European goldfinch

I took a bike ride with my parents last week and we happened to see this little beauty! I have not seen this bird before in my life! It is called Europen goldfinch or goldfinch, Tikli in Finnish. I am sure if I tried to pronounce this name it would come out as European Goldfish...!

We do not have very colorful birds in Finland so seeing a bird this colorful was very striking. (also my dad was a little envious that I happened to have my camera with me and he did not! Since this bird is relatively rare around here...)

I was trying to figure out what seeds the bird was eating, but I did not yet solve that mystery...

Rough-legged buzzard

 Last weekend my dad noticed a hawk flying above my parents house and I of course ran and grabbed my camera. My dad is into bird watching, so with his help its always so much fun to try to recognize the birds we see. I remember going on bird watching trips with him since I was a little girl, so getting more into it now has opened up a whole new world for me.

This bird of prey is called a Rough-legged buzzard or Rough-legged hawk or piekana in Finnish. My dad pointed out that this species should not be in our area in the middle of the summer, they only pass by in the spring or in the autumn, so this one must have just decided to hang around for some reason...

Moss and Gentle Forest Flowers

 

It has been a while since I last posted pictures on my blog. I have been finishing my summer studies for the past couple of weeks in a mad rush!

 Here are some more pictures from the Seitseminen national park where we visited a few weeks back.  What amazes me in the forests is the diversity and the ever changing landscape. You could visit a forest a hundred times and you would still find things you have never seen there before.