The life of the fjord
Phoca vitulina - the lazy and curious fisherman
Harbour seal or common seal is common in Danish Waters and can be seen all year round. The harbour seal is the only seal that breeds permanently in Denmark.
It lives near the coast with undisturbed sandbanks, reefs and small islands. Here the seal both rests and mates.
Avnø Fjord is an obvious place for seals, where they often lie on the rocky reef about 800 meters from the coast. They can be difficult to spot when they lie on the rocks. But you can recognize them by the fact that they often lie with their heads and hind legs raised.
The seal can grow to be almost as big as an adult. Its length can vary from 145 - 200 cm and its weight from 65 - 140 kg. The seal can live up to 36 years.
The harbour seal is pregnant for 11 months and gives birth to only one pup per year. Unlike other seals, the pup can go into the water right after birth. The pup nurses for a month, after which it must fend for itself. After 3-5 years, the harbor seal is ready to have its own pups.
The seal is not picky, it feeds on all kinds of fish, crustaceans and squid. It uses its eyesight and long whiskers when hunting. With its whiskers, it can feel the waves of fish swimming by. It can hunt down to a depth of 400 meters and at a speed of up to 35 km/h.
The seal can hold its breath underwater for over ten minutes and can store oxygen in its blood. It can also lower its heart rate and pulse to a tenth of normal, so it can stay underwater for longer.
Anser anser
Wingspan: 147 - 180 cm
The greylag geese often fly in a V-formation to reduce air resistance. They can fly thousands of kilometers without stopping. You can recognize greylag geese by their pink feet and bright forewings that almost sparkles in sunny weather.
Ardea cinerea
Wingspan: 175 - 195 cm
The Grey heron breeds in treetop colonies. It lays its eggs in the early spring and happily reuses the nest year after year.
The Grey herons sixth cervical vertebrae is extra long, which allows it to swallow fish as large as 30 cm.
Lepidium latifolium
Height: 50 - 100 cm
Virginia pepperweed, broadleaved peppergrass, perennial pepperweed or tall whitetop are other names.
This plant belongs to the mustards family. It is an important host and food for the Eastern Bath White, which is a rare sight in Denmark. Broadleaved pepperweed has been used as herbal medicine since the middle ages.
Haematopus ostralegus
Length: 40 - 45 cm
When mating season arrives, the Oystercatcher gathers to dance and fly in the bright nights and early morning hours. The play the music themselves though swift series of ”bli-bli-bli” and ”kabik, kabik, kabik”.
Phalacrocorax carbo
Length: 85 – 90 cm
On the hunt for a Eelpout or Goby, the Cormorant slices thorugh the water and catches the fish with its special hooked beak.
The amazing swimming skills are due to the feather coat not being water repellant, which is also the reason that the Cormorant to dry out its wings in the wind afterwards.
Gasterosteus aculeatus
Length: 8 - 9 cm
The Stickleback can survive in even the smallest pond as well as far out in the ocean – it can even breed in both freshwater and brackish water. The male builds the spawn ground and watches over the spawn and fry the first week after hatching.
Zoarces viviparus
Length: 30 - 50 cm
The Eelpout gives birth to live young and is the only fish whose offspring suckle before being born. However, that is not why it was once called the “eel-mother.” The name came from the old belief that it was the “mother” of the European eel, though they are not related at all.
Neogobius melanostomus
Length: 10 - 25 cm
The Round goby originally comes from the Black Sea but has spread to Danish coastal waters, rivers, and lakes. Here it feeds on shrimp, mussels, and snails, while it can itself be eaten by fish and birds.
Cygnus cygnus
Wingspan: 220 – 240 cm
The whooper swan comes to Denmark in winter, where it flees the cold north and east. It is a very "talking and singing" swan, and can be recognized by its yellow beak as opposed to the mute swan's red beak.
Haliaeetus albicilla
Length: 70 - 100 cm
The white-tailed eagle sits patiently on poles or in trees, waiting for prey to catch. The female is the largest and can weigh up to seven kilograms.
Mergus merganser
Length: 58 - 66 cm
The common merganser can hunt in flock. The birds swim side by side with their heads underwater, looking for prey before launching joint attacks on small fish.
Syngnathus typhle
Length: 25 - 35 cm
This peculiar fish is related to the seahorse. As with the seahorse, it is the male that is pregnant. The deep snouted pipefish is not a particularly strong swimmer, but on the other hand it has an armor of scales, and it is good at hiding.
Fucus vesiculosus
Height: 20 – 100 cm
Bladderwrack acts a bit like the trees of the forest, as it provides an important hiding place and habitat for the organisms on the coasts. It acts as a hiding place from predators, provides shelter in severe weather, is an important source of food for the "herbivores" and produces oxygen through photosynthesis.
Spinachia spinachia
Length: 15 - 25 cm
The male builds a nest of algae, which is held together with blue "slime threads". If the female likes the nest, she lays her eggs in it. If not, she destroys it and swims on. The female dies after she has laid eggs.
Carcinus maenas
Width: 5-6 cm
The shore crab's powerful shield prevents it from growing larger, so the shore crab sheds its shield at regular intervals. While it sheds its shield, it can also regenerate a leg or claw that it has previously been torn off.
Pomatoschistus minutus
Length: 8 - 12 cm
The sand goby weighs only 1-2 grams, lives near the seabed and can burrow itself down so that only the head is visible. The prey is quickly snatched when it comes by, but only if there are no predatory fish around to eat the sand goby.
Crangon crangon
Length: 5 - 8 cm
Well hidden in the sand with only the antennas sticking up, the brown shrimp hides. By nightfall, it comes out to eat. If you cook it, it will stay brown and won't turn red like other shrimp.
Zostera marina
Height: 20 – 200 cm
Both Danish names for Zostera marina, “bændeltang” and “ålegræs”, come from the plant's resemblance to a narrow band (tape) and the eel's skin. It is a flowering plant that resembles grass on land, and it is not related to algae or seaweed.
The life of the salt meadow
Haliaeetus albicilla
Wingspan: 200 - 260 cm
The white-tailed eagle sometimes known as the "sea eagle", rules the skies over Avnø. Virtually all other birds get nervous when the white-tailed eagle flies over Avnø. Geese and waders take flight, while coots and ducks gather in dense flocks on the water.
Alauda arvensis
Wingspan: 30 - 36 cm
Listen and look up. High up, the skylark hangs and sings merrily. The song is very varied, and the skylark can imitate the song of other birds.
If you get close to the skylark's nest, which is directly on the ground, the brown bird will use itself as bait and only take off at the last minute. If eggs or young are taken, the female lays new eggs.
Hirundo rustica
Wingspan: 30 - 35 cm
The barn swallow feeds on large insects, which it catches while flying. When the humidity rises, the insects fly low, and so do the barn swallows. That is why it is said that when the swallows fly low, it is a sign of rain.
Vanellus vanellus
Wingspan: 70 - 76 cm
The lapwing flies in its beautiful black-and-white plumage, pale pink legs and large dark eyes over the open country. It keeps an eye out for enemies, which it tries to scare away with loud, plaintive noises and acrobatic flight.
Asio Flammeus
Wingspan: 90 - 105 cm
The short-eared owl is one of Avnø's frequent guests and one of the few owls that are active during the day. It has a bouncing butterfly-like flight pattern. The owl's plumage emits an ultraviolet light by which the owls can recognize each other.
Tringa totanus
Length: 24 - 28 cm
Common redshanks form pairs that can last a lifetime. It flies with its red legs stretched out from its tail with a loud and scolding "djy - djy - hyy" – an almost never ending sound.
Recurvirostra avosetta
Length: 42 - 45 cm
The Pied avocet is a large black and white wader in the avocet and stilt family. It has webbed feet between its toes, which makes it a skilled swimmer. Its danish name "klyde" derives from the sound it makes "klyt – klyt", which is especially heard if you approach its nest.
Spatula clypeata
Length: 44 – 52 cm
The Northern shovelers circle around in the water to swirl up the food while letting their beaks glide through the water. The large, shovel-shaped beak has fringes and slats inside that sort out the food – just like in baleen whales.
Anas platyrhynchos
Length: 50 - 65 cm
In winter, the male is particularly recognizable and beautiful with his delicately colored plumage, which is used to court the females. The male follows the female until she begins to incubate the eggs, and then he disappears.
Lepus europaeus
Length: 48 - 70 cm
The European hare or Brown hare is Denmark's fastest mammal with a top speed of 80 km/h. Its ears move when it chews, and its eyes are positioned so that it can keep an eye on the entire horizon.
Pelophylax esculentus
Length: 4.5 - 10 cm
This whistling toad is rare because it lacks safe habitats. The green toad loves small ponds without plants close to the beach, which is why Avnø is important to it. It can tolerate water with a salt content of up to eight parts per thousand.
Zygaena lonicerae
Wingspan: 30 - 41 mm
The Narrow-bordered five-spot burnet is a moth of the family Zygaenidae. As a defense, it can secrete hydrocyanic acid, which is toxic to birds. It forms hydrocyanic acid from two chemical substances that it gets when it eats plants.
Knautia arvensis
Height 30 – 80 cm
Field Scabious is an important food source for the flying insects on Avnø, as it blooms from June to September. Its small seeds are spread via ants.
Field Scabious and Sea thrift colour the meadow violet with their fine flowers.
Circus cyaneus
Wingspan: 100 - 115 cm
In winter, the beautiful Hen harrier can be seen over Avnø's salt meadow. It can be recognized by the five dark wingtips that can be seen when it flies slowly and low over the ground with its wings raised high in search of prey.
Falco tinnunculus
Wingspan: 70 - 75 cm
You often see it hanging completely still in the air while it looks for mice on the ground. It looks for the mice's urine, which emits ultraviolet light.
In one season, a common kestrel family can eat 3,500 mice.
Anas acuta
Length: 52 - 75 cm
The Northern pintail gets its name from the long, black, pointed tail feathers, which can grow up to 10 cm long during the breeding season. When it flies, it is distinguished from other ducks by its special, thin tail and its slender body.
Mareca penelope
Length: 45 - 50 cm
The Eurasian Wigeon feeds on aquatic plants both in fjords and lakes, and it can also be seen grazing in flocks along the lake shore as "mini cows". The Eurasian wigeon has a loud, sudden, and distinctive whistle, which gave rise to its Danish name, directly translated as “piping duck.”
Tadorna tadorna
Length: 55 - 65 cm
Shelducks live in pairs, and they work together to defend their feeding territory and nest. The couple's 8-10 eggs, which are laid in burrows from foxes, for example, are also hatched, raised and defended together by the pair.
Branta leucopsis
Length: 58 - 70 cm
On a good day, you can observe flocks of up to 5.000 barnacle geese on Avnø. If all or part of the flock is lifted, a characteristic bark is heard, and if you look up, the white-tailed eagle may be the reason why the barnacle geese take off.
Anser anser
Length: 75 - 90 cm
The greylag goose feeds mainly on grass like the cow. However, since it cannot fly with a filled stomach, it only digests the grass halfway, and the food only stays in the intestine for one hour. Therefore, the greylag goose is almost always in the process of eating to get enough energy.
Capreolus capreolus
Length: 100 - 140 cm
The roe deer is the smallest and most common deer in Denmark. The male is a “real buck”, as he mates with several females. The deer browse the trees from below at a height of about one meter, leaving the lower branches open so you can see beneath the crowns.
Pelophylax esculentus
Size: 5.5 - 11 cm
The females are the largest, but it is the males that you can hear singing loudly from May to mid-July. In France, frog legs are eaten – often from this frog hence the name Edible frog. In Denmark, the frog is protected, but that does not prevent the frogs from eating each other.
Vulpes vulpes
Height: 35 - 50 cm
The red fox often hunts small rodents and worms in dense vegetation. With its acute hearing, the red fox can tune in on its preys location. It then leaps high into the air and lands on the prey with its front paws – a real fox jump.
Perdix perdix
Size: 28 - 32 cm
Avnø is an important habitat for the grey partridge. Here, the chicks can find insects, and the adults can eat fresh shoots and seeds. The grey partridge only flies when absolutely necessary, for example if it is frightened.
Coenonympha pamphilus
Wingspan: 24 - 34 mm
This colorful butterfly flies around from May to October. The Small Heath is an inconspicuous butterfly that flies only in sunshine and rarely settles more than a metre above the ground. The male defends a territory around a bush. When a fine female comes by, he flies out and releases scents that make the female willing to mate.
Armeria maritima
Height: 10 – 30 cm
In the summer, the sea thrift or sea pink paints the salt meadow light purple with its fine, small fragrant flowers. If you like, you can weave a flower wreath from the stems. Perhaps you have also seen it on the roadside on the highway, where it thrives due to road salt.
Aeshna juncea
Wingspan: 88 - 96 mm
The common hawker, moorland hawker or sedge darner is a large dragonfly with a beautiful mosaic pattern. It can flap its wings up and down 20 times per second and can fly at up to 30 kilometers per hour. It flies from July to October. The female can play dead to fool the males.