Tallskaten, Naturreservat

In the Tallskaten nature reserve you can visit an old-growth forest in Järnboås parish where the capercaillie still plays and the barn owl hoots. Remnants of coal bunkers and coal huts bear witness to hard work in the forest.

Wood crow and three-toed woodpecker

Tallskaten consists mainly of old and erect spruce forest on fertile land, but there are also rocky areas, areas of swamp forest and leafy coniferous forest. The oldest trees in the reserve were small seedlings in the 1790s, so today they have passed the 200-year mark. The forest's coarse aspens provide good living conditions for hole-building birds such as woodpeckers and owls. There are also mosses, fungi and lichens that like to grow on the bark and decaying trunks of deciduous trees.

Hot males

The area has long been known for its capercaillie breeding. In April and May, the birds gather at the playground where the roosters try to win the hens' favor. At dawn, the capercaillie game begins with the males snapping and clucking, before descending to the ground for their ritual movements and battles, which sometimes turn into real fights. In winter, capercaillie feed almost exclusively on pine needles and here and there you can see trees that the birds have feasted on. Pine trees grazed by capercaillie can be recognized by the fact that most of the needles near the tree's crown are gone.

Old pine

The name Tallskaten comes from an aged pine with a dry crown. The remarkable tree was felled in the late 1960s and the stump and remnants of the top, the crown, were long gone. On such remnants of old pine trees, you might find the small, unusual species of wood moss. It forms a thin green mat from which stem-like growths with red tops emerge.

Smoking coal ants

In the past, the forest was alive and kicking. There are the remains of at least five charcoal kilns and associated charcoal huts in the reserve. A very old footpath runs through the forest from north to south. Over the years, it has become so worn down by the diligent trampling of humans and animals that in some places a hollow way has formed.

Accessibility

Tallskaten belongs to level 1 in the county administrative board's leveling of the county's nature reserves, which means that the reserve has a wilderness character and lacks outdoor recreation facilities.