A few kilometres from our house is a small pond that is a birdwatcher’s paradise. Several rare birds nest there and in the surrounding area, and there is a very active community alerting people to rare sightings. I am not part of it. I mostly know about it from my walks, when I occasionally stumble into clusters of people arriving by car or bicycle, or nearly running, binoculars in hand, asking breathlessly if they have “missed it yet.”

As it was a beautiful day, I cycled to the pond to join tens of others trying to catch a photo of a bird. I just wanted a pretty picture, so I would have been quite happy with a duck. Instead, I found this Eurasian coot building a nest. Although common in Europe, the Finnish population is critically endangered.

So, am I a birdwatcher now?