Chaffinch in the spruce

It was early morning in march. I was sitting on the terrace of my summer cottage.

Morning was cloudless, the sun was shining.

For the first time this spring the chaffinch was singing in the spruce.

The summer is at hand in the North.

European greenfinch

...oops...

Hunting common buzzard

It was early morning in Tavastia Proper (in Finnish Kanta-Häme) in southern Finland. The sky was bright and cloudless.

And there it was!

The hunting common buzzard was flying in the sky.

Skating in springtime

Skating on the lake ice on the sunny day in springtime is magical hobby - until the ice breaks under your feet.

And on the sunny day in springtime it really may break very easily.

Even the ice of 50 centimeter may break under a man whose weight is 80 kilos.

Starlings in the sky of Rome

It was a bright November evening in Rome  in 2015. Me and my wife were sitting with couple of friends on a restaurant terrace in Trastevere. We all were a little bit tired 'cause we had gone sightseeing  all day long. That's why we decided to stay on a restaurant terrace to have pizza and a bottle of beer.

And what happened then?

Suddenly we heard sound like the rain shower from the roof of the terrace.

But there weren't the clouds in the sky and it wasn't the rain shower.

There was an enormous flock of starlings.

And the rain-like sound from the roof was caused by starlings' droppings.

Because of the droppings the starlings are considered as adverse animals in Mediterranean countries.

Great gray owl

My old friend Pete, organic farmer in southern Finland, called me one evening last February. He told me he saw an enormous big bird while he was loading logs on a trailer in a forest clearing. "It may be a tawny owl", he supposed.

It took me about a half an hour until I got there. For a moment I observed the landscape in front of me.

And there it was sitting on top of dead pine tree.

When I saw the bird I hardly believed my eyes.

It wasn't a tawny owl. It was great gray owl, one of the biggest owls  in Finland.

I have never before seen this big owl for this big creature mainly lives in northern Finland.

Seeing it in southern Finland is extremely rare.

When the cat's away...

When cat's away the mice will play.

Or in this case:  when hosts are away rabbits and brown hares will play in summer cottage's garden.

Redpoll

Redpoll

I searched Google for common redpoll.

Guess what the answer Google gave to me was?

It was a large number of photos of small sympathetic birds that especially during wintertime visit the feeding place of my summer cottage garden.

Then I wrote words arctic redpoll in the Google search box.

Now, too, the answer was a large number of a small sympathetic birds.

I'm not quite sure if among the common redpolls visiting the feeding place of my cottage are some arctic redpolls, too. That's because the common redpoll and the arctic redpoll look pretty much alike. That is why it's very difficult to see the difference between the two. As a matter of fact these two birds can crossbreed with each other. That's why I sometimes I wonder why we are talking of two different species. Why aren't we simply talking of redpoll.

A big wild stag

A big wild stag was wandering over the hills and through the valleys somewhere in southern Finland. By chance he found a pile of old potatoes which were brought there by a farmer living in the neighborhood.

"Delicious", the stag thought, "it must be refreshing for a change to eat potatoes instead of pine and birch saplings."

But what might the forest owner think of the big wild stag?

He thinks the big wild stag can't cope for long by eating potatoes. When all the potatoes are eaten, the big wild stag begins to use again pine and birch saplings to nourish himself.

Many are of the opinion that the big wild stag is the worst pest in Finnish forests.

Perhaps, however, it's an exaggeration to say so. The big wild stag is useful for instance because it is a game animal. It can be hunted and its meat can be eaten. It also brings indirect economical benefits because the hunters need to buy guns, accessories and services for hunting.

And from an ethical point of view to make use of nature is the general condition of life. In this respect the big wild stag acts exactly likewise a human being.

Eurasian jay

The Eurasian jay, which a very common bird in Finland, is hidding in woods during the summertime. 

But when the winter comes, it will appear in the yard and the garden in search of food for himself.

Magpie

Here we have the silhouette of a magpie.

Some think it's a pretty bird with its plumage that specially in sunshine is very colorful.

But in some parts of Finland the magpie has another name.

It's called the death notifier.

And why? 

Maybe because of its voice that sounds like a bloody-minded  laughter. 

Carbon sink may turn into carbon source

Aki Kaurismaki, a Finnish film director and Academician of Art is no longer an Academician. You can read the story dated 14.2.2019 on the YLE's website (https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-10645998) that Kaurismaki renounced his academic title. Kaurismaki justifies this decission that despite warnings of dozens of experts Finnish government has increased  forest fellings in Finland to a level that, when realized, reduce carbon sinks to one sixth of the current level.

Here in Finland we tend to blame South American countries that are thousands of miles away from Finland for they are destroying rainforests.

We know that rainforests are important carbon sinks. It is also true that South American countries already have destroyed large areas of rainforests. It can even be argued that the destruction of rainforests is turning them into a carbon sources.

 Still I would say that looking for culprits from a distance is an easy way to forget your own responsibilities. Here in Finland our forests are carbon sinks. And mismanaged Finnish forests may turn into carbon sources for the same reason as South American rainforests.

Valkohäntäkauriit verottavat lintujen ruokavarastoja

Valkohäntäkauriit verottavat lintujen ruokavarastoja

Lopella olevan kesämökkimme puutarhassa on jo vuosien ajan ollut lintujen ruokintapaikka talvisin. Siellä olen talvisin tullut ottaneeksi valokuvia linnusta jos toisestakin.

Tärkeä lintujen talviruokintaan liittyvä periaate on, että syksyllä ilmojen viiletessä aloitettua talviruokintaa jatketaan yhtäjaksoisesti kevääseen asti, kunnes maa on vapautunut lumipeitteestä. Varsinkin harvaanasutuilla seuduilla saattaa kovien pakkasten sattuessa käydä niin, että linnut voivat ruuan puutteen vuoksi menehtyä, jos ruokinta lopetetaan ennen kevättä.

Talviruokinnan toteuttaminen kesämökillämme on kuitenkin haasteellista sen vuoksi, että illan hämärtyessä ja aamun valjetessa valkohäntäkauriit tapaavat käydä verottamassa ruokavarastoa lintujen ruokintapaikalla. Ne syövät lintujen ruuaksi tarkoitetut auringonkukan siemenet ja maapähkinät todella nopeasti. Ruokinta saattaa tämän vuoksi olla melko hintavaa hommaa, kun lintulaudan siemenvarastoa on oltava jatkuvasti täydentämässä.

Monet tosin tekevät ruokintapaikkoja myös valkohäntäkauriille. Minun puolestani ne kyllä voisivat ruokailla jossakin muualla kuin meidän mökkimme puutarhassa.

Juttu ja kuva, joka on otettu riistakameralla, on julkaistu Aamuposti/ Viikko/ Riihimäki ja Hyvinkää -lehdissä 6.2.2019.

Superverisusikuu loisti taivaalla

Oli 21. tammikuuta 2019. Suomen taivaalla möllötteli kuu, jota kuulee kutsuttavan nimellä superverisusikuu.

Mikähän se sellainen kuu mahtaa olla?

Kuuta kutsutaan superkuuksi silloin, kun se täydenkuun aikaan on kiertoratansa maata lähimmässä pisteessä. Tällöin kuu näyttää tavanomaista kirkkaammalta ja suuremmalta.

Entä sitten verikuu?

Verikuun voimme nähdä kuunpimennyksen aikaan. Silloin kuu näkyy maahan jotenkin vähän mystisen ruosteenpunaisena. Syynä on ilmiö, jota kutsutaan valon siroamiseksi maan ilmakehässä.

Ja sitten tuo susikuu?

Susikuu on yhdysvaltalaisten tammikuun täysikuulle antama nimi.

Ja kun tammikuun täysikuu kuunpimennyksen aikaan on kiertoradallaan lähinnä maata, kysymyksessä on superverisusikuu.

Juttu ja kuva on julkaistu Aaamuposti/Viikko/Riihimäki ja Hyvinkää -lehdessä 23.1.2019.

Lintulaudan vieraat

Tässä päivänä muutamana ryhdyin tarkkailemaan, kuka tänä talvena ruokailee lintulaudallani.

Harmillisin havaintoni oli, että oravat ja valkohäntäkauriit ne siellä käyvät verottamassa lintujen murkinoita. Auringonkukan ja pähkinänsiemenet kelpaavat niin oraville kuin valkohäntäkauriillekin, ja myös talitangot maistuvat valitettavan hyvin oraville. Ovelasti ne pureksivat rikki verkkopussit, joissa talitangot riippuvat puun oksalla. Siitä talitanko putoaa maahan, eikä aikaakaan, kun se on kadonnut parempiin suihin.

Toki siinä linnutkin sentään jotakin ehtivät saada. Vanhat tutut, käpytikat, närhet ja harakat, käyvä ahkerasti nokkimassa talia ja siemeniä.

Mutta niiden lisäksi lintulaudalla ruokailevat tali-, sini- ja hömötiaiset sekä Suomen tiaisista pieni-kokoisin eli kuusitiainen.

Kuusitiainen muuten on tavattoman luottavainen lintu. Se saattaa hyvinkin istahtaa kämmenellesi syömään auringonkukan siemeniä.

Juttu ja kuva on julkaistu Aamuposti / Viikko / Riihimäki sekä Aamuposti / Viikko / Hyvinkää -lehdissä 9.1.2019.