Alvar flowers

How lucky we were, the winds have been very cold, but today when we were going out on the windswept alvar, the wind had turned and was now coming from the south. I love the barren landscape. 
Extras: Despite the barren, earth-poor and constantly sunlit landscape, there are lots of flowers on the alvar. The wild chives looked so adorable against the gray stone. 
The blue Globuralis vulgaris is rare and grows only in two places in Sweden and in a small area in northern Spain and in southern France. 
The orchids were largely over-flowered, but we found a lot in the shady lies by juniper bushes. And I am always happy to see my favorite orchid, burnt-tip orchid (Neotinea ustulata). Why my favorite? Well, it is so easy to recognize. 
No birds, you ask? Yes, we had time for a visit to the largest lake on the alvar. It is very small, one square kilometer in size. My husband searches with binoculars for birds to look at through the spotting scope. So he was happy today with the birdwatching as well.