On the 1st of December we had a winter bird race. Together with Hanna and Jarmo Pirhonen we started from Lappeenranta Toikasuo in dawn but we couldn’t find an Eagle Owl we found only a Teal. Next we drove to Savitaipale Kaskei to see a Hawk Owl. In Taipalsaari we weren’t lucky but once we drove back to Toikasuo we found a Chaffinch, 2 Linnets, a Sparrowhawk and a Goshawk. In Askola we found a flock of 4 Twites. In Luukkaansalmi we saw 2 Goldeneyes, 2 Herring Gulls and a Grey Heron. 2 Pheasants were found easily in Laihia and in Joutseno Pulp we had a Common Gull. But we had spent far too much time – we still had to get to Imatra Vuoksi. On the way we tried to see some woodpeckers but we managed to find only some other species like Coal, Crested and Long-tailed Tits and a Brambling. In Mellonlahti we had a Goldcrest and Cormorants but we managed to get to river Vuoksi too late. It was already dark but we still managed to find 2 Smews and a Canada Goose. But we missed some species. After all we got 42 species, which wasn’t very well. We became 3rd in the race.

On the 2nd of December we drove with Pekka Punnonen to Ylämaa to twitch a wintering White-fronted Goose, a Scaup and a Nuthatch. In Toikansuo we saw 2 Great Grey Shrikes. In the afternoon I continued to Imatra Vuoksi where I saw a Common Scoter, a Red-breasted Merganser, a Rook and a White Wagtail! All the same birds were also present than the day before.

On the 6th day we drove again to Imatra but we couldn’t find anything new. In Joutseno Kukkuroinmäki I saw 2 Starlings. Surprisingly on the next day I saw a Starling also in Parikkala.

On the 8th day I went to see the familiar Siberian Jays. Only 2 birds were there. Also Black Grouses were seen. On the next day we drove to Taipalsaari with Pekka. Lake Saimaa was empty but the Hawk Owl was still in Savitaipale, then we checked a couple of Dipper places and in the afternoon we twitched a Kestrel in Lappeenranta and a Black-throated Diver in Joutseno.

On the 13th day I saw a White-backed Woodpecker in Siikalahti and on the next day we twitched an Eagle Owl in Rautjärvi Simpele Kokkolanjoki. Finally I got my first pictures of the species – unfortunately pretty bad ones.

On the 16th day we were again in Toikansuo with Pekka. This time we were lucky! First we twitched a Shore Lark and a Robin and then we found an Arctic Redpoll and saw a Merlin. Later we still twitched a Skylark in Taipalsaari Kolinlahti. In the afternoon I checked the Vuoksi River again but nothing new was there.

After the mid December there weren’t snow on the ground! Anyway there were a couple of minus degrees so we decided to start cleaning all the owl nest boxes. There were really few birds on the forests – just some Black Woodpeckers, Black Grouses and Hazel Hens. Also the Christmas holidays were spent with the nest boxes. One day our Catalan friend Dani Burgas was helping us. On that day we found a nice Pygmy Owls storage and in a couple of Ural Owl nest boxes were a couple of owl feathers.

On the Christmas day I did the winter bird count which was the most boring ever. Only better bird was a Grey-headed Woodpecker. Before the New Year we managed to check almost all nest boxes. When the year changed there was still no snow on the ground. It was really dark!

Already in the beginning of November days were really short. It was almost dark when I went to work and after the work it was only a couple of hours light for birding. On the 1st of November I was birding on our back-yard and watching to Lake Simpele. At lunch hour I had a good start to a November garden birding competition: a Black-headed Gull, a Great Crested Grebe, a Nutcracker and some more common species. After the work I drove to Saari to check the fields. No geese were found but a flock of 7 adult and 1 young Bewick’s Swans was a surprise.

On the 2nd day I drove to twitch a couple of more month-ticks: a Pochard in Lappeenranta Hanhijärvi and a White-fronted Goose in Joutseno Konnunsuo. The day before there had been still a couple of more ticks, but they had left.

On the 3rd day we counted the first winter bird count with Hanna. We walked more than 18 kilometres around Siikalahti: best observations were 2 White-backed Woodpeckers, 2 Teals, a White-tailed Eagle, a Nutcracker, a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, a Great Grey Shrike, a Red-breasted Merganser and a Great Crested Grebe. New records were 94 Tree Sparrows, 253 Great Tits and 75 Blue Tits.

On the 4th day we were watching migration in Simpele water tower with Jari Kontiokorpi. We were expecting to see a good Whopper Swan migration but only 44 birds were seen. But a White-tailed Eagle and a flock of Pine Grosbeaks were good and a young Pomarine Skua was a really good one!

On the 5th day 2 Velvet Scoters were seen from our backyard and 3 Smews were still found around the lake. On the 9th day In Imatra Vuoksi I saw 9 Canada Geese, a Red-breasted Merganser, 8 Long-tailed Ducks, 6 Velvet Scoters and a Common Scoter with “konza”. Then we picked up “jamppa” and started a long way to western coast to Pyhäranta. On the next morning we started from Rihtniemi where only some Common Eiders, a Red-throated Diver and 4 Long-tailed Ducks were seen. The rest of the day we were checking many birding places in Uusikaupunki and saw a couple of hundred of Tufted Ducks, more than 130 Smews, more than 200 Mute Swans, Coots, a Crested Grebe, Common Buzzard, a White-tailed Eagle and so on. The second morning in Rihtniemi was better even though the weather was still really bad: a Black-throated Diver, a diver sp, 18 Long-tailed Ducks, 4 Common and 18 Velvet Scoters, 3 Red-breasted Mergansers, a Black Guillemot, a White-tailed Eagle, a flock of Long-tailed Tits, 2 flocks of Waxwings, a Chiffchaff and the best one a Common Guillemot. Later we saw again a Common Buzzard, 19 Red-breasted Mergansers and a Great Crested Grebe but nothing much more.

On the 14th day I drove south to Kirkkonummi because of during the 15th and 16th day I was studying in Vantaa. On the afternoon of 16th day I had a couple of hour’s time for birding. In Espoo Laajalahti I saw 10 Canada Geese, a Grey Heron, 16 Bearded Reedlings, a Long-tailed Duck, 53 Great Black-backed Gulls, 215 Goosanders, 14 Smews and 13 Coots. In Helsinki Viikki and Kyläsaari I saw nothing. In the next morning we continued with Hanna and Pirkka to BirdLife meeting to Mikkeli. On the way we planned to twitch a Black-throated Thrush in Kotka. But we were lucky earlier – we were just crossing the border of Ruotsinpyhtää and Pyhtää when I saw a strange bird flying over the bay in Ahvenkoski. I parked the car and we ran after the bird and right away we heard 2 clear calls of a Kingfisher! We never saw the bird again but we were familiar with the call so it was a new self found bird species to me! Later during the day twitchers found 2 Kingfishers there. We had time for only a short stop in Kotka and the thrush wasn’t found – as it was never seen again. We continued to Mikkeli where we were a little bit late but we had a good weekend with good program and many friends.

The winter had arrived to Parikkala. It was dark when I went to work and again when I stopped working. In the end of November it was snowing a little so it wasn’t that dark anymore.

On the 24th day I was checking many places around the Lake Simpele but only some flocks of Whooper Swans and Goosanders and some gulls were seen. In Simpele Lahnanen I saw a Scaup and the best bird was seen in Pitkätsolaset – a migrating Golden Eagle.

On the 25th day we went to Taipalsaari with jamppa. On the way we stopped In Lappeenranta Toikansuo where were a Goshawk, 2 Linnets and a Twite. In Taipalsaari we found big flocks of Yellowhammers and Tree Sparrows, a couple of Chaffinches and a Brambling but nothing more. In Savitaipale we twitched a Hawk Owl that came to catch dead mice almost from hand. On a second try we managed to see a female Hooded Merganser in Taipalsaari. In the same place in Kirjamoinsalmi was also a Red-breasted Grebe. Another stop in Toikansuo was also good, we saw an Arctic Redpoll, 2 Teals and a Great Grey Shrike. Later we saw still 3 Siskins.

The last days of November I tried to do some birding but it was already winter. So only birds that I saw were the familiar Siberian Jays.

In the beginning of October the arctic migration was good. It was really awful to sit in a work and see flocks of geese flying over the building. On the 1st day I managed to see 4500 geese anyway, 1900 of them were Barnacle and 800 White-fronted Geese. After the work I went to Saari to see if there were local geese and I found some thousands, but I saw 10 000 migrating geese. On the 2nd day a Red-breasted Goose was found in Rautalahti but unfortunately it had a yellow ring so it was probably an escaper. In the evening I drove to Lappeenranta to a meeting and we twitched a Great Snipe with Pekka Punnonen. We also saw Barnacle Geese some Scaups, a Shoveler and a Red-throated Diver in Haapajärvi.

On the 4th day I twitched a Black Redstart in Koivusilta and then continued to Saari where were 10 000 geese, a Greylag Goose and 20 Bewick’s Swans. A couple of thousands of geese were migrating too.

On the 5th day we drove to Turku and took a ferry to Ahvenanmaa. We were going to Ahvenanmaa bird rally, Mikko Ala-Kojola came to our third team-member. We were in Ahvenanmaa very late and we still had some driving to our hotel.

After a couple of hours sleeping we woke up and started the rally from the hotel backyard where usually an Eagle Owl has been heard. No we weren’t lucky. The weather was extremely foggy so we had to change our plans and we started to try to find passerines. We had planned to go to watch sea-migration, but it was impossible. We got plenty of common species right in the beginning; better ones were a Chiffchaff, a Linnet, a Dunnock, a Mistle Thrush, a Coal Tit and a White Wagtail. In Storby we found a Moorhen and a Willow Warbler before we continued to Hammarland. On the border we found a Smew and first Coots. In Västmyra we saw first Whooper Swans, a Black Woodpecker and a Hen Harrier. Then we continued to Hammarudda to watch to the sea because of the weather has turned better. We got a Great Grey Shrike right away and later we saw White-tailed Eagles, Black Guillemots, a Razorbill, Red-breasted Grebes, Black- and Red-throated Divers, a Scaup in a big flock of Eiders, a Merlin, a Rough-legged Buzzard, a Velvet Scoter, a Ringed Plover, a Grey Plover and the best species was a Purple Sandpiper. So we had a really good time in Hammarudda!

We continued and we saw Ravens, Stock Doves and a flock of Greylag Geese. In Torpfärden everything went well again and we saw a flock of Barnacle Geese, a couple of Bean Geese, a Pintail, some Gadwalls, a Shelduck, 4 Golden Plovers and a Kestrel

But then everything started to go worse. We had about 3 hours without new species. We tried to find some birdplaces that we had on our map but they really were nothing! Finally in Saltvik Lötö we had some Shovelers and Pochards and in Haga fields a flock of White-fronted Geese and Rooks. We still drove to twitch a Little Grebe which was our last and 92nd species.

After all we were the 5th in 16 teams rally. The winners had got 99 species but anyway this was our first time ever in Ahvenanmaa outside winter.

Next day we had the whole morning time to do birding in Ahvenanmaa. We twitched a Richard’s Pipit in Mellanö and I managed to get pretty good recording of it. There we saw also a flock of Brent Geese. In Torpfjärden we heard a Crested Tit, saw a flock of Long-tailed Tits andCanada Geese and then we went again to Hammarudda where we had a Black-headed Gull and 40 Little Gulls. So after all we had seen several species we couldn’t find in a rally.

In a ferry-trip we spent some time on the deck and saw 3 migrating Dulnins before we went to eat. It was late when we were in Kirkkonummi with my parents.

8th day I had a holiday so we had planned to do birding in South-Finland, but the weather was horrible! So we visited only Espoo Laajalahti where a Ringed Plover, a Ruff, 9 Lapwings, 2 White-fronted and 7 Bean Geese were seen. On the way back home we stopped in Hamina Kirkkojärvi where we saw a Peregrine and in Imatra Virasoja where a flock of 5000 Geese were recorded and photographed. A Pink-footed Goose was found from the flock too.

On the 9th of October in Jyrkilä I saw 5000 Barnacle and 350 anser Geese and 50 Bewick’s Swans. There was also the same yellow-ringed Red-breasted Goose. A couple of thousands geese were also migrating. The next few days were all pretty similar: on 12th day we saw altogether 62 Bewick’s Swans, on 13th 2 Great Black-backed Gulls, on 14th a Capercaillie and on 18th even more geese than before – about 6000 and 300 Whooper Swans but only 10 Bewick’s Swans.

On the 19th day most of the geese left and in the evening I could find only less than 1000 Barnacle Geese.

On 20th day we took part to a Jaala birdrace with Pekka Punnonen and Jari Kiljunen. We had amazing start when we managed to find a Tawny Owl that answered to my call just before the rally started. It took more than 10 minutes to make the bird call again when the rally started but I made it. Soon we found 2 Pygmy Owls too in Kemola. Also a Grey-headed Woodpecker and all normal tits were found easily, so the beginning was good.

The only bird tower in Jaalanlahti was a bit disappointment but a Smew was found amongst some more common species. Luckily a flock of Barnacle Goose was seen too. On the way to Kyrönlahti we saw a flock of 7 Snow Buntings and in Kyrönlahti we saw a Reed Bunting and a young White-fronted Goose. In Suolahti we saw a Hazel Hen, heard a Goldcrest and had the only House Sparrow of the day. Luckily we found a Dipper in Myllykoski but after that we had several hours with only Siskins, 2 Black-throated Divers, a Velvet Scoter, a Mistle Thrush and 2 Black Grouses.

Our second visit to the bird-tower wasn’t any better but a White-backed Woodpecker was a big surprise. We still went to Kimola where a flock of Common Scoters and a Coot were found.

After all we had 49 species and were 2nd in 7 teams’ race. The winners were on their own numbers with 58 species.

On the 21st of October we saw still 66 Barnacle, 81 Brent and a flock of 27 White-fronted and Bean Geese. Other good species from our backyard were 2 Red-throated Divers, a Goshawk, a Merlin, a Black-headed Gull, a Nutcracker, a Pine Grosbeak and a Snow Bunting. I think I should watch migration on our backyard more often.

The rest of the month was already boring. The winter was coming and birds were gone already. Siikalahti had been frozen once already, but luckily the last days of the month were warmer again. It was dark when I went to work and again dark when I got off. – frustrating, as Finnish winter always is!

On the 25th day I managed to twitch a Hawk Owl as a Parikkala tick. Other observations were on 26th day a Nutcracker in Ristimäki and on 27th day 2 Mistle Thrushes in Akanvaara Tetrisuo, a White-fronted Goose in Kuposenmäki, 2 Velvet Scoters in Muikkulahti and a Ural owl that answered to my call. In a couple of last days I saw just Whooper Swans, Common, Herring and a couple of Black-headed Gulls, a Mistle Thrush, and a couple of Wigeons and Coots and some Smews.

In the beginning of September we were in Oulu but we weren’t really birding. We took part to a football tournament where local bird associations were playing. We had time to play 2 games and we were playing in Lappland team. On the 2nd day on the way back home we stopped in Kajaani Otanmäki where a Slavonian Grebe, a Grey Heron, a Coot, 2 Curlew Sandpipers, 8 Dunlins, 20 Little Stints and 4 Smews were seen.

On the next day 3 Red-throated Pipits and 2 Little Stints were seen in Siikalahti and a Nutcracker in Kangaskylä, also a Grey Wagtail was still in Kokkolanjoki. On the 4th evening I went to twitch a young Dotterel to Joutseno. Luckily I found it just before the dusk. On the next day a Grey-headed Woodpecker, a Ringed Plover, a White-tailed Eagle, 5 Eater Rails, 3 Lappland Buntings were observed in Siikalahti and a Common Sandpiper in Härskiinmutka.

Next days were really quiet: on the 9th day we were birding with Pekka Punnonen and we saw an Osprey, 2 Bluethroats, 2 Rustic Buntings and a Little Stint that was walking on the road in Siikalahti. In Saari and Uukuniemi we saw 2 Grey-headed Woodpeckers, 6 Lappland Buntings, some Great Grey Shrikes and a couple of Red-necked Grebes with a really young juvenile. In the evening we were alarmed to Joutseno again where we twitched a Short-toed Lark in Konnunsuo. I also found a Red-breasted Flycatcher as a year-tick in Leppälä.

On the 12th day we went to twitch a White-rumped Sandpiper but the bird left when we still had some 40 kilometres to drive. We managed to get until Joensuu so we went to visit Hannas brother Miika there. The bad luck continued when I couldn’t find a Great Snipe that Jari Kontiokorpi saw in Siikalahti. Luckily a tame young Red-footed Falcon was sitting on the wire in Kaukola and let me digiscope it very well.

On the 14th of September we saw the first 5 Bean Geese and a White-fronted Goose, 3 young Little Gulls and also hundreds of migrating Chaffinches in Siikalahti. Autumn has really started.

We had tried a couple of times to catch some owls too, but only a couple of Tengmalm’s Owls had been heard from the tops of the trees around the nets.

On the morning of 15th day we drove to Joutseno Suokumaa to ring some Dunnocks with Karri Kuitunen. Unfortunately the day was worst day in whole autumn and only 9 Dunnocks were caught. Anyway we had a good time and a Wood Sandpiper, 6 Ringed Plovers and later in Konnunsuo some flocks of geese, 5 Cormorants and 37 Stock Doves were seen.

On the 16th day we birded with Jarmo Pirhonen in Siikalahti. 629 Barnacle Geese, a Greylag Goose, 176 geese sp, 153 anser-geese, 15 Velvet Scoters, 2 Ringed Plovers, 2 Red-thoated Pipits and so on were migrating. a Wren was calling, more than a hundred Cranes were migrating and 240 were still flying around. I saw a Bittern landing to the reeds and a Red-footed Falcon was still flying around with 2 Hobbies. In Lahdensuo we saw an Ural Owl and in Kullinsuo I saw a couple of thousands of finches in several big flocks. On the 19th day in Kullinsuo I saw a Peregrine Falcon, 13 Ruffs and a Dunlin.

On the 21st day there were 2 adult White-tailed Eagles sitting together in Siikalahti. Hopefully our old friend had found a couple! I hope there is a place where they could breed somewhere close in the future. Altogether 138 Whooper Swans were already in Siikalahti on the next day.

23th day was one of the days I will remember always! Hanna was in Hanko with other bird-painters, but we had planned to go to Simpele to watch migration together with Jari and Jarmo. But morning was extremely foggy. So we started from Koitsanlahti where nothing special was found and continued soon to Siikalahti. The Red-footed Falcon was still around and 5 Ruffs were migrating with a Dunlin, a Grey-headed Woodpecker was calling and a Nutcracker was flying over us. Finally the weather came clearer and we decided to continue to Simpele water-tower as we had planned. We had expected to see a really good Chaffinch migration but only a couple of thousands were seen. But a nice collection of raptors were seen: 48 Sparrowhawks, 33 Buzzards, 2 Ospreys, a Hobby, some Merlins and 7 plovers (5 bigger and 2 smaller, maybe Grey Plovers and Dotterels but too far) were migrating. At 12.20 p.m. I noticed a strange bird migrating straight towards South about a kilometre from us just above the tops of the trees. Right away I realized that it was something really good. The shape of the bird was between a Wood Pigeon and a Jackdaw but the flight was really relaxed and strange. I shouted something to the others and after a couple of seconds even though the light was extremely bad and no colours were seen I realized the bird must be a Roller! A couple of minutes we watched the Roller passing us and only twice we could see some blue colour on its wings and once its brown back. Then the bird seemed to land to a couple of kilometres from us close to a gas-station.

After some celebrating we went to try to find the bird with Jarmo and Jouko Poutanen who had luckily came to the tower just an hour before the Roller. But we never found the bird again. But Matti Lötjönen found a Great Grey Owl that I digiscoped until the dusk, but still I twitched the Grey Wagtail and Red-footed Falcon because I wanted to make the day perfect! The Roller was the first new self-found species for my after 4.5 years!

On the next day Mikko Pöllänen found the Roller exactly there where we had seen it landing, just some 500 metres from the gas-station. So we all managed to photograph it and because of it was the only Roller in Finland this year many twitchers came to see it. Some twitchers saw the bird in the morning of 25th day but after that it wasn’t seen. But unfortunately it was found again on the next day – it had been hit by a car and it never survived!

On the 26th and 27th day I still digiscoped the Red-footed Falcon, saw a Grey-headed Woodpecker, found the first Gadwalls of the year for Siikalahti where also a Pochard and Marsh Harrier were still.

Hailuoto-rally

On the 28th day I drove to Juva where Miika (potu) Suojarinne and Andreas Lindén already were and we continued to Hailuoto to join traditionally to a birdrace. On the way we saw a Rough-legged Buzzard, a Merlin, 3 Woodcocks and a Short-eared Owl. And in the late evening on the ferry to Hailuoto we saw the northern sky flash absolutely bright. Later we read that it had been the biggest meteor in last 30 years!

Our team was Tuomo Jaakkonen, Pirkka and Janne Aalto and Andreas Lindén. We had a cottage together with Harry Nyström, Mikko Ala-Kojola and Miika Suojarinne in Pöllä.

At 7 a.m. the rally started and we started to collect species. In the beginning there weren’t anything special but soon we found some Smews, Snipes, 2 Dunlins, 2 Ringed Plovers, a Merlin, a Great Grey Shrike, some Mute Swans with hundreds of Whooper Swans, 2 small flocks of Bean Geese, 4 Long-tailed Ducks and some Scaups were flying and 2 adult White-tailed Eagles landed to a rocky island. Anyway we had a feeling we hadn’t found anything special. We walked to Riisinnokka where we had plenty of passerines to our list. A Blackbird, Song Thrushes, Dunnocks and 3 Three-toed Woodpeckers were the best ones. I saw a Swallow but it flew behind a forest too quickly, but luckily a Black Grouse was found flying above the same trees. When we were walking to our car we heard a Great Grey shrike calling very strange calls and surprisingly later during the day we heard a couple of more calling similarly.

In Pöllä we had only a White Wagtail and some other easy species. On the way to Kirkkosalmi we stopped to check a flock of 104 Bean Geese and meanwhile there was a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker calling. Kirkkosalmi was good as always: Bearded Reedlings were calling, Gadwalls, a couple of big flocks of Ruffs, a Mistle Thrush and a Hen Harrier were also good species.

In Kuivasäikkä we found a flock of Long-tailed Tits, a Jack Snipe and some Golden Plovers. In Ulkokarvo we found Shovelers and a couple of Goshawks. There was also a huge flock of Tufted Ducks, several thousands.

We continued to Pökönnokka where 2 young Shelducks, a flock of Black-headed Gulls, a flock of Dunlins, 3 Spotted Redshanks and a Curlew Sandpiper were found.

We were in a hurry when we drove through the whole island to the other side to Marjaniemi where we found 2 Velvet Scoters, a Common Scoter and 2 Grey Plovers, but otherwise the sea was as empty there as everywhere else. We still drove to Virpiniemi where we had some Cormorants, a Little Stint and 2 Snow Buntings and still we had 15 minutes to check Keskiniemi. We managed still to find a Red-breasted Grebe which was our last and 80th species.

The weather had been maybe too good so the number of species was maybe smaller than we had ever seen in this race, but anyway we had a feeling that we had done well. After all we became 3rd and we lost the silver by only one species. The winners had 86 species.

We slept in Pöllä and during the next morning we birded in Kuivasäikkä. The weather was much more normal, windy and foggy. We saw a couple of Jack Snipes, a Grey Plover and some Golden Plovers but soon we decided to go to twitch a White-backed Woodpecker to Oulunsalo. On the way to the ferry we twitched a Tree Sparrow as a Hailuoto-tick and soon we were in Oulunsalo Nenännokka where the White-backed Woodpecker was found easily. It was a new tick to this PPLY-area for me, even though I had lived there for 15 years! In Nenännokka we saw still some Dunlins, 8 Grey Plovers and so on.

With potu we started our long way back east. We saw 18 Collared Doves and a Nutcracker in Liminka. And we still had a short walk in Siikajoki Tauvo Munahieta where 29 Dunlins, 4 Little Stints, 3 Curlew Sandpipers, a Short-eared Owl and a Snow Bunting were seen. The rest of the trip was long and I was back home when the month changed.

The weather in August was very rainy. So there were good possibilities to see some migrant waders that are not normally landing to Eastern Finland. In a 1st of August I saw 10 Dunlins, 50 Lapwings, Wood Sandpipers and Greenshanks in Siikalahti. In Argusjärvi a Grey-headed Woodpecker was seen again. It was moulting really hard. The feathers were dropping when it flew.

On the 4th day we went shopping to Lappeenranta. I checked to Askola pools but nothing special was found. In the evening in Siikalahti 5 Grey Herons, an adult White-tailed Eagle, 5 calling Water Rails and a Temminck’s Stint were seen. On the next day we saw a Grey-headed Woodpecker in Punkaharju Naaranlahti.

On the 6th day I went to Joutseno rubbish tip with Sampsa Cairenius and Jarmo Pirhonen. They had found a possible Caspian Gull and we went to photograph and record it. After many hours searching we found the bird and managed to get good documents of the bird. In the late evening I still went to see a nest of a Collared Dove to Lauritsala.

Next days were quiet: a Temminck’s Stint, Dunlin and a Short-eared Owl were seen in Siikalahti. Then on the 11th of August I got a message that there was a young Black-winged Pratincole in Joutseno Kotasaari. We drove there quickly and managed to watch the bird for more than half an hour before it left directly towards South-West. Also a Curlew Sandpiper, some Little Ringed Plovers and a Golden Plover was seen on the pools. Later we continued birding with Ilkka Jarva but only a couple of Cuckoos and now 3 Collared Doves were seen. On the way back we went to try to photograph a Grey Wagtail that was still in Kokkolanjoki and I managed to get some pictures.

On the 12th day we saw in Siikalahti for example 480 Coots, a Bittern, 9 Grey Herons, 9 Honey Buzzards, 8 Ospreys, a Spotted Redshank and heard calls of migrating Grey Plover.

Next better observations were made 2 days later when I got a call that there was a spotted eagle in Siikalahti. I drove there and found Mikko Pöllänen watching a younger Greater Spotted Eagle. When I was watching the eagle a falcon flew across the picture and surprisingly there was a young Red-footed Falcon flying! Not a bad 15 minutes.

The Red-footed Falcon stayed about a week in Siikalahti and I managed to get pretty good pictures. On the 16th day we counted 225 Cranes in Jyrkilä and saw an Ortolan bunting in Akanvaara Tetrisuo.

On the 17th of August I drove to Joutseno to pick up Sampsa Cairenius and we continued to Helsinki to harbour where we met Erkki Valsta. We took a ferry to Tallinn and continued driving to Southern Estonia where we took part to Estonian Open bird race.

We slept a couple of hours in a hotel in Otepää and at 3 a.m. on the 18th day the rally started. We birded 14 hours in inland in Valga and Viljandimaa and saw altogether 130 species. Middle Spotted Woodpeckers, White-backed Woodpeckers, Hazel Hens, a Ural Owl, a Pygmy Owl, a Tawny Owl, a Marsh Tit, hundreds of White Storks, Lesser Spotted Eagles, a Black Redstart, Black Terns, some Great White Egrets and a good luck with waders in the end of the rally made the day really good! There were 16 teams which 5 of them were Estonians but we became 2nd and we were the best Finnish team.

After the rally we wake up early. We twitched one more Middle Spotted Woodpecker and continued to Öru Saunjalahti to twitch a very rare Black-necked Grebe. Luckily we found the bird and got a really good Estonian tick. We still stopped in Noarootsi Haversinlahti where we had lots of waders: Ringed Plovers, Dunlins, Knots, Curlew Sandpipers, Temminck’s Stints, Little Stints, Bar-tailed Godwits and some Sandwiched Terns. But soon we had to hurry to Tallinn to catch a ferry.

On the 20th day the Red-footed Falcon was still in Siikalahti. We also found 4 Nutcrackers in Kangaskylä. In the evening we put up the mist nets to Tarvaslampi and luckily caught 2 Pygmy Owls during the night.

On the 25th day we drove around the field areas nearby and saw lots of Hobbies and Kestrels but luckily also a migrating flock of 25 Grey Plovers and 5 Knots. On the next morning I drove to Joutseno where I watched migration in Tiuruniemi with Kauko Kauppinen for a couple of hours. Later we were birding around Joutseno with Pekka Punnonen and 5 Red-throated Pipits, some Hen Harriers, a Cormorant, a very late Quail and a couple of Wood Larks were seen. On the way back I again saw the Grey Wagtail in Kokkolanjoki.

On the 27th day Hanna’s family called that they had found a weak raptor. We drove there and picked up a young Honey Buzzard that was very thin and weak. We took it with us and tried to feed it but after a couple of better days it went weaker and died even though we really tried to do our best.

In the end of August I still saw a flock of 8 migrating Bean Geese, a young Smew, a late Wood Sandpiper and some Red-throated Pipits in Siikalahti. On the 31st day I started a long way to Oulu. On the way I stopped in Akanvaara Tetrisuo and it was worthy: I saw in 30 minutes White-tailed Eagle, a Lapland Bunting, 12 Red-throated Pipits and a young Pallid Harrier!

I had another stop in Outokumpu Vuonos but only a Little Stint was found. I still saw a flying Tengmalm’s Owl in Tyrnävä before I finally were in Oulu Hietasaari where we had 2 cottages rented with my brothers family and my parents. Hanna came there by night-train from Helsinki where she had been in BirdLife meeting.

On the 1st of July I woke up in Junkkarikämppä in Rautjärvi after the Atlas-bird-race. On the morning we went birding to Joutseno with Jari Kiljunen. In Kuurmanpohja we saw some common raptors, a Stock Dove in Anola and in Kotasaari the Marsh Sandpiper had one youngster still alive. But nothing else was found so soon I continued home to rest.

During the night of 2nd and 3rd we were birding together with French Pierre-Andre Crochét and friend of his. In Siikalahti and Rautalahti we heard several Spotted Crakes, in Akonpohja a River and Grasshopper Warbler and in every field we heard some Corn Crakes. In Kanavalampi we heard altogether 9 Spotted Crakes and in Tyrjä Blyth’s Reed Warbler and a Thrush Nightingale were still singing, also a Long-eared Owl was seen. Bigger surprise was 24 migrating Barnacle Geese.

At night of 4th and 5th I drove again to Joutseno, this time to Korvenkylä to record a Lanceolated Warbler that had been found there. I got good recordings only the main road 6 was a little bit too close. In same place a Blyth’s Reed and a Grasshopper Warbler were singing and again many Corn Crakes. Marsh Sandpipers were still doing well, then I found a calling Quail in Kuurmanpohja and In Perä-Ahola I twitched 2 calling Turtle Doves which is really good record nowadays in Finland! On the way back to Parikkala and work I still saw a Hen Harrier in Rautjärvi Kankaan fields.

On the 6th of July we drove to Helsinki where our old friend Paul French arrived on the 7th day from England. We were birding 2 weeks around Finland and also in North Norway, Varanger and Porsangerfjord. The whole Finland-Norway tripstory (we saw altogether 222 species, many rarities, lots of pictures and tough birding!).

After the trip we were really tired! So the next bird-observations were made on the 28th day when in Siikalahti were 4 Dunlin’s and 3 Grey Herons. On the last days of July I visited Siikalahti every day: On the 29th day the best observation was a flock of 35 Spotted Flycatchers that were feeding on the tops of the trees. On the 30th I saw 7 Dunlins and a Little Stint and on the 31st day I twitched a Grey Wagtail from Rautjärvi Simpele Kokkola-river.

On the 2nd of June I was working as a guide in Siikalahti but nothing better was seen. At night we went to night singer trip to Saari with Ilkka Jarva and we heard a good selection of species and found a Quail and saw 2 White-fronted Geese. On the next day I was again in Siikalahti and at night we were out again. Now the best bird was a Reed Warbler, but in both night many Blyth’s Reed Warblers, Corn Crakes, some Marsh Warblers, Spotted Crakes, Golden Orioles, a couple of Nightjars and a River and a Grasshopper Warbler were heard.

On the 4th day some Blyth’s Reed Warblers were already breeding and once a male gets a female it stops singing. A Long-eared Owl was seen while recording a Quail in Lahdensuo.

On the 9th I led a night singer trip for EKLY-members. Also a Spanish group joined us and all the common night singers were heard (most also seen) and of course a Quail and a Long-eared Owl. Some of the group got even 5 lifers!

On the 12th day I twitched a Yellow-breasted Bunting in Kitee Kyyrönniemi. The place was really odd for the species but luckily it stayed there for a couple of days.

On the next night we birded together with Hannes Tiira in Saari. Three River Warblers, more than 20 Corn Crakes and Blyth’s Reed Warblers, a Long-eared Owl, an Icterine Warbler, a Grasshopper Warbler, lots of Thrush Nightingales, a couple of Marsh Warblers, some Golden Orioles and Wrens were heard or seen. Also a group of 5 calling Spotted Crakes was nice to find in Kanavanlampi.

Heavy rains destroyed our plans to go birding again together so the next better observation was a cute small very young Black Grouse that Hanna’s parents dog Jeri found in Tarvaslampi.

On the 16th of June was a bike rally. We were biking with Hanna’s brother Miika more than 75 kilometres in Parikkala. We got altogether 102 species and I think more than 50 were new for Miika. Best birds were a family of Grey-headed Woodpeckers in Argusjärvi, a Ural Owl in Ristimäki, a Wryneck in Mustiinpohja and an Eagle Owl in Soininmäki. We had really fun even though the biking was really hard! We were 2nd best team.

On the 18th day we had an EKLY-meeting in Lappeenranta. On the way I twitched a Marsh Sandpiper couple in Joutseno Kotasaari. They had started breeding there! There were also 7 Ringed Plovers and 6 Little Ringed Plovers on the pools and nearby I saw a Black Kite. After the meeting I spent whole night birding – 1st I drove to Savitaipale Jäkälänjärvi where I recorded Savi’s Warblers monotonic sing around the midnight, then stopped many times in Savitaipale and Lemi just to check some new places before I twitched and recorded a Booted Warbler in Lappeenranta Mentula. I got really excellent Booted Warbler recordings, because of the bird wanted to come to sing only 2 metres from me! In Konnunsuo I listened for a second a Quail before I had to hurry to work!

On the 21st day we made some IBA-counts in Sammallampi, but anything interesting was found. During the next night we counted night birds in Siikalahti, but only better birds were 3 Reed Warblers. On the morning a White-fronted Goose was found in Vartianlahti and a flock of 35 Barnacle Geese seen migrating in Kaukola.

On the 23rd and 24th day we were doing bird-atlas and birding in some 10×10km areas where nobody usually goes. In first day Mikko Ala-Kojola was with us and in a border of Parikkala and Punkaharju we saw a Capercaillie, Wrens, Chiffchaffs and also a Greenish Warbler that we managed to record and even photograph. On the next morning best ones were a nest of a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, a family of Grey-headed Woodpecker, a White-backed Woodpecker, a couple of Marsh Warblers, some Chiffchaffs and again a Wren. Not bad birding days!

On the 26th day I got a message that a Long-toed Stint had been found in Kotka! It took a minute to and we were driving towards Kotka. Luckily we got the instructions how to find the right place when we were almost there – surprisingly 2 hours after the 1st message. We studied the bird for next 3 hours and lots of twitchers visited the place! In dusk we continued to Hamina Kirkkojärvi to record a Little Crake. Also a Savi’s Warbler was heard, but soon we had to continue to Parikkala – I had to be at work soon.

On the last day of June we had an atlas-rally where all the teams had to choose a poorly known place where to do birding for 14 hours. We were birding on the border of Ruokolahti and Rautjärvi where were surprisingly lots of birds, altogether 75 species were found and 31 species we could tell that had been breeding on the area. Anyway only interesting thing was that altogether 16 Wrens were heard.

On the 1st of May I got several common year-ticks and also 2 Pink-footed Geese were seen and 10 Water Rails heard in Siikalahti. n the afternoon we went to check all the owl nest boxes in Rautjärvi and after that we went to Kuokkalampi bird tower where a couple of Long-tailed Tits, a White-backed Woodpecker and a Grey-headed Woodpecker were the best observations. In Laurinniemi we saw some Little Ringed Plovers and Oystercatchers and a Redshank. On the next day I twitched a Black-tailed Godwit in Siikalahti and on the 3rd day I saw a couple of Scaups from our backyard.

On the 4th day we birded with Jari Kiljunen in Saari but only a Whimbrel and some Swallows and House Martins were seen

On the 5th of May we had again a traditional national Bird tower competition. In 8 hours we saw 54 migrating Whimbrels, a Grey Heron, 3 Cormorants, a Pink-footed Goose, a female Pallid/Montagu’s Harrier, a Redshank, a Little Ringed Plover, A Stock Dove, 40 Waxwings and altogether 85 species. In the afternoon I saw a Short-eared Owl in Tetrisuo.

Next days surprise was a male Gadwall in the middle of the field in Lahdensuo, also the first flocks of Barnacle Geese were migrating. In Siikalahti I saw a Jack Snipe.

During the next few days I saw 10 Oystercatchers, twitched a couple of White Storks in Joutseno and found a couple of Gadwalls. On the 12th day the first Thrush Nightingales, Blackcaps and Garden Warblers had arrived. In Akanvaara Tetrisuo Ortolan Buntings were singing and in Kanavalampi I saw a White-tailed Eagle. The strangest observation was a couple of Bitterns that were running in a middle of a field!

On the 13th day we were guiding a group from Italy. Later Hanna continued with them one more day in Parikkala and a couple of days in North Karelia. A Ural Owl, White-backed Woodpecker, a couple of Long-tailed Tits on their nest, Black Woodpeckers, Siberian Jays, Hazel Hens, Black Grouses and a Red-backed Shrike were seen on the first day and later Hanna and the group saw a Grey-headed Woodpecker, a Three-toed Woodpecker, Capercaillies, Willow Grouses, Shore Larks, Parrot Crossbills and even a Wolwerine and much more! The group continued then to Virolahti to see arctic migration and they seemed to have good time there too!

On the 14th day I saw some thousands of geese and a Short-eared Owl in Siikalahti but unfortunately I had to be working so nothing else was seen. On the 15th day I saw a Long-eared Owl and a White-tailed Eagle but I had to stop my trip to Saari soon because of Jarmo Pirhonen found a White-winged Black Tern in Imatra. When I arrived at Imatra Immalanjärvi the tern was still there together with 3 Black Terns! I still continued to Joutseno Kotasaari to twitch 3 Marsh Sandpipers, also a Temminck’s Stint was a year tick. On the 16th day I saw a Greylag Goose in Siikalahti.

On the 17th day when my holiday had finally started we drove to Helsinki. On the way we stopped in Imatra (an Arctic Tern), in Virolahti (a Black Kite and a Honey Buzzard), in Hamina (Great Reed Warbler) and Kotka (Terek Sandpiper). Then we drove to Helsinki-Vantaa airport from where we strated our 8 days Georgia trip (Kazbegi and Chachuna for example Caucasian Black Grouses, Caucasian Snowcocks, Mountain Chiffchaffs, Güldenstädt’s Redstarts, Great Rosefinches, vultures, Imperial Eagles, Wgeatears, Menestrie’s Warblers, Rufous Bush Robins and altogether 143 species).

When we came back from Georgia I drove dropped Hanna to train and even though I had slept only a couple of hours in plane I continued straight to North Botnia 24 hour’s bird rally. With Antti Pesola, Petri Nikupaavo and Petri Pelttari we drove 720 kilometres, birded in 14 counties and saw 148 species! Best observations were a Great Spotted Eagle, 3 Marsh Sandpipers, River Warbler, a couple of flocks of Dotterels, Broad-billed Sandpipers, Red-necked Phalaropes, 2 Corn Crakes, a Thrush Nightingale, a Willow Grouse, 2 Mute Swans, extremely late Snow Bunting, Grey Partridges, a Terek Sandpiper, 3 Razorbills, a twitched Lesser Grey Shrike and a couple of other yearticks. We were 4th in 16 teams race which is well done because none of us was local anymore.

After the rally we drove to Pyhäjoki from where the rest of the team started their way south and I continued to Siikajoki Tauvo ringing station. I hadn’t been sleeping more than 10 hours for last 3 days so I was extremely tired. Matti Tynjälä was ringing in a station so after a couple of hours sleep I was with him checking the mist nets. Anyway after a couple of hours I had to go to sleep again. During the day I walked to Ulkonokka where I counted all the birds: best ones were 3 Bar-tailed Godwits, 2 flocks of Broad-billed Sandpipers and 2 Little Stints. In the afternoon I drove to Liminka where I twitched a Great White Egret in Temmesjokisuu and once I had found the bird I got a message that there was a Grey Phalarope in Oulu Pyykösjärvi! After 30 minutes I saw the bird and many old friends! We still continued to Oulunsalo with Mikko Ala-Kojola, but the best bird we saw was the same Great White Egret. After 10 p.m. I drove to my brother Riku and I was really tired!

Next 2 days I was just relaxing. Nothing better was seen on the wasy home either. But once I was home we went to ring the 2 nestlings of Ural Owl!

On the last day of May I got a message that there had been a Green Woodpecker in Kesälahti. After 30 minutes I was there but no woodpeckers were found. A Corncrake, a Golden Oriol and a couple of River Warblers were heard! It was good to be home when the best night singer time was coming!

The April started warm and a good selection of birds had arrived already. On the 1st day I birded with Miika Suojarinne and in Saari we saw 2 Stock Doves, Canada Geese, Wigeons, Wagtails, a Crane and a Pheasant. In Siikalahti we saw 30 Bean and 2 White-fronted Geese, Wigeons, Teals, 2 Black-headed Gulls and so on. Bitterns were already calling. In Punkaharju Lusto we ticked a Nutcracker.

On the 3rd I saw the next year-tick when a Lesser Black-backed Gull flew over me in Siikalahti. It was a pale-backed race – whatever heuglini/graelssii/intermedius? We spent the Eastern in Sotkamo by skiing and relaxing with my parents and brothers families. It was till winter in Sotkamo and luckily on those days it was a back-winter everywhere in Finland so I didn’t miss anything. On the way back home on 9th day we found a Wood Lark in Sotkamo Leväjoki and I could finally try my new microphone and minidisk-player and try recording its beautiful song. Unfortunately the traffic was very heavy so the recording wasn’t very good, but at least something.

On the 10th day I saw the first Curlew and a couple of migrating Stock Doves in Siikalahti. On 12th day we had a meeting of our local bird association EKLY again and on the wasy to Lappeenranta I twitched a Mute Swan in river Vuoksi. In Joutseno Konnunsuo we saw 500 Bean, 150 White-fronted and 2 Pink-footed Geese and in Lappeenranta Rasala 300 Bean Geese more.

On 13th day I saw the first Osprey and Bewick’s Swan and on the next day I did the duck-counts in Siikalahti: for example 35/6 Pochards, 55/49 Goldeneyes, 9/5 Smews, a couple of Pintails, 103 Mallards, 81 Coots and so on. 14 Rough-legged Buzzards were migrating in an hour but soon all the migrations stopped – 5 Rooks, a Wren singing, a Golden Plover and then the best observation of the day – a Great Black-backed Gull.

On the 15th day I saw 4 Shovelers, a Black-throated Diver and a Green Sandpiper. Already 350 Black-headed Gulls had arrived and the visit to Saari was as meaningless as usually. On the next morning a Chiffchaff was singing on the health centre and in the evening we started our way to Kirkkonummi. Hanna had BirdLife Finland meeting in Helsinki and I was going to Spain Andalucia to 1st professional meeting of bird tourism in El Rocio Donaña.

To Andalucia Spain

On the 17th of April I flew first from Helsinki to Stockholm, then to Madrid where I was too late and missed my plane so I had to wait a couple of extra hours for the next flight to Sevilla. Finally I was in Sevilla after 14 hours travelling and there I had a driver waiting for me and I still had an hour drive to Rocio.

Finally I was in Rocio at 00.30 a.m. and I had a room in a beautiful hotel Toruño. After an hour I was finally able to go to sleep.

Birding!

I woke up after 4 hours sleep but it was still dark outside, so I waited for an hour and went to birding. Only aboyt 30 meters from the hotel was a big water area with marshes – the biggest Nature reserve in Europe, Donaña.

When the sun started to rise I could find many birds: Flamingos, Spoonbills, Moorhens, Black-winged Stilts, Black Kites, 2 Red Kites, Gold Finches, Great Reed and Reed Warblers were singing. Trees were full of Swallows, some Cetti’s Warblers were singing and Spotless Starlings were everywhere!

I walked for a hundred of metres more to a roof of an old building where I could see the whole water area better: Red-crested Pochards, Gadwalls, a couple of Greylag Geese (yes, they were also flying), Grey Herons, lots of White Storks in the fields with horses and much more – what a beautiful wake up!

The driver I had at night had told me that I wasn’t expected to join the experts meeting in the morning so I decided to keep on birding until the afternoon. I walked for a couple of kilometres to the other side of the water where was a 3,5 kilometres long patch and several birdhides.

Already on the way I saw and heard several Nightingales, Collared Pratincoles, Yellow Wagtails, Crested Larks, Savi’s Warblers, Night Herons, Cattle Egrets, Squacco Herons, a Pied Flycatcher, Serins and a Subalpine Warbler. I didn’t see anything really special (a Yellow-legged Gull and some Whiskered Terns and Gull-billed Terns and so on) from the hides but on the way through the pine-forests I saw many Chaffinches, a Wren, Long-tailed Tits, a couple of Cuckoos, a displaying Black-shouldered Kite, a Sardinian Warbler, 2 Stonechats, some Short-toed Larks and Melodious Warblers.

After several hours birding I walked back to the hotel where I got a message that I had been waited in a meeting! Well, anyway I thought after some experience about birding places I could have something more to say how the things should be there! So I promised to write down something later.

In the afternoon I joined the experts and we had a trip inside the Natural Park to eat and do birding. I was in a car with 4 British birders (Keith Betton, Tim Stapleton, Michael Witherick and Carol Depney) and once we had finally had something to eat we had really good birding together! Already from the lunch-table we could watch a nest of a Spanish Imperial Eagle with the telescopes. Unfortunately the mother was just lying down in the nest so nothing really was seen. But finally the father came and flew directly over us and we had good views of his extremely rare bird!

Once we had eaten we continued to marshes and drier areas where we could find for example Griffon’s Vultures, Black Kites, Booted Eagles, Bushchat Shrikes, Whiskered and Black Terns, Glossy Ibises, Red-legged Partridges, Calandra Larks, some Little Owls and Great Spotted Cuckoos, Black-tailed Godwits, Garganeys and in one place we could find 2 male White-headed Ducks with Coots, Black-necked, Little and Great Crested Grebes and Gadwalls.

A little bit later we stopped in a place where was a huge colony of Glossy Ibises, Cattle Egrets, Little Egrets, Squacco Herons, Night Herons and Purple Herons. Also some Great White Egrets were seen. Amazing! Also Golden Plovers, a Dunlin, Zitting Cisticolas, a Quail and surprisingly 7 Pin-tailed Sandgrouses were seen – the second lifer to me!

Later in the evening we still tried to find an Iberian Lynx but we saw only its food – Rabbits. The dinner was very Spanish – it started really late and lasted long! All the participants had now arrived so it was really nice to meet new people around the Europe and U.S. So after all I managed to go to sleep very late .

The Fair day

On the 19th day was the Fair day. I slept until 8 a.m. and then after less than an hour we wet to a camping area where the fair were. Most of the participants were staying there too. I met the British birders again and hey told that they had planned to go birding again in the afternoon with a guide and they asked me to join them.

The place was a bit too small and noisy for the fair but there were many interesting stands so I gad lots to do. After a couple of hours I noticed that the British had left already, so I had to keep on.

In the afternoon after a long lunch we went to a bird trip with all the rest of the participants and unfortunately the destinations were exactly the same I had been a day before. The Spanish Imperial Eagle and this time 3 male White-headed Ducks were seen again and many other same birds too. Some new ones were Kentish Plovers and Montagu’s Harriers. It was funny to see that most of the participants didn’t know the birds well so I was guiding all the time.

In the late afternoon we tried again to find an Iberian Lynx and we managed to see it but too briefly – I can’t be sure what it was but 2 girls were sure it was a Lynx.

Birdrace!

On the next morning all the expert birders were joining the first ever bird race in Andalucia! I was with a Welshman Gerry Thomas and 2 British Barry Trevis and Rebecca Nason. We had also a driver and a translator because of the driver wh was the number one guide of the reserve couldn’t speak English. At 6.15 a.m. I was picked up from the hotel and soon I met the rest of my team in a small cafeteria from were we started the rally at 8 a.m. There were altogether 5 teams: British, Swedish, Dutch and locals with an American.

So we started from the cafeteria and we had planned to go to the hotel to see all the common species and some warblers I had seen there earlier, but the driver waned to do something else. And because of we knew he was the best guide of the area we decided to go wherever he wanted. So we went to the last place I wanted – to see the Spanish Imperial Eagle. Of course the eagle was good to see but we lost several hours in the best time in the morning in a place where weren’t too many birds at all. So we had to work hard with the common species too!

Anyway in the beginning we got some other good species too: Wood Lark, Red-legged Partridges, Black Stork, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Cuckoo, Turtle Dove, Azure-winged Magpie and so on. There were 10 species that all teams had to see, and I think our driver had understood something wrong and he wanted to get these species as quickly as possible. But I think we would have got 60 species in an hour from the hotel-area and now we spent 3 hours to get them. And of course because of this was already third time for me in these places most of the birds were the same again. But a Peregrine was a nice surprise.

The weather was cool and it was also raining a little. This was a good thing for us because of now we still had a possibility to find warblers. In a hot day they just disappear. So a Blackcap, Garden Warblers and Chiffchaffs were found easily once we stopped the first tie to check some trees.

Mostly we were just driving around the long sandy track around the Nature reserve and we stopped only when there were really lots of birds. The best stop was worthy of: Ringed Plovers, Little Stints, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Montagu’s, Hen and Marsh Harriers, Yellow-legged Gull, Shovelers, Garganeys, Calandra and Short-toed Larks, Subalpine Warbler and so on.

Near the colony we saw of course all the Egrets and so on but also a Purple Swamphen, Avocet, another Black Stork, 2 Red-rumped Swallows and a little bit later a bigger surprise a Bonelli’s Eagle.

The next hour was bad but we had already got a hundred species so everything seemed to go well. But if comparing to the first day when I was birding – I got then 106 species alone!

But finally we got a reason to be happy again when after a long searching we found a Crested Coot! In same place we saw some White-headed Ducks too. But I think we lost a lot of time again…

We still were lacking some ridiculous species but still we tried to see some good ones first. We had no luck with Stone Curlew, but a Northern Wheatear, Black-shouldered Kite and Spanish Sparrows were good ones. The last hour we tried to find some easy species and we still got a Blue Tit, Sardinian Warbler and on the way back to the meeting place we still found a Southern Grey Shrike! It was our 113th species in 6 hours rally.

After all, the rally was very successful. It wasn’t a surprise to me that we won the rally. It was much bigger surprise to my team-mates. The Swedish team had 111 and another British team 104 species.

In the afternoon I had an hour time to walk around the Rocio village. The village is very strange with all sandy roads and horses everywhere. All shops I found were flamenco-shops, but that was all I needed to get souvenirs for Hanna.

In the evening we had a horse-ride around the village and after the dinner a flamenco-show. We had really fun and I could have kept on talking with al the people for many hours but I had to go to sleep at 2 a.m. because of after 2 hours I had only 2 hours time to sleep!

Back to home

At 4.14 a.m. I was on my way to Sevilla airport. My flight to Madrid was at 6.35 and after to Stockholm (late again – no points to Iberia in this trip) at 11.15 a.m.

In Stockholm I spent again a couple of hours and bought the most expensive coke and sandwich ever – 11.60€. Finally my Finnair plane to Helsinki left at 6.10 p.m. It was good to be in Finnair – everything was so much better than on Iberia! Finally I was in Helsinki where my brother picked me up and we drove to Kirkkonummi to my parents.

On 22nd day I started my way back home early and I did some birding on the way. In Espoo Suomenoja I saw 24 Slavonian Grebes, 18 Gadwalls, 4 Moorhens and 3 Eiders, in Laajalahti I saw 2 Ruffs, several Redshanks and Greenshanks, a Ringed Plover, 2 Oystercatchers and a Water Rail was calling. In Viikki I birded with Kristjan Niitepöld and we saw a Little Grebe, a Common Tern, a Caspian Tern, a Little Ringed Plover, a Haw Finch and 2 Bearded Tits. Then I got a message that there was a Griffon’s Vulture coming towards Helsinki so we drove to Vantaa Westergulla to wait for it, but unfortunately soon we heard that it had flown 20 kilometres more North from Kerava. So I decided to drive home because I had still a long way.

On the next day we managed to twitch a 2nd cy Pallid Harrier in Kanavalampi. We also checked all the owl nest boxes in Saari. Then we continued to Melkoniemi where we also checked a couple of nest boxes and finally we were lucky. In 5 minutes we saw a Pink-footed Goose, a Capercaillie and then in a Ural Owl nest box there was a female incubating! We ringed this bird and we know next time we’ll see that bird it won’t be that easy anymore!

On the next 2 days I twitched 6 Shore Larks in Kanavalampi and a Black Redstart in Imatra Kupari. The other yearticks were a Red-throated Diver, a Wheatear and a Spotted Crake. I also checked many nest boxes but they were all empty. It seems that we’ll have another bad owl year!

On the 28th of April i was watching migration in Siikalahti. The day was cold and the wind was northern but anyway I saw 200 Bean Geese, 2 Pink-footed Geese, 20 White-fronted Geese, 2 White-tailed Eagles, 2 Hen Harriers, a male Peregrine, Greenshanks, Green Sandpipers, 52 Little Gulls, 4 House Martins, a Chiffchaff and a Lapland Bunting. In the evening we checked 14 nest boxes but nothing! Anyway we saw briefly 2 big owls, either Ural or Great Grey Owls.

On the 29th day I saw Wood Sandpipers, Tree Pipits, Whimbrels, Pied Flycatchers and a Swallow as year ticks. But again came a back-winter and on the morning of the last day of April there was snow on the ground!

On the 1st of March we had a meeting with South Karelian bird assosoation where Hannu Siitonen showed pictures of Parikkalas Siberian Jays. On the way to Lappeenranta we twitched a wintering Robin which was still alive even though on the same feeder a Least Wheasel was seen.

On the 3rd day I saw Black Grouses, a Hazel Hen and a Capercaillie in Siikalahti. The last one was a Siikalahti tick to me! On the next day I did the winter bird count, 24 Black Grouses, White-backed Woodpeckers, 7 Long-tailed Tits, 109 Great Tits, a Great Grey Shrike, 15 Goldfinches, an Arctic Redpoll and so on were seen. After the count I went to Imatra to twitch a Steller’s Eider and to see the first migrant – a Herring Gull.

On the 5th day we went to sauna to Tarvaslampi were we heard a Tenmalm’s Owl. So we did a short trip in Melkoniemi and heard another Tengmalm’s and 2 Eagle Owls too.

On the 9th day In Vuoksi I saw already 150 Herring Gulls and 2 Great Black-backed Gulls. Now there were male and 3 female Smews. During the next day 3 Herring Gulls arrived at Tyrjä and also a stunning adult Golden Eagle was migrating.

2 days later I went to search the last “missing” Ural Owl nest box which was in Rautjärvi Purnujärvi. In Asemaseutu I saw a Dipper and in Purnujärvi I saw with Jarmo Pirhonen in a couple of hours a couple of migrating Whooper Swans, a Blackbird, a Grey-headed Woodpecker and 5 Rooks. The nest box was also found easily because of the forest had bee cut and it was on the only tree left.

On the 12th day after work I saw 3 migrating immature Golden Eagles, 5 Lapwings, 2 Starlings, 4 Linnets, a Snow Bunting and a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. On the next day the 1st couple of Goldeneyes had arrived at Lemmikonsalmi and in Siikalahti I saw 49 migrating Lapwings, 2 Buzzards, a Wood Pigeon and 3 Skylarks – it was really a spring!

On 15th day a White-tailed Eagle and 5 Rooks were seen in Siikalahti – the sun was shining and it was really warm!

On the next evening we had again EKLY meeting where Sampsa Cairenius showed a multimedia show about Southern Spain. On the way I saw 13 Stock Doves, Lapwings, Starlings and so on in Joutseno Konnunsuo and in Lappeenranta Luukkaansalmi 2 Grey Herons that had been wintering there successfully. After the meeting we had an owl trip but only 2 Eagle Owls were heard.

2 days later I saw a Grey-headed Woodpecker and on the 19th day a couple of Buzzards, 5 Lapwingsand on the 20th 5 Buzzards and already 75 Lapwings! On the 21st an old White-tailed Eagle was migrating, 120 Lapwings, Skylarks, 2 Meadow Pipits and so on!

In Parikkala Kangaskylä a flock of 30 Goldfinches were singing and on 23rd day a White-tailed Eagle was seen in Tyrjä, a Dipper in Honkakylä and 60 Snow Buntings in Tarassiinlahti.

On 24th day we first birded in Joutseno Konnunsuo where 119 Bean Geese, 3 White-fronted Geese, Canada Geese, 5 Stock Doves, 2 Wood Pigeons, a Meadow pipit, 25 Snow Buntings, a Reed Bunting and in Luumäki a Wood Lark was seen. We continued to Valkeala to BirdLife Finland meeting where surprisingly EKLY was chosen as the year’s bird association in Finland!

Even though the parties were long we managed to ged up early and started our way back. In Valkeala we saw amazingly 8 female Capercaillies and in Konnunsuo and Kivisaari altogether 290 Bean Geese, 8 White-fronted Geese, 28 Canada Geese, 5 migrating White-tailed Eagles, a Hen Harrier, a Kestler, a Merlin and 2 Goshawks, a Wood Lark, a Redwing and so on. On the way home we saw 2 male and 4 female Smews in Vuoksi and on the next day a female was seen in Särkisalmi too.

During the next few days I saw a White-tailed Eagle, a Merlin, some Black-headed Gulls, a Stock Dove, 2 Parrot Crossbills, 7 Canada Geese, 2 Coots and a couple of Teals. On the 29th day I was again in Joutseno where I counted more than 2000 Bean Geese, 250 White-fronted Geese, a Brent Goose, 4 or 5 Pink-footed Geese, a Greylag Goose, Canada Geese (so 6 species of geese in march!) and on the way back I saw a Woodcock.

On the 30th day a Bittern was calling in Siikalahti, there were also more than 10 Coots and in Särkisalmi we found the first Pochard.

On the last day of March we took part to a forest bird rally with Miika Suojarinne. Our area was the western part of the lake Simpele. We started at half past four in the morning with a Tengmalm’s and a Tawny Owl. Soon we saw a Woodcock and then we started to count Black Grouses and Common Crossbills, because in this rally we could get a point of every single forestbird and even more of better ones. 3 calling Pygmy Owls, a Capercaillie, a Hazel Hen, 2 Grey-headed Woodpeckers, a Black Woodpecker, and then Black Grouses, Common Crossbills and Great Spotted Woodpeckers gave us most of the points in this rally. Also 2 White-tailed Eagles, a Rough-legged Buzzard, a Merlin, 12 Buzzards, 2 Sparrowhawks, 3 Dunnocks, a Wren, a Song Thrush, 2 Great Grey Shrikes, 4 Long-tailed Tits, 12 Canada Goose, 30 Bean Goose, a Coot, a Stock Dove, a Common Gull and 6 Pheasants were good observations. The results of the rally were amazing! Even 90 species were seen! The winner team saw 74 species and also a Bobcat! White-backed Woodpecker gave most points and we never found one so we were only 4th. Anyway the rally was again funny and the weather amazing.