Ideas from the Front Page

Comments and Ideas from Items on LK Main Page
leonia
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Re: Ideas from the Front Page

Post by leonia »

Thrush nightingale (Luscina luscina) and nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos): closely related, but with different area. The nightingale is native mainly in Central Europe, the thrush nightingale in Northern and Eastern Europe. There home area overlaps in the region west of the Oder river (border between Germany and Poland).
The song of the nightingale contains typical elements that are missing from thrush nightingale song, for example, the vocal elements called sobs. Therefore the thrush nightingale makes more buzzing sounds. In the overlap area between nightingale and thrush nightingale there are birds that mix elements of both songs, these ones are thrush nightingales.

Liis had already written here about those birds and their names in the different languages.
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Post by Liis »

Cuckooflower, Cardamine pratensis, or Lady's smock - http://www.looduskalender.ee/node/16894
A seemingly rather humble plant, the mustard or Cruciferae family don't have many celebrated beauties like roses.

But William Shakespeare has written about it
'When daisies pied and violets blue
And lady-smocks all silver white
And Cuckoo-buds of yellow hue
Do paint the meadows with delight,
The cuckoo then on every tree
Mocks married men, for thus sings he
..."

(Love's labour lost)
It has been eaten as a Vitamin C source in spring, as many of its cress relatives, although it is rather bitter.
The larvae of the orange tip butterfly, Anthocharis cardamines, happily eat it.
Its Estonian name, jürilill, St George's flower, hints that it should flower on St George's day, Jüripäev, April 23rd. In fact it did too, until the calendar was adjusted, dates moved nearly 2 weeks forward, and end of April became May.
On the night before St George's day in 1343, the last large-scale uprising of old Estonians against Christian orders and various crusading countries that were dividing Estonia between them broke out.
But the jürillill name is hardly derived from that, probably rather a counterpart to the jaanilill, St John's flower, the bird's-eye primula that flowers at Midsummer.
Still, the pale-violet clouds of it in wet meadows are very pretty.
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Post by Liis »

The handsome but black-listed lupins http://www.looduskalender.ee/en/node/17020:
They look so pretty, driving past in a car. Then I remember the variety of other, smaller plants that used to grow there... But true, our native plants too do their best to push aside competitors in various ways.

There are rules and a strict vocabulary concerning all kinds of variously introduced, accidentally let loose or self-propelled "immigrants" in nature, that I only am sure I have not yet grasped.

Domesticated beings, unchanged or modified in captivity (culture), can come loose. They may be originally native, or brought in. They may be native, uncultivated plants or animals or birds of other countries, or cultivated species.

Slightly different rules and recommendations apply in all the cases.
Indigenous, native, feral, introduced, invading, imported, established are only some of the terms.

Do you remember the jackals in Estonia? Evidently their fate to some extent depended on which category they might come into!
Katinka

Post by Katinka »

Taevaskoja Emaläte pictures from June 29 by Urmas Tartes (http://www.looduskalender.ee/node/17186) -
without words. Yes, I have no words!
Any short comment what was going on with weather caprioles in this area?
I recognise a typical draw rock formation - sandstone which I also know from some popular places in Germany - isle of Helgoland with famous "Lange Anna", "Saxonian Switzerland" near Elbe river and south of Dresden. All are endangered by constant weathering.
I found 2 sources via Google: http://uudised.err.ee/index.php?06282311 and http://uudised.err.ee/index.php?06282597 by ERR.
Is this a great cultural loss for Estonia?
Also a link to holy places in Estonia (http://andmekogu.hiis.ee/kohad/Tartumaa ... C3%A4te-53)...
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Post by Jo UK »

Liis, we at LKF are so fortunate that you bring your extensive knowledge to us.
Katinka

Post by Katinka »

Yes, I agree, Jo UK - it cannot said often enough!
So enormous work day after day (what about an off-time this year??) and knowledge of how to translate tricky eesti keeles...
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Post by Liis »

:blush: Thank you for kind words! :bow:

Although the extensive knowledge is not mine.
See today's path in linguistics across Arabic, Latin, various old versions of European languages, butterflies and sea heros, to track the admirable admirals
http://www.looduskalender.ee/node/17233
Compressed in one sentence ...

Clue: the admiral, as in Horatio Nelson, should by rights and roots rather be spelt amiral (as it actually is in Swedish) to be nearer its Arabic origin, amîr al-mâ, commander of the waters
Katinka

Post by Katinka »

aitäh
Fascinating excursion through a butterfly's life. And great that the BS webcam views helped to find out where to find them actually – Northern Estonia! I didn't realise that this is not the typical habitat. But – how high they can fly, too…
To find out a tricky background of a word like the "admiral" as in Arabic amir al-ma is every time interesting to me.
Unfortunately the system has made chaos constructions with your extensive translation…not so with the other new articles.
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Post by Liis »

Thank you, Katinka!

And sorry, everbody, for the mess.
The admirable admiral is in reasonable order on front page now (hopefully).
True, all the bits and pieces were there, but in random order and with some repeats ...
No idea if it was me, the system on its own or both of us.

Hmmm ... Is it possible that the Painted Lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui or Cynthia cardui) was possibly so named because of the relationship of a very well known admiral, Horatio Nelson, with a lady who might be described as painted?
The Vanessa (Cynthia) cardui is very unromantically tistelfjäril, thistle butterfly, in Swedish.
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Post by Liis »

About the Great mullein or Aron's rod http://www.looduskalender.ee/en/node/17263, Verbascum thapsum, the plant of "9 powers", or the "Keeper of seven powers" as Estonian nature film grand old man Rein Maran called his film about herbs, featuring the mullein on the cover.

Seeing its impressive looks and awe-inspring name (üheksavägine - plant of 9 powers) it is a remarkably anonymous plant in herb medicine and folk traditions.
Particularly the non-native branched varities are real "car stoppers", more than 2 metres high and sometimes nearly a meter wide at the top, standing like candelabras now.
There is a small forest of them at a local train embankment near where I live. Most passers-by have by now learnt that it is not much point in bringing the "trees" home. A trail of falling yellow blossoms mark the picker's path, and a flowering plant - should someone manage to dig one up - dies after flowering.
With their dense, flat rosettes of basal leaves they are diligently crowding out all other smaller plants around.
It is said that the dry stands of mullein were cut in autumn, dipped in tar and used as torches.
Katinka

Post by Katinka »

I just have :dunno: posted a link to the Rein Maran film "Charme of sacred groves" in "What's going on?" (viewtopic.php?f=8&t=98). It was Tiit Lepik who obviously was allowed to film a film evening in early 2013 at the Tallinn National Library. Duration over 2 hrs, but incl. 2 films by Rein Maran and some contemplative piano pieces from the film music composer himself.
I came over it by chance. Regretfully I cannot write extern mails momentarily, for my programme is out of order for 10 more days. Otherwise I'd have informed Tiit about the link (concerning :blush: copyrights…)
It's http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njSS3__06po and a "must" for all those who like to listen to Estonian melodies…and get an idea what living in Estonia can be.
Liis – the LK article based on this new film was from March 25 (http://www.looduskalender.ee/en/node/16210). Thanks after all this time once again to Mr. Skromnov who still is coordinating the LK publications in background…

Many new and fascinating aspects on "roots" are opened to me…
…all those sacred places in your country and the existence of "native" Estonians –
A long time ago I read the description of Scandinavia as "Finno-Ugria".
EDIT Aug 2
it was Finno-Scandia. I change that with the language term, Finno-Ugrian, which is used for a few languages...
There still must exist small indigenous groups of people relating to be FinnUgrian descendants. Like the Sami? The Mari or Kumi in the Northwestern part of Russia? The Karelians? ---
I try to help myself to understand this question of keeping the origin in comparing it to my country.
IF we wouldn't be in the center of Europe, under a few migration periods, perhaps nowadays in Germany "native" people could live. Like descendants of the Celts, or the Goths. Or should we compare the keeping of old traditions a different way? Isolated living here wasn't as possible as it was e. g. in Karelia. My idea.

Here I have 3 websites with interesting contents.
I'd collected it in June already, when you had published the "Wordless story" from the Emaläte well (http://www.looduskalender.ee/en/node/17194).
Website of sacred places in Estonia – list: http://www.andmekogu.hiis.ee/nimekiri
Website of Hiite Maja Foundation, English available: http://hiis.ee
Website of the Native Estonians, in English: http://www.maavald.ee/eng

:unsure:
But a big question maintains: What about the exploitation of soil? Eesti is a only small country. Are there any conservation acts, saving such sacred places?
No mystery to whom it may interest that peat/turf is taken off from Estonia's stately grounds and is exported to a large extend. Very difficult to find "neutral" sources about on German websites.
It is a fact that within Europe we get the most important deliveries from Latvia and Estonia!
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Post by Liis »

Hello, Katinka -
lovely that Rein Maran's film caught your interest!
More about Rein Maran's films at http://www.gaviafilm.ee/en, including trailers.

The showing at the Estonian National Library belonged in the Looduse Omnibuss series of nature evenings, every Monday at 18.00 (Estonian time), October - April, lasting 2 hours, since the year 2000 :innocent: ;http://www.looduseomnibuss.ee/loodusohtud.
Direct Internet transmission generally arranged by ITrotid, with director Tiit Lepik.

There have been a great number of wonderful evenings, I love the live transmission - including glitches. Some older evenings (2011, 2012) have been recorded and can still be found at the ITrotid archive http://tv.itrotid.ee/arhiiv (mixed with other things). Well worth burrowing in, although it takes time. In Estonian, sorry.
There are at least 2 more Rein Maran evenings in the archive.

Lately the evenings have been dominated by Estonians exploring the nature of the world.

By the way, ITrotid also have the 24/7 live web camera of Tallinn's city http://tv.itrotid.ee/. See the streets of Tallinn and people just now - and the birds: some have landed on or at the camera.
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Post by vainamoinen »

Katinka wrote:I just have :dunno: posted a link to the Rein Maran film "Charme of sacred groves" in "What's going on?" (viewtopic.php?f=8&t=98). It was Tiit Lepik who obviously was allowed to film a film evening in early 2013 at the Tallinn National Library. Duration over 2 hrs, but incl. 2 films by Rein Maran and some contemplative piano pieces from the film music composer himself.
I came over it by chance. Regretfully I cannot write extern mails momentarily, for my programme is out of order for 10 more days. Otherwise I'd have informed Tiit about the link (concerning :blush: copyrights…)
It's http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njSS3__06po and a "must" for all those who like to listen to Estonian melodies…and get an idea what living in Estonia can be.
Liis – the LK article based on this new film was from March 25 (http://www.looduskalender.ee/en/node/16210). Thanks after all this time once again to Mr. Skromnov who still is coordinating the LK publications in background…

Many new and fascinating aspects on "roots" are opened to me…
…all those sacred places in your country and the existence of "native" Estonians –
A long time ago I read the description of Scandinavia as "Finno-Ugria". There still must exist small indigenous groups of people relating to be FinnUgrian descendants. Like the Sami? The Mari in the Northwestern part of Russia? The Karelians? ---
I try to help myself to understand this question of keeping the origin in comparing it to my country.
IF we wouldn't be in the center of Europe, under a few migration periods, perhaps nowadays in Germany "native" people could live. Like descendants of the Celts, or the Goths. Or should we compare the keeping of old traditions a different way? Isolated living here wasn't as possible as it was e. g. in Karelia. My idea.

Here I have 3 websites with interesting contents.
I'd collected it in June already, when you had published the "Wordless story" from the Emaläte well (http://www.looduskalender.ee/en/node/17194).
Website of sacred places in Estonia – list: http://www.andmekogu.hiis.ee/nimekiri
Website of Hiite Maja Foundation, English available: http://hiis.ee
Website of the Native Estonians, in English: http://www.maavald.ee/eng

:unsure:
But a big question maintains: What about the exploitation of soil? Eesti is a only small country. Are there any conservation acts, saving such sacred places?
No mystery to whom it may interest that peat/turf is taken off from Estonia's stately grounds and is exported to a large extend. Very difficult to find "neutral" sources about on German websites.
It is a fact that within Europe we get the most important deliveries from Latvia and Estonia!

I don't know how it's in Estonia but in Latvia many castle mounds, sacred stones etc are protected as part of cultural heritage. Economical activities are prohibited there and usually these place have also some protective belt where such activities are restricted.
Of course peat is an another story. Peat extraction has more impact on natural values because sacred places rarely are in bogs.
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Post by Liis »

There is protection in Estonia as well, for selected sites. However, protection does not necessarily include funds (sufficient) for maintenance, nor make it mandatory.

Also, particularly the places centered on trees change, the trees themselves grow older, shrubs press on. What to do? Allow nature to run its course? renew, thinking of the future? recreate how it might have been at some point in time?

More seriously and sadly, as we all know no conservation measures or laws can protect against really serious economic interests. Briefly, yes, but seldom in the long run.
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Post by Liis »

About the cow-wheats article http://www.looduskalender.ee/node/17441, saying that the cow-wheat species growing in forests - "wood" cow-wheats in a way - are not as well-known as the wood cow-wheat :mrgreen:
A contradiction? Well, using the English plant names, yes. Actually the particular species, wood cow-wheat, seems not to be particularly common in UK, if native at all.
It does grow in deciduous forests too, or on the verge of them, in Sweden, and probably in Estonia too.
A partial explanation to the Estonian view of these cow-wheats and their growing places might be that large-leaf forests were not seen as proper, serious forests. :innocent: The typical forest cow-wheats grow in "real" forests, with conifers ...
Katinka

Post by Katinka »

So much to post but don't know where to go on with...
Aitäh Liis for giving the hint to the Looduse Omnibuss video series - in fact I knew them but lost the URL as it must've changed since 2011.

Now just watched the excerpt of "Osoon" series from late March - in deep snow and Ain Nurmla taking the reporter out to the forest to install a snapshot camera. Was not "our" BS nest. Stunning how he managed to climb up a small weak tree in neighborhood to the nest tree...

Besides: few days ago during a short hiking trip in the heights of my valley I was accompanied along a short route by cow wheat plants...
I recognized them at once and had to smile! 2 LK articles I had read before, by chance: On June 30 and http://www.looduskalender.ee/en/node/17252. Semi-parasites, and the soil they need is acid here indeed.
To my surprise I found masses of raspberry bushes written about shortly (http://www.looduskalender.ee/en/node/17405) and the tiny wild delicious strawberries. As much as my friend denies to eat st from the forest's bottom as much intense I do! A forester whom I was phoning to later told me the unusual raspberry "invasion" was a result of the wind breaks in the wood some years back. Keyword "Pioneer plants ".
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Post by Liis »

You must be a reader after Mr LK's heart, Katinka! - reading the articles, recognising the things outside, and seeing and thinking some more in addition!

One of many partial explanations to the different attitudes to eating and using "wild things" might be the relative "cleanness" of northern lands and forests, including the low risk of catching various parasites.
The risk does not yet exist in our backbones and berry-picker's fingers.

There has been concern lately over particularly Echinococcus multilocularis, the canide or dog tapeworm, that has been found in foxes in recent years in Sweden.
It put a different perspective on forest rambles. Not cram blueberries or wild strawberries in your mouth as you go? think about washing mushrooms carefully?
We are already well informed about ticks and the many unpleasant illnesses that they might carry along. A few more urbanised people look a little more suspiciously at that untamed green wilderness.

Now I have to go and try keep some opportunistic members of that wilderness, such as magpies, from learning that orange berries, such as on sea buckthorn, are in fact edible and fun to play havoc with. Weapon: CDs, quartered and hung in the branches.
Katinka

Post by Katinka »

Another LK article that gives reason to philosophize (word has to be found in English, it's one of my favourites) -
today in English version, yesterday in eesti keeles...
Wild basil - how common!
Harilik mägimünt - how simple!
Literally translated - common mountain mint?!
But doesn't have to do with the known and cultivated mint plants in German. Instead we name several different plants of the Mentheae tribe as "...minze".
As I knew the subtle but unpleasant leave scent of Stachys sylvatica from my forestwalks, I always was curious what else is growing here in the "wildness" having smelling leaves.
In my 2 main plant books (from 1970s/1990s) I just discovered a phenomenon: the LK "Clinopodium vulgare" has been named before as "Satureja vulgaris". Fritsch was the floral scientist behind, now it was changed to the "advantage" of Linné. Nothing more.
Now I'm a bit more clever...
But what's the story behind ?? Rhetoric question I guess.

Yes, sparsely says all for Estonia. The same here, I estimate. It's only the Stachys s. I find all over.

The article / title this time was no challenge, wasn't it?
Only Google Translator doesn't recognize "Pikalt õitseja", but divided in 2, and removing the suffix "ja" would have helped me. If I'd been unpatient with the next translated version.

Alder buckthorn - sea buckthorn. Definetely not to be mixed up. Different plant families, too. What about the similar English names - in German the similarity consists of "...dorn".
Because my residence was at the sea for 2 times, I know the edible berries of the thorny bush very well. Also a small agricultural industry exists on them. Different types of juice and jam (2fruit components for better taste) are made of sea buck thorn.
And Liis you have a fight with the magpies?? hardly to believe that they could discover these bushes! That's not fair! Is there nothing more senseful in entire Tallinn to steal? No tourists with golden or silver juwels??
According to the here long-term application along communal forest roads, it was not proven that it is efficient to use blinking CDs...But no effects at night - no wonder. Deers, boars mainly react on smelling, invisible barricades. Now certain pasty mixtures are put on tree trunks. That's what I remember.
Please let us know of your efforts!
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Post by Liis »

About the buckthorns - and particularly the totally unrelated sea buckthorn (Hippophaë rhamnoides) that is not mentioned in the article (of course it is certainly not poisonous):
It was well on its way of becoming almost a major "horticultural industry" in Estonia, with planting recommended and undertaken as a possible economic diversification in a countryside seeing the looming rationalisation of agriculture coming.
Curiously enough it is not native in Estonia, although it is so in Sweden, Finland, Denmark, mostly on exposed open areas on the coasts. Yet, ironically, it was grown, used and praised for its health virtues in Estonia long before the Scandinavian market discovered it.
Around Stockholm it is still not a very common cultivated plant. With its very distinctive yellow-orange berry colour, birds - and many people too - don't know what to make of it. Animals and birds are conservative, in all senses of the word. But once they discover that the colour - or the light flashes from CD pieces - is no danger signal, they can empty a shrub in a matter of hours. Some young magpies tested my last, and best, berries last year, mostly to play around with. Hopefully they have moved somewhere else and have not shared their discovery.
The berries are maddeningly slow to pick, so somewhat safeguarded against human pilfering. They seem to sit directly on the branches, even major ones.
However, it is becoming more widely known that commercially one harvest method is to cut about 1/3 of the branches, with berries, each year, freeze them and then shake the berries off: the very tiny but existing berry stalk breaks first.
"Wild basil" for Satureja vulgaris (Clinopodium vulgare) - a PR effort? The poorer the product, the more adverts. needed.
But there are some beautifully-smelling proper wild mint species around.
Katinka

Post by Katinka »

Not to get the sea buckthorn in the focus again...but
I just discovered 2 LK articles from Aug 2011/Aug 2012 :slap: and the posts after it herein. I was not so close to LK in 2012.
"Hortocultural industry" is helpful for further philosophizing!
Now, I put some YT pieces here, dealing with the harvest, different perspectives!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QaQ6sof1es in dry German, made by a concern of herbal care products (I use the s b oil)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6odNI2T17g in entertaining Finnish - pt 2 shows it is a selfmade article - may help you if you contact the inventor :unsure:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqgU_gRa_Ko haha sorry Liis I came across this bird only by accident...
Pähkinähakki alias Nuthatcher seems to be the Finnish answer to your magpie.
I simply think the spread of this plant along the Baltic Sea coasts is an enrichment, as its origins are in Nepal!

Now back to the different plant names...
Wild basil - which in fact is S. v. in "your" Swedish linnaeus website and also obviously well known in Northern USA here
Another is my loved Meadowsweet (http://www.looduskalender.ee/de/node/14047) which is scientific Filipendula ulmaria. In the oldest of 3 books it appears with a complete different German name. Grey history. Now that it's known for having a delightful scent people adopted the more sweetsounding name Mädesüss - Germ. mahd - verb mähen - cut hay.
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