Winter in Finland

[Olga]

- What ever are you doing there I'll finish my lunch..





- Well, I'm not scared of you but I think I have better to go now..



See you later!

[Jo UK]

Olga - very good photographs. It's wonderful to see "our" squirrels again.

[Olga]

You are welcome, Jo! I had the good luck today!

[alice44]

The squirrels are lovely and I am crazy about the brown creepers we have -- so I especially like the picture of the brown creeper.

[Olga]

The squirrels are lovely and I am crazy about the brown creepers we have -- so I especially like the picture of the brown creeper.

It was a great surpise for me. I have seen the Creeper bird only some few times in many many years, - it was creeping downwards an old birch, on the backside of the tree trunk, mostly, and only in the summertime, never in winter before today.

[macdoum]

I found out about The Creeper Bird.
This is about the american bird but there doesn't seem to be much difference.
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brown_Creeper/videos

[Olga]

I tryed to take a zoomed photo of 'hoar'. This is the best I have got. The hoar is not too thick, it's here in this picture about 10-13 mms only. Sometimes it makes like leaves, very thin decorative particles around the thiniest branches, in the sunshine they can be so decorative like the finest chrystal. The hoar emerges when the temperature is suitale cold and air is wet, foggy.









The vegetable is this (last autumn on the same place)

[Jo UK]

Olga, you are so good with your camera! So that is a close-up of hoar frost.
Then I went to look for rime frost - don't understand the difference if there is one. Is rime more like plain ice, sheet ice?

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rime?jss=1

[Olga]

Olga, you are so good with your camera! So that is a close-up of hoar frost.
Then I went to look for rime frost - don't understand the difference if there is one. Is rime more like plain ice, sheet ice?

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rime?jss=1

I am not sure, but there are two usual words for 'hoar' in Finnish. They can be used as variable. kuura-hoar is more fresh as a way - it can appear in one night on the ground and where ever, when there has suddenly been frost in the night - mostly in early fall time. like in these pictures (I loaned some pictures from a Finnisf page, from some irma )
(following four photgraphs are not taken by me!!)

kuura is on the ground mostly (it is used to say so I don'tknow but it is ice too) :

ice chrystals? rime?

Hoar 'leaves' - they are ice chrystal too, and can crow - in that case there shall not be wind at all - it breaks the leaves easily and they fall down, they can also melt and vanish in the air when the weather gets warmer.

huurre:

[Olga]

The sky is blue again!

[Brit]

Beautiful, Olga! We also had a beautiful landscape like this (of course less snow! But still much for our area), but since yesterday it is ... raining!

[NancyM]

Olga,

THANK YOU for the pictures of the ice crystals & hoar frost (yours and the borrowed ones). Beautiful.

I am absolutely in love with your long-eared squirrel

(is that your avatar? I used to think it was a rabbit )

[Olga]

Olga,

THANK YOU for the pictures of the ice crystals & hoar frost (yours and the borrowed ones). Beautiful.

I am absolutely in love with your long-eared squirrel

(is that your avatar? I used to think it was a rabbit )

Thank you Bo! I didn't know that there in USA squirrels have different ears. Here in Finland I have seen only one squirrel with short fur on ears - he is my favorite, but I have not seen for some days now..
The sharpest and best pirtures of ice chrystals I borrowed from a Finnish blog.

[NancyM]

Olga, here we have gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) and (American) red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) (they are known by their fur color, not their ears). The red squirrels are smaller, but very aggressive ~ they chase everyone away! We also have flying squirrels and chipmunks.

One year ago, during a snow storm, a little red squirrel found a home inside the grill on our back deck

[Olga]

Bociany, how a clever red squirrel!

We have two different squirrels, a common squirrel, Sciurus vulgaris and a rare, protected squirrel, Pteromys volans.

edit: The flying squirrel is called in English Old World flying squirrel or Siberian Flying Squirrel!

Here is a photo collection of the Squirrels in Helsinki, Seurasaari - (outdoor?) free air museum iceland. A short look at picture collection shows that there is variety on their ear fur! I have always believed that our common squireel has always long ears. - Seurasaari museum is not a Squirrel museum The park isle is known of it's tame Squirrels. http://www.enroos.com/digikuvat/Oravat.htm

Liito-orava, the other of our Squirrel species in Finland, I have seen only one time in my life. Our cat had catched one and carried it in house - we saved it without seemingly wound, there was no harm, the cat carried it like a fur hat to us as a 'prey'(?)..- It's remained a mystery how she had managed to take the flying squirrel at summer night. They are very rare and they move mostly at night.)

It is gray the year around.

The pictures below are borrowed from some newspapers.





But these two are my favorites squirrels this winter:

[Fleur]

I can imagine that these are your favorites, Olga
They are so beautiful.
the left says, still, do not tell.
We are beautiful

[Olga]

The 23rd January. Trees are in sleep, coverd by snow and hoar. Some hoar has fallen down. It was the brightest sunny day for several weeks -15 C. Squirrels are in hide. Only birds visite the feeders. It may take many weeks before the first signs of the spring.. Untill now birds are not singing..some faraway calls are heard some times. It's winter.

[NancyM]

beautiful trees!

[macdoum]

Olga, your pictures are as beautiful as ever.!! I am away in a "foriegn land" visiting very small grandchildren but I am somehow able to login. :peek:
Here, after I arrived with the rain,then fog,then hoar frost too.! I am still hoping for a sunny day....
Hope you are all well and I see your garden is even more beautiful in the sunshine.
Say Hi to the squirells when you see them next.

[Kuremari]

Olga, i think we have used all the superlatives we know, to describe your garden and squirrels
just beautiful!