We’re back at Harakka with Ice Swimmer for the next chapter in his series.
Sunday Indeed ©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved
Days aren’t siblings. Sunday was a sun day. This is the view from the Ullanlinna jetty towards Kaivopuisto. [Read more…]
Nightjar has been stalking the light with her camera again and here is her feature for the month of January.
January Light can be as bright as it gets when the sun is shining and dew is reflecting sunlight in all directions. The first three photos show this very well and illustrate what sunny January mornings are like here. But January can be rainy and cloudy too, with the subdued light and soaked forest producing a very different mood. On rainy days colours aren’t bright, but they are quite saturated and rich as the last three photos show. Whatever version of January Light we get, green is ubiquitous and irresistible.
©Nightjar, all rights reserved
It’s time for the next chapter in Ice Swimmer’s series.
View Southeast from the Top and a Ship. ©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved
We’re starting a new series today from Ice Swimmer. It’s a follow-up to his series last fall Harakka an Island and it’s full of colour which has been missing from my part of the world for months. I invite you all to sit back and enjoy as Ice Swimmer takes us on a tour.
This series is about the island Harakka in Helsinki. I revisited Harakka in October 2018, about three months after the first visits in July 2018. As in July. I actually went there twice. The first visit in October was on Saturday afternoon and the second was the next day, Sunday, also in the afternoon.
1. Harakka in Autumn. ©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved
It’s the last chapter of Nightjar’s series and it’s beautiful.
Little things. Moss, rocks, wood, water. All so tiny and pretty.
©Nightjar, all rights reserved
It’s time for the next chapter in Nightjar’s series.
I often amaze myself with the amount of time spent and number of photos taken without looking past a square meter of space. A love for macro photography tends to do that to people, I guess. Coming down the West Hill I noticed a patch of moss and lichen. It was a small patch, but with so many things going on. Enough to fill the last two chapters of this series. First, I was fascinated by tiny lichen.
©Nightjar, all rights reserved
Nightjar has more rocks for us in the next chapter of her series.
There are quartzites and quartz veins on this hill, but this path isn’t the best to see quartz veins. Still it is easy to find bits of quartz here and there. Quartz hunting is always fun (although if you are like me it tends to mysteriously fill pockets).
©Nightjar, all rights reserved
Calling all rockhounds…Here’s Nightjar with the exciting next chapter in her series.
It’s not only the vegetation that is different here, the rocks are very different too. We left sedimentary rocks behind and we are now in the domain of metamorphic rocks. Mostly phyllites. Phyllite is a metamorphic rock originating from shale sediments, it’s soft and highly foliated, easy to split into sheets, and it smells of clay. The most wonderful characteristics? The colours and the sheen! You can’t mistake that sheen for anything else. Phyllites here are really pretty.
©Nightjar, all rights reserved
Here is Nightjar with the next chapter in her series.
We are now at the southern base of the West Hill and the entrance looks inviting. We are in a totally different environment, the soils here are obviously more fertile and can sustain denser vegetation. Let’s go up.
©Nightjar, all rights reserved
This short informative video caught my eye the other day:
The CBC covered the artist a couple of years ago:
When Alex Witcombe decided to make a raptor from driftwood, he never thought it would get so much attention.
The Comox Valley resident enjoys strolling on beaches and looking at the driftwood, and that became his studio space.
“I like the gnarly pieces,” he says. “Ones with character.”
One summer day he was walking on Stories Beach in Campbell River when he was just inspired by the driftwood and got to work, building ‘Sheila the dinosaur’ in just a day.
And now he does animals, aliens, and imaginary beasts, too! He’s also on Instagram. Here’s a couple more samples, via Seashore Inspirations:
And my favourite:
It’s time for the next chapter by Nightjar and today we’re looking up to see the vast landscape around us.
I’m always searching for rocks, fossils, flowers and insects, and often I have to remind myself to look up at the views. But let’s look up from the ground now. The first thing we see are some windmills in ruins. There are several here and they were made with limestone, of course.
©Nightjar, all rights reserved
Looking down south we can see the vineyards in their full autumn display and some green fields. The round trees in the foreground and among the vineyards are olive trees. There are still many people here that produce wine and olive oil for their own consumption and to share with family. My family’s vineyard is a little bit more to the right and not shown in the photo.
©Nightjar, all rights reserved
On the foothill there is the village’s soccer field. A match was about to start!
©Nightjar, all rights reserved
Let’s look west now. Those houses are the northern part of the village and in the background we can see the West Hill. It looks very different in terms of vegetation density, doesn’t it? Can you guess what those trees are?
©Nightjar, all rights reserved
In the next chapter we will explore the West Hill and see this one from the other side!
Thanks, Nightjar.
Nightjar is here to share the next chapter of her series.
There is quite a lot of biodiversity on the top but what you see will of course depend on the time of the year you visit. Spring would be more interesting, and we would be looking for wild orchids, wild peonies (Paeonia broteri) and honeysuckles. In November we must content ourselves with the late crocus (Crocus serotinus)…
©Nightjar, all rights reserved
… and the autumn buttercup (Ranunculus bullatus).
©Nightjar, all rights reserved
Some plants have berries now, like the wild jasmine (Jasminum fruticans)…
©Nightjar, all rights reserved
… or the hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna).
©Nightjar, all rights reserved
And seedcases of the grey-leaved cistus (Cistus albidus) make me want to come back in Spring for their pink flowers with yellow centers.
©Nightjar, all rights reserved
The next chapter will be the last here and we will just enjoy the views and see the hill we will explore next, on the other side of the village.
It’s time for Nightjar’s next chapter.
We have reached the top of the East Hill and so has this weevil, which found the perfect place to sunbathe. There aren’t many insects around this time of the year (November), visiting in spring or summer would certainly be better for insect watching purposes.
©Nightjar, all rights reserved