Sandskär is an island in the northeast of the Swedish sector of the

Bay of Bothnia The Bothnian Bay or Bay of Bothnia (; ) is the northernmost part of the Gulf of Bothnia, which is in turn the northern part of the Baltic Sea. The land holding the bay is Post-glacial rebound, still rising after the weight of ice-age glaciers has ...

. Once used as a base for fishing and sealing, it is now part of a national park.

Location

Sandskär is the largest island in the

Haparanda Archipelago National Park Haparanda Archipelago National Park ( sv, Haparanda skärgårds nationalpark) is a national park in Haparanda Municipality, Norrbotten County, Sweden. The park covers part of the Haparanda archipelago in the northeast of the Bothnian Bay near ...

( sv, Haparanda skärgårds nationalpark), in the

Haparanda archipelago The Haparanda archipelago ( sv, Haparanda skärgård) is a group of 792 Swedish islands in the north part of the Bay of Bothnia. The islands are used for recreation in the summer months. They are icebound during the winter. Location The north of ...

, to the west of the Finnish

Perämeri National Park Bothnian Bay National Park ( fi, Perämeren kansallispuisto, sv, Bottenvikens nationalpark) is a national park in Lapland, Finland. The park which was established in 1991, covers of which is on land. It is maintained by Metsähallitus. The i ...

. It may be reached from the mainland harbor of

Haparanda Haparanda (; fi, Haaparanta, , aspen shore or bank) is a locality and the seat of Haparanda Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden. It is adjacent to Tornio, Finland. Haparanda had a population of 4,856 in 2010, out of a municipal total of 10,2 ...

in a one-hour boat-trip. The island was once used as a base for fishing Baltic herring and hunting seals. The remains of an old fishing village are still visible. The old chapel has been preserved and may be visited by tourists. Behind it there is a modest graveyard. Sunday visitors still fish for whitefish, whitebait and salmon. The island has a marina, cabins, toilet, sauna and camping area. There is a boardwalk hiking trail.

Terrain

All of the islands in the Haparanda archipelago have emerged in the last 1,500 years or so, as the bed of the bay has risen due to post-glacial rebound following the last ice age. The island would have first emerged as a reef, but now contains moorlands, dunes, beaches, dense woods and meadows. The core of the island is moraine shingle, on which sand has accumulated. The island lies in shallow water. The seabed around the island is often exposed and dries up, and the sand blows onto the island to form dunes, some of which are very large. The moorlands and dunes are in the south of the island, while the north has wetlands and deciduous forest.

Ecology

The island's flora include meadows, heath and forests of pine, birch and especially aspen. Around mid summer orchids and lily-of-the-valley bloom in the meadows. The island provides a varied habitat for over two hundred bird species, which use it for nesting or resting. Waders and ducks will be seen in the many shallow bays. The non-profit Haparanda Sandskär Bird Observatory on Sandskär was founded in 1981. Since then over 100,000 birds of 137 species have been ringed. The most common species are the

willow warbler The willow warbler (''Phylloscopus trochilus'') is a very common and widespread leaf warbler which breeds throughout northern and temperate Europe and the Palearctic, from Ireland east to the Anadyr River basin in eastern Siberia. It is strongly ...

, redpoll,

brambling The brambling (''Fringilla montifringilla'') is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It has also been called the cock o' the north and the mountain finch. It is widespread and migratory, often seen in very large flocks. Ta ...

and

common reed bunting The common reed bunting (''Emberiza schoeniclus'') is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a group now separated by most modern authors from the finches, Fringillidae. The genus name ''Emberiza'' is from Old German ''Embritz'', a ...

, but rarer eastern species such as the

dusky warbler The dusky warbler (''Phylloscopus fuscatus'') is a leaf warbler which breeds in the east Palearctic. The genus name '' Phylloscopus'' is from Ancient Greek ''phullon'', "leaf", and ''skopos'', "seeker" (from ''skopeo'', "to watch"). The specific ' ...

and

yellow-browed warbler The yellow-browed warbler (''Phylloscopus inornatus'') is a leaf warbler (family Phylloscopidae) which breeds in the east Palearctic. This warbler is strongly migratory and winters mainly in tropical South Asia and South-east Asia, but also in s ...

are often caught.

References

Sources * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sandskar Swedish islands in the Baltic Islands of Norrbotten County