Fledgling birdwatcher President Halonen recognises common merganser near her official residence in Helsinki

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It is the President’s duty to recognise all threats and possibilities the nation could be facing.
      But does the President of the Republic recognise birds?
     
This fact was to be established on Wednesday when BirdLife Finland, the parent organisation of Finnish ornithological societies, gave President Tarja Halonen guidance on how to observe birds on the snowy wooded estate of Mäntyniemi, the official residence of the Finnish head of state.
      The President was standing in the 10-centimetre carpet of wet and sticky snow on the shore of Mäntyniemi, looking through her binoculars at the direction of Lauttasaari. The view was uniformly grey.
      Lauri Hänninen, the Communications officer of BirdLife Finland, was standing next to her.
     
The President has promised to act as a patron of a birdwatching event that BirdLife is to host next weekend, when birdwatchers are to be searching for birds in their garden or in a park for one hour.
      The occasion is arranged for amateur birdwatchers - like the President.
      On Wednesday, Halonen’s estate appeared to be rather quiet in birdlife terms, which is why the binoculars were directed towards the sea. These winged travellers can often be spotted on the ice or in the open sea, so why not today?
      While waiting, it became evident that the Finnish President is well aware of who - or in this case what - is moving about on her property.
      Bohemian waxwings (Bombycilla garrulus) frequently emerge to feed on rowanberries, and in the spring some Eurasian oystercatchers (Haematopus ostralegus) often come to nest on the flat-roofed wing of Mäntyniemi.
      Halonen is not very fond of oystercatchers, saying that her cats are afraid of the loud piping of the wading bird.
     
President Halonen was still fiddling with her binoculars, getting ready for observations, when the show finally started.
      The BirdLife representative announced that a flock of 60 common mergansers were swimming in the open sea off Lauttasaari.
      ”Yes, I can see them, too!” President Halonen said with some excitement.
      Soon more common mergansers were spotted closer to the island of Seurasaari.
     
During the 60-minute walk Halonen also recognised a large number of other birds, including the great tit (Parus major), the coal tit (Periparus ater), the hooded crow (Corvus cornix), the herring gull (Larus argentatus), the great black-backed gull (Larus marinus), the mute swan (Cygnus olor), the humble mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), the Canada goose (Branta canadensis), the Eurasian siskin (Carduelis spinus), and even a goshawk (Accipiter gentilis).
      No worries. The Finnish President is quite capable of recognising birds.
     
     
FACTFILE: A birdwatching event for all people
     
      Pihabongaus (”Backyard Birdwatching”) is a free event for birdwatching enthusiasts, without the need to sign up in advance.
     
The occasion is to take place next weekend, on January 24th and 25th, and it will last one hour, during which time birds are being watched in the backyards of the watchers or in a park.
     
All observations can be submitted to the BirdLife organisation at the address: www.pihabongaus.fi
     
This is the fourth Pihabongaus event in Finland.
     
Last winter, a total of 12,000 people watched birds in 8,500 gardens.


Links:
  Pihabongaus (in Finnish)
  Common Merganser (Wikipedia)
  Birdlife Finland

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