Under the protection of a wetland

The surface of the water breaks as two birds fly along it. There are angry voices.

- They are coot chickens. There seems to be a courtship going on, two males and one female, says Bird-Life Kanta-Häme member and bird enthusiast Heli-Kirsi Pekkarinen binoculars and a camera around his neck.

We are Pekkarinen and her husband on the Sammalistonsuo bird observation platform Jarmo Lindstedt's with. Sammalistonsuo is a peat extraction area near highway 54 in Riihimäki. The area is also called the prison fields, because until 1972 it belonged to the Riihimäki prison, until the fields were sold to the Vapo Group. Currently, the swamp is part of the Vapo Group, but it is owned by Kekkilä Professional.

The wetland built in the area with its water basin is a valuable resting place for birds and an excursion destination for bird watchers. This spring, next to the observation platform, a nesting hut will also be built for barn swallows, which have been nesting in easily collapsing soil piles for a few summers.

- This is one of the best bird wetlands in Inner Finland in the Southern Finland region. This is a peaceful large area with water, shelter and food for the birds, says Pekkarinen.

We rest and eat in the moss bog

You can observe birds in Sammalistonsuo all year round, but spring and autumn are the absolute best seasons, when migratory birds are on the move.

- The area offers migratory birds food and a place to rest, Pekkarinen says.

- I guess there's goosebumps right now! The geese that migrate to the north and to the tundra usually rest for a few weeks in the Moss marsh. This year there have been thousands of geese.

- The migration of birds starts already at the end of February. That's when the early waterfowl come to the melting spots on the coast. Birds return from their wintering grounds when food is available, insect-eating birds are the last to arrive. The first waders start their return migration already at the turn of June-July, when one of the mothers stays to take care of the chicks, Pekkarinen says.

At the time of the interview in April, Pekkarinen and Lindstedt list the species visible from the observation platform; whooper swans, gulls, terns, whooper swans, tufted and pied buntings and a pair of lapwings, black-throated swans, grebes, mallards, coots, starlings, tits, woodpeckers, finches and pigeons. A little further away, big white birds can be seen, and soon a loud whooper swan is flying in the sky.

Guests include woodpeckers, titmice, grebes and crows

In the summer, the Sammaliston Swamp becomes quieter, when the birds on the spot hide to nest. In winter, most of the birds are in the south. The most common winter birds in the area are woodpeckers, titmice, sparrowhawks and crows.

Pekkarinen moved for the first time in the fields of Sammalistonsuo already in the 1970s, walking his dogs. There was no pond in the area then, but a lot of space and few people, so it attracted life.

- Snowflake, flycatcher, roe deer, raccoon, fox, moose, otter, years ago even a badger...,Pekkarinen lists the animals that you can come across in Sammalistonsu in addition to birds.

Pekkarinen started birding in the 1990s. Now she continues her hobby together with her husband.

- We come here and stay on bird trips for hours, sometimes changing places, Pekkarinen says.

The couple has cameras, binoculars and telescopes with them. With binoculars, you can spot a bird from up to a kilometer away.

– It depends a little on the amount of light and the object; about the bird's size, position, flight style and what else is near the bird, says Jarmo Lindstedt.

Most observations are made based on the sound of birds. That's why silence is important when watching birds.

- This is a kind of mindfulness and consists of small important moments when the birds are busy with their own or, for example, when the kuri couple dances, Pekkarinen says.

A moss bog is nature's treasure trove

The moss bog is a familiar area to a large part of the people of Riihämäkä, but few know what kind of treasure it is for nature. Other places popular with bird watchers in Riihimäki are the Juppala lake and its surrounding areas, the Herajoen water intake and water treatment plant fields, Hatlamminsuo and the Silmäkeneva area.

Big, wild forests would be needed for owls, eagles and hawks. Trees grown by forestry are not suitable as nesting sites for large birds, as they grow too quickly and the branches do not support large nests. They are not really forests, but rather wood fields, says Pekkarinen.

- One of the themes of BirdLife Kanta-Häme is the protection of birds and the preservation of nearby nature.

BirdLife Kanta-Häme is a member association of Bird-Life Finland and a local birdwatchers' club, through which you can get information about birding, birds and participate in excursions and birding courses.

Wild areas are an essential part of preserving natural diversity. The world's bird populations have significantly decreased, and the main reasons are considered to be the loss of wild areas and agricultural insecticides. And natural areas are also of great importance to human well-being.

- As humans, we realize ourselves in different ways in different places in relation to the environment at that time. Here in Sammalistonsuo, in an unbuilt environment, humans are part of nature and creation without the demands that the built environment places on humans, says Pekkarinen.

Kati Ala-Ilomäki