100 Nature adventures in Southwest Jutland Idea and Text: Marco Brodde 3 The Wadden 53 Cranberries 100 nature adventures in Southwest Jutland 4 The oystercatcher 54 Sundew When we are outdoors, we are enriched by our knowledge of what we are 5 The laver spire shell 55 Reed sumps 6 The conch 56 The fritillary butterflies seeing and experiencing. “What is this?” we ask ourselves and each other 7 The hermit crab 57 The alcon blue when we run into something we cannot identify. We have a built-in desire to 8 The razor shell 58 The grayling know its name although that may not be the most significant issue. What is 9 Sandflats 59 The six-spot burnet especially significant is the extra dimension added to our experience when 10 Langjord 60 Reindeer moss 11 Keld Sand 61 The parasol mushroom we know the why and wherefore behind its history. “Why does that plant 12 Peter Meyers Sand 62 Nymindegab grow here?” and “Why is the landscape shaped this way?” We do not have to 13 Søren Jessens Sand 63 Golden Chanterelle be experts to share our joy and fascination about the wonder of nature, its 14 Skallingen 64 Leaf dunes many species, incredible adaptations and exciting history. 15 Langli 65 Vrøgum Kær The idea behind the 100 nature experiences in Southwest Jutland is to 16 Salt meadows 66 The sand wasp 17 Hønen 67 Sea-buckthorn stimulate the reader’s curiosity. The short stories are meant as inspiration for 18 Common salt marsh grass 68 Lactarius deliciosus your trip through the countryside, not as an encyclopedic reference work 19 Cord-grass 69 Russula Paludōsa for, if so, 100 species, places and phenomena would barely be enough. The 20 The glasswort 70 Sølsted Mose collection covers the most typical Southwestern Jutlandic landscapes plus 21 The sea starwort 71 The bogs close to Vejen 22 Sea Lavender 72 Dragonflies selected species of animals, birds and plants. The stories have been found 23 Scurvy grass 73 The garlic toad throughout the municipalities of Fanø, Tønder, Vejen and Esbjerg. We could 24 The natterjack toad 74 Grebes have written 100 stories about the dunes and their nature or about 100 25 Yellow Meadow ants 75 Kongeåen species of birds. But this is a guide meant to convey something about the 26 Stormengene 76 Åtte Bjerge nature and the diversity in the Southwestern Jutlandic landscape rather 27 Amber 77 Slippery jack 28 The Rømø Dike 78 Klelund Plantage than a complete encyclopedic reference work. We have focused on the spe- 29 Sneum Digesø 79 The common cies and the phenomena that are reasonably easy to find and experience 30 The harbor seal 80 Præstesø even having without extensive prior knowledge. The maps attached to the 31 The grey seal 81 The common reed different stories are meant as a guide. You can, for example, experience the 32 Pacific oysters 82 Lizards 33 The road to Mandø 83 The adder oyster catcher most everywhere in the open country or along the coast, but 34 Birds along Låningsvejen 84 Munkesø and Nørbæk the maps show you the most likely places and thus help you on your way. 35 The knot 85 Jels forests and lakes The guide is intended for the local inhabitants, the tourist trade and the 36 Blåvands Huk 86 The roe deer guests visiting the region. 37 The gannet 87 The red deer The 100 stories were created as a cooperative venture between Destination 38 Sea fog 88 Marbæk 39 Jellyfish 89 Dravad forest Sydvestjylland, Fanø Erhvervs- and Turistråd and the Fisheries and Maritime 40 Ducks mourning along the coast 90 The crane Museum, the Saltwater Aquarium, Esbjerg. 41 The sea mouse 91 Nørholm forest and heath 42 The porpoise 92 Gram lergrav Marco Brodde / Nature Guide at the Fisheries and Maritime Museum 43 The houting 93 Gamst lake 44 Ribe Østerå 94 Filsø 45 Holme Å 95 Varde Å The project 46 The kingfisher 96 The barn-owl is sponsored by: 47 The otter 97 The Montagu’s Harrier 48 Nørresø 98 The White-tailed Eagle 49 The Atlantic dune heath 99 Margrethe Kog 50 The nightjar 100 Yellow-billed swans 51 Wet dune hollows 101 Arctic geese 52 Bog adders’ mouth 102 Black Sun Layout: Mette Lehmann Although the amount and the level of nutrients are quite high, the species 3 must fight over the space and must be adapted to the given conditions. Conditions vary strongly dependent on where on the Wadden you are. First Henne and foremost, the species must be able to survive the many hours without water. This is why most of the mussels in the Wadden Sea dig down into the Blåvand Varde sand. The common mussel, which does not live in sand, must live on the edge of the larger tidal flood channels, where there is water several hours more than closer to the coast. Esbjerg Vejen Where the current is strong, the turbulence constantly transports large amounts of sand. Every single grain of sand is washed clean. Such a dynamic Fanø place is too extreme for most species that thrive on less turbulence and a certain amount of silt sedimentation, which is partly composed organic Ribe matter. Here, the denseness of the bottom feeders (benthos) is very high Mandø and can be counted in thousands per square meter. When we compare the The possibilities for biomass in different habitats, we do not actually count animals. Instead, walking on the tidal we weigh the so-called dissolved nutrients: dry, animal substances. On the flats vary a great deal Rømø depending on the Wadden, we typically find 25grams of dissolved nutrients per square meter, local conditions. The which is far more than what is found elsewhere in nature. sandy and therefore hard packed tidal flats surrounding the islands Clearly, the animal density is quite high, but the species richness is low. The are the most acces- habitat makes many demands on the animals and only the specialists that sible, whereas the soft can handle draining, huge fluctuations in temperature, ice packing, strong Tønder mudflats along the mainland coast are dif- currents, sanding up and so on, belong on the bottom of the Wadden Sea. ficult to walk on. The Wadden Where only specialists survive. The Wadden Sea landscape is made up of many different elements, e.g., dunes, marsh and heath. Of course, it is the drained ocean floor that, if anything, characterizes the Wadden Sea. The so-called Wadden is the term used for the part of the ocean floor that is exposed during the low tide. At first sight, the Wadden looks dead and uniform, but nothing could be further from the truth. Most of the animals live buried in the sandy ocean floor and have adapted to the huge fluctuations in temperature, current and moisture. The number of animals living in the Wadden is ten times the number gener- ally found in the ocean floor. The low water level plus the large amount of sunlight, results in a very large production of plankton, and it is the plankton that comprises the base of the wide food web structure in the food chain. Photo: Marco Brodde This is hard on the bill and makes it blunt, thus creating a real chisel-like 4 form, which is actually better suited for opening mussels. In the breeding 5 season, the oystercatcher lives off worms found in meadows and fields and Henne the bill again grows to a fine point much more suitable for sticking into the ground. Blåvand Varde Up to 50,000 oystercatchers can gather together in the Danish Wadden Sea during the late summer. During high tide, the birds assemble in so-called high tide picnic areas, typically sandflats or foreshore areas. Esbjerg Vejen Opposite Sønderho on Fanø, it is possible, during the month of August, to Fanø observe up to 20,000 oystercatchers close together at high tide. The oyster- catcher is a hardy bird. Several thousands of them overwinter in the Wadden Ribe Sea, even with the ice encroaching. Mandø On cold days, when the easterly winds from Siberia chills you to the bone, you can see the oystercatchers standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the bill Rømø under a wing and the snowflakes blowing across the back. What far away looks like a singular black mass are actually oystercatchers fighting the cold by staying closely together. This fellow-feeling aimed at keeping warm does not extend to the weakest, for they are kept down by the strongest and directed to the worst feeding areas and to the outer circumference of the Tønder flock. The omnipresent oystercatcher The oystercatcher is the Faroese national bird but, for all that, if the Wadden Sea should have a mascot, it would have to be the very same oystercatcher. No matter where you go, there it is. You will see it either as a breeding bird in the meadows or in huge migratory flocks along the coasts. The oystercatcher is not a magpie, which is an entirely different family of ravens. But its black and white feather coat, so like the magpies with the same contrast-rich coat, is the reason for its name. Outside the breeding season, the oystercatcher lives off mussels which it opens by hammering the mussel to pieces, and then “chiseling” away at the meat. Photo: John Frikke reversion of the current. Still, a little of it manages to settle on the sea floor in 5 exactly the span of time when the water turns and the current velocity is the lowest.