Jukka"I've had enough of mallards..."
There is a common moorhen at a local duck pond, and I sometimes check up on it. It's very unusual to see them here in the winter. The mallards and the moorhen are entirely reliant on us for food as the sea is frozen. At least the pond is only partially frozen because there is a some kind of sewer that drains into the pond. It seems to produce enough heat to keep the pond from freezing completely.
The moorhen is a nice addition to the list of birds I've spotted this year. Birdlife Finland encourages people to participate in the yearly "Tunnista 100 lintulajia" challenge ('Identify 100 bird species'). There are around 250 bird species in Finland so the challenge is not too difficult but it still requires a bit of effort. I participated in it for the first time last year. I enjoy walking and biking so I chose the "ECO version" of the challenge. In other words, I couldn't use a car, public transportation etc. when I was trying to complete it. I reached the 100th bird species in May, and I enjoyed the experience. My shoes, however, did not.
I'm doing the same challenge this year, too, and I've spotted 31 species so far. I saw my first white-tailed eagle of the year today while I was walking on the sea ice.
#commonmoorhen
#gallinulachloropus
#mallard
#anasplatyrhynchos
#birds
#helsinki
#finland
#february
#winter
There is a common moorhen at a local duck pond, and I sometimes check up on it. It's very unusual to see them here in the winter. The mallards and the moorhen are entirely reliant on us for food as the sea is frozen. At least the pond is only partially frozen because there is a some kind of sewer that drains into the pond. It seems to produce enough heat to keep the pond from freezing completely.
The moorhen is a nice addition to the list of birds I've spotted this year. Birdlife Finland encourages people to participate in the yearly "Tunnista 100 lintulajia" challenge ('Identify 100 bird species'). There are around 250 bird species in Finland so the challenge is not too difficult but it still requires a bit of effort. I participated in it for the first time last year. I enjoy walking and biking so I chose the "ECO version" of the challenge. In other words, I couldn't use a car, public transportation etc. when I was trying to complete it. I reached the 100th bird species in May, and I enjoyed the experience. My shoes, however, did not.
I'm doing the same challenge this year, too, and I've spotted 31 species so far. I saw my first white-tailed eagle of the year today while I was walking on the sea ice.
#commonmoorhen
#gallinulachloropus
#mallard
#anasplatyrhynchos
#birds
#helsinki
#finland
#february
#winter
