Please send in your good wildlife photos if you have any.
‘Today’s batch comes from UC Davis ecologist Susan Harrison, who’s been birding in Scandinavia. Her captions and IDs are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them,.
Further Finnish Fowl
Just after I sent Jerry the recent post titled “Midsummer in the Åland Islands,” a few more scenes of waterfowl families brightened my trip to Finland.
The first three are from Lake Kallavesi, near the town of Kuopio in the heart of Finnish Lakeland. My friend’s family has a classic lake cabin here, tiny and perfectly built, complete with flower garden, sauna, and dock. Once my kind hosts had settled me in, I hopped in their rowboat in search of birds.
Whooper Swans (Cygnus cygnus) are Finland’s national bird and are featured on the country’s Euro coin. With wingspans up to 9’ (2.75 m) and weighing up to 30 lb (14 kg), they are the world’s second largest waterfowl (right after their close North American relative the Trumpeter Swan, Cygnus buccinator). Even the cygnets in these photos are the size of Thanksgiving turkeys!
Whooper Swan parent and cygnets:
Arctic Loons, aka Black-throated Loons or Black-throated Divers (Gavia arctica) can often be heard making their musical calls, but are less often seen as they are shy and tend to vanish underwater. These two adults were slowed down enough by their youngster that I managed a distant photo.
Arctic Loons:
Red-necked Grebes (Podiceps grisigena), like other grebes, carry stripey black-and-white chicks on their backs (see, for comparison, the Great Crested Grebes in the recent post). This little passenger was so tiny that I noticed it only when processing the photos.
Red-necked Grebes:
Back in Helsinki on my way home, various geese and ducks were abundant along the shore in Kaivopuisto city park. Most enjoyable was a family of Common Mergansers, aka Goosanders (Mergus merganser), in which the young foraged for themselves under a parent’s supervision.
Common Mergansers:
A very enjoyable set!
That picture of the red-necked grebe is striking and mesmerizing. The colors, the geometry are wonderful. And a baby to boot!
What great pictures! It looks like you got pretty close to the birds. Love the Red-necked Grebe picture, and I had no idea how big those swans are. The swans we see here in the Pacific Northwest are pretty big, too. Their size is especially notable when a flock flies over one’s car when coming in for a landing. Can be quite a sight.
Thank you, Susan! Very evocative of rural Finland.
Lovely pictures of super birds. Thanks.
Beautiful Arctic Loons, and swans!
Cute baby birds. Squeee!
The loons are so elegant!