Nope ... I'm not talking about a hippie love-in and music-fest. I'm talking about the pigeons.
Like any city these days, there are lots of Rock Pigeons (Kesykyyhky) milling about in Kuopio. Not sure if it's good or bad, but they don't seem to have the kaleidoscope of colours and plumages of my native St. John's pigeons!! The somewhat similar Stock Pigeon (Uuttukyyhky) has been elusive thus far ... or at least I haven't seen one that I'm comfortable calling yet. I guess it takes some experience. On the other hand, I have enjoyed several encounters with the much more handsome Wood Pigeon (Sepelkyyhky) - which I'm happy to report keep to the forests and farm fields rather than the city markets!!
Two things surprised me, though ... First, the utter lack of European Starlings (Kottarainen)!! I've only seen a handful in the two weeks I've been here ... not that I'm complaining, mind you. A local birder informed me that the Starling population in Finland crashed about a decade or so ago ... the reason is unknown, although there are a few theories which involve lighthouses and French farmers (Need I say more?!?!). Apparently the population across the border in Russia has remained much healthier.
Secondly, I was enjoying a coffee in the Tori (town centre and market area) the other day when I started noticing these very dark pigeons in the distance. It was only after one approaced much closer that I realized it was, in fact, a Jackdaw (Naakka). For some reason, I didn't expect to find Jackdaws picking at scraps and hanging about in urbans areas - but here they were. Urban corvids of northern Europe.
Despite my plans to start work in earnest this week, it turns out I might have this weekend off. I'm considering a trip to SE Finland to catch the famous arctic migration ...
Posted by jaredclarke at May 18, 2005 12:24 PM