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The changing forms of water |
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AS THE WEATHER gets warmer the hard-pressed snowbanks start to melt. The trees have already shaken the snow burden off their shoulders. Although the white snow reflects a large part of the radiation of the sun back to the atmosphere,the higher temperature gradually affects the snow. Occasional rains make the snow disappear even more effectively.
Mornings in Torronsuo are filled with a constant bubbling call which carries everywhere. Now and then a hoarse and angry hiss raises over it. A flock of black birds has occupied the open centre of the bog still glistening white from snow. The blackcocks (Tetrao tetrix) have started their tournament.
Click
here to view a blackcock video.
(Windows media file) |
The
courting of owls is one of the first clear signs of spring. The Ural owl
(Strix uralensis) hooting in pitch dark deep in the old forests
of Seitseminen sings in a very different tone than the tiny pygmy owl (Glaucidium
passerinum) whistling early in the morning in Liesjärvi. The message
is however the same: a new summer is beginning for the birds which have
survived the winter.
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A miracle in the middle of ice |
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WHEN THE SNOW covering the bog has melted so much that the highest hummocks are bare, a small miracle can be seen: the cotton grass (Eriophorum vaginatum) is in bloom. The soft grey-haired blossoms have appeared out of nowhere in the middle of ice and frost.
The snow banks continue to shrink. Water flows from the centre of the frosty raised bog to the low fringes turning them into wide flood pools. Access to the bog requires either wings or steady nerve. Or at least tall boots. The frogs are instead happy with the flood on the fringes of the bog.
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As
cotton grass starts to bloom the rest of the vegetation seems still to
be totally in winter sleep. The secret of the miracle is the nutriment
stored in the end of the stem in previous summer together with increased
sunlight.
In
the forest you can literally hear the snow melting. The frozen snow cover
crushes down with a rumble and underneath it ripple countless small
brooks of melting water. When the surface layer of the bog is free from
frost, it starts to absorb melting water like a sponge.
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The sparkling spring |
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THE RIVERS and brooks are foaming as the water from the melting snow flowing in from everywhere fills them to the brim. For a moment a tiny river looks like a mighty rapid and a brook that dries up in the summer is a small river. The brooks flowing through spruce mires flood momentarily also the dark spruce copses. On the lakes the mouths of rivers and other currents are the first places free from ice. Waterfowl returning from the south are quick to occupy these open spots. The goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) is already well in its courting season. The black-and-white male goldeneye tosses his head and treads water as it swims past the female. The water really splashes at an open spot if two males end up fighting with each other.
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Cries in the fog |
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 SPRING
MORNINGS are often wet and quiet. Thick fog created by evaporating moisture
and large temperature changes covers the bogs and lakes, sometimes it also
thrusts into the forest.
Suddenly the greyness is broken by a strong sound, like two trumpets blowing amidst the fog. Cranes (Grus grus), the majestic birds of the bog have returned. Every morning they greet the rising sun with a common fanfare. The noise does not end until two big eggs appear in the nest which is well hidden on the fringes of the bog. At the same time trees are coming into leaf. Click the crane on the right to hear
the fanfare!
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