On the 1st day of December I spent my lunch-hour in Vartialahti where I went to see a Wigeon that we had found a day earlier. It was a good winter bird race tick. On the next day my target was a White-backed Woodpecker. Altogether 140 Whooper Swans were still seen in Lake Simpele.

On the 5th day I had a short visit in Imatra where Smews and a Canada Goose were seen in vuoksi and a Long-tailed Duck in Lake Immala.

On the 6th day we had a traditional Independent day bird rally. We started in Rautjärvi when it was still dark and an Eagle Owl and a Pygmy Owl were heard. When the sun was rising we were in Lappeenranta Toikansuo where we found 5 Teals, a Rough-legged Buzzard, a Wren, a Chaffinch and 2 Goldfinches. In Hanhi-Kemppi we saw a Common Buzzard and a Kestrel and in Parasitentie we found a flock of Waxwings and Fieldfares. In Pappilanniemi we twitched a Nuthatch an in Mustola a Nutcracker. In Luukkaansalmi we saw a Black-throated Grebe, Goldeneye, Common Gulls and a Grey Heron, in Tyysterniemi a Great Crested Grebe and in Laihia a flock of Herring Gulls. In Tuohimäki we saw the first Great Grey Shrike before we continued to Joutseno Kukkuroinmäki where we saw a Grey-headed Woodpecker. In Konnunsuo we saw a flock of Whooper Swans, another Rough-legged Buzzard and in Mielikonniitty a Pygmy Owl. In Imatra Mellonlahti we saw a Dipper and in Vuoksi only a Canada Goose. Immalanjärvi had a Velvet Scoter and 2 Tufted Ducks but soon it became too dark. After all we saw 46 species and were 2nd in the race.

On the 7th day I picked up Sampsa Cairenius, Pekka Punnonen and Jari Kiljunen and we headed to Lahti where a Desert Wheatear had been found on previous day. We started to do birding in Luumäki where we checked several places where we could see to Lake Saimaa. We waited for a message about the wheatear but after a couple of hours we got a message that the bird hadn’t been found. Anyway we decided to continue to Lahti. But there we drove to Asemantausta where a Crested Lark was again wintering. There were plenty of birders around that had already given up with the wheatear but the Crested Lark was also missing. After some time one birder finally found it but in same time there was also another group of birders whistling and shouting something. We went to see a Crested Lark and then Mika I. Koskinen got a phone-call that there was a Hume’s Leaf Warbler only a couple of hundreds of metres from us! We ran to the group we had already seen and soon we found a small green bird which wasn’t a Hume’s but a Pallas Leaf Warbler. The first winter record ever in Finland! And “jassi” got his 2nd lifer in a couple of minutes! Soon we continued to Kujala where we still tried to find the wheatear for on hour but the bird was gone. Anyway we had a good trip even though I didn’t get any lifers. But Pallas Leaf Warbler was my year-tick number 268!

The next birding was done in 13th of December when I started from Lake Immala where a Velvet Scoter was still. In Vuoksi I saw again a Smew and a Canada Goose but also a Grey Wagtail was still present. It was a new winter-tick. In Vallinkoski I saw a Great Grey Shrike and in Konnunsuo a Log-legged and a Common Buzzard. In Kukkuroinmäki I saw 8 Starlings before I had to continue to ice-hockey match. From our teams bus to Iitti I still saw a Hawk Owl somewhere in Luumäki.

In the mid December it was already winter. So only some flocks of Whooper Swans and Goosanders were seen in Parikkala. I also went to see Siberian Jays one day.

On the 21st day in Lake Immala were still a Long-tailed Duck, a Velvet Scoter and a Herring Gull. Also a Dipper was on a small ditch. The Canada Goose in Vuoksi was already feeding from hand. Also a Tufted Duck and a Cormorant were seen in Vuoksi Itä-Siitola. A Grey Wagtail was seen again but bigger surprise was a Little Grebe that I found while watching the wagtail. It was the first Little Grebe in South Karelia in whole year and my species number 231 in South Karelia this year. In Vallinkoski I saw a Great Grey shrike again, but also a Goshawk and a Grey-headed Woodpecker. In Räikkölä I twitched Hawfinches and saw also a Chaffinch, Common Buzzard and a Blackbird. In Neitsytniemi I still found 3 Pine Grosbeaks so I had really good 3 hours in Imatra!

We spent the Critmas in Kirkkonummi with my parents and we were of course birding every day. On 24th day we drove first to Siuntio Myrans where we twitched a Red-breasted Goose that was in a small pool with some Whooper Swans and Mallards. Also 4 Rough-legged Buzzards, a Common Buzzard and a Black Woodpecker were seen there. In Sunnanvik we twitched a White-fronted and a Bean Goose that were together. In Tjuträsk we saw 3 Rough-legged Buzzards before we drove to Inkoo Degerby to twitch a Crane. In Kirkkonummi Vuohimäki we saw a Great Grey Shrike and in Bro a small thrush flew across the road. In Eestinkylä we saw a Goshawk and around Saltfjärden several Common and Rough-legged Buzzards. Also Bearded Reedlings were heard; Grey Heron, Great Grey Shrike and finally 2 Hen Harriers were seen.

In Christmas day we were birding around Saltfjärden again. Lots of buzzards were seen which is not normal in Finnish winter! In Medvast Morsfjärden we saw 140 Mute Swans, 12 Gadwalls, a Smew and a Coot. During the day we went to Porkkala where only a flock of Velvet Scoters, 3 Red-breasted Mergansers and some Long-tailed Ducks were seen.

On 26th of December we visited Espoo Suomenoja where 2 Gadwalls were seen. Then we drove to Helsinki Seurasaari to feed Canada Geese and a Mute Swan from hand before we continued to my uncle’s family to have Christmas meal. Also my grandmother was there sp we had a good time.

On the 27th day we started our way back home but we still stopped in Seurasaari where a Barnacle Goose was now together with Canada Geese. The weather was nice so we spent some time photographing these tame birds. Our last bird observation of the year was made in Lappeenranta Selkäharju where a Common Buzzard flew across the road. The last day of the year I was working from dark to dark.

After all I saw altogether 268 species during the year which was my new record.

The November started with Hailuoto bird race. We woke up in our cottage in Pöllä and soon we took Pirkkas car with Andreas Lindén and Harry Nyström, Mikko Ala-Kojola and Miika Suojarinne took “potu’s” car. It was really a winter – at least 10 cm snow everywhere!

We started the race from mid island but couldn’t find any owls. Only better bird in dawn was a Siskin. We had a short stop in Kirkkosalmi where Bearded Reedlings were heard and continued towards Riisinnokka. A Goshawk, some Pine Grosbeaks and 3 Coal Tits were seen on the way but soon we parked to Rautaletto and walked to Riisinnokka.

In Riisinnokka we found plenty of woodpeckers: several Three-toed and a couple of Lesser and Great Spotted Woodpeckers. A Treecreeper was found and from the sea we found easily several Mute Swans from the huge flocks of Whooper Swans, a couple of Velvet Scoters, a Smew, Teals, Pintails and a Shoveler and so on. A White-tailed Eagle was soaring on the sky, a Brambling, Snow Finch and a flock of Common Crossbills flew over us.

On the way to Kirkkosalmi we saw more Pine Grosbeaks and from the tower we saw 5 Coots, 2 Great Grey Shrikes, 3 Redwings, heard Bearded Reedlings, a Blackbird again and only I managed to see a Hen Harrier.

A couple of next places had Tufted Ducks and Scaups, Common Scoters, Black Grouses, a Sparrowhawk and so on but then we had to rush to Kuivasäikkä where one team had seen a Little Auk. Of course the bird wasn’t there anymore so soon we continued to Pöllänlahti where a Little Grebe was found easily.

On the fields of Järventakusta we saw a Rough-legged Buzzard migrating and in Marjaniemi we saw 3 Twites and a Black-throated Diver. We continued to east and in Vaski we found a Great Crested Grebe and in Lahdenperä a flock of Long-tailed Tits that were our last species. When the race had ended we still twitched a Crane that had been found too late for us.

After all we became fifth that wasn’t very well. But 5 first teams were very close to each others, the rest of the teams were far behind. Harry, potu and Mikko were second.

Pirkka left to Kemijärvi but the rest of us stayed another night in Pöllä. On the next morning we drove again to Riisinnokka where we found again several Three-toed Woodpeckers, a Woodcock and an Arctic Redpoll. Kirkkosalmi was surprisingly almost completely frozen but there was a Greylag Goose walking on the ice. Bearded Reedlings were heard again

In Järventakusta we saw a couple of Bramblings and a Tree Sparrow and in Ulkokarvo we saw 2 Red-breasted Mergansers. But then it started to rain very hard. So we drove to Huikku to wait for the ferry. But then Harry found the best bird of the trip: a Purple Sandpiper was migrating very close to the shore and I got my year-tick number 267!

In Oulunsalo Vihiluoto we still saw a Long-tailed Duck before we said goodbyes to Mikko, Harry and ”andy” who was catching a train from Oulu to Helsinki. We continued to Liminka with potu where we saw a Rook and a flock of 15 Tree Sparrows before we continued towards south-east.

On the 3rd of November I still saw more than 100 Barnacle Geese a couple of Pochards and some Scaups and a Long-tailed Duck in Siikalahti. Other flocks of Barnacle Geese were also flying around in Parikkala. In Vartialahti I saw a Great Crested Grebe, 3 Common Scoters and a Scaup. On the 4th day I counted 1100 Barnacle Geese in Siikalahti; 5 White-fronted Geese and on the next day also a Bean Goose was also seen. Other good birds were a Coot, a White-tailed Eagle and 11 Pine Grosbeaks. But on the 6th day all the geese were gone! A female Pochard was still with a couple of Scaups and Tufted Ducks, also other ducks were gone, just 8 Wigeons and 2 Mallards were seen. On the 7th day the bay was completely frozen, a flock of 38 Wigeons were flying around and a White-tailed Eagle had already caught one of them and was having a lunch on the ice.

On the 8th of November I did a winterbird-count again. Best birds were a Red-necked and Great Crested Grebe and 254 Goosanders from our back-yard. 8.11. In Siikalahti the White-tailed Eagle was still present and other good bird was a Great Grey Shrike. Altogether 28 bird-species were seen.

On the 9th day we saw 200 Whooper Swans in Pohjasuo but otherwise Saari was very empty. A Buzzard was seen in Akanvaara Tetrisuo and a couple of bigger flocks of Black Grouses were seen. The best birds of the day were 2 male White-backed Woodpeckers in our garden! On the 15th and 17th day we were in Kokkola in BirdLife meeting. On the way we saw a Barnacle Goose in Laukaa in a flock of Whooper Swans.

Still on the 17th day I saw a Red-necked Grebe from our back-yard. Other birds there were a Smew that was in a flock of Goosanders and 5 Common Scoters. On the next day I saw 81 Common Gulls and 10 Herring Gulls. On the 22nd of November I drove to Tampere to receive an award of the twitcher of the year! It was an honour to be chosen! There were really good lectures but unfortunately there weren’t very many people. On the way I saw a Kestrel in Akaa and on the way back I stayed in Lappeenranta and on the 23rd day we went to birding there with Pekka Punnonen. The weather was getting really bad but in the morning we managed to see 5 Rough-legged Buzzards, 3 Teals, a Fieldfare and an Arctic Redpoll in Toikansuo, a Nuthatch in Pappilanniemi and a Nutcracker in Mustola.

The last days of November went while doing many different works for the local bird-association. The weather was also very bad and it was raining almost all the time. I wasn’t birding much. On the last day of November we still found some flocks of Whooper Swans and in Vartialahti we still found a Wigeon. In the afternoon I went to twitch a Grey Wagtail that Jarmo Pirhonen found in Imatra Kupari. Together with Pekka and Jari Kiljunen we managed to find this bird and it was my 230th species in South-Karelia this year. Before I drove back home I twitched also a Hawk Owl in Vallinkoski, only a couple of kilometres from the Grey Wagtail.

October was very warm! In the beginning of month everyone was already waiting for the geese and other arctic migration. On the 1st day there were already 700 Barnacle Geese in Siikalahti and on the next day I found the first Bewick’s Swans in Saari, 10 birds and in Kuposenmäki I counted 1400 Barnacle Geese. On the 3rd day in there were already 1500 geese in Siikalahti. The old White-tailed Eagle was chasing them, so they weren’t that easy to check.

On the 4th day I was birding with Dani Burgas in North Karelia geese-fields. In Kitee Puhos and Lokela we saw altogether 1600 Barnacle Geese and in Kiteenjärvi we sae 4 Bewick’s Swans, 58 and Canada Geese.4.10. In Kunonniemi we saw 7000 Barnacle Geese and a White-tailed Eagle made them to fly several times so it was surprisingly easy to find a Red-breasted Goose from the flock. In the same flock there was also a hybrid between Canada and Barnacle Geese that was very similar to a minima Cackling Goose, but from pictures I took it was easy to tell as a hybrid. We still continued to Tohmajärvi where in Akkala we saw 100 and in Sääperi 300 Barnacle Geese. On the 5th day we were in Saari with Dani and in Kuposenmäki we saw 3000 Barnacle Geese. We saw only very few Bean and White-fronted Geese and a couple of Rough-legged Buzzards, Great Grey Shrikes and Goshawk so there were enough for Dani who had just moved to Southern Finland.

On the 8th day there was a hard migration of geese going on but I had to be at work. On my lunch-hour I saw 4000 geese but it seemed that most of the geese that had been seen migrating in North Karelia must have landed somewhere. So after the work-day I decided to drive to Saari to check the regular places. On the way I saw a nice flock of 550 Brent Geese and the first local flock of 400 Barnacle Geese were found in Rautalahti. I stopped to check the geese and the first bird I looked at was a Red-breasted Goose! Once I had seen it didn’t wear any rings I realized there was also another unringed Red-breasted Goose next to it. The birds were clearly a couple as another one was thicker-necked and deeper red and they were all the time together. The flock was very close to the main-road 6 so the birds got scared of big trucks for a couple of times and flew to the Rautalahti-bay where I could digiscope them swimming too. I was watching for the birds for the rest of the light because of my friend Pekka Punnonen came to twitch them as a lifer.

On the 9th day we had a meeting of local bird-association in Lappeenranta so I did some birding in Joutseno Konnunsuo on the way. On the fields there were 1500 Barnacle Geese and 1000 more were migrating, but there were also a good number of Bean and White-fronted Geese around – hundreds of both of them. A Grey-headed Woodpecker and some Hen Harriers and Rough-legged Buzzards were also seen in brief stop.

On the 10th of October I went to Tohmajärvi to check a bird that had reported as a blue morph Snow Goose. The fields of Korpi had just emptied from the geese but a huge flock of thousands of Barnacle Geese was soon found from the lake nearby. But these were all just Barnacle Geese so soon I drove back to the fields to wait if the birds would come back. Soon the geese started to come back in flocks of hundreds of birds and pretty soon I found the strange bird that really looked like a blue morph of Ross’ Goose to me. I was looking at the bird for a couple of hours while it was feeding with 5000 or so Barnacle Geese. It was always one of the furthermost birds so I really couldn’t see it very well but after all I was sure it was a blue morph hybrid between Snowy and Ross’ Goose! Also a Crane was seen there and on the way back to Parikkala I saw a Pygmy Owl in Kitee Palojärvi.

On the 11th day I saw the first Scaups in Siikalahti and still on the next day I heard a Water Rail calling. On the 12th day I saw also 5 Bewick’s Swans in Jyrkilä and lots of geese in many places: 2400 in Tyrjä and amazing 12850 Barnacle Geese in Kuposenmäki. We really had to work hard to count them with Pekka. In the evening we still saw a Great Grey Owl near its breeding place.

From the 15th to 26th of October we were in England birding together with our old friend Paul French. Our target was to find an American rarity but also to twitch all the raritys that are close enough on the Southern part of England. We weren’t lucky on this trip as there were no rarities at all in whole Britain anywhere else than on the islands, but we managed to do very good sea watching, find a couple of better birds and do lots of birding in different kind of weather. We also managed to take part to a mega-twitch in Wales but after all we never saw any rare bird, but if you are interested what is birding like in England in October, you can read the whole England trip-report.

On the 27th of October we were back from England and after the day at work I went to twitch a Hoopoe that had been found in Särkisalmi. There were still amazing numbers of geese around and on the 28th we counted 7500 Barnacle Geese in one flock in Huotikkalanpelto with Mikko Ala-Kojola. During the next days in Huotikkalanpelto and Tyrjä I saw 5000 Barnacle Geese in both but also 30 White-fronted and 20 Bean Geese in Tyrjä. It seemed that there would be geese around still in November!

Still on the 30th day I saw 2 Bewick’s Swans, 40 White-fronted Geese and s couple of hundreds of Barnacle Geese in Siikalahti. On the last day of October I started to drive to Hailuoto where we had a traditional bird-race but not in traditional time. We met with Miika (potu) Suojarinne and Andreas (andy) Lindén in Juva and continued together to Oulunsalo ferry-harbour where we met my brother Pirkka. After a long way we were in Hailuoto Pöllä in the evening where Harry Nyström and Mikko Ala-Kojola were already warming our cottage. Halloween-night was very fun but after all we went to sleep early because of the November would start with a bird-race!

Finally it was September when I finally had my summer holiday and of course we were going to travel. So I wasn’t very interested to do much birding around Parikkala. Anyway I was birding at least a couple of hours every day.

On the 1st of September there were still 3 Great Ringed Plovers and 2 Little Stints in Lahdensuo and a Black Redstart was still in Kullinsuo. The next better bird was an Arctic Skua in Siikalahti on the 4th day.

On the 5th day I went to check a field where Jari Kontiokorpi had seen many good migrants and I found several Bluethroats easily. But after some walking I managed to find a couple of good surprises – 2 Corn Crakes and a Great Snipe!

On the 6th day we drove to Kirkkonummi to my parents. On the way we heard a Red-throated Pipit in Lappeenranta Toikansuo, saw 3 Wood Larks in Luumäki and twitched a Mandarin Duck in Heinola Nyynäistenlahti. Luckily we managed to see this female duck before it was too dark as we were there almost too late. It was the year-tick number 265 which is my record!

On the 7th of September we birded in Espoo Laajalahti where we twitched a Great White Egret and saw a good number of waders, a Shelduck and so on, in Finno we saw a Little Grebe, Moorhens and Gadwalls and in Kirkkonummi Saltfjärden more than a thousand of Greylag Geese, Red-throated Pipits and Lapland Buntings.

On the 8th of September we started our trip to Madeira. Our target was mostly on sea watching that we made in Porto Moniz for 21 hours and saw more than a thousand of Manx’s Shearwaters and of course plenty of other seabirds and of course we went to see all the Madeiran endemics. Read the whole Madeira tripreport:.

On the 15th of September we were back in Finland but already on the 16th we left to Andalucia press/fam birdwatching trip. We were birding with 29 other participans from 9 countries around the Andalucia and saw altogether 190 bird species, for example Black Wheatears, a Western Olivaceous Warbler, a Spanish Imperial Eagle, a Sabine’s Gull and so on. Read the Andalucia trip report:.

On the 21st of September we were back at home. And after 3 hours sleep I had to go to work.

During the next days I was way too tired to go birding but on the 26th day I managed to see a Rustic Bunting, a flock of 173 migrating Barnacle Geese, 28 Bean Geese, a White-fronted Goose and in big flock of ducks there was a Scaup and 14 Smews.

On the 27th day during the morning we saw more than 5000 geese – 4156 of them were identified as Barnacle. Also 2 White-tailed Eagles and an Osprey were migrating, 5 Water Rails were still calling but the most interesting record were 2 small waders that were migrating together – another one was a Dunlin but the second one looked like a Purple Sandpiper. Unfortunately the birds never came close enough for sure identification.

On the 28th day it was not a good day for migration. The old friend White-tailed Eagle was again chasing ducks and Coots in Siikalahti. A drive around Saari was also boring, just a couple of flocks of Barnacle Geese and 3 Great Grey Shrikes were found.

On the last day of September during my lunch-hour I saw altogether 490 Brent Geese migrating in 2 flocks. Also 2 Red-throated Divers, a young White-tailed Eagle, a Stock Dove and Bluethroat were seen. In the afternoon I went again to Siikalahti but the migration that had been strong during my workday was over.

The August was very rainy. On the 2nd of August we were birding with Mikko Ala-Kojola and the best observations were 2 Two-barred Crossbills in Uukuniemi and 2 more in Melkoniemi. Also the Siberian Jay friends were seen again.

On the 3rd day Esa Sojamo found a Greater Spotted Eagle in Siikalahti. This 3 c-y bird was sitting on a dry tree on the northern side of the bay. And on the next day it wasn’t the only eagle around as an old White-tailed Eagle was back again. A Great Reed Warbler was singing the last song of the year and in the afternoon we went to Savonlinna and Kerimäki to try to find orchids and managed to find more than 10 species.

On the 6th day we were birding together with 2 catalans. Dani Burgas and Ponç Feliu were old friends but they didn’t know at all they both were in Finland in same time. It was funny when they met each other in a deep forest near the Russian border in very early morning. Soon we found 2 young Ural Owls and also the Greater Spotted Eagle was found easily but later the forest birds were totally hiding too well. Only a Two-barred Crossbill was heard briefly. It was too late summer for many forest-specialities.

On the 10th day we participated to a plant-trip in Savonlinna and we managed to find 60 Ghost Orchids and some other rare plants. Only better bird was a autumn-singing Wood Warbler.

On the 11th day I made one of my poorest twitches ever when I went to see a Sanderling to Lappeenranta. Anyway I haven’t seen any Sanderlings for 3 years and it was a South Karelia tick to me. Also 3 Curlew Sandpipers, 3 Temminck’s Stints, 20 Dunlins and 24 Great Ringed Plovers were on the pools.

On the 15th of August I drove to Joutseno where I picked up Sampsa Cairenius and we continued to Helsinki where we met Esa Valsta. We took a taxi to harbour and soon we were on the way to Estonia. Together with other teams that were going to Estonia Open bird race we talked and searched the sea from the deck but only Eiders and later in Estonian waters a Black Guillemot were seen. In Tallinn we got our car and soon we were driving towards Pärnumaa. In Pärnu we found the last member of our team Gustaw Nordenswan and still we drove almost a couple of hours to our hostel.

On the 16th day after 3 hours sleeping we woke up when the race was actually starting. In 45 minutes we were out and ready for the race. In the beginning it was very quiet and only some Song Thrushes and Redwings were heard – but surprisingly they were the only ones in a whole day! In the deep forests we found a Ural Owl, a Tengmalm’s Owl and at least 6 Pygmy Owl and some Nightjars.

In early morning it started to rain so we decided to drive through the rain to the coast. There we birded for several ours and found about 30 Great White Egrets, a Slavonian Grebe, a Little Grebe, 2 Scaups, 2 flocks of Long-tailed Ducks, a Velvet Scoter, an Oystercatcher, a Curlew Sandpiper, a Knot, 4 Broad-billed Sandpipers, 3 Sandwiched Terns, 6 Little Terns, a Black Tern, a Kingfisher, Bearded Reedlings, a Common Rosefinch, 2 Hawfinches and much more.

During the day we moved on to inland to forests, fields and bogs and a Lesser Spotted Eagle, a Red-breasted Flycatcher, Marsh Tits and other forest-birds, 2 White-backed Woodpeckers, a Turtle Dove, some Nutcrackers and 2 Great Grey Shrikes were seen. After all we managed to find 145 species and we came 3rd in the race. On the morning of the 17th day I found a Grey-headed Woodpecker on the backyard of the school where we had a breakfast. Also a Whimbrel was heard. On the way to north we saw a Montagu’s Harrier, a Lesser Spotted Eagle, 4 Turtle Doves, Black Woodpecker and Bullfinches. We birded some time in Matsalu Keemu birdtower where lots of Greylag Geese and White-fronted Geese were found. But soon we had to hurry to Tallinn and to the ferry. In Helsinki we went to twitch a Lesser Grey Shrike before we started our long way back to home. In Lappeenranta Askola we still twitched a Shelduck even though it was already dark. I was home at midnight.

On the 18th day I managed to find a family of Black Redstarts that Jari Kontiokorpi had seen briefly in Kullinuo. Jari had seen 1 or 2 birds but when I managed to find the building where they had been breeding I found 2 adults and 3 young birds. In Lahdensuo I saw a Curlew Sandpiper with 20 Lapwings, 3 Golden Plovers and 2 Ruffs in a wet field. During the next days I saw several time both the Black Redstarts and the Greater Spotted Eagle. Lahdensuo fields seemed to be the best place to find waders in Parikkala where normally it’s almost impossible to see local waders at all. Other birds were just some migrating raptors of common species.

On the 23rd day I twitched a White Stork in Imatra Jäkkö. This was the 1st young White Stork for me in Finland. Then I continued to Lappeenranta Askola where a flock of 3 Bean Geese were found. On the 24th day we birded in Lappeenranta with Pekka Punnonen. A young Shelduck was again in Askola as were a Little Stint, 6 Temminck’s Stints, a Common Sandpiper, and 2 Caspian Terns were migrating. In Luukkaansalmi we saw pretty good raptor-migration: 28 Sparrowhawks, 25 Common, 15 Honey Buzzards, 2 Kestrels, Merlin and 3 Ospreys. Also a Cormorant and a White-backed woodpecker were seen. In Tuosa we saw a flock of 7 Shelducks migrating, heard a White-backed Woodpecker and found several late passerines.

On the 25th day after work we drove together with Pekka and Anniina Tiainen to Virolahti Kellovuori because of a Short-toed Eagle had been seen 4 times during the day there. Unfortunately we managed to get there too late and we had only an hour before it started to rain again. Only raptors we saw were 8 Marsh Harriers.

On the next day, 26th of August we decided to make another try and a couple of hours earlier we managed to get to Kellovuori. Right away we found a White Stork and soon a Black Kite passed the tower. The rest of the birders were still looking at the kite when I found a Short-toed Eagle rising to the sky. This stunning bird was soaring for 15 minutes before it started to fly towards the Russia. We could see it flying straight to Russia for 30 minutes before it disappeared. What a great lifer!

On the 29th day I saw again some Great Ringed Plovers and a Ural Owl in Lahdensuo, And on the 30th day a Stock Dove and a Cuckoo in Siikalahti but in Saari only some Hen Harriers and an Ortolan Bunting were found.

On the last day of August we saw a Rough-legged Buzzard and 7 Bean Geese migrating in Siikalahti. A Lapwing, a Little Stint and a Great Ringed Plover were local. In Lahdensuo 10 Great Ringed Plovers, 5 Little Stints, Dunlin and 2 Parrot Crossbills were seen.

On the first days night we went together with Andreas Lindén to have another look at Swinhoe’s Snipe at Tohmajärvi Niirala. On the way we had some Spotted Crakes, Blyth’s Reed Warblers and a Water Rail in Saari. The Swinhoe’s Snipe was found right away too dark so we decided to continue to continue to Uudenkylänlampi to record a Savi’s Warbler. Unfortunately there were too many mosquitos so the recording was impossible. Then we continued to Värtsilä to try Great Snipes but only Snipes were found. The next stop was in Piilovaara where after an hour searching we finally found the right path to Arctic Warbler that was singing continuously. We had pretty good recording where on the background were totally different species than usually – for example a Blackcap and a drumming White-backed Woodpecker. It was already morning when we continued to Niirala where we met my French friend Pierre-Andre Crochet, who had come to twitch the snipe. Soon the snipe started to display again and we got great recording and luckily it landed to an electric pole so I managed to get amazing pictures too. But this wasn’t still enough; it started to call on the pole so we got also this another call recorded! But soon we had to hurry because I had to be at work soon.

On the 3rd of July we left to south with Hanna and Hannas sister Elissa. We drove until Pyhtää Mäntyniemi where Jonmar’s boat was already waiting for people that had bought a ticket to seabird-trip. The boat came almost too full of people and soon it became clear that we had to be the guides for others because of the real guide was too quiet and a couple of men were shouting wrong identifications all the time. Pretty soon a Caspian Tern, Barncle, Canada and Greylag Geese were found and after we had passed the closest islands the first flocks of Eiders and Black Guillemots were seen. Soon after the first Razorbills were found we saw the target islands Pernaja Apskär. The two bird-islands were absolutely full of birds: on the other island there were 2 Shellducks, Velvet Scoters and many other more common birds and a White-tailed Eagle was flying over it and on the another island there were at least 600 Razorbills and 25 Common Guillemots!

Atfer these islands we were soon back on the coast and we went through thin canal between Loviisa and Ruotinpyhtää and islands where we saw plenty of breeding Ospreys and Grey Herons and heard a Great Reed Warbler and so on.

On the way back to Parikkala we went to see how the Great Grey Owls were doing and finally also the second youngster had left the nest and after some searching we found it and ringed it. Finally our long owl season was over!

After work I drove again south, this time to Kirkkonummi. I was going to Tringa summer bird race to team Takaveto with Jaakko Aarniala, Andreas Lindén, Andreas Uppstu and Jukka Salokangas. On the way I twitched a Terek Sandpiper in Lappeenranta Askola and a Great White Egret in Virolahti Vilkkiläntura. And I went to my parents to sleep.

On the 5th of July the rally-area was raffled and it became Sipoo and Pornainen. At 6 p.m. the race started and next 18 hours we were exploring mostly Sipoo and the last hour or so Pornainen. After all we managed to find 112 species and the best ones were a Ural Owl, 3 Tawny Owls, young Eagle Owls, Nightjars, 2 Blyth’s Reed Warblers, Corn Crakes, 3 River Warblers, 2 Yellow Wagtails, an Icterine Warbler, a Nutcracker, a Water Rail, a Grey-headed Woodpecker and so on. But the race was very tough and we were only 6th.

Almost straight after the race I started my way back home. Somewhere in Luumäki I had to sleep for a couple of hours and at late night I was in Lappeenranta where I went to see the Terek Sandpiper again. The bird looked very different than a couple of days earlier so it probably was a different bird. A little bit before the midnight I drove to Joutseno Konnunsuo Myllärinen where I twitched a Lanceolated Warbler. I had good recordings and continued to another Lanceolated Warbler to Pätilä. I recorded this one too and the bird was calling the alarm call in same time that it was singing so I got good recordings. After all these were the only Lanceolated Warblers in the whole country this year and they both disappeared after a couple of days.

The next couple of days I was resting but and the best bird was a twitched Nutcracker in Kangaskylä on the 11th of July. On the same evening flocks of 6 Barnacle Geese and 13 Grey Herons were migrating in Siikalahti. On the night of 12th day we had a short night-trip to Tyrjä and Kesusmaa and we found 8 broods of Long-eared Owl, 49 Corn Crakes, a couple of Blyth’s Reed Warblers and a River Warbler.

On the 13th day we had an Atlas bird race where we tried to find as many breeding species as possible in 10×10km Atlas-square. From 2 a.m. the next 10 hours we were exploring this square on the western side of Lake Simpele and we found 106 species which quite many of them were made sure they were or had been breeding on the square. The better species were a Spotted Crake, a White-backed Woodpecker, 6 Canada Geese, many Wrens and Chiffchaffs, 2 Long-tailed Tits, 4 River Warblers and so on.

On the next days I woke up at 5 a.m. and went to Siikalahti to see if there were any waders possible to see on migration. On the 15th of July 2 Curlew Sandpipers and 4 Dunlins, 16th day an Arctic Skua, 2 Curlew Sandpipers and a Dunlin (which stayed for more than a week local), on the 17th day 110 Lapwings and on 18th day a Temminck’s Stint were seen. On the 19th day we went to Lappeenranta where Hanna went shopping and I went birding. In Askola a Curlew Sandpiper and a Merlin were seen before we continued to Vainikkala with Pekka Punnonen. There we saw 10 Honey Buzzards before after 2 hours waiting a Black Kite was found. Surprisingly there was suddenly 2 more raptors soaring together with the kite and we found out that they all were similar – 3 adult Black Kites in a same picture!

During the next days I continued waking up early so I had a couple of hours time for birding before work but on 20th day only a Curlew Sandpiper and 30 Ruffs, on 21st day 20 Common Scoters, on 22nd day a White-tailed Eagle and a Smew were seen. Several Golden Orioles were still heard and quite a few raptors were soaring on the sky during the day in Siikalahti.

On the 25th of July we were again in Lappeenranta but the weather was too good for birds. Askola was almost empty so we just went shopping. On the way back we tried to twitch a Montagu’s Harrier in Konnunsuo but only Hen Harriers and a family of Short-eared Owls were seen.

On the 27th day we birded in Saari together with Mikko Ala-Kojola but the best observation was a flock of 5 migrating Rock Doves in Akanvaara Tetrisuo. A White-tailed Eagle was seen in Akonpohja and several breeding pairs of Honey Buzzards were around.

On the last days of July I still went to Siikalahti every day but only Grey Herons and a Great Reed Warbler were found. Only waders were Wood Sandpipers and Greenshanks.

On the 1st of June I drove right after midnight to Joutseno to twitch a Turtle Dove. On the way I heard 2 Grasshopper Warblers and Corn Crakes in Koitsanlahti. The Turtle Dove was found easily and also a flock of 70 Brent Geese were seen. Later we continued birding in Joutseno together with Pekka Punnonen and Jari Kiljunen and we saw several flocks of Brent Geese, a Common Crossbill and a Bean Goose. In the evening in Myllymäki together with Veli-Pekka Lehtonen we saw 2 migrating cormorants and another bird was much smaller. It was too far to identify but it might have been a Shag! We still went to Laaksola forest where we found a Red-breasted Flycatcher. Also a Three-toed Woodpecker and a Coal Tit were found.

Kuusamo bird race

On the 4th day I started a long drive to Kuusamo. I had got a good offer to join to Kuusamo bird race in team Takaveto together with Andreas Lindén, Vesa Jouhki, Jukka Salokangas and Jaakko Aarniala. The rest of the team had been preparing the race for a week or even more. I drove directly to Kuusamo where I birded a whole night but I couldn’t find anything really special. At early morning of 5th day I went directly to sleep to our cottage where the rest of our team was already sleeping. And in the evening we all woke up and made the last plan for the race.

A couple of hours before the race we packed our rental-Pajero and went to check that a couple of good species were still where they were supposed to be – a Capercaillie and the last nestling of a Tengmalm’s Owl were seen.

At midnight of 6th day the race started. We had a good start with 5 Cormorants and 2 Woodcocks. The Capercaillie was still on its place but the nest of Tengmalm’s Owl seemed to be empty! Luckily 2 young birds started to call and beg for food soon. And soon we found a good surprise species when a Bluethroat was heard singing.

Soon we had a Red-throated Diver, Common Scoters, a Rustic Bunting, a female Pygmy Owl calling, a Three-toed Woodpecker drumming and a Kestrel before we continued to a good bog-area where a Jack Snipe was found immediately. 6 Red-throated Phalaropes, a Spotted Redshank, a Black Woodpecker and finally a Broad-billed Sandpiper were found too.

Along the small roads we heard another Rustic Bunting and saw 2 Willow Grouses. 2 calling Pine Grosbeaks were also found and a Two-barred Crossbill flew over us in the same forest-place. While driving along the main roads we were again lucky when we first found a Rough-legged Buzzard and soon also a Common Buzzard.

The morning was late when we headed to Iivaara where we had to spend almost 2 hours to find several Red-flanked Bluetails, 2 Hazel Hens and a flock of Parrot Crossbills.

Then we had to hurry to Toranki where we luckily saw a Marsh Harrier. The next hour was really good – a Honey Buzzard, a White-tailed Eagle, a Lesser Ringed Plover, a Garden Warbler, a Tree Sparrow and Rock Doves were found. But then we had a flat tire! Luckily we were on the centre of the city so we decided that Jukka tries to get the tire changed and the rest of us took a taxi and kept on going. We twitched a Siberian Tit, Lapwings and Skylarks before heading to Ruka where we tried to find a Grey Wagtail. The wagtail wasn’t found but soon Jukka came with the car and we headed to Vuotunki which was amazing! A Sparrowhawk, a Temminck’s Stint, a Dunlin, Ruffs, a Redshank, a couple of Gadwalls and a Jackdaw were much more than we had expected. Next we had planned to find Bean Geese but when we found a flock of geese there weren’t only Bean Geese but also a Pink-footed Goose with them! A new species for the race ever!

On the rubbish tip we found a Great Black-backed Gull, several Heuglin’s Gulls and a strange pale gull which might have been a hybrid between Glauscous and Herring Gull. After a long drive we found a Little Bunting and a Dipper and 2 Grey Wagtails in Ruka.

The weather was getting a little bit better and the wind was slowing down so we still decided to try to find some missing passerines even though it was already late. It was our 3rd try of Lesser Whitethroat when we finally managed to find it, but even bigger surprise was a Wood Warbler that was found on the same place than it had been on the previous year, not earlier on this year. Also 2 Chiffchaffs were finally heard but then it came too late so we couldn’t find a Lesser Woodpecker or a Wryneck even though we knew several birds.

Then we had our longest hour without any new species but finally a good surprise a Great Grey Shrike was found. Also a Goshawk was still seen on its nest before we continued to our last place to Oulanka.

Unfortunately a nest of a Merlin was empty but a Golden Eagle nestling was seen. During the last hour we were trying to find owls and we managed to find a Ural Owl.

After the race we drove directly to our cottage where we slept until the morning. At 9 a.m. we drove again back to Oulanka where we tried to watch for raptors but the weather was too bad. But surprisingly a flock of Knots were seen migrating. On the way back a Capercaillie and a Willow Grouse were seen.

In the evening the results f the race were told. It was the most exciting hours I have ever had and after all we won the race with 132 species. The second team McRallus had 130 species. The 3rd team was Paras A-ryhmä and 4th was a 24-hours eco-team, Doz-K-Hahn that had been bicycling all the time and they had amazing 118 species! But we had won the Kuusamo race!

Twitching

The next couple of hours we were celebrating but then we decided to go to twitch with Andy. First we went to rubbish tip where 2 teams had had an Iceland Gull and the bird was found immediately. Then we drove 250 kilometres to Sodankylä to twitch an American Black Duck but we weren’t lucky even though we tried whole night. It was raining hard and we were extremely tired so it wasn’t that much fun.

When we were back to Kuusamo Vesa and Jaakko had already left and soon Andreas and Jukka left too. I decided to sleep for a couple of hours before I started my long way back home. Crazy as I am I decided to drive first to Oulu. I twitched Mute Swans as Oulu-tick and a Corn Bunting in Tyrnävä. Luckily also a Rose-coloured Starling was found in Oulu so I went to twitch that too. I still tried to twitch a Savi’s Warbler but it was probably gone. After all I was at Parikkala at morning and I had to go straight to work – and I was sooo tired!

On the 9th day I still couldn’t go to sleep because of a Bee-eater was found in Ristiina. So I still twitched it together with Anniina Tiainen and only at night I managed to go to sleep.

Hanna was also back at home from Georgia and Kuusamo guiding so the next day we were just resting. We were both extremely tired. But on the 11th day I had to go twitching again when a Lesser White-fronted Goose was found in Tohmajärvi Sääperi. We went to twitch together with Johannes Hänninen and Hanna Hyvönen and the bird was found right away. It was feeding on a field together with a 2nd c-y White-fronted Goose. On the way back we checked that the breeding of a Great Grey Owl in Parikkala was still ok. 2 nestling were watching us from the nest.

On the next day we went to ring these Great Grey Owl nestlings. Hanna wanted to climb to this 12 metres high nest and I was ringing them on the ground. The mama-owl was very kind and let us did our work in peace. In a same place there was also a White-backed Woodpecker.

On the 13th day at night I was birding together with Hannes and Pirjo Tiira. All the common night-singers were found but nothing special. Anyway even though Hannes is a famous recorder and night-listener it was again nice to hear many Spotted Crakes, Blyth’s Reed Warblers, Golden Orioles and other birds that are not so common in Western Finland. Later during the day we went with Hanna to try to ring other nestlings of Great Grey Owl in Rautjärvi but the nest was too high on the huge spruce so it was impossible to climb.

On the 15th day we had an eco-race. We biked with Hanna more than 60 kilometres in 10 hours in Parikkala and found 104 species. It was a horrible weather, raining almost all the time. The best birds we found were a nest of a Three-toed Woodpecker, a family of Siberian Jays, a Redshank, a Ruff, 2 Canada Geese, all the common night-singers including Reed and Great Reed Warbler and so on. It was nice to explore the nearest birding places this way for a while.

The real MEGA

Once we were back at home I got a call from Hannes Tiira that they had found probably a real MEGA a Swinhoe’s Snipe in Tohmajärvi. He told to take recording equipment with me and also that the alert was already going to all other birders around the country. So we left immediately. On the way I was all the time solving out why on earth the alert-message hadn’t arrived, but only when we were already there in Niirala the message came. After 20 minutes waiting the bird was found on the sky and it started its amazing display with strange voice from its tail-feathers! I managed to get a Swinhoe’s Snipe recordings and sent it by email to put to the internet and soon all the birders in whole country were sure that there really was a Swinhoe’s Snipe in Tohmajärvi!

It took a long time before the real twitchers started to arrive from Helsinki and Tampere so meanwhile we twitched 2 displaying Great Snipes only a couple of kilometres from the Swinhoe’s Snipe. I got good recording of these amazing birds too and we also heard a Booted Warbler singing shortly before we went back to Niirala. The Swinhoe’s Snipe was quiet for a couple of hours but finally it started to display again and people were so happy! When the top twitchers had got their lifer we decided to drive back home because of I had to be at work soon.

The end of the June

On the 17th of June we found 2 Black Terns in Siikalahti and I twitched a White Stork in Rautjärvi Purnujärvi. I also went to record the nestlings of Three-toed Woodpecker.

On the 18th day a Red-footed Falcon was found in Siikalahti and in the evening we went to ring the Three-toed Woodpecker nestlings together with Hanna and Anniina. There were 4 nestlings that left their nest only the day after ringing.

On the 19th of June I was again birding whole night but nothing special was found – of course Blyth’s Reed, River and Grasshopper Warblers, Spotter and Corn Crakes, Water Rails, Golden Orioles and Nightjars and so on. On the 20th day we went to ring a young Ural Owl that Anniina had found in Uukuniemi. Unfortunately 2 other youngsters weren’t found. We did birding on the way back but the best bird was a twitched Red-breasted Flycatcher in Rautalahti and we managed to find one more Ural Owl in Syvälahti.

On the 21st day we were guiding Chris Batty and a British group. We still managed to find a fledling of Three-toed Woodpecker, a family of Siberian Jays, 2 families of Hazel Hens, a Red-backed Shrike and so on. A Red-footed Falcon was still in Siikalahti and then we still went to see the Great Grey Owls and surprisingly we found out that one youngster was already on the ground while another was still on the nest. So we ringed this stunning bird and the group really got something special! Hanna still continued with the group and they had for example White-backed Woodpeckers and all the night-singers. Hanna also told them how to find a Willow Grouse in Kontiolahti and they made it.

Meanwhile I drove to Lappeenranta where I picked up Pekka Punnonen and then in Lahti Miika Suojarinne was picked up. We continued a long way to Lempäälä where we were at 4 a.m. After 15 minutes we found what we were searching for – a Lesser Yellowlegs! It was just flying briefly over a grassy island before it landed invisible. We waited for 4 hours to see it again but we weren’t lucky. Anyway we all managed to see it well enough to get another lifer! After 8 a.m. we started our way back. With Pekka we still stopped in Iitti Mukulanlahti and twitched 3 Caspian Tern in Lappeenranta Askola. I still twitched a Quail in Joutseno Kilteinen before I was back home – tired again!

On the 23rd day my both brothers came to Parikkala with their families. On the first night we went to twitch Swinhoe’s Snipe with Pirkka. Luckily the bird was heard right away. We also twitched a Savi’s Warbler and Great Snipes that we managed to see very well while they were feeding on the field. On the way we still managed to find a Ural Owl fledling and see an adult Great Grey Owl and heard the youngsters calling.

The rest of the week went while watching football and playing with children. Also my parents arrived so after working I had no time for birding almost at all. At 26th day we did a short night-trip but nothing special was found. On the last days of June I was sick. Anyway I had a great weekend in Oulu with my old friends, but no birding was done. But after all I had got an amazing bird-month!

The beginning of May was again good! On the 1st day we saw the 2nd Lesser Spotted Eagle of the week and also a Black-tailed Godwit. Some other better birds were a couple of Yellow Wagtails, a Jack Snipe, 13 Whimbrels, a Redshank and so on. In Vartialahti a couple of Scaups were found.

On the 2nd of May I got a good birthday present when I managed to twitch a Savi’s Warbler in Siikalahti. The bird continued its migration on the next night so it wasn’t heard later.

On the 3rd we had again the traditional bird tower competition. With Hanna, Jarmo Pirhonen, Ilpo Kuusisalo, Matti Lötjönen and Johannes Hänninen we saw altogether 88 species in 8 hours from Siikalahti bird-tower. The best species were a Greylag Goose, 7 Cormorants, 2 Rough-legged Buzzards, a Merlin, 2 Peregrines, a Black-tailed Godwit, altogether 61 migrating Whimbrels, 2 Rooks and a White-backed Woodpecker. In the afternoon we went to check a breeding of a Great Grey Owl in Rautjärvi and to twitch 3 Marsh Sandpipers in Pohjanranta.

On the 4th day I saw 4 Scaups in Härskiinmutka but in other way it was very quiet – it was too nice weather! So the next few days I went to check the owl nest boxes, but unfortunately they had nothing else that Great Tits breeding. A stunning Capercaillie was seen and a Cuckoo and a Wryneck were heard.

On the 9th day I saw a Montagu’s Harrier from our garden! Also a flock of Common Scoters were migrating. And on the next day also 2 Velvet Scoters were found swimming in a flock of Common Scoters and Long-tailed Ducks. In Saari just Ortolan Buntings were found in Akanvaara Tetrisuo and 3 Marsh Sandpipers were still in Pohjanranta. In the evening finally 2 breeding Tengmalm’s Owls were found.

On the 11th day 3700 geese were seen migrating and the 1st Swift was found. At night altogether 23 Water Rails, 9 Spotted Crakes, 17 Sedge Warblers, 5 Thrush Nightingales and a Ural Owl were heard in Siikalahti.

In the mid May only better birds were a couple of Stock Doves in Tetrisuo, but otherwise I was trying to get my car repaired and was watching ice-hockey.

Virolahti

On the 16th of May I drove first to Imatra where I twitched a Moorhen in Immalanjärvi. Also 2 Oystercatchers were seen and a Garden Warbler was heard. In Joutseno Konnunsuo I saw 5 Pink-footed Geese amongst the other geese and in Kotasaari 5 Little Ringed, 3 Ringer Plovers and 12 Temminck’s Stints were found. In Lappeenranta Hanhijärvi an Arctic Tern was flying with a big flock of Common Terns and Little Gulls.

On the 17th of May in very early morning after an hour sleep I woke up in a back of Miika Suojarinne’s – “potu’s” car in Virolahti Lakakallio. Soon we were watching for migration. 100 divers (mostly Black-throated), 2500 Barnacle and 860 Brent Geese, 12 Red Knots and so on were seen. But the migration wasn’t very good so we decided to drive to Hamina Kirkkojärvi to twitch a Penduline Tit. The tit was heard and also a couple of Reed Warblers. In the afternoon we were just going to sleep when we got an information that a flock of 70 Barnacle Geese with a Red-breasted Goose had landed to the sea between us and a couple of island. After some searching I found a flock far in the middle of the sea swimming but soon they went behind the trees. After 2 hours waiting a flock of anser-Geese flew over them and the flock took off and right away I found the Red-breasted Goose from the flock even though they were far!

On the 18th day the migration was still pretty poor. A couple of thousands of Long-tailed Ducks and Barnacle Geese and a twitched male Red-footed Falcon in Ala-Pihlaja were good. In Lintulahti where Hanna was staying with her Dutch group we saw a Bluethroat and heard a Corn Crake. In the evening I started my way home. In Ylämaa Väkevänjärvi I still saw a thousand of Barnacle and 10 Brent Geese and heard a White-backed Woodpecker and a Stock Dove.

On the 19th day I saw a male Gadwall in Siikalahti, in Saari nothing else than a big flock of Yellow Wagtails were found. I still went to check another breeding of a Great Grey Owl.

The next few days I was relaxing but on the 22nd of May I saw a flock of 3 Temminck’s/Little Stints and a Dunlin and heard a Great Reed Warbler in Siikalahti.

On the 23rd day I started my way to Oulu where I participated to a 24-hours bird-rally. I decided to drive through Kajaani and on the way I twitched 2 Dotterel in Pohjasuo. In Otanmäki pools 14 Slavonian Grebes, 2 Scaups and 3 Long-tailed Ducks were found.

Oulu area bird-race

On the 24th morning out team ”Chocolate Moose” me, Harry Nyström, Petri Lampila and Samuli Lehikoinen meet in Oulunsalo Vihiluoto.

We had planned to begin in Liminka Hirvineva but it was too empty, only a Garganey, a couple of Sparrowhawks and a Red-necked Phalarope were found. So we drove to Rantakylä which wasn’t any better but at 11.58 a.m. we had to start, but only better species we saw were a flock of Common Crossbills, a Stock Dove and a Wood Lark. Luckily we saw 2 Grey Partridges while we were driving to Liminka where a Collared Dove and Tree Sparrows were found.

In Virkkula a Honey Buzzard and an Osprey were good ones, also 2 Dunlins, 2 Black-tailed Godwits, a Common Buzzard and the 1st of our 6 Hen Harriers were seen. In Lumijoki Sannanlahti we saw a Shelduck, a stunning Grey Plover and a migrating Broad-billed Sandpiper.

Then we drove to Siikajoki Alhonmäki where again we tried to see some raptors. Soon we had a Sparrowhawk, a Goshawk and a Rough-legged Buzzard in our species-list. The next goal was Karinkanta where all the fields were full of birds! Spotted Flycatchers, Willow Warblers, Yeallow Wagtails and Northern Wheatears were everywhere but also a Whitethroat, a Bluethroat, 2 Red-backed Shrikes and a Wood Warbler were found. From the fields we found the flocks of 12 Dotterels and 20 Golden Plovers. And again we saw quality raptors: 3 Merlins and a Peregrine.

In Savilahti we saw lots of waders but far and the light was really bad. But a stunning male Pallid Harrier flew beautifully very close to us. It was carrying a wader so it was probably breeding somewhere near. Also 2 Barnacle Geese were good to see.

In Munahieta we had many new species as we expected. Lots of Velvet Scoters were migrating but also a flock of Long-tailed Ducks, 11 Red-necked Grebes, an Arctic Skua and a Spotted Redshank were found. In Säikänlahti we found a Pochard and heard a Black Woodpecker.

It was already late when we continued to Raahe Lapaluoto. Many migrating flocks of Common Scoters were seen but we got also something much better. A Mute Swan, 2 migrating Short-eared Owls and a Slavonian Grebe were good but a migrating Long-tailed Skua was really something! We had a funny situation when a skua was migrating between the owl and the grebe in same scope-picture!

In Aittalahti we saw only lots of Little Gulls and the Eagle Owl wasn’t found in its traditional place in sewage dump. So we continued to Pyhäjoki Hanhikivi where we heard a Willow Grouse! After the midnight we continued to Teerelä where a Grey Partridge was seen.

When the night was as quiet as it gets we continued to get the only nest box breeders we had – a Ural and a Great Grey Owl. It took some time to reach the place where the owls were but once we were there they were really close to each other – only 40 metres!

Then we had to hurry because of the morning birds started to wake up. When it is minus 3 Celsius degrees and as dark it gets this north and almost no birds at all the birders that have been woken for 20 hours are not very clever. So every single moment when it is possible it is important to get some action – that’s why every rabbit, hare and moose caused lots of activity in our car. We also had some difficulties to identify a couple of animals: for example I thought a Crane was a Badger and also a fox or a cow was seen.

The first morning stop in Karjala was productive: a Blackcap and a couple of Two-barred Crossbills were found. In Merikylä we had a singing Hazel Hen and an amazing lecking Capercaillie that was attacking to us very aggressively. In Kaasa a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and some divers were seen. In Sääri a Pheasant was a big surprise and in Lumijoki Varjakka we finally saw our first 2 White-tailed Eagles – and very close! Also 2 Chiff-chaffs and 3 Three-toed Woodpeckers were good.

We were already late from our schedule so we didn’t stop too many times in Oulunsalo Letto road but we managed to hear a Wryneck already from the moving car. In Akionlahti we finally found a Gadwall and in Mustaniemi a Bar-tailed Godwit and a flock of Parrot Crossbills were found.

Then we had to drive to Oulu where we had more places to visit than we had time. So we drove to Pyykösjärvi where Samuli was left while the rest of us went to try to find a Coal Tit. The tit wasn’t found but Samuli called that he had found a Lesser Black-backed Gull. So we drove back and Samuli had a big surprise for us he hadn’t only a Heuglin’s Gull (a subspecies of a Lesser Black-backed Gull in Finland) but also a Glauscous Gull!

We still drove to Hietasaari where a Little Stint (and many Lesser-Black-backed Gulls) was found. We still dreamed about Hawfinches and Goldfinches but the 24 hours was full soon.

After all we had got 163 species and we won clearly. We had 11 species more than the second teams in this rally where altogether 14 teams were participating.

After the meeting where the results were given I still had the hardest part of the trip to go. I had been awaken already for 30 hours and I still had to drive back home. Anyway I still went to twitch a Terek Sandpiper before I started driving. The only stop was made in Piippola Kortteinen where only big flocks of Black-headed and Little Gulls and 6 Red-necked Phalaropes were seen. At 10 p.m. I was back in Parikkala.

The end of May

On the 26th of May we went to ring the owl-nestlings with Hanna and Tero Linjama that had come to do some recording to Parikkala. The first Ural Owl family ringing went fine but the on the second nest the mother owl attacked a couple of times very aggressively. The recording that Tero got. Luckily our helmets are very good – stupid-looking, but good, so neither I was hurt nor the owl. On the second Tengmalm’s Owl nest the mother was surprisingly still incubating!

On the 28th day Hanna left to Georgia to lead a Kontiki-tours bird-tour in Kazbegi and Chachuna, but I stayed in Parikkala. We went to record some night birds with Tero and Spotted Crake, Water Rail and Blyth’s Reed Warbler were recorded. We also heard an Ural Owl, a Great Reed Warbler and White-backed Woodpeckers. On the 29th of May I birded a couple of hours on the way to Lappeenranta. A couple of Oystercatchers were found in Ruokolahti Laurinniemi, a Red-necked Phalarope in Joutseno Korvenkylä, 3 Broad-billed Sandpipers in Kotasaari and in Konnunsuo a Short-eared Owl and a Hen Harrier were fighting together. On the way back home I checked that everything was still fine with Great Grey Owl and in same place I heard a Nightjar. On the 30th day I saw 2 Nutcrackers in Punkaharju Lusto.

On the last day of May we birded together with Harri Orenius. Plenty of Water Rails, Spotted Crakes, Corn Crakes and Blyth’s Reed Warblers and a couple of Nightjars and Golden Orioles were heard. Also another Great Grey Owl was still fine and a Ural Owl was found accidentally. Later in the morning I still continued to Niemennurkka where I found a Greenish Warbler. And still I went to the forests to find a Hazel Hen, Wrens, Common Crossbills and a young fledling of White-backed Woodpecker.

On the 1st of April I was still in Parikkala so the traditional places Siikalahti, Lemmikonsalmi and Särkisalmi were checked. A couple of Canada Geese, Buzzards, a Rough-legged Buzzard, 50 Lapwings, a Linnet, 37 Snow Finches and so on were migrating and the open water places had Goldeneyes, Goosanders, Mallards and Herring Gulls. Also a Grey-headed Woodpecker was heard and a small flock of Long-tailed Tits were seen.

On the 2nd day I headed south where Hanna already was. On the way to Helsinki I stopped in Lappeenranta where a Lesser Black-backed Gull and a Mistle Thrush were seen and in Sipoo I saw a Hen Harrier migrating. Before I picked up Hanna from Zoological Museum I visited in Viikki where nothing special was found – the back-winter had pushed all the better species more south.

On the 3rd day we finally started our bird trip to Kuwait! Together with Tero Linjama, Janne Kilpimaa, Petri Kuhno and Tero Toivanen we birded there for 9 days and thanks to Pekka Fågel a Finnish birder living in Kuwait, everything went perfect! The whole Kuwait trip story: Kuwait 4th to 12th of April (for example Socotra Cormorant, Dunn’s Larks, Shikra, Oriental Skylarks, Mynahs, Bridled and White-cheeked Terns – altogether 20 WP-ticks!)

On the 13th of April we were again driving back to Parikkala. We twitched a Pallid Harrier in Joutseno Konnunsuo where we had also a Peregrine Falcon, 2 Bewick’s Swans and several other year-ticks. Anyway the spring had came slowlier than we had thought and there was still snow on the ground and not many migrants around.

During the next couple of days I saw the first Marsh Harriers, Great Crested Grebes and Green Sandpipers. Also an early Red-throated Diver seen. I started to check the owl nestboxes and surprisingly I found a couple of Ural Owls.

On the 19th day we were in Siikalahti bird tower with Johannes Hänninen and in 8 hours we didn’t see many migrants but a Bewick’s Swan, a couple of Garganeys, a Heuglin’s Gull, 369 migrating Wood Pigeons, more than 300 thrushes, 2000 Chaffinches and so on. In the afternoon I saw some hundreds of geese in Saari where I also twitched a Gadwall and an early Scaup.

On the next day we were again at the tower with Hanna and Pekka Punnonen. And now we were lucky – we saw a Kingfisher! We also went to ring a female Ural Owl and after we had eaten we went back to Siikalahti with Pekka and saw a migrating 2nd c-y Pallid Harrier – already the second Siikalahti tick of the day!

On the next days I saw some Barnacle Geese and a Pink-footed Goose in a big flock of Bean and White-fronted Geese in Siikalahti. Also Shovelers, Slavonian Grebes, Red-necked Grebes, Wrens, Wheatears and the first Wood Sandpiper arrived. On the night of 24th and 25th we heard 5 Water Rails and a Spotted Crake.

And on the next days we birded with Pekka around Saari and Rautjärvi but nothing special was found. We also checked many empty owl nest boxes. Only year ticks were a Tree Pipit, a Common Sandpiper, a Chiffchaff, Common Scoters, a Common Tern, 2 Ruffs and 2 Black-tailed Godwits that we twitched.

On the 27th day we were again in the tower with Hanna and Pekka and again we were lucky. 50 Little Gulls had arrived; we counted 14 Slavonian Grebes, 2 Swallows and so on. 2 White-tailed Eagles were migrating and then a Lesser Spotted Eagle!

On the 28th day Miika Suojarinne came to do birding with us. We went to twitch a Pectoral Sandpiper to Liperi. Surprisingly Ahonkylä fields had also 150 Greenshanks, 8 Wood Sandpipers, 2 Ruffs, a Spotted Redshank, a Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Pink-footed Goose, a Bewick’s Swan and a Short-eared Owl. In the evening we still drove to Kontiolahti Pitkäranta where we twitched a Great White Egret. Also 106 Great Crested Grebes, 22 Common Scoters, 2 Long-tailed ducks, 22 Black-throated divers and 14 Whimbrels were counted.

On the next day I got another Siikalahti tick when Esko Veijalainen and Jari Kontiokorpi found a migrating Black Stork! Luckily I managed to drive to Siikalahti so fast that the bird was still soaring above Siikalahti. In the evening 3 Sand Martins, a Jack Snipe and a couple of Yellow Wagtails were seen.

On the last day of April the only year-ticks were a Willow Warbler and a Pied Flycatcher. At night 10 Bitterns, 10 Water Rails and 2 Spotted Crakes were heard.

The March started with a Pygmy Owl in Sammallampi. The bird was sitting on a top of a tree for whole morning and several birders saw it.

On the 2nd of March we did a winter-bird count. We found altogether 6 White-backed Woodpeckers. The most common bird was a Redpoll but most of the 87 birds were in one flock. Otherwise the count was pretty boring; a couple of Goldfinches were only other interesting birds.

On the 5th day 40 Herring Gulls were already at river Vuoksi in Imatra. On the 8th day I went to record woodpeckers and saw the first Common Buzzard and a Whooper Swan. In Tyrjänmäki I saw a Grey-headed Woodpecker.

On the 10th day in Kanavalampi I saw 12 Whooper Swans and on the next day the spring seemed to be arriving when a Skylark and a Lapwing were seen.

On the 12th day I saw some more Lapwings even though the fields were covered with snow. In small open water in Lemmikonsalmi was the first couple of Goldeneyes and Herring Gulls, also a Blackbird, a Rook, a Snowfinch, a Common Buzzard and the first migrating flock of Waxwings were seen.

On the 14th day we twitched an Owl that was calling in Tarvaslampi, it was an Eagle Owl. I managed to get really good recordings! We also stopped in Melkoniemi where a Tengmalm’s Owl and a couple of Tawny Owls were heard.

On the 15th day we went to Kiljava to BirdLife meeting. On the way we twitched an overwintering Crested Lark in Lahti. The weekend was great and on the way back we saw all the overwintered birds on Vuoksi (Smews, Tufted Ducks, Canada Geese, Whooper Swans and a Red-breasted Merganser) and plenty of Herring Gulls and a Great Black-backed Gull.

On the 17th day I saw a White-tailed Eagle in Siikalahti and on the 19th day there were 3 Rooks on our backyard.

On the 20th day I drove to Kirkkonummi where Hanna was already once she had a dream job from Helsinki zoological museum – she was painting the backgrounds for dioramas. On the way I stopped on Vuoksi and in Lappeenranta Toikansuo where I finally found 2 Twites. I was hoping the Eastern holiday in Southernmost Finland would give me many interesting observations and several month-ticks. But what happened, very bad back-winter! It was minus 20 degrees at nights and snowing a lot. Still on the

21st day we had pretty good weather and we started at early morning in Porkkala. The only migrating birds were 2 Grey Herons but 500 Long-tailed Ducks, 300 Eiders, 20 Mute Swans and a Parrot Crossbill were nice to see. In Saltfjärden we right away saw 2 Bearded Reedlings, heard a really early Bittern and saw several Reed Buntings. Later 57 Canada Geese, 20 Lapwings, 10 Buzzards and 2 Goshawks, Starlings, a White-tailed Eagle and a Mistle Thrush were seen. In Mattby we saw 4 Bean and 2 Greylag Geese, in Helsinki Lauttasaari a Wigeon and in Espoo Nuottalahti 90 Tufted Ducks and 4 Pochards.

On the 22nd day we had planned to go to Hanko but on the way a really horrible snowing started. So we decided to check some fields in Karjaa where 2 Bewick’s Swans, 55 Bean and 37 Canada Geese were found in Kvarnbacka. In Lappträsk the birds had kept the water open and there were 146 Mute and 110 Whooper Swans, 72 Canada Geese, 62 Mallards, 29 Tufted Ducks, 18 Goldeneyes and 16 Coots. But the weather was so bad it was impossible to continue so we decided to go sightseeing to the castle of Raasepori and Mustio canal. The roads were extremely slippery so we had a small accident and checked how deep are the local ditched. Luckily I managed to keep 3 wheels on the road and the car was easily lifted up. On that road most of the cars we saw were on the ditches! Calls to Hanko and Kirkkonummi told that the weather was as bad in Hanko but in Kirkkonummi the sun was shining. So we had a short stop in Inkoo Gallery Karaija where were again lots of bird paintings and then continued to Kirkkonummi. Nothing special was found but in Järsö we twitched a Ringed Plover and saw a flock of 50 Stock Doves, a Wood Pigeon, 3 Rooks and a White-tailed Eagle.

On the 23rd day I birded with my old friend Risto Nevanlinna. We had been birding together last 20 years ago when I lived in Espoo. The day was really cold so nothing really special was found. In Suvisaaristo we saw 130 Tufted ducks and 100 Long-tailed Ducks, in Kasavuori 2 Grey Herons, 6 Smews and Cormorants already on their colony. Anyway the day was really fun! In the afternoon I picked up Hanna from Helsinki where we twitched a Little Grebe in harbour. Later we still birded a little in Kirkkonummi but only a flock of 6 Wood Pigeons, a Great Grey Shrike and a White-tailed Eagle were seen.

On the 24th morning I went to Saltfjärden where I finally saw a local Golden Eagle. Also 4 White-tailed Eagles, 55 Reed Buntings and a Bittern were around. Then I twitched a Wood Lark in Hila before I started my long way back home. I decided to drive first to Kotka where I twitched again a Black-throated Thrush and a Wood Duck. Then I continued to Hamina where I twitched a Great Grey Owl. On the same place also a White-backed Woodpecker and a Nuthatch were heard- Also a couple of Chaffinches were already singing. Also some more common birds were seen on the way.

In South Karelia there was maybe more winter than in whole winter. There was lots of snow and really cold! So I didn’t do almost any birding for days.

On the 29th of March we had a traditional wilderness-rally. Hanna came also and we were birding in a border of Russia in Rautjärvi. We started at 02.30 a.m. but the owls were absolutely quiet. The first bird was seen after 3 hours driving when a Hazel Hen was found. Soon we heard a couple of Pygmy Owls too. Then we started to look for woodpeckers because all the real wilderness species gave more points than regular species in this rally. The best point-species was a White-backed Woodpecker. After all we managed well: we found 7 Grey-headed Woodpeckers, 4 White-backed Woodpeckers, 5 Hazel Hens, 2 Black Grouses, a Black Woodpecker, 3 Goshawks, 12 Common Buzzards, 2 Dippers, 5 Great Grey Shrikes and 6 Snow Finches but the best species was a Great Grey Owl! With all the woodpeckers we came 2nd in thi race where 9 teams were exploring in different areas. The social evening was again great!

On the 30th day in Särkisalmi was a Canada Goose and in Lemmikonsalmi a Goosander. In Rautalahti I saw 92 migrating Snow Finches. It seemed that the spring was finally coming (again), even 3 Lapwings were flying around over the snowy landscape.

On the last day of March it was +10 degrees and sun shining so the snow was melting really fast! On my lunch hour I saw a White Wagtail, 30 Lapwings and a flock of 2 Wood Pigeons and a Stock Dove. In the afternoon I saw more Lapwings and Wood Pigeons, a Kestrel, a Starling and a Black-headed Gull.

The spring was finally coming, but we’ll go to catch the summer to Kuwait. More soon…