Secret path, harmful Lupine and Dandelion seed ball

Secret path, harmful Lupine and Dandelion seed ball, all photographed one year ago near to my home in Espoo.

Secret path

I found this secret path by accident even I have been walking on it many times before. It is leading to a bird feeding place in Finno bird oasis, where I visit regularly during winter. On a summer evening it looked mysterious and called for photographing!

Finno’s wastewater basin is one of the safest places in Finland to see the rarities as Common moorhen (Liejukana) and Gadwall (Harmaasorsa). I will publish them in my blog soon. In the spring and autumn, many Water birds and Charadrii rest in the pool and in the summer there are f.e. ducklings, Eurasian coot (Nokikana) and Horned grebe (Mustakurkku-uikku). Only in the winter does the silence settle as the pool freezes.

Harmful lupine

Even this flower is so elegant and beautiful, Lupine is classified harmful for Finnish nature and it should be disposed by mowing or digging up from the ground.

The natural habitat of lupine range from Alaska to Wyoming and Northern California. It was introduced to Europe as an ornamental and feed plant beginning of the 19th century. In the end of the century it was already escaped from the garden into the nature. It spreads easily and nowadays threats f.e. endangered meadow plants.

Lupine has also been classified as harmful in Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Denmark.

Dandelion seed ball

I posted Thick, hairy bumblebee and thousand dandelions in which you can find two photos of blooming yellow Dandelions. Here is photo of matured Dandelion ready to spread its seeds all over!

Even Dandelion is a weed, did you know that Dandelion is an edible delicacy. You can use whole plant as a raw material for cooking: leaves, flower buds, freshly burst flowers and even a root. However, the order of eating matters. A good memory rule in collecting wild herbs is that the leaves are always collected before the flower.

This week we are celebrating midsummer in Finland. I wish you very nice and warm summer or winter, depending on where you live 😊

Best regards, Minna