Nordic Summer season with the migrating bird life.

This month of June is the beginning of the Nordic summer season for this year of 2011. It has really kicked off quick smart, the warm weather and the rain showers has transformed the environment to a dark green color with lots of wildflowers already on the ground.  The sea ducks have built their nests and the duckling have already hatched, I have spotted lots of them and photographed some.  Here are some of them during the recent Nordic summer season:  The Common Merganse, (Mergus Merganser), Common Eider (Somateria mollissima), Barnacle Goose (Branta leucopsis), Gavia arctica, and the White Swans (genus Cygnes).  They hatched/arrived at the water in that order, as I observed and took pictures of them.

Sea Duck pictures.

Nordic Summer season along the shores of the Bothnia Sea.

These pictures are from the West coast of Finland, known as the  Gulf of Bothnia.  Migrating birds seem to favor nesting and populating along the seashores, particular if there are small islands and rock outcrops where they can build nests without having to worry so much about predators e.g. fox’s, lynx or the cats.  Small islands seem to be the safest place for sea ducks to build a nest during the Nordic summer season.

The building of Bird nesting boxes during the Nordic summer season.

The Gavia Arctica Sea duck naturally builds her nest in a hollow tree, people being aware of that, and also being self-aware of their impact on the natural environment, e.g. chopping down trees, they have been putting up “bird boxes” for centuries.  They come in various size and shapes, for the birds along the shores of the sea and along the lake shores near peoples summer shacks.

There are many types of bird boxes built for various types of birds, they are usually either for the larger water birds or the smaller inland birds, the size of the box and the entrance to it, is usually a give away for what type of bird it was built for.  The Woody woodpecker has a habit of finding a bird box with a too tight hole, then without second thoughts hammers it, like it was tailor-made for his/her purpose.  Not sure whether they just do it out of curiosity, or serious plans for nesting there.  Some of the bird nesting boxes that I have seen has a metal plate built over the entrance hole (with a hole in the center), to prevent the woodpeckers from hammering it to their size needs.

For an update of latest pictures of migrating birds and summer flowers during the Nordic summer season, visit the above link, and happy days during your summer season wherever that may be.