Trip to Ramsholmen

I made a trip to Ramsholmen forest in Raseborg with my mother. The spring weather hadn't been optimal and unfortunately there weren't as many wood anemones there as usual, but we got to enjoy them anyway. After Ramsholmen, we went to Gullö where thousands of narcissi bloom. The narcissus area is open for two weeks each spring. On the way home, we stopped at Fiskars ironworks and Paikkari cottage.

The photos can be enlarged by clicking.

Published 2019/05/12.

Ramsholmen

Forsythia (Forsythia sp.). There were a lot of these on the yards in Raseborg, but this one was the biggest I saw.

A magnificent Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and the view towards the town when standing next to it.

Park road and the view from the bridge to Ramsholmen island.

Common tern (Sterna hirundo).

Mountain currant (Ribes alpinum).

My mother taking a photo of wood anemones (Anemone nemorosa). There were also yellow anemones (Anemone ranunculoides) here and there. Goofy, who's peeking out of the backpack, always gets to go along on her trips.

A five-leaved herb-paris (Paris quadrifolia). It usually has four leaves, and even the specific epithet of the botanical name means ‘four-leaved’.

A tall common alder (Alnus glutinosa) and a tortoise-shaped burr on its trunk.

The bridge to Högholmen island and the view when crossing it.

The nesting island of great cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis). The trees typically die because of the faeces of the cormorants. The photo was taken from a distance of 1100 metres.

The rock on the shore had some engravings, like this autograph made in 1913.

Fumewort (Corydalis solida) and the leaves of lilies of the valley (Convallaria majalis).

A path bordered by wood anemones and my mother taking a photo of the anemones.

We weren't the only ones admiring the flowers. This photographer went up close with them.

When the day grew warmer, the anemones opened their flowers more.

One of the two trunks of this pine tree had died.

Raseborg

We walked around town for a while before continuing the journey. In Skepparträdgården park there is a bell hanging from poles. Passersby are allowed to ring it. The work of art is called The Finnish Untuned Bell and it is a memorial for the painter Helene Schjerfbeck. It was made by Anne Katrine Dolven.

The same church tower as before, but closer. And even closer.

A beautiful Norway maple (Acer platanoides).

Gullö narcissus path

The path is 500 metres long, and the people of Gullö manor have planted about 35,000 narcissi (Narcissus sp.) there.

There are about 20 narcissus cultivars in the area. In the first flower there is a green hairstreak (Callophrys rubi).

Among the narcissi there were some Balkan anemones (Anemone blanda).

There is a café in an old cowshed. At the start of the path there is this nice little shed.

Fiskars ironworks

There are beautiful buildings in Fiskars village.

And beautiful waterways. The water flowed quite fast.

Magnolia (Magnolia sp.) was blooming.

These were at the Antskog ironworks close by.

Paikkari cottage

I noticed that our route passed the childhood home of Elias Lönnrot, so we went there as well. The museum wasn't open, but the area is freely accessible. Lönnrot lived in this cottage since he was born in 1802 until 1814, when he went to school in Ekenäs. I like this kind of old houses a lot.

A roundpole fence and storages. It would be nice to sleep in a storage like this.

Statue of Lönnrot (by Eino Räsänen, 1952).

On the way back

On the way, we saw three elks (Alces alces) on a field. I had never seen an elk in nature, only in a zoo. They were standing calmly but as soon as I got out of the car to take photos, they ran away. At least I managed to get this photo.

We also stopped at an arboretum of the Natural Resources Institute. There was for example this spruce. It didn't have a name tag, but I'm assuming it to be Picea abies f. tabulaeformis.