Finland has relatively more bird towers than anywhere else in the world. In Helsinki’s Vanhankaupunginlahti there are more and more of them than anywhere else in Finland.
The shores of Helsinki’s Old Town Bay are home to quite a number of birdwatching structures: there are six birdwatching towers, eight viewing platforms and two hidden hooks.
If all the towers, poles and booths in the Old Town Bay were connected by a rope, it would take seven kilometres and leave an area of about 180 hectares in the middle. To make it easier to visualise, an area of roughly the same size would be formed by a rectangle drawn between, for example, the National Opera, the Old Church Park (Ruttopuisto), the Presidential Palace and the Kallio Church.
I wonder if there are this many bird-watching structures in any other part of the country in a similar geographical area?
\”The closest you can get to Old Town Bay is definitely Pori, where there are a dozen or so towers in the Meri-Pori area,\” says Södersved.
A considerable number of towers are also in, for example, Virolahti, Hanko and Liminganlahti. According to Södersved, Finland is indeed a country of bird towers: there are relatively more bird towers in our country than anywhere else in the world.
A particularly funny fact is related to the location of Old Town Bay on the map: the geographical center of Helsinki is located in the fields of Viikki, just a few hundred meters from the bird towers of Hakala and Purolahti.
The densest concentration of bird towers in Finland is therefore practically located in the middle of Helsinki.
More towers would be appropriate
The newest birdwatching structures built in Old Kaupunkinlahti are Lammassaari’s hidden stall and Hakalanniemi’s viewing platform, which were officially inaugurated at the beginning of October.
– The stage is so big that it can easily accommodate a school class of children at once. It is difficult to accommodate a similar number of people in a bird tower.
According to Haapanen, the trips organized by the city of Helsinki and the bird association Tringa typically have several dozen participants at a time. When you take a large group to a small tower, there is more of a flash than a real opportunity to observe nature and learn.
Lammassaari’s hidden stall can also accommodate a maximum of 40 people.
According to Haapanen, even more bird platforms and towers are suitable for the shores of Old Town Bay, because the area is large and there are many visitors.
– For example, in Saunalahti, the trees have been cleared so that the paths offer good views of the water area. Such structures could very well be put even more.
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