Some time ago I saw a TV documentary where they showed new evidence of birds’ intelligence. According to the documentary, birds had much better problem solving skills than we had ever believed them to have.
A few days later I saw and filmed something that instantly made me think of what they had said in the documentary. (more…)
This a short trivia quiz with not so serious questions on Finland. By taking the test you may, or may not, learn interesting facts about this small Nordic country.
Before going on to the quiz, please watch and listen to the video below.
This is a short trivia quiz with not so serious questions on Finland.
By taking the test you may, or may not, learn interesting facts about this small Nordic country.
BTW, if you, for some odd reason, should like this test, there is another interesting quiz on Finland that you might want to try as well.
I have recently been going through my archives and came across an old article about a very rare incident that I witnessed ca. four years ago: An Arctic Redpoll trying to burrow into the snow . To my knowledge, this is the only time that this action has ever been photographed. (more…)
This is the doghouse that Jack built.
This the meat,
That lay in the doghouse that Jack built.
This is the hedgehog,
That ate the meat,
That lay in the doghouse that Jack built.
This is the man,
That threw the hedgehog,
That ate the meat,
That lay in the doghouse that Jack built.
This is the dog,
That woke the man,
That threw the hedgehog,
That ate the meat,
That lay in the doghouse that Jack built.
(Adapted from the popular British nursery rhyme ‘‘This Is the House That Jack Built’’)
Do you want to hear what really happened? Read further. (more…)
Well, actually it didn’t, but that’s how we people tend to interpret things. We often base our conceptions of animal behaviour on what little we know about human behaviour.
This is all we know about this young crane: For unknown reason it had been separated very young from its family in early July when it appeared among the grazing cattle for the first time. From that time on the bird spent most of its days with the cows. Very often even sleeping next to a cow which was to deliver a calf in autumn. Not to mention that it occasionally joined the herd when they went to eat bailed hay brought by the farmer.
After I was informed about the fate of the poor little thing, I contacted two Finnish birders specialized in cranes. Some weeks later the crane was finally caught and it spent the following winter together with an adult crippled female crane on a farm in southern Finland. The next spring it was then freed, and it joined a flock of healthy young cranes just returned from migration. (more…)
Three summers ago I documented the first nesting of Rough-legged Buzzards in the part of Finland where I live. All the following photos were taken in cooperation with a local authorized bird ringer.
One day I witnessed how the smallest of the three chicks was violently attacked by one of the bigger chicks.
Ever seen a Common Tern chick almost choke on too big a fish?
The following happened in the summer of 2007 when I was documenting bird life at a local waste water treatment plant: A Common Tern parent accidentally gave its chick a perch too big for it to swallow. As a result, the chick fell down on its back, not being able to move and breathing heavily.
A Common Tern chick trying to swallow too big a fish.
In 2007, on August 3, to be precise, I witnessed a very curious incident – a sandpiper making a dive several feet long. In the past few years I have often reminisced about what I saw then as it really was something very extraordinary.