Forest National Parks Scheduled species in Scotland are ten per Euro in Finland! Capercaillie, Black Grouse, Black and Red-throated divers, Osprey, White-tailed Eagle. we saw them all and with some ease in and around the Finnish National Parks – thanks in no small part to the efforts of our knowledgeable and energetic guides for the week, Suvi Paukku and Tomi Honkavaara. What a wonderful opportunity this was. I am extremely grateful for having been given the chance to see a part of the world I might never have otherwise and which I now know I must visit again! Our guides and hosts Tomi Honkavaara and Suvi Paukku were most indulgent of our wants and put together a superb tour covering a wide cross section of environmental issues – from dry toilets to high tech atmospheric monitoring at the SMEAR II station (see http://www.atm.helsinki.fi/SMEAR/index.php?action=4 ) for more details). In our spare moments, they drove us round National Parks galore and we got to see wildlife we would have had to travel a long way to see in the UK: from Labrador Tea to Marsh Harriers. I saw my first Herb Paris in Finland - something I have been looking for in long-lost Scottish locations for years (I finally tracked some down in flower back here on Skye on my return though) and dare I admit it, my first Betula nana (OK, I know it grows on Ben Wyvis – I have just never got around to going there... We saw Common Crane in their hundreds, still on migration north to breed. In the evenings we rowed on the lake and (some of us…) swam there too after the inevitable sauna. Superb! I only hope that if those Fins ever come to see what Scotland has to offer, we can do them as proud.    more »