Nordic Birdlife Archives - Maukasmaku.com

Whooping Swans in Finland.

The white swans season here in Nordic Finland is cooling down. Most of the warm weather has already gone this time around. There are many picture perfect days still to come in this summer, and the waters are calm on the lakes and the seashores of the Bothnian Sea (Bottenhavet/Pohjanlahti).

Calm waters and white swans paddling in the warmth of summer.

The white swan is often used symbolically, here is some info from Wikipedia. “The Flag of the Nordic Council is white, with a stylised circular motif of a white swan upon a blue (Pantone Reflex Blue C) disk. The Swan has enough wing feathers standing for the eight members and territories of the Council: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Åland, the Faroe Islands, and Greenland“.

“The swan symbol was chosen to represent the Nordic Council, and the Nordic Council of Ministers, in 1984. It is also designed to symbolize wider Nordic cooperation. The flag was designed by Kyösti Varis, an artist from Finland”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_the_Nordic_Council

Here is a link to a video that I took of a single pair of White Swans, known as the Whooping Swans (Cygnus, Cygnus).

This pair of swans that I was observing did not seem to have any baby swans with them (called cygnets). I hope you enjoy the video on YouTube.

White Swans video link.

Summer is in full swing of things, flora and fauna regenerating with a fervent zeal. The vegetation has grown into dark green lush foliage, with an array of wildflowers with all the colors that you can imagine and many flowers blooming.

Summer is here, birds and ducks have nested, and the little ducklings are out on the waters, with their little flipper feet at times paddling in hyper speed, with incredible quick bursts of speed.

Some of the Sea Ducks that have duckling out of the nest already are Somateria mollissima, Mergus merganser, Branta leucopsis, Anas platyrhynchos, and the White whooping swans. There are also other ducks around, but I have not spotted any ducklings out with them as yet; e.g., Aythya fuligula.

Summer is a very active season, it is the busiest of all the seasons, more new life things happen during the summer season than the other seasons combined, it is the up-and-go-season.