Pikku - Uikku of our summer cottage

This bird is one of the smallest of a kind in Finland. It has pretty poor chanches to have little ducklings. This one and her mate have managed only a few times.

Sea has a cruel nature: when the wind blows hard from South - West and the water rises, these poor little things have to put all their efforts to keep their nest level a little over the water.Otherwise eggs get too cold and no oxygen gets in to shell, only cold water. Spring time water temperature is about from 15 to 18 degrees Celsius and water height is between -20 and +40. If a storm, even a small one, lasts too long, the birds get too exhausted pulling the nest together. Too many times I have seen a summer storm in July to become the unfair destiny to the unhatched Pikku - uikkus. They are never prepared.

But, Danger number 1 to the Pikku - uikku are the beastbirds: for example big gulls like Harmaalokki and Selkälokki and Varis, wich do eat any egg they can steal from a nest (don't know the english names, but greygull, backgull and crow sounds good).

Uikkus are too small to fight back, but fortunately there are also the Tiiras, wich defend their own area and also every other bird spesies on the side. So, if a Tiira sees a big bad seagull, wich means trouble to whole bird community, it bravely scrambles like a fighter and attacs a seagull twice as big (with companion usually) and tries to drive it away. Tiiras warning voice (Ti-arr) is common aroud our summer cottage, because there's a small bird island right next to our place. Every spring I count about 11 pairs of tiiras and two pairs of kalalokkis (fishgulls?) nesting there. Some of them eat white bread from hand and are waiting for me every morning on the dock.

Btw, I have tried to teach our black cats (Misu, Kisu and Tassu) not to go too near to birds 'n nests; they are only allowed to watch tales swinging from a distance. Don't know what they do at nights, tough.