The Galapagos archipelago is a bird-watchers paradise with scores of unique and colorful species, such as the blue-footed booby with its quirky mating rituals, and endemic penguins, cormorants and albatrosses.Įnglish naturalist Charles Darwin developed his theory of evolution after studying finches and mockingbirds on the Galapagos islands in 1835. Three positive cases of the H5N1 virus were detected after reports of visibly sick birds on the islands, the park said in a statement. The chicks are growing, and parents feed them with fish that they go and catch in bigger lakes.The Galapagos National Park said Tuesday that it had detected its first cases of avian flu on the remote islands, home to unique bird species that helped inspire the theory of evolution. I am careful not to disturb their nesting, so I only photograph them from July onwards. Red-throated Divers are easier to find as they nest in smaller ponds. I really hope to photograph them while mating and nesting this or next year. I have built a floating pontoon and hope they will come to nest there, close to the shore. Unfortunately, I have never witnessed their mating rituals because they perform them on big lakes, and I can never predict exactly where. “This is a migrating species, elegant and beautiful in flight and up close”, says Mia. There is still ice on the lakes when they arrive in North-Finland at the end of March, and they always choose a small area where they come to feed. The Black-throated Loon is an ancient aquatic bird mostly found in the northern hemisphere, primarily breeding in freshwater lakes in northern Europe and Asia. The strongest ones are the obvious winners, but many others just get lucky in the chase.” At the end of the lekking season, they land, and the males chase the females, after which they mate. Then the females start coming to the trees to watch the show and decide who is the most handsome. The males fight every morning before and during sunset for about four to six weeks, trying to determine the strongest.

Which I love, because then the setting will be beautiful in different ways. Spring starts, but snowstorms are not uncommon. I always find them in a field about 2 hours from my home.īut March is still very capricious. “They love fields, swamps, and ice covered lakes. In the north, this impressive bird starts lekking end of March, in 3 specific spots. While most lowland populations of Western Europe went extinct (Denmark, NE France) or near extinct (Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium), they are still common in Finland. Once widely spread in Western Europe, hunting, habitat loss and overgrazing have resulted in a decline in numbers and range of the Black Grouse.

It takes a lot of preparation.” Lekking of the grouses I try to divide my time between the species, and base my planning on what they do, when and where. I have hung birdhouses for owls in some forest spots, and I have my own winter feeding place for Golden Eagles. I placed a pontoon for the black-throated divers, hoping they will nest. I try to create some spots for several species. And then, I plan and divide my time between different species and locations. I look for tracks and talk to the people living in the area sometimes, they have seen the birds gather. Then, I explore where they could be, looking for a lek or places where they feed. I research where to find the birds, and learn about their behaviour, where they are, what they are doing, and when. Spring is a busy season, so I plan my photography carefully.

Since then, I have been very driven to get better. When I finally bought long lenses, I just wanted to photograph them all the time. And for some reason, I was always attracted to birds. Later, I photographed a lot of dancers and athletes as I did the marketing for my company. “I was happy photographing whatever interested me. Mia has been photographing since she got her first camera at age 9.

Bird pictures