After 14 March 2015 in north-east Finland came 15 March. Our last full day in Finland. Again, we went to the dipper nest where we had already been on 14 March. On this video, you can hear the dipper sing. You can also see the dipper’s environment; the water, flowing fast through ice and snow. But, you cannot see the dipper.
On this photo, you can.
The dipper sang on rocks in the river, and on the wooden bridge.
A second dipper, extremely probably his female partner, joined him on the bridge.
Then, back to the river for a song.
And back to the bridge again.
Then, together in the snow.
Then, to an ice-covered rock.
While the water kept speeding past the birds.
Every now and then, the dippers would bring nesting material to the wooden nestbox under the bridge.
Meanwhile, a red squirrel crossed the bridge, covered with snow.
Then, we continue to a field where a northern hawk-owl has been seen. However, we don’t see the owl. We do see mountain hare tracks.
A bit further, pine grosbeaks high up a tree. They are not feeding on Swedish service tree berries this time, but on coniferous tree cones. Like their scientific name says: Pinicola enucleator; literally, ‘inhabitant of coniferous trees, removing cones’ cores’.
They live in a wooden nest box underneath a wooden bridge. There is another nestbox, a bit further under the same bridge. Maybe grey wagtails will use that box when they will be back from spring migration.
The dippers sat sometimes on small pebbles, sometimes on big ice and snow-covered rocks in the river. Sometimes, they caught water insects; eg, stoneflies.
14 March dipper photos, unfortunately, were not so good. However, we went back to the dippers later, with better photographic results. So, stay tuned!
This video from Finland is called Great Grey Owl (Strix nebulosa) flies towards the camera and eats a mouse.
To see great grey owls that day, we left Kuusamo and went to a roadside not so far away.
There, on a coniferous tree, sat a great grey owl.
Our Finnature guide put a dead shrew on the snow to attract the owl. Though most carnivores don’t really like shrews, preferring mice, the owl did come to eat it.
Meanwhile, a greenfinch sang.
Then, a dead vole was put on the snow to attract the owl again from its tree.
We went back to the pine grosbeaks of Kuusamo. Three herring gulls flying overhead. Rather far from the sea where one might expect them.
Then, back to the great grey owl.
There turned out to be not one, but two great grey owls; mates?
One of them sat in a birch tree. Later, it moved to a utility pole; from where it flew repeatedly, trying to catch small mammals.
The other great grey owl still sat close to the road; and reacted to food on the snow.
Still 13 March in north-eastern Finland, in the hide. Like we saw earlier there, a willow tit. However, in front of it, another bird lands. Also a willow tit? Yes.
But a bit later: No. A related species, slightly more light brown on its head and a bit bigger: a Siberian tit, also called grey-headed chickadee.
For people from central or southern Europe, from temperate North America and from all other continents, a bird for which they have to go especially to the far north of Europe and Asia to see it.
A raven flies past. So does a golden eagle, like earlier in the day. Will it land?
Usually, golden eagles land near the hide day after day in winter. Usually one eagle, sometimes two eagles, the local male and female. They have failed to land only on two days this winter. Late in the afternoon, we would find out that 13 March was the third day that winter. A few miles away, a moose had died. That attracted eagles and other carrion eaters more than the dead fox, squirrel and hare near the hide.
This is an Ural owl video. The Ural owl was one of the bird species which we hoped to see when we went to Finland. We did not see an Ural owl, but we did see many other birds.
After we arrived in Kuusamo on 12 March, 13 March 2015 was our first full day in north-east Finland.
Today to a hide where one can usually see golden eagles.
This video from the USA says about itself:
A female Golden Eagle flies from her rocky perch as an early season snowfall blankets Wyoming’s sagebrush steppe.
We did not immediately see any eagles. Also other relatively big birds, like ravens, were not present.
Siberian jays, like the one on this photo, were the biggest birds.
Another, smaller, bird was an Eurasian nuthatch. The subspecies of northern and eastern Europe, with white underparts and orange-reddish stripes on its lower belly.
Great spotted woodpeckers came as well, both a male and a female.
And there were tits. No blue tits here; they live only in towns in north-eastern Finland, where it is warmer than in forests. And even in towns they are rather recent newcomers (because of global warming?)
There were great tits. A bit further to the north we would not have seen them.
And there were willow tits. They nest in all of Finland, even the extreme north.
In the distance, a male and a female bullfinch sit in the snow. Will they come closer?
At 10:45, a golden eagle flies past. Will it land? Attracted by the roadkill animal carcasses lying in the snow here; of a red fox, a red squirrel, and a mountain hare?
The scientific name for pine grosbeak is Pinicola enucleator. Translated: inhabitant of coniferous trees taking cores out of pine cones. Sometimes, pine grosbeaks do feed on coniferous trees. But here, they ate Swedish service tree berries. Old, shriveled Swedish service tree berries: some birds don’t like them, but pine grosbeaks don’t mind.
A bit further along the road, a hooded crow on a birch tree.
Then, we depart to Ruka village, some thirty kilometer away.
Not so far away from the village, a Bohemian waxwing in a small tree.
And Siberian jays in bigger, coniferous trees.
The local ornithological society has put feeders here. They attract great tits.
After the ringing of the waxwings, we were still in Oulu, northern Finland, on 11 March 2015. We went to the harbour: much ice, but not totally frozen. Then, in the distance, we saw an otter between the ice floes.
A Finnish naturalist said this was the first otter he had seen since two years ago.
Every now and then, the otter dived, and then re-appeared.
Gradually, it came closer.
Just before dusk, at 17:30 we had gone to a road with coniferous and birch trees on both sides.
Then, we saw this Eurasian pygmy owl. It flew from tree to tree, preferring tops.
Stay tuned, as 11 March was our first full day, not our last day, in Finland!
Dear Kitty. Some blog 