SOS Baltic dunlin
The Dunlin is a shorebird species with an extensive distribution in the northern hemisphere. Several subspecies are known, and this blog highlights a particular one: the Southern Dunlin, or in fancy scientific words, Calidris alpina ssp. schintzii. Although you might know the Dunlin as a common wader on migration in Western Europe, the Southern Dunlin in the Baltics is critically endangered. For over two decades, a team led by Kari Koivula and Veli-Matti Pakkanen has been trying to find answers to questions concerning the worrying decline of this emblematic shorebird. This summer, I could join the team in Oulu and experience how the research on the conservation of this subspecies is done. Join me on this journey!
Listen to the lure of wilderness
Lapland is known for its vast, untouched nature. You can still find vast wilderness here. You can immerse yourself in nature and shut yourself off from everything that has to do with civilization—maybe a radical idea, but one that appeals to me in a certain way. An escape from the information storm where you find yourself in everyday life. No news, no messages, no cute cat videos on YouTube, and so on. Something difficult to achieve in practice. During the last week of October, I did a 6-day sole hike in the Urho Kerkkonen National Park, an approximately 2,550 km² extensive, largely untouched wilderness. The ideal way to seek out in the wilderness for the first time - or maybe more correctly to listen to the lure of the wilderness.
Bird ringing at Tauvo
One of the most common techniques to investigate bird migration is bird ringing. At Tauvo, a hamlet situated more or less 50km from Oulu, they started ringing at the seventies.
I got the chance to visit the station two times this autumn, so let’s go for a bit of storytelling!