Mary Beth Stowe's Website
CABC Scandinavia Choir Tour
Day 9: The Train to Helsinki and the Overnight Ferry
Next day was the big train ride to Helsinki, followed by the overnight ferry to Stockholm! The train was great: I shared a compartment with the Johnsons and Holadays, plus Barbara Nelson, and we just had a great time! (It was handy to have Duane around to heft the luggage into the overhead compartments, too...) The food at lunch was so-so, but they had lots of good chocolate for sale (that got bought and passed around liberally)! The best "episode" occurred in the corridor afterwards, and couldn’t have been timed better had I tried to plan it: a bunch of us were standing around watching the scenery go by, and Larry (our Choir Clown) asked me what kind of birds liked the birches. The moment of opportunity had arrived: I had been anxiously anticipating my non-birding companions’ reaction to Europe’s answer to our chickadees, so I said, "Tits, finches,..." and predictably, Rob looked like he was about ready to lose his eyeballs (even behind the sunglasses)! So that naturally led to banter about various species (someone suggested "Singing Tits" and said that they commit their songs to mammory...) which reminded Rob of how he nearly died when I told him about the Masked Booby that showed up in La Jolla (I’m impressed he remembered that one), and it just kinda went downhill from there... The piece de resistance came when Larry asked me if there was a way you could call birds in and I had to explain pishing (Rob literally rolled down the hallway in hysterical fits with that one), which led to comments about not doing it in public, etc.
Our cozy compartment on the train* They had a fancy dining car where we The corridor was a great place
hung out whenever the doors were open! to banter, too! (with Larry,
our "Choir Clown"...)
We made it across the border without incident (evidently the shoes on the passport lady were a hit), and everyone felt so relieved that we were out of Russia! I had shared how oppressive it was 30 years ago, that I felt like I was being watched constantly (which I probably was), and was almost arrested by the KGB! Despite the economic troubles in Russia, however, the quality of things overall was 1000% better; you couldn’t have asked for a swankier hotel, compared to the "best hotel in Moscow" where the sink fell off the wall!!
We had a little city tour once in Helsinki where they dropped us off for 45 minutes at the plaza where there was this beautiful church, and while most everyone else went shopping, I went to find out where the monster ice cream cones I saw attached to various humans were coming from! One non-English-speaker directed me down the street, but I spent my 45 minutes looking fruitlessly for the joint and dragged myself back to the plaza. When it was time to go see the Sibelius Hall, Rosi led a revolt and some of us stayed in the city center; Duane and I were first in line for ice cream (several from our group had found the place and I was about ready to kill for one)! Having satiated our appetites, we wandered around, and after awhile we wound up near the harbor, where I told them I was gonna go chase gulls, and had marvelous studies of all ages of Common Gulls, and several Herring as well, plus Jackdaw (the people were feeding them, so that helped). Back at the square others trickled in, then finally the bus showed up, so we got to the ferry, unloaded, waited in the terminal for awhile, then boarded the ship and dumped our stuff in our cabins.
The Helsinki Cathedral and its plaza ...as was their several-block-long The harbor was a great place to gull-
was a popular hangout. "Central Park", a great place for street watch! (Yes, that’s "gull", not "girl"...)
musicians!
Common Gulls, the European race of our Mew Gull. Adults (left and center) are pretty much identical to Mew, but juveniles (right) are much paler and more patterned.
The bird at left appeared to be a runt: much smaller and daintier than the others, but clearly a Common Gull. Second-year birds (right) have a bill-ring, making them dangerously similar to American Ring-billed Gulls (which do show up here regularly)!
The differences between young Common and Mew Gulls show well in these flight shots: compare these three 1st year Common Gulls with the 1st-year Mew Gull at lower left.
1st-year Mew Gull, taken in Ventura A confusing 4-year gull: the contrast between the darker mantle and the rest
Co. California of the body suggests Lesser Black-backed, but the bill is on the large side,
suggesting this could also just be a paler Herring.
The American and European Herring Gulls have been split; unfortunately the adults are virtually identical, and 1st-year birds are best told in flight by the white base to the tail, which you can barely see on the bird at right. (Note also how some adult Herrings have a yellowish cast to the legs, not to be confused with Yellow-legged Gulls!)
Jackdaws are always ready for a handout... We make it to the ferry!
The ship was beautiful! The buffet was out of this world (with free wine), and afterwards some of us played Bridge. The bay was pretty birdless so I headed back to the cabin and crashed (after some good yapping with my roomie Susie).
Sunsets over the Bay
