A Story About Blueberries - _TNY_7531
During a trip to Lake Kvarnsjön in the Lännaskogen nature reserve, just south of Stockholm, Sweden, my family decided it was time to pick some bilberries. Now, if you ask a Swede what a bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) is, they most likely won't have a clue as everybody think the berry in question is called blueberries. These are actually not the same though and blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum) are the North American version which are larger and grow on taller shrubs - but taste less.
Interestingly, when walking through the forest to this lake, I found quite a lot of blueberry shrubbery (ie the North American variety) interspersed with the bilberries. I have no idea how they got there, but it was certainly enough of them to make the claim that they were established.
Hats of to you if you made it this far into the description and I bet you would like to know why I ramble on about berries here.
Well, while they were picking bilberries, I instead walked around with the camera and came across this lovely female European garden spider (Araneus diadematus) trying to look invisible on a pine branch.
As a matter of fact, this is a species which has made the opposite migration across the Atlantic to the blueberries and is now an established species in the U.S. as well as both Canada and Mexico.
This particular specimen had both a very distinct yellow patch around the central four eyes as well as exceptionally spiky legs.
A Story About Blueberries - _TNY_7531
During a trip to Lake Kvarnsjön in the Lännaskogen nature reserve, just south of Stockholm, Sweden, my family decided it was time to pick some bilberries. Now, if you ask a Swede what a bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) is, they most likely won't have a clue as everybody think the berry in question is called blueberries. These are actually not the same though and blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum) are the North American version which are larger and grow on taller shrubs - but taste less.
Interestingly, when walking through the forest to this lake, I found quite a lot of blueberry shrubbery (ie the North American variety) interspersed with the bilberries. I have no idea how they got there, but it was certainly enough of them to make the claim that they were established.
Hats of to you if you made it this far into the description and I bet you would like to know why I ramble on about berries here.
Well, while they were picking bilberries, I instead walked around with the camera and came across this lovely female European garden spider (Araneus diadematus) trying to look invisible on a pine branch.
As a matter of fact, this is a species which has made the opposite migration across the Atlantic to the blueberries and is now an established species in the U.S. as well as both Canada and Mexico.
This particular specimen had both a very distinct yellow patch around the central four eyes as well as exceptionally spiky legs.