Tira öar, Naturreservat

Tira islands is an island group with several islands and skerries in the western part of Lake Bolmen. If you have your own boat or canoe, you can discover both old coniferous forest and beautiful flowering lime trees. The islands are widely used for swimming and outdoor activities during the summer. Ornithologists can enjoy an interesting but sensitive bird life.

This nature reserve is unlike any other managed by the County Administrative Board in Halland. The vast majority of Halland's reserves are on land. When water is protected, it is usually not lakes but marine environments. Of Tira Island's 735 hectares, around 700 hectares are water. The land area itself is divided into sixteen larger and smaller islands.

The islands are mainly made up of glacial river material that has formed a large system of pebble ridges both above and below the water surface. The pebble ridges are particularly evident on the largest island, Storö, where a ridge rises almost ten meters above the water surface. The most common tree species on the islands are pine and spruce, but deciduous forest also occurs. On the island of Högaholm, in the southern part of the reserve, almost exclusively lime trees grow. The lime trees bloom beautifully in July.

Rich bird life

The reserve has an interesting but sensitive bird life that varies with the season. During spring and summer you can see several species of birds of prey. Perhaps it is an osprey hanging over the water looking for a fish spine to strike down on or a sparrowhawk circling over the forest to the horror of small birds. Waterfowl include species such as the teal, common guillemot, great crested grebe and wader. In the southern and northern parts of the reserve there are bird protection areas that are forbidden to access during the period 1/4 to 15/7.

Added trees are located

Tira islands are partly covered with a wild forest of pine and spruce, in some places it is almost primeval forest-like. The storms Gudrun and Per that hit Sweden in 2005 and 2007 have affected the forest on all forested islands. Since Tira islands is a nature reserve whose purpose is to preserve the natural forest as it is, the trees are not removed. Some visitors may be surprised that in some places it is difficult to get around because of the fallen trees, but all the inhabitants of the forest who depend on the habitats created by the dead trees will be much happier.

A host of beetles, fungi and micro-organisms live in the wood and will eventually break down the trees and return nutrients to the soil, giving new seedlings the strength to grow. The bugs, in turn, will feed the birds of the forest, so in the future we may enjoy more birdsong when we visit the Tira Islands. Remember that it can be dangerous to go near the rootwads.

A place for relaxation

The beaches around the islands are mostly gravel and stone, but in some places there are nice sandy beaches. Storö is the largest beach on the Tira Islands, and camping is also permitted here for one night. Visitors have access to a jetty and dry toilets. There are also dry toilets on Korpö.

Fires and barbecues are only permitted in places designated by the County Administrative Board. There are two fireplaces on Storö, two fireplaces on Björkö and one fireplace on Korpö. Firewood may not be taken within the nature reserve.

Bolmen offers varied fishing, including perch, pike and zander. If you want to fish, you need a fishing license and it can be purchased at, for example, Tiraholms fisk Link to another website, opens in new window. or digitally at iFiske.se Link to another website, opens in new window.