolf trackers do.

There is
not much left of the moose calf that wolves killed in late January. Hungry
wolves, red foxes, raven and one or two golden eagle has had a feast. Voles,
mice and small birds continue partying, and thereafter hand over to insects and
even smaller organisms, the natural cycle.