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Photograph of the Month - archive
June 2007 A Hare In The Morning I got this photo by chance. I was looking for cranes early in the morning when suddenly a hare jumped in front of me. I whistled to draw its attention; the hare raises to its hind legs just for long enough for me to take two pictures. This is one of my favourite photos, in the top five. What's best about the photo is the athmosphere created by the light and the classic surroundings. Kuusamo
July 2007 A Mighty Jump Driven by their instinct to return to their birthplace, the trouts from Kuusamo, Oulankajoki River, Kiutaköngäs Rapids.
August 2007 An aerobatic display The Jay, common in Southern Finland, is quite few in number as far north as Kuusamo. Here the winters are long, days short and the temperatures freezing. In the Kuusamo region the jays live quite close to residential areas. Although it is a rather timid bird, you can see it visiting bird tables placed near forests. In this picture you can see the jays performing their own kind of aerobatics. I had an automate where tits came to eat, they could reach the food from small holes in the bottom. The jays learned how to jump in the air so that they could peck seeds out of the hole each time. Kuusamo
September 2007 Autumn of the Siberian Jays A pair of Siberian Jays live on the same territory all year round. In autumn they collect food for the winter. Berries, mushrooms, worms and other excess food is hidden in the mossy trees for the winter. This fall I again served a familiar pair of Siberian Jays their favourite, vendace heads.
October 2007 Great Tit Everyone knows the Great Tit. In the summer, most pairs retreat to the forest to nest. They appear in residential areas again in the fall, as the first snow falls. Every bird struggles to get their own feeding spot. The bird table is usually ruled by an old male, which is recognizable by his wide, black belt. Canon EOS V, time of exposure 1/1250, 2.8/300mm, Fuji Provia 400, hide, tripod
November 2007 Time for Departure
December 2007
A pine in the Riisitunturi National Park Technique: Canon EOS 3, 28-70mm, tripod, Fuji RFP
January 2008 Burgundy light In the morning and night of a sunny day, you'll get to enjoy a colour play that is quite unforgettable. During sunrise and sunset the sun beams have travelled a very long journey, and have filtered so that only the red beams reach the earth's surface. It is a burgundy night, which is actually quite rare. The blue area on the forefront of the picture is in the shade, and therefore reflects the blue sky above. Technique: Canon EOS V, 2.8-28-70 mm, tripod, Fuji Provia 400, aperture 22, exposure time 2 sec.
February 2008 Light and shadow, and a Siberian Jay A Siberian Jay couple live their whole lives on the same forest area, unless it is cut down. Thinning of the forest is not enough to evict the Siberian Jay from its territory. On cold February days the Siberian Jay sits still for long stretches of time. The ruffled up dark plumage absorbes the sun rays thus warming the bird. By restricting its movements to a minimum the Siberian Jay saves energy. Technique: Canon A-1, 2.8/300mm, tripod, Kodachrome 64
Test of Strength The White-tailed Eagle was endangered in Finland in the 1970's. Intense winter feeding and protective measures saved the population. Now almost 200 pairs nest in Finland, exceeding the Golden Eagle in number. In 2007, there were more white-tailed eagles nesting than golden eagles also in Kuusamo, and six pairs got younglings. In late winter, as food becomes scarce, also the White-tailed Eagles seek food, for example fish left on the ice by ice-fishers. With a large number of birds and a limited amount of food, there are bound to be a battle over the servings. Canon EOS V, 4/600 mm, Fuji Provia 400, hide, tripod
April The Spring of a Wood Sandpiper The Wood Sandpiper is a very common damp place shorebird. For the wanderers of the swamps, cloudberry pickers for example, it is quite familiar: a long-legged shorebird about the size of a Thrush shouts a striking warning from a tree top. The Wood Sandpiper arrives in Northeastern Finland in April. In the spring's capricious weather the wood sandpipers must often endure the snowfall, a reminder of the winter. Technique: Canon EOS V, 28/300 mm, shoulder bracket, Fuji Provia 400, taken from a car window
May Bluethroat Many of the master singers of our avifauna, such as nightingales and warblers, have a very simple colouring. The Bluethroat, Lapland's singer, is an exception. Its colouring is like a work of art. This common nester of Lapland also belongs to the nesting avifauna of Kuusamo. In June, you can hear the versatile singing of a bluethroat from the willow bushes on field fringes, bringing the sound of silver bells to mind. Technique: Canon EOSV, 4/600+1.4X converter, tripod, hiding behind a net as the bird sings to a 'rival', in this case the loudspeaker of a CD-player. Kodak E100VS Kuusamo, Nissinvaara
June 2008 Calypso The most beautiful of the many rare plants in Kuusamo is the mysterious Calypso. It is one of the orchids in Finnish nature. Surprisingly, you will find it in a rugged spruce forest around 10-15th of June. In shady spots, you can find it blooming even after midsummer. The secret behind the location of calypso is the amount of calcium in the ground; the more there is the better. Everyone who sees a Calypso for the first time is surprised by the small size of it. The beauty of the small flower at the end of a 10 cm stem is revealed only at close range. One or two weeks after the blooming of calypso, the same spot is taken over by a larger and more impressive orchid, the Lady's Slipper. Technique: Canon EOS V, 70-200mm and 180mm macro, Kodak Ektachrome
July 2008 THE GNOME OF THE EAGLE OWL (Bubo bubo) The Eagle Owl is a mysterious and still very common denizen of the forest. Many have heard it, but few have seen it. It is a timid and vigilant bird that hides in the depths of the forest. An eagle owl lives all year round on the territory it has chosen. It has adapted remarkably well to even quite drastic changes of the forest. For preying it prefers felling areas. The Eagle Owl is a versatile predator. In winter, rabbits are important food, in summer the food is more versatile, including moles, squirrels and birds. Nesting starts already in March. The younglings hatch in May, go on their first flight in July, and are taken care of by their parents until fall. The younglings leave the nest long before they are able to fly. During the day they nap in hiding, and in night time they loudly beg for food from their parents. This picture shows a fiery eyed eagle owl youth after first flight, on the second week of July. Canon EOS V, 28-70mm, Fuji 400 Provia, Kuusamo, Oulanka
August 2008
LORD OF THE FLIES YELLOW DUNG MOSS (Splachnum luteum) This summer, as the nature is very moist due to frequent rain, a cloudberry picker might encounter some charming fairy sunshades. What they see is a cluster of Yellow dung moss sporangia, which do not in any way resemble a traditional fungus sporophore. Closer inspection reveals that the cluster grows on a reindeer dunghill from last year. The scent of the sunshade shaped sporangia attracts flies and other insects that feed on dung. As they visit the scented sunshades, spiked spores stick on their feet. Their next stop is a fresh reindeer dunghill. The spores stick on the dung, and the next summer, during cloudberry season, you can again find these beautiful plants, more common on rainy summers. Technique: Canon EOS V, 70-200mm, Kodak E 100 VS, Kuusamo, Isosuo, August
September 2008
October 2008
Jump of a Master The Squirrel is the most well-known mammal in Finland. The size of the squirrel population varies a lot from year to year. The amount of cones varies, and if there are no cones, a lot of squirrels can starve to death during the winter. Now the pine trees have plenty of cones, so the nutrition of squirrels is quaranteed for the coming winter. The Squirrel is adapted to moving around in the trees. With the help of their long nails, they very skillfully swing in the branches. They jump from one tree to another, although they are not foreign to moving on the ground, either. They can jump up to several meters. Their hind legs have great thrust power, as you can see in this picture. Technique: Canon EOS-1, 1.2/85, tripod, hide, Fuji 400
November 2008 Hunger Brings Birds into the Yard The first snow covers the food of birds that have stayed for the winter. The tits that live in the forest have stored all excess food into tree caches already in the fall. However, the very familiar Great Tit, that nests in the forest also in the summer, does not store food. It is a common visitor at bird tables, because its nutrition during winter is based on food provided by people. The black and grey coloured forest bird, Willow Tit, also likes to visit bird tables. Despite their small size, they are quite able to hold their own against the great tits. The bird table is next to the clothesline where the "traffic jam" forces the birds to wait for their turn. Technique: Canon EOSV, 2.8/70-200 mm, hide, Fuji RHP II 400 ASA
December 2008 The Bird of the Polar Night Willow Grouse Lagopus lagopus This year the willow grouse population is very low. The last two snowless autumns have been hard for them. The length of the day regulates the change of their feathering. In October, the white winter plumage is not a good protection in the snowless scenery, but when the snow comes, it offers excellent protection. In the winter plumage, there are twice as much feathers compared to the summer plumage, which makes the willow grouse quite "at home" when its freezing hard. This willow grouse was photographed in December at 2.30 pm. It was 32 degrees below zero and the sun had set a half an hour earlier. It was the magic moment of "blue light". Technique: Canon EOSV, 2.8/300 mm, shoulder bracket, Fuji Velvia 50 ASA January 2009 Disagreement For over ten years, I have kept a feeding place in the same spot in Korouoma, Posio. The unique light that reflects from the snow on the eastern side of ghe canyon is a factor that offers endless perspectives for photographs. In wintertime, jays also visit the spot. In these backwoods, the Jay -the southern cousin of the Siberian Jay-, is few in number. The Jay lacks the Siberian Jay's trust in people, and is very timid when it comes across people in the forest. It may visit a bird table during winter, though. In this picture, there is a struggle for supremacy over the place, and the black woodpecker repeatedly comes out the winner. Technique: Canon EOSV, 70-200mm, hide, Fuji 400 February 2009 Predator on the Move The Great Grey Owl is a bird of the northern taiga region. It lives in the forests of Siberia, near the Arctic Circle. A fellow creature of a slightly different colour lives in the forests of Canada. The species is specialized in preying on small mice and moles for nutrition. As the second largest bird after the Eagle Owl, it is specialized only in these very small animals. With the help of its excellent hearing, it can find them even under up to 50cm thick layer of snow. If mice and moles are scarce, they often starve to death. They do not know how to hunt anything else. The only known bird in the area was spotted after new year, after one month of dwelling here. It was reduced into a small ball of feathers. This year the great grey owls nest in central and southern Finland, where the mole population is still very large, unless there is a collapse in the population. This picture dates back a few years, when there were several great grey owls in Kuusamo. Then the mole population collapsed, and the owls took off to Siberia, where there still were plenty of these small hairy animals. Technique: Canon EOSV, 4/600mm, tripod, Fuji Provia 400
March 2009
Finland's Largest The White-tailed Eagle has at one point nested in the whole of Finland, close to waterways. The influence of persecution by humans, as well as toxins in the environment, was dramatic. The White-tailed Eagle almost entirely disappeared from Finland and the whole Europe. In the 1960´s, when the nesting population fo white-tailed eagles in Finland had dropped to a few dozen couples, people rouse to protect the bird. People started to haul winter sustenance for them, primarily pig carcasses, so that they didn´t have to prey on intoxicated birds or fish. Thanks to better nutrition, the white-tailed eagles began to produce offspring, and the population started to recover. The three-decade long food-aid was remarkably efficient. Today, we have more white-tailed eagles than the traditional golden eagles. What is delightful about this recovery, is that as the territories in the archipelago and Porttipahka area are full, the white-tailed eagle has made a remarkable comeback to our nature. Last year, Kuusamo had more nesting white-tailed eagles than the more traditional inhabitants, golden eagles. Technique: Canon EOSV, 4/600mm, hide, Fuji Provia 400
June 2009 Published: A Summer's Night 1992
Verging upon Independence Fox cubs Vulpes vulpes I find it more difficult to photograph mammals than birds, for many reasons. First of all, there are much less mammals in the Finnish nature than there are birds. Second, they are often on the move during the dark hours of the night. The third reason is that mammals have a keen scent. With birds all you have to do is hide well. But when mammals are concerned, in addition to hiding, you have to take into account their very keen sense of smell. Even a well hidden human is revealed without mercy. Technique: Canon EOSV, 4/600 mm, taken from a car window while leaning on a bean bag, Fuji Provia 400 X Lapua, July 2009
September 2009 A Wolf has Chased an Elk After a lengthy rain the margins of a forest road have softened. There you can see what has taken place the previous day, a wolf has been chasing an elk. The traces of a young elk on the right reveal it's speed. The traces show that the claws of it's big hoofs have spread wide and the trace has sunk deep. Also the wolf has run fast, the traces of it's hine legs are also deep. My own pari of cross-country shoes, size 46, illustrate the size of the tracks. Technique: Canon EOSV, EF 24-105 1:4 L IS USM, Fuji Provia 400 X Kuusamo, Laihavaara, August 2009
October 2009 A Masterly Leap Lepus timidus Hare This picture is connected very closely to the place where you are at the moment. I was here in the centre for a meeting. I went out, and a hare leaped towards me. Luckily, I had a camera with a 2.8/300 mm and a shoulder bracet in the car after my trip the same morning. I dashed after the hare in the rain and met him at the corner, as it bounced forth. The motor drive was ticking and the hare accelerated. Technique: Canon EOS V, 2.8/300, shoulder bracket, Fuji 400 X Kuusamo, September 2009
November 2009 Otter Keeping the coat clean The Otter is becoming very common in the Koillismaa area. You don't often see the animal itself, but you can find plenty of tracks from riversides. Sometimes you might find otter tracks even quite far from rivers or lakes. They can wander form one water source to another even over high hills, sliding long stretches downhill. These wanderings occur at night. During the coldest days of winter the otters need plenty of energy. Then they are seen also in daytime. Otters eat different sorts of fish, and also frogs that hibernate in sludge. Small burbots are common food of otters. As they crawl in the bottom under the ice they come up every now and then to clean their fur from the mud by rolling on the ice. This plump female otter is apparently expecting cubs. Technique: Canon EOS V, 4/600+2X, tripod, Fuji Provia 400 X Posio, December 2008
WINTER AT ITS BEST
A DREAM COME TRUE
White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) and Stellar’s Sea Eagles (Haliaeetus pelagisus) Japan is an amazing country, also because of its avifauna. Originally my interest towards Japan rose from printed nature books. Japanese printing technique was and still is the best in the world.
I have long considered japanese nature photography my inspiration, although one japanese photographer wondered: how can one admire japanese nature photography; there is nothing original, japanese nature photography is based mainly on old chinese art... Oh well.
The first time I was in Japan was when I had an exhibition in Tokyo in 1986. Then in 1993 me and Veikko Neuvonen travelled to watch the Macaques in the hot springs and the Mantchurian Cranes in Hokkaido. The Steller’s Sea Eagles from Kamzatka also winter there, but I didn’t visit them on that trip.
On February this year (2010), I travelled to Hokkaido to photograph the mantchurian Crane, Brown Fish-owl and the Steller’s Sea Eagle.
We took off by boat from the town of Rausu, and there were the dream subjects, several dozen of the birds. They get fed, and they have gotten used to, and practically wait for their breakfast. There were about 30 photographers on the boat and a huge amount of cameras. Majority of the birds were white-tailed eagles, also common in Finland.
Due to the weight limitations of air travel, I only had a 28-300mm zoom and a shoulder bracket with me. But the birds were experienced in posing for the camera.
Japan, Hokkaido, Rausu, February 2010
THE LONG-TAILED DUCK, BIRD FROM THE EDGE OF THE ICE The Long-tailed Duck is a bird of Northern Finland. It lives above the tree line in Fell Lapland. Most of the big flocks seen in the Gulf of Finland in spring nest in the wide tundra of Russia. In Kuusamo, you can encounter a long-tailed duck in May or in late fall, when the birds return to their wintering quarters in the southern parts of the Baltic Sea. The Long-tailed Duck is a quite small and pretty duck. The male in this picture always shows off his long tail feathers. What's peculiar about the bird, is that it has three different "outfits" for each year. Often the long-tailed ducks are quite trusting and you get to take a closer look at it. I was on a trip in Estonia. It was the beginning of April, and the sea was stil frozen. A small flock of long-tailed ducks was eating among the ice near the Sörve lighthouse. The pretty singing, aa, aa... expressed the spring feelings of the male.
Estonia, April 2006
SO PRETTY The brightly coloured coltsfoot is among the first bloomers in spring. You can't help but notice them, as they pop up in large groups from the yet grey, snow-pressed ground in May. Coltsfeet can be found from the roadsides, as soon as the snow has melted. Oystercatcher is probably one of the most easily recognizable birds. In Finland it inhabitates the seasides. It is also spotted in Kuusamo almost every spring. They are headed to the shores of the Arctic Sea. On a spring trip to Northern Norway I saw an oystercatcher's nest on the beach, among coltsfeet. The birds changed brooding shifts and a photography opportunity presented itself. Norway, Storsteinnes
STILL AND INVISIBLE July 2010
DUE SOUTH The Spotted Redshank is slender and beautiful, a real aristocrat among redshanks, an inhabitant of the wet marshes of the North. It builds its nest on a pine heath, quite far from the marsh, and only few have actually seen it. A brooding bird waits until you are a few feet away before escaping. There aren't many wanderers in the forests surrounding the marshes of Lapland, anyway. The Spotted Redshank arrives at the end of May, most often you will hear its beautifully melodious courtship chant tryyi, tryyi... There aren't many wanderers on the frost damaged marshes in June, when there already is a cloud of mosquitos around you. Therefore, the Spotted Redshank is often thought more rare than it actually is. In the Kuusamo area, their younglings hatch around mid-June. The female migrates when the brooding is incomplete, and it is the male's job to take care of the offspring. All in all, the spotted redshanks stay in Finland for the shortest time, compared to other waders. In the marshes, the bird scurrying over the younglings is always the male, the female is already at the beaches of the Mediterranean. Salla, Renttimanselkä, June 1981 August 2010
CORNCRAKE, audible but invisible Crex crex Once upon a time a Corncrake was a familiar messenger of summer for the people in the countryside of Southern Finland. They could hear the creaky rreek-rreek-rreek from the fields. That "sawing" creak went on for hours and belonged to the night time atmosphere as inseparably as the rippling sound of a skylark heard everywhere at daytime. The Corncrake is brilliant in hiding itself, it escapes a possible threat in the covers of the vegetation. The number of corncrakes diminished catastrophically already in the 1930's. The agriculture changed, scythes were no longer used for mowing, mowers pulled by horses became common. Often the field was mowed by circling it starting from the edges. The corncrakes got stuck in the last patch of unmowed field, and were eventually destroyed. In Kuusamo, the Corncrake is a very rare visitor. As I recall, only three sightings have been made in the last decade. I took this picture in the wide fields of Lapua. Typically for July, there was a familiar sound in the fields; the corncrake was apparently a wanderer without a spouse. The sound from a CD-player lured it to approach. Cleverly it peeked from the thick vegetation. Lapua, July 2009Technique: Canon EOS-V, 4/600+1.4 converter, tripod, Fuji Provia 400 31/08/10 14:55 |
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