This year, Port of HaminaKotka Ltd will donate the funds intended for Christmas gifts and cards to the bird sanctuary in Pyhtää. The bird sanctuary in Pyhtää is a wild bird sanctuary whose main task is to rehabilitate injured birds and release them back into the wild. Birds arrive at the sanctuary from all parts of Finland, mainly from Southern, Southeastern and Eastern Finland. The sanctuary works in co-operation with veterinarians and various rescue authorities.
More than 20 years of work for birds
The bird sanctuary in Pyhtää was founded in 1998, and it is one of the two official wild bird sanctuaries in Finland. In addition to rehabilitating injured birds and releasing them back into the wild, the bird sanctuary is to maintain the populations of wild birds in Finnish nature and thus support biodiversity. Birds are also helped through advisory work and environmental education emphasising nature conservation. The sanctuary enables people to participate in aid work, which at best leads to curiosity and respect for the life-sustaining natural environment and its species.
High proportion of waterfowl
The bird sanctuary in Pyhtää takes care of a lot of waterfowl, and they are also retrieved from ports from time to time. As an example, a long-tailed duck once arrived at Mussalo Harbour in Kotka with a cargo ship. The bird was in care at the bird sanctuary in Pyhtää for several months before being released. Swallows and nightjars that have accidentally flown into warehouses have been picked up from Hietanen Harbour. Other birds rescued from the port include a water rail that travelled as a stowaway on a ship, and a Northern gannet that collided with a cargo ship. These two are less common birds in Finland.
In addition to waterfowl, the bird sanctuary takes care of some rock pigeons and in winter owls, which cannot catch moles and mice under the hardened snow, but come to people’s gardens in search of food. The bird sanctuary also attends to small mammals, such as hedgehogs and squirrels.
Arto Hokkanen of the bird sanctuary in Pyhtää says that the bird sanctuary has operated as an association since 2019. He would like to have continuity in the annual subsidies granted by the government so that the operation of the bird sanctuary could be secured.
“Donations made by companies and individuals are really important. The donation by Port of HaminaKotka Ltd will be used for our daily activities, such as food and bedding as well as water, which we need a lot when caring for waterfowl,” Arto Hokkanen says.
