Filosofisk Film/Philosophical Films

Projekt Lunndörren            

At the border between Härjedalen and Jämtland, just south of the geographic midpoint of Sweden, one can find a beautiful mountain area that is fairly seldom visited by tourists. It borders to the Vålådalen natural reserve in the north and to mountains nearer Ljungdalen, including Helags, in the west. It consists of a series of so-called U-valleys and a corresponding series of mountain ridges rising to around 1600 meters. The easternmost and most well-known of the valleys is Lunndörren, which in earlier centuries offered an important route for travelling between the two landscapes. However, many think that Storådörren, a few valleys westwards, is the most beautiful of them all, and after my first visit there in 2007 I tend to agree. The whole area is very well described by Tore Abrahamsson in his book Okända fjäll (1992). My project is to document the geography, the fauna and the flora of the Lunndörren area on film and high-quality soundtracks. It will involve many visits there, especially to Storådörren.

This work (and fun) started in the summer of 2011 with two short trips, followed by another short expedition in early June 2012 when the bluethroats were singing and the sun was shining.

During the rest of the summer of 2012 the weather was mostly prohibitive, and in 2013 and 2014 two trips to Vålådalen had priority. See below.

Next visit to Storådörren was in June 2015. That spring was very cold, so there were almost no insects in the mountain area, and very birds (but see below).

After the extremely dry spring and summer of 2018, the weather conditions were better in 2019 when I made the latest trip to Storådörren and the nearby mountain Flatruet.

Some pictures and short movies from these visits follow!

2002 (Lunndörren)

Below is a truly nostalgic picture taken in the northern part of Lunndörren in 2002. Note my ancient tent (Haglöf's Tarfala, from 1974) to the right of my wife Lena! It's still going strong but now has to compete with more modern tents.




Below are some short movies, and a longer one, from later visits to the Lunndörren area and around it.

2011 (Storådörren)

Ring Ouzels (ringtrastar) are known to breed in the higher parts of Storådörren. Here is one that we met in mid-June 2011. Camera: Canon HV-20 with TLH43 tele converter. Windy conditions.



The year of 2011 was a great "lemming year", good for all birds of prey. Below is a hunting Short-Eared Qwl (jorduggla). I am rather sure that the bubbling sound that your hear first, and that becomes stronger a little later, comes from a whimbrel (småspov). The owl's own call is also heard. Camera: Canon HV-20 with TLH43 tele converter. Sorry for the whimsy camera and the many sound artifacts.



Then a short sequence from a family trip in early August 2011. Camera: Canon XL-H1A and Canon HV-20 (the more alpine parts).




The long-tailed jaegers (fjällabb,  Stercorarius longicaudus) were abundant and you saw a glimpse of them in the above video. Here is a longer sequence of the couple that nested near our camp in Storådörren in early August 2011. They watched us closely when we were packing to leave. XL-H1A, standard 20x zoom lens.




2012 (Storådörren)

Link: Reed buntings (sävsparvar, early June 2012)

Link: Bluethroat imitating a reindeer's bell (blåhake som imiterar en renskälla), early June 2012

Next movie is actually only a collection of clips, focussing on bluethroats (Luscinia svecia). Early June 2012. For a detailed description in Swedish of the material click here.




Even more bluethroats can be found here!


2014
(Vålådalen)

Not far from the path from Vålådalen's Fjällstation to Stensdalen, I found a new favourite environment: a tributary to the stream Tvärån.

Here are some inhabitants near the creek: a family of Northern Wheatears (stenskvättor), and some higher up but not far away: two worried Golden Plovers (ljungpipare). Mid-July 2014, camera: Canon XH-A1s (perfect for a solo hike), sound: Telinga Pro 5 with stereo DAT mic. Karta: ©Lantmäteriet Geodatasamverkan, Länsstyrelsen Jämtlands län.

Jag planerar nu (i mars 2024) att göra en lång film om den här turen. Det finns massor av klipp på fåglar, blommor, vatten och berg.




2015 (Storådörren)

As noted above there were few insects in the mountains this spring and practically no passerine birds. But a little pond near the entrance of Storådörren hosted couples of Red-breasted merganser (Mergus serrator, småskrake, not seen here) and Wood sandpiper (Tringa glareola, grönbena). Mid-June 2015, Canon XL-H1A, Telinga mic.




2019 (Storådörren, Flatruet)

Here is small movie from a six days' tour in June 2019 to Storådörren and the nearby, exotic Flatruet, together with my "bonus son" Kristoffer. Few birds, and no lemmings – the last big lemming year being 2011. But I was happy to meet some acquaintances from 2011 and 2015 again. And next time I hope to film the wimbrel (småspov), not only record it. Panasonic GH4 and GH5, mainly handheld, some clips with Telinga mic. The movie has some Swedish text.




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Page updated November 6, 2019