The spring started - or not...

The temperature shot up quickly from the -25°C we had a couple of days ago to +2°C. I expected to see the first Herring Gulls of spring today, as usually happens with these kinds of weather shifts. I searched for them at both Rauttunselkä and Vanajanselkä, but didn't find a single one. Out on the open ice of the big lakes, there were only White-tailed Eagles, 24 in total, along with dozens of Hooded Crows and a few Ravens.

I started wondering why this year is different from previous winters, and the reason is likely the freezing of the Gulf of Finland and the Archipelago Sea; the gulls must be wintering somewhere further away. Well, spring will get here eventually, but it would certainly be nice to find some new species for the year. For instance, Bohemian Waxwings, Red Crossbills, or Parrot Crossbills seem impossible to find right now.

One wintering Rough-legged Buzzard was perched in a birch tree on the border of Kuurila and Linnanen, a good sighting, though it’s been a regular observation on almost every birding trip this winter. But that was all. I really hope that early spring arrives soon, I'm stuck at 63 species for this year now and got only two new species during February... 

Link to my yearlist: https://bubo.org/view-list.html?list_id=56580

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Author

Olli Haukkovaara

email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me

Valkeakoski, Finland

Go to sea shore, if you wanna see lot's of birds now

  

Oldsquaws aka Long-tailed ducks were the most abundant waterfowl

In February, it's midwinter in Finland, most of the birds are somewhere far in south. Especially in inland, there's now a very limited number of species to see and during this winter, we don't have much Thrushes, nor Bohemian Waxwings, nor Crossbills or Pine Grosbeaks. Also Eurasian Siskins and Redpolls are very scarce this winter. So, if you wanna see lot's of birds, you should go to sea shore, to outermost peninsulas where is no ice yet.

Last Sunday me and my younger son Roni, drove south to Porkkala peninsula, which is located in Kirkkonummi, about 40 km southwest from our capitol Helsinki. The sea in front of Helsinki is already covered by ice, but in Porkkala there is still mostly open water.

Our trip was long, but it was worth it. When we drove south from Valkeakoski, there was first a thick fog from Hämeenlinna to Hyvinkää, after that a blizzard in Vantaa and Espoo, but soon after we arrived to Porkkala, the clouds moved away and sun started to shine! Woohoo! 

During drive, we saw four Black Grouse in Hyvinkää, the first new species during this trip to my 2021 yearlist. Nice! All the rest of new species were in Porkkala. Below is the list of our observations in Porkkala:

• Oldsquaw aka Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis) 1400
• Common Scoter (Melanitta nigra) 12
• Velvet Scoter (Melanitta fusca) 130
• Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) 50
• Smew (Mergus albellus) 2
• Goosander (Mergus merganser) 30
• Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator) 2
• Mallard  (Anas platyrhynchos) 30
• Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula)  3
• Mute Swan (Gygnus olor) 7
• Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) 1
• White-tailed Eagle (Haliaetus albicilla) 1
• Common Gull (Larus canus) 3
• European Herring Gull  (Larus argentatus) 5
• Great Black-backed Gull  (Larus marinus) 1
• Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)  2
• Raven (Corvus corax) 1
• Goldcrest (Regulus regulus) 3
• Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis)  1

Of the above 19 species, Oldsquaw, Common Scoter, Smew, Red-breasted Merganser and Snow Bunting were new to me this year. 

Flock of Common Goldeneyes

Half a day in Porkkala was perfect, lot's of birds compared to inland. Sun was shining and we felt the warmth of sun on our faces, even though the temperature was about -10 degrees Celcius. It really felt like an early spring, especially when the Snow Bunting flew over!

Grey Seal was also a nice surprise!

View to west

Roni watching birds with my scope

Got to make an other birding trip to sea shore within a month, when spring migration starts. It's nice to see Skylarks, Northern Lapwings, Stock Doves and other early arrivers weeks before they come to inland.

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Author

Olli Haukkovaara

email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me

Valkeakoski, Finland

1.1.2019 - great winter birding trip!

 

Vivacious Little Grebe is still in Putaanvirta stream 

On January 1, 2019, it was gray, foggy and calm before the approaching winter storm. I went birding with Risto Vilpas, looking for the first birds of the year and at the same time a bit of preparation for the forthcoming winter bird rally next Saturday. Risto and I are in different teams, but who cares? 😉

The mist soon turned to rainfall, but it didn't make it worse when we were properly equipped, or what do you think Risto? 😄. The only trouble was the moisture in the lenses of the binoculars whenever we took them from cold rain to warm car ...

At first we were looking for a White Wagtail in Antinniemi district in Valkeakoski, which was still there on 31st of December. But we didn't found it, and there wasn't either the sick Chaffinch that had been in feeding place a little earlier. So not a very successful start to the year 2019...

The Little Grebe who was wintering in the stream of Putaanvirta was still there, so he hadn't got scared of fireworks from the previous night. The bird was initially far away, but suddenly swam toward us, and eventually became "guided" right next to us until one photographer approached it again. A hint for beginner bird photographers: basically, never approach a bird, let the birds approach you, try to stay hidden. A diving waterfowl can be approached when it is in a dive, but the photographer must stop as soon as the bird comes to the surface.

From Putaanvirta we moved to the Apia Canal, where was on 30th of December the first Dipper of winter. But it wasn't there today, and nothing else. From Apia Canal, the journey continued to Alakanava stream, where an old female Goldeneye was found. From where it had popped there, it hadn't been seen for a long time in Valkeakoski? In Myllypirtti there was a nice flock of 23 Bullfinches, and from Sahanlahti Bay we could hear the calls of Whooper Swans.

The trip continued to strait of Lotilansalmi, where a Grey Heron, who was fishing at the mouth of the Tervasaari paper factory condensate pipeline, was found immediately. The Kalatonlahti ruderate was disappointing in its emptiness, and there were just basic birds in the local bird feeding place.

The open water area of Iso-Vuolle strait had expanded far towards Härkökivi islet, but there was no birds. From there we went to the Pastellinpuisto Park to take a peek at Markku Ranta-Eilola's bird feeding place, there were a lot of birds, but nothing else than the basic species. And at the same time came a message from Rare Bird Alert about Steller's Eider in Lempäälä! To there then!

Luckily we are close to Lempäälä and soon we were in the "playground". When we got out of the car, the birders in place told it just disappeared behind the tip of the headland, out of sight. We waited for a while if the bird were to appear again, but not. So we decided to go across the river if we could see the bird from there. After a minute of driving, Risto's phone rang - the Steller's Eider came back! U-turn and back. And just as we got out of the car, it was once again swiming behind cape - and no longer appeared.

So we left again across the river. And that's where it swim - no .... now we found a Common Scoter. And the Whooper Swan. But there is no Steller's Eider ...

While looking for Steller's Eider we found the Common Scoter...

...and the Whooper Swan

Since the Steller's Eider was not visible in the direction of Herralankoski rapids - where only some Goldeneyes and a Goosander swim, we concluded that it must be somewhere behind the Salonsaari island. So we headed to the only place where you can easily see, that is, again to the other side of the river, to the Sarvikas. And finally, toughness was rewarded, we found the Steller's Eider!

Twitching of the Steller's Eider, found by Jarmo Koivisto, succeeded finally!

The Lempäälä rapids are a miserable place to look for waterfowls, too many bends and blind spots. However, the positive side is a nice winter bird variety that is not usually found here in inland.

On January 1, 2019, we found no more than 27 species during our trip. Let's see if the approaching winter storm from the Atlantic still offers us some rarities. It would be great to find a new species in our local area, for example a Puffin or Brünnich's Guillemot. Well, a Little Auk or a Black-legged Kittiwake would be good. Sendari, be merciful!

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Author

Olli Haukkovaara

email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me

Valkeakoski, Finland

Winter bird census in Kärjenniemi

 

Spotted Nutcracker, new species in my route

Cloudy Saturday on 12th of November, mild and calm weather, temperature few degrees below 0° C, almost prefect weather for winter bird census. Sunny day would have been even better, but those are rare here in November.

My route is 7 km long and it goes through many biotopes so basically I have a chance to see a nice variety of bird species. But this year the winter came early and lake Kärjenniemenselkä was already covered by ice, so no waterfowls or gulls this autumn. Fortunately there were still some rowan berries left for thrushes and waxwings, also lot's of cones in spruces, so I was pretty confident that I will see many species.

Black Woodpecker

And so I did. 23 species and total 698 birds. Nice surprise were the 3 Spotted Nutcrackers, new species in my route and a new species to my year list! Small surprise was also 3 Black Woodpeckers, it's usually scarce i.e. I don't find it every time. On what comes to berry and cone eating birds, most thrushes and waxwings had already gone south, but I still found a flock 11 Bohemian Waxwings, total 12 Blackbirds, 8 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, two Red Crossbills but surprisingly no Fieldfares. Also the amount of Redpolls and Siskins, which were scarce last winter, was promising, we may get a nice winter on what comes to birding.  All results can be seen here, on the website of Finnish Museum of Natural History.

Next winter bird census will be after Christmas, looking forward to see what I will find from Kärjenniemi that time. Maybe Grey-Headed Woodpecker, or Three-Toed Woodpecker, both would be new in my route. Or some big owl... If you want to join, you're welcome, just contact me and come to do census in Kärjenniemi!

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Author

Olli Haukkovaara

email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me

Valkeakoski, Finland

Eurasian Eagle Owl and Hazel Grouse

 

Taiga forest near my home

Short walk, couple of kilometers, in nearby coniferous forests in perfect spring-winter weather; clear sky, temperature about -2° C. The forests are still rather quiet, most birds are still in towns and villages.
And no Crosbills, they are somewhere else this winter... Only Eurasian Bullfinches were calling every now and then, otherwise the forest was silent. Actually, why I decided to have a walk in this forest today was not just because of fine weather, but because Jote Ahola saw there Grey-headed Woodpecker and Three-toed Woodpecker yesterday. Grey-headed is still missing from my year list, so it would be nice to see it.

This time I chose a new track, that I had not walked ever before. And it was a good choice, as after couple of hundred meters walk, I saw an Eurasian Eagle Owl taking off from the spruce, flying between trees and disappearing. It all happened so fast, that I didn't get a photo of it, shame... Still it was really cool to see that owl, and it became #50 in my year list 2016!

Eurasian Bullfinches, the most common birds in forests today

I stomped around the forests, no woodpeckers, just Bullfinches... Suddenly I saw a small grouse flying across the track. Here in the forests of southern Finland a small grouse is always Hazel Grouse, nowadays.
Some forty / fifty years ago we had still Willow Grouse in these latitudes, but nowadays it lives much further north. I tried to get a photo of the Hazel Grouse (or Hazelhen - somehow I prefer this old name better), but it resisted to show himself to me even though it replied to me all the time when I whistled to it. They are all individuals, some of them come very close to see who is whistling, some stay in hide, some fly far away.

So, no Grey-headed Woodpecker yet, but Eurasian Eagle Owl was a pleasure to see. What next, who knows, maybe I'm going some evening to an owl trip, or going to watch the White-tailed Eagles...

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Author

Olli Haukkovaara

email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me

Valkeakoski, Finland

Winter birding, from oasis to oasis

 

Hooded Crow

Birding in winter is like birding in desert, you better find an oasis to see birds. The oasis here can be for example a feeding place, stream with open water, and old forest, or any other place that attracts birds. Between these hotspots, birds are very scarce.

Today I went birding with my friend Aatu Rundgrén. He is a rather new birder, enthusiastic and learning fast. I kind of envy him, he get's lifers still quite often. Hmmm, I should probably go to Amazon to get that feeling of finding and learning new birds again... ;)

Just before Aatu arrived, I got a new species to my year list; Black Woodpecker was calling few hundred meters away from my home. It was #47 in my year list 2016.

We headed to Rauttunniemi, as there is a feeding place inside forest by Juha Leuhtonen. Nice deciduous forest, good for woodpeckers and many others. Distance from car to to feeding place is about 500 meters. There were no birds between these two spots... But when we approached the feeding place, we first saw a male Blackbird, the two Great Spotted Woodpeckers, soon some Blue Tits and Great Tits and heard the calls of Long-tailed Tits. Not a bad start, Long-tailed Tit was #48 in my year list. When we left, we met Juha and his wife Pirjo in the forest, they brought new food for the birds.

Next to Vedentaka village, nothing special, some Tits and a flock of 100 Jackdaws plus some Hooded Crows, that's all. But hey, in Metsäkansa there's a log storage, those are widely known as good spots to find woodpeckers. Just few days ago Petri Hakosalo found 5 woodpecker species from some log storage in Pori, so why not here too... Or so I thought.

Metsäkansa log storage - no woodpeckers

No sign of any woodpeckers here.... nor any other birds. Blah...

From Metsäkansa we took the old road to Nikkarinhanko. There is still a small piece of old coniferous taiga forest in Yhteistenmäki, after large clear cuttings around it. There used to be Three-toed Woodpeckers, but after latest clear cutting in north east side, they had disappeared.  But who knows, maybe there's one now in the middle of winter as there's still lots of food available for them.
After short walk we heard a woodpecker knocking... and then it went silent. Soon we heard a Great Spotted Woodpecker calling further away, okay, it was just it. And at the same time, behind us - knock - knock - knock - knock!!! And soon we found a male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, nice :)

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker in Yhteistenmäki

Next we drove to Kopolantie, where it's possible see a flock of Black Grouses - but not today, actually there were no birds along the whole road. And soon we arrived to Kärjenniemi; there's another oasis, created by Kimmo Mäkiselkä, who happened to be in front of his house,  with camera, photographing birds. He has a big feeding place in his backyard, which attracts lot's bird, like some 150 Yellowhammers, also 4 House Sparrows, which is nowadays endangered species here and only House Sparrows in whole Kärjenniemi area.

Part of big flock of Yellowhammers in Kärjenniemi

After Kärjenniemi we drove to Apianvirta stream. When we approached the open water, we  heard the Dipper singing there. And it was a lifer for Aatu, congratulations man! There were also Bullfinches, Treecreeper and Great Spotted Woodpecker - and there had been an Otter few hours earlier. Gotta get there tomorrow again, would be nice see the Otter for a long time.

European Dipper - a lifer for Aatu

Time to go home, to last oasis. A small surprise waited us there; 6 Great Spotted Woodpeckers! What the heck? Here has been two of them whole winter and now suddenly six!

One more surprise, in the end: Aatu gave me a bottle of 12 year old Famous Grouse to thank me for all those lifers I've found for him. Oh man, this was too much, but thank you, it was a pleasant surprise and tastes excellent! :)

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Author

Olli Haukkovaara

email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me

Valkeakoski, Finland

Birding in -25° C, looking for woodpeckers

New year, time to start the year list from zero, once again. And that's a good reason to go for a walk in taiga forests, or actually, in last remaining pieces of them. We have lot's of forests here, but majority of them are so called "tree fields" i.e. commercial forests or clear cuttings which are far from original taiga forests.

Heikkilämetsä nature reserve, notice the fallen trees which makes it difficult to walk outside trails

On 8th of January, I thought it was a last freezing day for a while... Temperature was about -25° C i.e. -4° F. I walked to Heikkilänmetsä nature reserve, it's on old taiga forest, only couple of kilometers from my home. I was looking for woodpeckers, weather was perfect for this, no wind at all. Only noise came from cars that drove by at the distance of some 500 meters. Oh, and cold weather caused snaps, cracks and bangs in trees all the time. I was walking slowly in the forest, stopping every 20 meters and listened. Soon I heard repeating snaps - a woodpecker. But... in old taiga forest it's not easy to walk outside trails, as there are so many fallen trees. It took about 10 minutes to walk about 100 metres... And then I saw the male Three-toed Woodpecker, gorgeous male with yellow crown. And right after that another woodpecker in same spruce; White-backed Woodpecker, female! Cool, two new species to my year list! Also Eurasian Treecreeper in the same tree. Not a bad walk... even though the forest was so dark that I could not get good photos, as you can see below...

Three-toed Woodpecker in Heikkilänmetsä

Female White-backed Woodpecker in Heikkilänmetsä

The freezing weather continued whole weekend... Tomorrow the temperature will raise but so will the wind and the result of windchill will make the weather about as cold as it's now, -20° C aka -4° F.

Today I made a short walk to another small remaining piece of taiga forests, the Kaskelankorpi. My plan was to find Hazelhen aka Hazel Grouse to my year list. But soon when I was inside the forest, I heard a soft "kick - kick" and knocking. Definitely not a Great Spotted Woodpecker but something better... And soon I found it, White-backed Woodpecker female! Cool!

     

White-backed Woodpecker, female in Kaskelankorpi

 

 

 

 

I continued my walk and soon I found the Hazelhen, a gorgeous male, but it was too fast, could not get a photo of it. Shame. After I walked some 150 - 200 meters, I heard intense knocking and saw another woodpecker - what the heck, White-backed Woodpecker again! I really wonder how many White-backed Woodpeckers we have here in Finland now?? During last autumn we had a big influx of White-backed Woodpeckers from Russia, most of these birds must be from there as the Finnish population is only about 150 pairs.

Great Spotted Woodpecker in my backyard

While walking back to home, I found a Fieldfare, which is rather scarce here this winter due to lack of berries. Great Spotted Woodpecker was in our backyard, like it's every day, and so were the Bullfinches. One of the Bullfinches surprised me positively, the male was enjoying the rays of sun and started singing, this was the first sign of the spring 2016!

The first sign of the spring 2016, male Bullfinch was singing in maple tree

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Author

Olli Haukkovaara

email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me

Valkeakoski, Finland

.

Spring winter turned to spring, finally!

 

Fields of Linnanen on 30th of March

During last 10 days the weather has changed totally as the termic spring (daily mean temperature over 0°C) started two days ago. Warm moist air flowed from Central Europe to Nordic countries, creating rain and fog.

So, no more walking over the hard snow, thaw takes care that hard snow turns back to soft. In fact the snow started melting immediately, and first signs of flooding are already visible. If the rains continue, we will have excellent floods on the fields, where waders and waterfowl have perfect resting places.
 
Below I'll write day by day what has happened, so you can get an overview how the change from spring winter to real spring happened.

27.3. Almost -15°C during night. First Mute Swan was today in Putaanvirta stream. It is a very tame and hungry individual, with a ring in the leg. The ring itself was a surprise, but I'll write about it later in separate story.

28.3. Cold nights continue, even though the daytime temperature is above zero. I saw the first Merlin today; it flew fast past my car in afternoon in Lotilansalmi.

Bewick's Swan (left) with Whooper Swan

29.3. Nice surprise today in Iso-Vuolle; an adult Bewick's Swan among the flock of Whooper Swans. Bewick's Swan is a small rarity here, so I made a rare bird alert and at least couple of twitchers came to see it. The Bewick's Swan was there still in the morning of 30th but disappeared after that.

The morning of 31st of March was still cold

30.3. - 1.4. The weather was still very cold and during daytime only few hours above 0°C. Some Skylarks, Northern Lapwings, Starlings and other scouts have been seen here by other birders, but personally I got only two new species for this year on 30.3. when Common Buzzard was soaring to north in the Fields of Linnanen and two Linnets were heading to northeast in Iso-Vuolle. I saw also two adult sedentary White-Tailed Eagles in Rauttunselkä.

2.4. Last night was warm, but still too foggy... as the fog prevents most of the birds to migrate. Still something new: Northern Shrike in Kuurila fields. Also, I saw the second Merlin for this spring, in Iso-Vuolle.

Starlings arrived on Sunday

 
3.4. But on Sunday it started! I didn’t actually do any birding on Sunday as we visited the relatives of my wife, but during drive to Hämeenlinna and back I managed to see a flock of 20 Starlings in the roadside in Hattula and unexpectedly the first Eurasian Oystercatcher on the ice of Rauttunselkä! It felt a bit odd to see the Oystercatcher before Lapwings and Skylarks!

Northern Lapwings and Hooded Crow

4.4. Both Sunday and Monday were too foggy for the big rush. Still, the birds seem to a have huge pressure to get to their breeding sites... When I opened the door in the morning, a flock of 10 Blackbirds flew over our house. No doubt, they had arrived during night. After that I did a nice few hour trip in heavy rain and fog, with lot's of new species for this year;  14+1 Skylarks, a flock of 83 Northern Lapwings, 2 Eurasian Wigeons, 18 Eurasian Coots, 17 Black-headed Gulls, 6 Common Gulls (aka Mew Gulls) and 2 Great Crested Grebes. In addition those also 12 Snow Buntings were nice!

The fog may fade away for tomorrow, so the big rush may start...

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Author

Olli Haukkovaara

email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me

Valkeakoski, Finland

Early spring birding in snow desert

 

Herring Gulls, stalking at fishermen

Birds and birders here in north have to adapt to the fact that spring comes slowly and 99% of the landscape is covered with ice and snow. So, it's essential for both birds and birders to find all possible oases in this white desert.

The oasis in this case is naturally a place where birds will find something to eat. Roadsides with no snow, dung piles in the fields, dumps, open streams or rivers, feeding places, spots where fishermen leave garbage fish etc.

So, last Wednesday I went to search for these oases, with ultimate goal in my mind to find some new birds for this year. No Skylarks yet, but still I managed to find first 1 and later 3 Snow Buntings. The first one was in the dung pile in Kannistonmäki fields and the rest 3 were on the road side in Kuurila.

Fishermen were again on the ice of Rauttunselkä near Viidenummero. About 10 Herring Gulls, 3 Great Black-backed Gulls and an adult White-tailed Eagle were stalking at them, waiting for carbage fish.

Later I saw also 3 Whooper Swans and 10 Goosanders in small open water area near Valkeakoski, where local paper mill lets warm condensation water flow to nearby lake.

Dung pile, where I found the first Snow Bunting of this year

During weekend we got even more snow, about 10 cm. Perhaps during this week the spring really comes. Or not, we'll see...

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Author

Olli Haukkovaara

email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me

Valkeakoski, Finland

Nice afternoon birding walk

 

                                                                Goldeneyes

Today I was birding for the first time since couple of weeks due to influenza and pneumonia. No hardcore birding, just a slow 8 km hike in and around downtown Valkeakoski, as I'm still convalescent and eating antibiotics. My younger son Roni was with me, we both enjoyed the walk in sunny and warm spring-winter afternoon. Warm indeed, as the temperature was +33°C higher than week ago; 0°C. No doubt, there was spring in the air!

                                                                    Bullfinch

Great Tits, Blue Tits and Green Finches were all singing, as well as Bullfinches and Hooded Crows. In the channel of Valkeakoski we saw 4 Goosanders and 4 Goldeneyes, the first ones arrived already two weeks ago.

Eurasian Jackdaws were playing in the sky and flock of 35 Bohemian Waxwings were eating last Chokeberries. So, nothing new for this year, but anyway a nice afternoon birding walk!

                                                           Eurasian Jackdaws

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Author

Olli Haukkovaara

email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me

Valkeakoski, Finland

Jack Snipe is a tough guy

This Jack Snipe was photographed during winter 2006.
Photo copyright Pekka Sarvela, thanks to him for allowing me to use it.

The Jack Snipe (Lymnocryptes minumus)  is a small stocky wader. It is the smallest snipe, and the only member of the genus Lymnocryptes. Their breeding habitat is marshes, bogs, tundra and wet meadows with short vegetation in northern Europe and northern Russia. Jack Snipes are migratory, spending the non-breeding period in Great Britain, Atlantic and Mediterranean coastal Europe, Africa, and India.

But... did you know that part of the Jack Snipe population spend winters up here in the north, up to 62nd latitude. They are able survive in very small ditches and brooks, open drains and industrial areas where warm condensation water is let out to nature. Naturally, the weather in the end of autumn affects directly to the number of overwintering snipes. During winter 2000/2001, after warm autumn, 116 Jack Snipes were found from southern Finland. The real number must be much bigger, because this bird is really difficult to find. Their survival strategy is interesting; they don't move at all during day time! When the sun sets down and the dusk arrives, Jack Snipes activate. They may even fly long times over the open water, land every now and then and continue flying. Probably they also move between open ditches and brooks. Often the only sign that birders see, are the small foot steps of Jack Snipe somewhere along the ditch.

Surprisingly big number of overwintering snipes also survive to the spring. Of course it depends on the winter; for example this winter has been very cold and fatal to snipes, because most of the ditches and brooks are now covered with ice. But probably some of the luckiest ones will survive to spring - Jack Snipe is a tough guy!

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Author

Olli Haukkovaara

email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me

Valkeakoski, Finland