Puolukka, Vaccinium vitis-idaea - hard to tell which was first the blossom or the berry ... see next pic.
Puolukoita - ei omenoita...The Vaccinium vitis-idaea – often called lingonberry or cowberry, also called foxberry, mountain cranberry + a bunch more...! (Try to decide, you Englishmen...!) Die Preiselbeere auf deutsch, one plant, one name...
Lakka/hilla - cloudberry - this is how it all starts ... see next pic!
Lakka - Cloudberry - this is how it looks ripe (golden) - makes good liqueur, by the way ...
Mustikka - Vaccinum myrtillus - Bilberry, many times called blueberry, too - many names in German, as well: Die Blaubeere, Heidelbeere, Schwarzbeere, Wildbeere, Waldbeere ... enough for such a small berry...
Juolukka (Vaccinium uliginosum) Bog Bilberry or Northern Bilberry, auf deutsch Die Rauschbeere, looks very much like blueberry but the plant itself usually is taller. Edible, but not that tasty, really.
Variksenmarja (Empetrum nigrum) - as you can see the berry is black, really - in English Crowberry as well as in Finnish and German Die Krähenbeeren.
Karpalo -Vaccinium oxycoccos - Cranberry - Moosbeeren - on the wet peatlands - these ones not quite ripe in the picture.
Platanthera bifolia - Orchidaceae family, nothing less. In German Zweiblättrige Waldhyazinthe, in English Lesser Butterfly-orchid
Single Delight - the English name is really charming! In German two names: Moosauge and Einblütiges Wintergrün - not bad!
Mäntykukka - Monotropa hypopitys - Unlike most plants, they do not contain chlorophyll; they are myco-heterotrophs, getting their food through parasitism upon fungi rather than photosynthesis.
One of the last pictures of the Giant tree it still being alive - taken 2003.
Herukkaperhonen (Nymphalis c-album) - interesting in Latin, must say. In English: Comma! In German C-Falter - OK, sounds like a music term to me ...
Nymphalis C-album again - not the greatest of pictures, but just a reminder how it looks -> see the next picture..!
THIS is where you can see where the C comes from - and why album - of course: White C, simple as that..!
Baby treecreeper (Certhia familiaris) - it is not big even if grown-up ... In German Waldbaumläufer - makes sense. We call it puukiipijä.
Leppälintu (Phoenicurus phoenicurus) - father busy feeding the babies. E: Common Redstart, G: Gartenrotschwanz - makes more sense in German, if I may say ..
Baby Phoenicurus...
This is fast food ... it took less than a minute to come up with a new portion ...
Info hut - with no snow at all - this is summer ...
Info hut with less snow - there will be more later ...
Info hut in late December - there will be more snow later ...
This is what it means - to have MORE snow ...this is February 11th ...
Entrance Feb 11th, 2005
This is how winter looks in Pyhä-Häkki - white and blue...
..more white and blue ...
Riihineva - ski track + moose tracks crossing...
Riihineva scenery and nordic hare's tracks...
A treetop - one of many ...
Cooking shelter seen from the lake (Kotajärvi)
Still off the ground - fell down in 1978...
Fireplace - and fire...
Devil's tree - looks bad - but is friendly!
Kotaneva scenery - see the diamonds on th snow ..!?
Kotaneva sun - and more diamonds ...
This is Kotaneva afternoon in a quiet, pink winter day ...
1858 Fire scene...
1858 Fire scene ... does it sound familiar ...?
Old and new - that's all I have to say about that ...
Blue trail - everything blue ...
The old Giant tree (1518-2004) looks majestic in white...
All white - and still going strong ...
Kotaneva ski track - no other tracks ...
June 10, 2003 - had a lot of rain - whoever remembers ...
This is - as the picture says - Kulorastas, Turdus viscivorus - always been fancied by the Latin name ... Mistle thrush in English, Misteldrossel auf deutsch.
This is what lightning does - splits the tree in two - in split of a second. This from year 2000.
This is the entrance gate - even if there is a picture of a black woodpecker (Dryocopus martius) - you'll hear a Finch (Fringilla coelebs) wish you welcome...
This is how it all starts - you come in - and the trails are right there - all clearly marked by name and by different colors.
You go in - and all it takes - you just keep your eyes and ears open ...
You go further in - and soon you get to see the first glimpse of Riihineva, a wide open bog - where you get (have) to walk on duckboards.
Didn't I tell you - Riihineva is right here - soon you see some of the flora, sundew and others ...
This is another Riihineva video - 360 degrees - taken on the duckboards Aug 8 2007
This is Maariankämmekkä - (Dactylorhiza maculata) Heath spotted-orchid, in German Gefleckte Knabenkraut - a representative of the Orchid family!
..the leaves are spotted as well as the flowers, otherwise it is question of a real rarity Dactylorhiza incarnata subsp. incarnata...
This starts with Bog bean (Menyanthes trifoliata) - in German Fieberklee (+half-a-dozen other names) and follows to Sundew, G: Sonnentau (Drosera rotundifolia)
So - started with Metsäkirvinen (Anthus trivialis), E: Tree Pipit, G: Baumpieper - but noticed that there are quite a few singers (and a drummer) in the background!
There is more singing here ... and more to come ...
Riihineva - once more - always different, always beautiful...
Mastomäki (Mast hill) inside the forest - and the crossroad towards Iso Puu (Giant tree).
This is the 3,2 KM trail (Orange) - the ancient pines just have to fall down as their roots give up eventually - after 100 years or more measured from their last day alive...
There is the tree (Pine, Pinus sylvestris) and the scars of a forest fire - at least 3 fires can be seen there, the earliest must be from 1700's ...
There are huge, old pine trees - dead and alive ...
..and there are huge pine trees alive... with all the turtle bark...
One more sample - turtle bark - Schield Rinde ...
You walk the trail - there are openings - there are duckboards, there are ant hills ... and silence ...
You see the sky, you see the trees, you see the ant hills - and hear the silence ...
The ants, Formicidae, are small, harmless to man, busy and quick in their moves whenever it is warm ...
You better not forget to look up - the skies are there - the light is there ...
This is the ground - 360 degrees - everything is green - and stays green, because it rains more than what evaporates in these latitudes, so all the energy stays in the ground, no matter what ...
You fall down, you stay down - if you are a pine or a spruce ...
This sign takes you to the Old Giant Tree (1518-2004) - keep your eyes open ...
THIS is the Old Giant - one and only - the small hole can be seen here (from year 1938!) where the tree was drilled and thus determined the age ...
..and it is known for sure - the tree was born 1518 - as well it is known for sure - it died 1st week of August 2004 ...
Then the sign leads back to Parking area and Info - no chance to get lost here ...
IF you are an aspen, Populus tremula, you'd be better off somewhere else, let me tell you...!
This is the New Giant tree - born 1741 - so - a good start ...at least ...
...Don't forget to look up - there is the sky - sometimes blue - sometimes grey ... this time blue ...
Most of the time the pine trees are twisted counterclockwise - but no rule without an exception ... evry once in a while they end up clockwise ...
Once again - this is the meeting of old and new ... up in the sky there is a jet heading west - down in the ground there are the pines - not moving, ever ...
A few more steps - and you are back from where you started ....
One more case - of endless fire history - it has been going on ages - known record is from the year 1384 on ...
You are back - congratulations! Just pointing out that this was the SHORTER trail - inside the old forest - then there is the longer, 6,5 KM trail, marked red - all around the park ...!!! Want to see it..!?
This is Kotaneva - the very beginning of it - as you enter from the 1858 fire scene ...
Kotaneva panorama - very much the same which you could see in the winter pics earlier ...
Kotaneva - hut bog - name refers to ancient Same (Lappish) population in old, really old days.
This is one and only - DEVIL's Tree - for the 1st time captured in live moving picture ... for you to see ...!
Not exactly the Golden Gate - but serves the same purpose ...!
So - if you think .. how come there are no PEOPLE in the park - so now you get to see a few! There are people all the time, this is one of my favorite groups - the foreign exchange students from university of Jyväskylä...
This is what I would call some good time - a picnic - no hurry - sausages, ketchup, mustard ... perfect weather - good company ... what else do you need!?
Don't blame me - nobody can say NO to lovely Czech ladies ...
Yellow - is the name of the game - see in the background a genuine turtle-bark pine ...
Suruvaippa, (Nymphalis antiopa), Mourning Cloak in North America and the Camberwell Beauty in the British Isles, Trauermantel auf deutsch - pretty, pretty, pretty...
Once more - our quiet "friend" - Adder, Vipera berus, kyy, whatever you call it. They are there - they have poison - they don't make much fuzz about themselves...
They are silent - no wonder - they are deaf, too. They feel when you come - and they have good sense of smell in tongue.
Spider - the real webmaster - they are clever creatures, believe me. Araneae - arachnids, they belong to a number of groups and orders - this one does not exactly look like a scorpion, even if is a relative ..!
Keltahaarakas (Ramaria flava) - there are look-a-likes but this is Ramaria flava!
Strawberries & Cream! How is that for a mushroom!? But that really is the English name for this Hydnellum ferrugineum. In Finnish ruosteorakas - nothing fancy in it, far as name is concerned...
You see it right! It really looks like bleeding. It only "bleeds" before noon - in the afternoon no blood!
They say it is common but somehow it is not well known - not edible, by the way ...
This is where the Finnish (and Latin) name comes from - it really looks like a rusty piece of tin.
And - as you can see - it really manages to grow through plants, in this case blueberry.
This is THE Old Giant - from the other side of the road - by the way. The carvings date back to the 1940's and 50's.
Pink rose on rock - that is all I have to say about that...
THE burr - extraordinary, indeed, especially since growing in a spruce tree (Picea abies).
Aug 31st 2007: New exhibition of all you always wanted to know but were too shy to ask! It's great, really!
A detail of the picture - a tree-creeper and a forest fire in the background!
Another detail - nothing less than Siberian Jay - haven't managed to take a picture myself, even if seen it a few times....
Vaivero (Chamaedaphne calyculata) Leather leaf, Torfgränke - one of the first ones to blossom in the spring. Picture taken May 13, 2008. Strange enough, seems that it only grows in Finland!
This is the Sundew, Sonnentau, then - once you see one, you see a thousand ... they are smaller than you think!
Vesiherne, Utricularia minor, Common Bladderwort, another meat-eating plant - does not look like much, but knows some fancy tricks!
Viirupöllö, Strix nebulosa - Ural owl. Almost ready for take-off. This, again, was a twin, there is the other deeper in the nest.
Safe and sound off the ground, maybe in 15 meters. They left the safety of the nest 1st week of June.
Vanamo, Linnaea borealis, Twinflower - the absolute favorite of Carl von Linné - that explains the scientific name...
Kangasmaitikka, Melampyrum pratense, Common Cow-wheat - a good name - knowing how happily the cows eat this - if ever get a chance these days ...
Suokukka (Andromeda polifolia) Bog-rosemary - usually slightly pink. Pretty as it may be - it is poisonous, really, so better not touch!
This is it! Nothing less than Creeping lady's tresses, Yövilkka, Googyeara repens - after all these years, blossoming all the way through!
Valkoviklo, Tringa nebularia, Greenshank, Grünschenkel - the loud one during early summer on Riihineva bog. They head back to south, Spain etc. as early as in June - latest in July.
This is it - one and only: Lapinpöllö - GreatGreyOwl - Bartkauz - and his 180-degree turn...
As you may notice - the fellow is here his back towards the camera - believe it or not!
A professional GGO picture by Mikael Hintze - the well-known www.kuvakarpalo.com - guy. Check his site for other fancy Pyhä-Häkki and other national parks' pictures!
Lunch hour...
Baby GGO in blueberry jungle.
Another baby on fallen tree trunk, silent and solemn, isn't he!?
So - they were triplets, after all. Another Mikael Hintze picture, glad to show it here!
Three in a row...
June 7 2010: This is what we had at hand - in the tree, actually. In an old black woodpecker's nest there appeared Mama Golden eye (Bucephala clangula)...
The next thing we saw - she jumped down from the tree (some 10 meters/30+ feet) and 10 little Golden eyes jumped down as well...
And in now time they were all organized and on their way to the nearby Riihineva swamp - bet the blueberry bushes looked like a jungle to go through!
