On the 1st of December I was in Lappeenranta to study. After a long day I went to twitch a Pintail that was still in Pallonlahti. It was the first ever Pintail in South Karelia in winter. I also made a couple of short stops in Imatra Vuoksi and Immalanjärvi and saw a Canada Goose, a Cormorant, some Velvet Scoters, a Scaup and some Herring Gulls. In Parikkala Koitsanlahti I saw 42 Whooper Swans and in Joukio I still saw a Scaup and 2 Velvet Scoters. In the evening I had a nice surprise when I saw a Woodcock while I was running around Likolampi.

In the first half of December Lake Simpele was still open and I could see some Whooper Swans, Goosanders and Common Gulls from our back-yard. A small flock of Common Crossbills were also visiting our sembra-pine.

Rally

The traditional winter rally was on the 5th of December. With Hannas brother Miika we started at 7 a.m. and during the 1.5 hours that was still dark we tried 4 different species of owls but only bird we heard was an Eagle Owl in Tarvaslampi. Only bird we saw was a Mallard in Siikalahti. Soon the sun started to rise so we continued to Melkoniemi forests. Ravens were the first birds to wake up; a Hazel Hen flew over us and soon we found a Willow Tit and some Goldcrests before Siberian Jays came to have their breakfast in a traditional place.

Unfortunately nothing else was found in the forest. We checked a couple of feeders where some common birds like Hooded Crows, Magpies, Bullfinches, Great spotted Woodpecker, Greenfinches, Great and Blue Tits and Tree Sparrows were seen but also a Siskin was heard. After we had seen also a Yellowhammer we drove to Härskiinmutka where Whooper Swans, Goosanders and Common Gulls were seen easily. In Kangaskylä we really had to work to find House Sparrows and a Rock Dove before we drove to Siikalahti. Jackdaws, Black Grouses, Waxwings and a Great Grey Shrike were found but no woodpeckers at all. Luckily we did a short drive in Surumäki where Jay, Fieldfares and a Grey-headed Woodpecker were found.

In Rautjärvi we just twitched a Dipper in Simpele Kokkolanjoki and then continued to Imatra. Immalanjärvi was checked from 2 places and 2 Velvet Scoters, 2 Tufted Ducks and Herring Gulls were seen. In Vuoksi we had 3 short stops and a Canada Goose, Redpolls, 2 Smews, a Cormorant and a Scaup were found.

In Salo-Issakka we could find neither forest tits nor woodpeckers and also Konnunsuo seemed to be empty. In Kukkuroinmäki we found Starlings easily but no raptors were found even though corvids and Herring Gulls were panicking. In Luukkaansalmi we found 4 Grey Herons and a biggest surprise a Red-necked Grebe before we had to hurry to Pallonlahti where a Teal and a Pintail were found with hundreds of Mallards. In Toikansuo we spent less than a minute and saw a Goshawk that was our species number 45.

Even though we still would have more than an hour light and more than 2 hours of rally time we had to stop birding and drive to Suomenniemi where I had an ice-hockey match that started at 4 p.m. Anyway we won the rally with same number of species than another team.

At 8 p.m. we were driving through Lappeenranta again and we decided to try if an Eagle Owl was possible to find in Toikansuo. And it was; the king of owls was perched on a tree and we saw it really well! After I had dropped Miika to Tarvaslampi and had sauna there I was back at home after 10 p.m. It had been a long day!

Winter comes

On the Independent day, 6th of December I saw a Pygmy Owl and a male White-backed Woodpecker in Siikalahti. In Särkisalmi I saw a Fieldfare and a Sparrowhawk. On the 7th day I saw 5 Goldfinches in Kannas and on 9th a Great Grey Shrike and a lonely male Mallard in almost completely frozen Siikalahti.

On 11th day I saw the last Goosanders and a Common Gull in freezing Kirkkoselkä. In Siikalahti a female White-backed Woodpecker, a Grey-headed Woodepecker and Long-tailed Tits were seen. In Vartialahti I still saw 48 Whooper Swans and 2 Mallards.

On 12th day we did a long bike-trip to Melkoniemi with Matti Lötjönen and went to see Siberian Jays. Luckily we found also a flock of 20 Pine Grosbeaks! In Melkoniemi we saw amazing flock of 80 Ravens. In Särkisalmi we saw how the last family of Whooper Swans left towards south.

Then it became really cold! All Lake Simpele froze and it started to snow a lot! On the 15th of December I went to twitch a Little Grebe in Simpele Kokkolanjoki. It was my year-tick number 258. I also saw 2 Dippers, 16 Mallards and a big surprise a Merlin! I also went to see a Nuthatch which was again in Likolampi.

On the 16th day in Tyrjä I saw a Great Grey Shrike, a Pygmy Owl, 2 Dippers and 2 Mallards. On the next day there were 4 Mallards and nice flock of 23 Black Grouses that were taking sun on the tops of trees. It was really cold – about -20 degrees. On the 18th day I saw a Little Grebe again and also same White-backed and Grey-headed Woodpeckers. On the 19th day I went by bike to Tyrjä and saw a Dipper. It was absolutely too cold to bike!

On the 20th a Canada Goose and Cormorants were still in Vuoksi. In Lappeenranta I couldn’t find anything before I went to do Christmas-shopping.

On the Christmas-eve I went to see a new bird-tower that was built to Siikalahti. The tower was really good but the place was really stupid. I hope the Forest and Park Service will do something for the small area that is visible from the tower. Otherwise there won’t be too much use to that tower. I didn’t see a single bird in Siikalahti but on the way back I found 12 Hawfinches on the flock of Waxwings in Muttelinmäki.

On the Christmas-day I did a winterbird-count. It was very hard day as I was skiing 18.5 kilometres and most of it in deep snow. Luckily I saw a flock of 9 Pine Grosbeaks and A Pygmy Owl that were new species to this count. After all I saw 20 species and 399 birds. Only other better birds were 7 Fieldfare. Siikalahti itself was absolutely empty and boring!

The last days of the year I was working and sporting so the last observations were a Sparrowhawk in Muttelinmäki on the 26th of December and 15 Black Grouses in Siikalahti and a Dipper and 4 Mallards in Tyrjä on the 31st of December.

In the end of November the weather was like in winter. There was even some snow on the ground. Almost all migrating birds had left to south. But in the mid November it came warm again and the end of the month was very rainy and warm – even Siikalahti opened completely even though it had been frozen for weeks already. Some birds came to open lakes.

In the first half of month I was birding mostly in Härskiinmutka, Siikalahti and Vartialahti and I really didn’t see anything special. From our own shore I saw 2 Velvet Scoters, a Common Scoter, a Great Crested Grebe, a couple of Black-headed Gulls and 2 Starlings. In Likolampi I saw a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, in Kannas a Redwing in a flock of Fieldfares, In Vartialahti a Black-throated Diver, 22 Canada Geese, a Wigeon, some Long-tailed Ducks and a Velvet Scoter and in Siikalahti a couple of adult White-tailed Eagles were still hanging around.

On the morning of 14th of November I birded with my brother Pirkka in Imatra. In Immalanjärvi we saw some Long-tailed ducks and Velvet Scoters, a Common Scoter, Great Crested Grebe, Tufted Duck and a couple of Scaups and in Vuoksi some more Velvet Scoters, Scaups, a Tufted Duck, a Canada Goose, 2 Smews, 26 Cormorants and 2 Goldfinches. In the afternoon and evening had our South Karelian bird associations 40th birthday parties. We had really good lectures about birds of wilderness and also tundra and of course a good dinner and great photos and other shows.
On the morning of 15th day we still had BirdLife Finland meeting.

On the next week it was raining almost constantly so nothing much was seen, but on the 20th of November I drove to Kirkkonummi and on the way I checked Immalanjärvi and Vuoksi again. It seemed there’d be almost the same wintering birds than on previous years on Vuoksi.

On the morning of 21st day I went to Medvastö where I managed to find a Gadwall in a huge flock of Tufted Ducks and Goldeneyes that were almost too far. In Suomenoja I saw 9 Gadwalls much closer and I also visited in Laajalahti where 10 Wigeons and 3 Smews were seen. The rest of the was spent in Twitchers association – Bongariliitto meeting where Dick Forsman showed beautiful pictured of mostly Eleonora’s Falcons and Alan Davies and Ruth Miller told about The Biggest Twitch – their year with new World record number of bird-species. In the evening we still went to a restaurant and had a good time. On the 22nd morning I still birded in Kirkkonummi where I saw a Pygmy Owl in Eestinkylä but nothing else really. I started to drive back home early because of the weather was again rainy and extremely dark.

The rest of the November was still warm. It was about +5 degrees all the time. In Simpelejärvi I still saw some 20 Common Gulls, some Herring Gulls and 3 Black-headed Gulls. In Joukio I found a Scaup and in Lahdenkylä a Pygmy Owl. Great Grey Shrikes were here and there so it seemed there must be some mice and voles for them. 2 White-tailed Eagles were eating fish in Siikalahti and big flocks of Whooper Swans were still on sheltered bays.
On the 29th day I again visited Imatra and in Immalanjärvi I saw 2 Scaups, 5 Tufted Ducks, 6 Velvet Scoters and 10 Herring Gulls and in Vuoksi a Smew, 2 Velvet Scoters, a Dipper and Cormorants. On the last day of November I still found 2 Velvet Scoters in Kukkaronlahti and a flock of 110 Waxwings came to Kangaskylä to empty the last rowans from the berries.

We started October in Foula, Shetland. The 1st of October was one of the best bird-days ever when a Buff-bellied Pipit and a Pechora Pipit were still seen and photographable and in the evening we found the rarest bird we have maybe ever found – a Veery! It was 8th for Britain. On the 2nd day we left Foula and went to main island where we birder for a couple of days. At 5th of October we flew back to Finland. The whole trip-story can be read here: Foula trip: 15th of September to 5th of October 2009 (For example Veery, Pechora Pipit, Buff-bellied Pipit, Taiga Flycatcher, Hornemann’s Arctic Redpolls, Short-toed Lark, Red Grouses and so on).

End of arctica

On the 6th of October I had still free from work. I was birding in Parikkala and checked all the best fields for arctic geese and managed to find more than 20000 Barnacle Geese. Also some Bean and White-fronted Geese were found and a real good one a Red-breasted Goose! Other birds found were some hundreds of Whooper Swans, a Bewick’s Swan, a Crane, a Goshawk, a Grey-headed Woodpecker and a Great Grey Shrike.

Only one twitcher managed to see the Red-breasted Goose before the flock of 4000 Barnacles with it was flew around and the bird disappeared. I tried to relocate the bird again as I had done once already when I first found it from Kontiolampi and then relocated it in Kullinsuo, but even though I hoped to find it from Siikalahti and get a new local path tick, only birds I found were 500 Barnacles, a White-tailed Eagle, 450 Wigeons, 70 Coots, a Scaup, 230 Whooper Swans and some other ducks.

On the 7th of October I had a funny year-tick when I found my first Brent Goose of the year. During the next days I was checking all the geese nearby and there were still some 10000 of them in Tyrjä-Kontiolampi-Kullinsuo –area. Still there were only 30 Bean and White-fronted Geese. In Tiviänlampi I saw a Common Scoter and in Härskiinmutka a Cormorant and a Grey-headed Woodpecker was calling in Likolampi. On the 10th of October we caught and ringed a Tengmalm’s Owl in Tarvaslampi.

On the 11th day we saw 3 Long-tailed Ducks in Härskiinmutka, a Parrot Crossbill and 1200 Barnacles in Särkisalmi, about 9000 Barnacles and 2 hybrids between Barnacle and maybe Red-breasted and a family of Bewick’s Swans where adults were ringed in Saari area. Still on the way back home we saw 3000 Barnacles in Liuharanta.

On the next days the geese left and only some small flocks were seen. Then it became very quiet! Normal birding trips around Siikalahti were pretty boring, just a couple of Black-throated Divers, some Smews, some Great Grey Shrikes and still some ducks and lots of Whooper Swans were seen.

On the 17th day we saw a couple of Nutcrackers in Punkaharju, as usual. And on the 18th day there was again some arctic migration in Siikalahti, I saw 1780 Long-tailed Ducks, 196 White-fronted Geese, 5 Scaups, 22 Velvet Scoters and heard once a clear call of Richard’s or Blyth’s Pipit, but I couldn’t see the bird at all. It probably landed somewhere in the middle of Siikalahti? Also 3 Goldfinches and 8 Long-tailed Tits were migrating and a Grey-headed and a White-backed Woodpecker were fighting.

Next days were all similar: only better birds were last flock of 76 Barnacle Geese, 2 White-tailed Eagles, 3 Scaups, 31 Long-tailed Ducks, a Goshawk, 3 Great Grey Shrikes, 3 Coal Tits and a Woodcock in Siikalahti, a Hazel Hen and 2 Common Scoters in Vartialahti and a flock of 30 White-fronted Geese in Härskiinmutka.

On the 23rd day I took a swine flu and normal flu injections and came sick! But still I had to go twitching! I drove to Kajaani where I tried to find a Hume’s Leaf Warbler, but found only a Garden Warbler and a Blackcap. I continued to Oulu to my brother Riku in the late evening.

On the 24th day I woke up early and drove to Hailuoto ferry. I met some groups of twitchers and also Tuomas Väyryen with whom we continued to Tömppä. There we walked some time around almost birdless big area before we found a flock of Snow Buntings, 2 Jack Snipes and then finally some waders. There were some Dunlins, a Knot and only one Grey Plover. Luckily then we got a call that there were more plovers visible from Riisinnokka and we rushed there along the shore and there it was a long-staying first ever for Finland American Golden Plover! Soon all the waders flew there to Isomatala and we counted 11 Dunlins, a Knot, 5 Grey Plovers plus a lifer. Other birds there were 2 Mute Swans and a migrating White Wagtail. After watching American Golden Plover for some time we decided to go birding with Tuomas. We walked a long was back to our car and then on the way we saw a Black Grouse, 2 Jays, a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and a flock of Long-tailed Tits – all good Hailuoto species. Then we drove to Mäntyniemi where we saw a flock of Parrot and Common Crossbills before we continued to Keskiniemi.
Keskiniemi was absolutely empty but when we had walked through the meadow we I surprisingly heard a familiar call, a Rock Pipit flew over us calling and we saw the bird pretty well too.
In Pöllä and Kuivasäikkä we saw only 8 Black Grouses and 3 White-tailed Eagles but Ojakylänlahti was once again full of birds! With a couple of thousands of Whooper Swans and a thousand of ducks there were 60 Smews, a Shoveler, 3 Scaups, a Greylag and a Bean Goose and a family of Mute Swans. Also a White-tailed Eagle, Black-headed Gulls and a Reed Bunting were seen before we had to hurry to the ferry.

On the 25th of October I woke up early again and headed to Kajaani again. In Vuottolahti I noticed a big dead bird on the middle of the road and stopped. Surprisingly it was a 2nd c-y Pomarine Skua! Once I made it to Kirjastonranta I heard the Hume’s Warbler had been seen already. I was walking around a small bushy area for hours with several other birders but we found only a Blackcap and a Dipper. Then at 12 o’clock we heard 5 clear calls of Hume’s Leaf Warbler very close but just couldn’t find it anywhere! After all I was there for more than 7 hours and never saw the bird! But the calls we heard were so clear that I could easily make a decision that I had got my 600th WP-tick!

On the 27th day there were still 156 Whooper Swans in Siikalahti and a Velvet Scoter and a Black-throated Diver in Härskiinmutka. And on the 28th 18 Starlings in Kangaskylä and on the 29th 120 Common Gulls, 4 Black-headed and 4 Herring Gulls in Saharanta. In Siikalahti there were 83 Swans, 110 Mallards, 35 Wigeons, a Pintail, a Teal, 5 Tufted Ducks, 4 Scaups, 2 Smews and 35 Goldeneyes. It had clearly become cold in the north!

And then it came cold here too! Siikalahti got frozen. On the 30th of October there were still 72 Whooper Swans, 14 Mallards, 4 Wigeons, 7 Tufted Ducks, 4 Goldeneyes and a Smew in small open water areas. I also went to see Siberian Jays that were found easily.

But when we did a winter bird count on the last day of October and walked 18 kilometres around Siikalahti, it was completely frozen. Whooper Swans were standing on the ice and a Wigeon was trying to find a place to land. Best birds we saw were 54 Swans, 7 Mallards, a Hazel Hen, 3 Black Grouses, 2 White-tailed Eagles, a Black and a White-backed Woodpecker, 7 Long-tailed Tits, a Great Grey Shrike, 4 Starlings and so on. Lake Simpele was still open of course and there were 100 Goosanders and 70 Common Gulls. Altogether 34 species and 876 birds were seen.

In the beginning of September I was birding almost every day in Siikalahti-Lahdensuo-Kullinsuo area. Almost every day I also checked Lake Simpele from Härskiinmutka. On the 3rd of September I found a Gadwall in Siikalahti and a Ringed Plover with 14 Golden Plovers in Lahdensuo. On the 5th day 2 Chiffchaffs were singing in our backyard, a Grey Heron was standing on a rock in the middle of the lake and a flock of 25 Canada Geese were also seen from Härskiinmutka and in Siikalahti I saw a Hazel Hen in parking place first time ever. In Lahdensuo I saw 2 Hen Harriers, a Red-backed Shrike and 2 Lesser Whitethroats and lots of different raptors were still seen in many places. In the evening we tried to catch owls in Tarvaslampi and 2 Tawny Owls came to call near but never came to the mist-net.

On the 6th of September I saw 2 Red-throated Pipits in Siikalahti and in Lahdensuo I saw a strange completely white dove in the middle of the forest. Was most probably a pet? On the 7th day a Water Rail was calling and a White-tailed Eagle chasing ducks in Siikalahti, Common Buzzards were migrating as I saw 12 in 15 minutes before I had to go back to work. Other birders saw much more. After the work I saw a Grey-headed Woodpecker in our backyard.

On the next days it seemed that most of the birds had gone. Last 3 Sand Martins were flying around in Siikalahti and 2 Common Terns were still on the Lake Simpele. On the 10th day in Lahdensuo I saw a Lapwing, 2 Hen Harriers, 3 Lapland Buntings and 3 Red-throated Pipits. In siikalahti I saw 2 Yellow Wagtails, Spotted Flycatcher and a Sedge Warbler and in Lappeenranta Joutseno Konnunsuo a Rough-legged Buzzard, a Rustic Bunting, a Red-backed Shrike, a Lapwing, a Whinchat, 20 Stonechats, in Kotasaari a Little Stint and in Kivisaari a Red-throated Pipit.

Hailuoto bird-race

On the 11th day we left once again to Hailuoto. This time I picked up ”potu” Suojarinne, ”jassi” Kiljunen and ”andy” Lindén from Juva and we drove almost straight to Oulu. On the way we saw only 3 Great Grey Shrikes and a Rough-legged Buzzard. In Oulu we tried to see a Black Kite in Rusko rubbish tip but it was gone. In Oulunsalo harbour we saw 30 Common Terns and an Arctic Tern and together with my brother Pirkka we drove the last 20 kilometres to Hailuoto Pöllä where Harry Nyström, Antti Vierimaa and Miko Ala-Kojola were already.
Harry had bought the biggest pizzas that we had ever seen, at least the biggest one was huge, so the rest of the evening we were eating, chatting and planning the next days rally. On the 12th of September we woke up early, packed the cars and together with Pirkka, andy and potu we went to start our rally from Kirkkosalmi and the another team headed to Riisinnokka. The rally started at 7 a.m. and we had a good start with Gadwall, Marsh Harrier, Coot, Bearded Reedling, Sedge Warbler, Rustic Bunting, Lapland Bunting and Greylag Goose. After 1.5 hours we were heading to Riisinnokka and saw 2 Black Grouses and a Coal Tit on the way. In Riisinnokka we saw Mute Swans, Red-throated Divers, a Common Buzzard, a Merlin, a Golden Plover, 6 Grey Plovers and a Little Gull. Then after seeing a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker we had another stop in Kirkkosalmi and saw a flock of Long-tailed Tits and a Spotted Flycatcher before we drove to Koivukylä where a Skylark, a Tree Sparrow and Starlings were found easily. Järventakusta fields were empty but in Pöllä we found a Grey Heron and a Long-tailed Duck.
After some driving along sandy roads we stopped in Mäntyniemi and luckily found 2 Two-barred Crossbills! In Keskiniemi we walked a lot but found a bigger flock of Dunlins with 8 Sanderlings, 2 Little Stints and a Curlew Sandpiper. Also a young Lesser Black-backed Gull, a Sand Martin, a House Martin, Mistle Thrushes and a Song Thrush were found before we were again on the main road. Ulkokarvo was once again good! We had a special moment when every member of our team had found a new different bird in same time! A Peregrine, a Lapwing, Ruffs and Smews weren’t the only new species but also a Common Tern and amazingly the first Grebe we found was a Red-necked Grebe even though there were also 200 Great Crested Grebes – and they were both new species! The last species was found in Potinlahti when we found a young Shelduck. After all we had seen 95 species and came 4th in the race. Our cottage-mates came 5th with one less species. After the results we drove back to Pöllä where we had sauna and chatted for long time.

On the 13th day We had just a short stop in Ulkokarvo were mostly the same birds were seen, but also a Spotted Redshank, Goshawk, Little Gulls and some Greylag Geese. Of course a Jay flew over the road before the harbour. Pirkka decided to drive back home but rest of us continued to Liminka-bay. In Liminka we saw 2 Collared Doves and a Nutcracker before we drove to Lumijoki Pitkänokka. There we walked for some time in a shore, but the water-level was too high. So we saw only 2 White-tailed Eagles, a Peregrine, a Merlin, a Little Stint, 2 Spotted Redshanks, Bean Geese and a leucistic Pintail. Soon we said goodbyes to our friends from Oulu and continued with jassi, potu and andy to Siikajoki Tauvo bird-station.

In Tauvo we talked for some time with Sami Timonen who the ringer there before we decided to go to walk around Ulkonokka. We counted all the birds there and best ones were 23 Mute Swans, 6 Sanderlings, 4 Bar-tailed Godwits, a Lapland Bunting and a Snow Bunting. We were back in the station when the sun was setting and a Pygmy Owl tape was already playing. At night we managed to catch 5 Tengmalm’s Owl.

On the 14th day morning we caught 2 Pygmy Owls, a Rustic Bunting, a Redstart, a Brambling, a Chaffinch, a Tree Pipit and some more common birds like thrushes and Red Buntings and saw a Peregrine, a Grey Heron, a Tree-toed Woodpecker, a Common Buzzard and a Marsh Harrier on migration. But the came a deep mist and birds stopped moving, only a Willow Warbler was still singing, some Black Grouses calling and a Crested Tit seen.
So soon we had to start our long way to south-east. We still had a short stop in Raahe Yrjänä but didn’t find anything better this time. In Juva potu and jassi continued to home and together with andy we drove until Helsinki from where I still continued to Kirkkonummi to my parents where I was finally at 10 p.m.

To Foula

The rest of the month was spent in Great Britain and mostly in Foula, a remote island in Shetland. There we were birding together with 4 British friends for 2 weeks. The whole trip-report can be read here: Foula trip: 15th of September to 5th of October 2009. (For example a Veery, a Buff-bellied Pipit, a Pechora Pipit, a Taiga Flycatcher, Arctic Redpolls, a Short-toed Lark, a King Eider and so on were seen.)

On the 1st of August I went to listen to young Long-eared Owls, a Water Rail and a Corn Crake that were still calling. In the morning we left to Lappeenranta to shopping but on the way we birded in Joutseno. In Perä-Ahola we saw a couple of honey Buzzards and Red-backed shrikes, in Kotasaari a young Black-tailed Godwit and some common waders and in Saikkola we twitched a 2nd c-y Pallid Harrier. In Askola we didn’t see anything special so the rest of the day we were shopping and went to movies. On the 2nd day we got a phone call from Rolf Mortensen that there was a young cuckoo in his summer cottage. So we drove right away to Kesälahti Ruokkee and photographed this bird for several hours. White Wagtails were carrying food for this hungry “baby” all the time. Other birds seen were a family of 3 Black Woodpeckers.
In next couple of days I visited Siikalahti but only 2 Dunlins and 15 Ruffs were seen.

On the 5th of August we had a couple of days holiday and we drove to Helsinki to Madonna concert which was on Thursday evening. On Friday Hanna had to travel back to Parikkala to work but I was able to do some birding. On the 7th day I visited in Laajalahti, Suomenoja and Saltfjärden and saw a Little Stint, a Garganey, 120 Gadwalls, 31 Moorhens and heard a Reed Warbler and so on. On the 8th day I woke up early and drove to Hanko where I spent the whole morning in Vedagrundet. It was very quiet but a Red-throated Diver, a Black Guillemot, 9 White-tailed Eagles, a couple of Velvet Scoter and an Arctic Skua were seen. With a couple of friends we continued to Långören where we managed to find a Pied Wagtail that had been around the whole summer. Then I still visited in Täktbukten, Högholmen and Svanvik but in the evening I drove to Siuntio where I managed to hear a Kingfisher in Sjundby. On the next day I drove back to Parikkala.

On the 10th day after work I drove to Kitee Hatunvaara to twitch a Short-toed Eagle. After several hours searching I managed to find it perched on a top of a dead tree about 2 kilometres away in the middle of the forest. Most of the other twitchers had given up already but they weren’t too far so they came back and also saw it.

On the 11th day I saw a White-tailed Eagle in Siikalahti and surprisingly 2 different Blyth’s Reed Warblers in Kirkonkylä. On the 13th I heard a Red-breasted Flycatcher in Siikalahti.

Estonian Open

On the 14th day we left to Estonia with Sampsa Cairenius, Erkki Valsta and Miika Suojarinne. This was the third year I was going to Estonian Open bird-race. We didn’t see anything interesting on the way but in Tallinn we drove to Paljassaare where we saw a Shelduck, Gadwalls, Red-breasted Mergansers, Bar-tailed Godwits, Grey Plovers, a Knot, a Slavonian Grebe and a Goshawk. In Stroomirand we still saw a couple of Whimbrels but then we had to continue to Paldiski B&B to sleep.

The race started at 3 a.m. but we started then with breakfast. Soon we headed to forests and managed to find a Pygmy Owl, a Tawny Owl, 2 Nightjars and a Woodcock. When the sun was rising we still had Redwings and on one field we saw 4 Wood Larks.
In Vihterpalu we saw an Osprey, a flock of migrating Shovelers, a Snipe, a flock of 9 migrating Barnacle Goose and a Turtle Dove. By the river we heard a Marsh Tit, a Black woodpecker and nearby in a bog-area we found a flock of Meadow Pipits, saw a Nutcracker and heard a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.

In Keiku we saw a Hen Harrier and on the sea a young Little Gull. On the bushes there were huge flock of passerines and all Sylvia warblers including a Barred Warbler, an Icterine Warbler, a couple of Wood Warblers, Coal Tits and a Common Rosefinch were found. Next we continued to Ristna for sea watching and Red-throated Divers, Black-throated Divers, 6 Pintails, Red-breasted Grebes and in next hour also 3 Greylag Geese, 150 Common Scoters, 280 Oystercatchers, some Velvet Scoters, a couple of Scaups, 25 Knots, 15 Bar-tailed Godwits, 55 Grey Plovers, a Little Stint, 3 Arctic Skuas and so on were seen. On the next shore we found a Long-tailed Duck, 2 Arctic Terns, Curlew Sandpipers and in Alliklepa we heard a Jay and found a Temminck’s Stint, first White-tailed Eagles and a Hazel Hen.

In Harju-Risti we saw another flock of Greylag Geese, 10 White-tailed Eagles, a Kestrel, a Hobby, a young Red-footed Falcon that had been found a couple of days earlier, 2 Black Redstarts and in Kömmaste we saw an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull on the field. In Vasalemma we headed to Padide sewage-water pools and found 2 Moorhen and 2 Slavonian Grebes. Sampsa saw a Black Stork and Erkki a Thrush Nightingale too but others missed them. But in Laoküla we luckily found a male Montagu’s Harrier. In Koogajarv we found Gadwalls, Pochards, Caspian Terns and Coots before we headed to Tallinn and to Paljassaare. We were almost out of time but still we managed to find 4 Shelducks, Red-breasted Mergansers, Starlings and still drive to the bird-tower and find a Golden Plover that was flying around and calling, a singing Sedge Warbler, several calling Water Rails and 2 minutes before the end of rally a couple of calling Bearded Reedlings.

After all we managed to find 145 species in 15 hours and we came 2nd. The winners had the same number of species but they had more that kind of species that none of other teams had found. Anyway we were very happy to our result!

On the 16th of August after the breakfast we headed to Loksa Nömmeveski. On the way we saw the first bird that we had missed in a race – a Fieldfare! By the river we tried to locate a Grey Wagtail that had been breeding there. Right away we found a Kingfisher and a little bit later a Wren. After an hour we finally found a Grey Wagtail too.
Then we continued back to the coast. In Kuuksalu Valkla we saw 5 Greylag Geese, but soon we parked in Kaberneeme. A Pied Flycatcher, Marsh Tits, Long-tailed Tits and many other passerines were found immediately. On the sea we saw 2 Little Terns and from the island nearby we found 2 Sanderlings.
Pretty soon we had to start our way towards Tallinn. In Maardujarv we twitched a Great White Egret and saw also a Goshawk. But pretty soon we had to drive to the ferry-harbour. After all we had seen 160 species in Estonia in a couple of days!

When we were back in Helsinki we dropped Erkki to his home and continued to Etu-Viikki to twitch a Red-breasted Goose that was there in a big flock of local Barnacle Geese. It was already getting dark but we managed to find the goose pretty easily. We were very tired but still we managed to drive back home.

During the week I visited Siikalahti every day but only better birds were found on the 21st day when I counted 160 Cranes, 410 Coots, and 250 Teals. In the evening I saw briefly a big dark eagle that I couldn’t identify. On the 23rd of August I went to birding by bike. In Ristimäki I found a huge flock of passerines where were a late Icterine Warbler and lots of Sylvia warblers. A White-backed Woodpecker was drumming and 4 Goldfinches flew over me. In Joukio I found a Red-backed Shrike and in Lahdensuo a Hen Harrier and a Common Rosefinch. In Siikalahti I was walking towards the tower when I saw a gorgeous Greater Spotted Eagle flying low towards the tower. It must have been the eagle I saw a day earlier. Also an adult White-tailed Eagle was seen, a young Water Rail was calling and on the way back home in Härskiinmutka I saw 2 Little Gulls and in our back-yard I saw a Pied Flycatcher. Altogether 86 species were seen in 6 hours!

On the 25th day Hanna was in Inkoo Galleria Karaija opening her own bird-art Gallery, but I was at work. During my lunch-hour I saw again the same Greater Spotted Eagle in Siikalahti. Also 2 young Hen Harriers were seen. In the afternoon I drove to Joutseno Konnunsuo to twitch a Siberian Stonechat. It was a good new South-Karelia tick!

On the last days of August I was still birding every day. In the 28th day I saw a Ringed Plover in Lahdensuo, a White-backed Woodpecker in Argusjärvi, 100 Yellow Wagtails in Tyrjä, 2 Red-throated Pipits (250th year-tick) and a young Wood Lark in Saari Pohjasuo and 2 young Little Gulls in Tarassiinlahti. In the evening we went to sauna to Tarvaslampi and tried to catch some owls too. We were lucky to catch a Pygmy Owl after 20 minutes trying!

On the 29th day I participated to a Decathlon with some friends of mine. Luckily I found a Nuthatch from while sporting. On the 31st day I still saw about 20 Canada Geese and 2 Barnacle Geese in Simpelejärvi. The weather was already very much like in autumn and on the next day it was already autumn…

In July I was birding almost every day, but as usually in mid summer mostly I had pretty boring trips. Mostly I was birding at night but almost every day I went to Siikalahti too. On the 1st of July we were birding together with Dani and Albert Burgas. First we had a short stop in Siikalahti where a Spotted Crake and a Water Rail were heard and a Short-eared Owl seen. Then went to listen and see Great Snipes to Kullinsuo. Of course Corn Crakes were nice too for Catalans. Also another Short-eared Owl was seen.
Then we headed to Poutala where my friend had seen an interesting bird a couple of nights before and there it was again – a Great Grey Owl was sitting on the border area. A great lifer to Albert! After some time we continued and heard some Blyth’s Reed Warblers and much more Corn Crakes. Also plenty of Woodcocks were seen, funniest bird was perched on the roof of a barn. A Nightjar was seen in Sounio and a Quail was heard in Koitsanlahti before we continued to Rautjärvi Lahnanen. After 2 hours searching we managed to see a booted Warbler very briefly. But Dani and Albert saw it well enough to get a lifer!

Still on the 4th of July I saw a Great Snipe, but it wasn’t calling anymore. We also went to count the nests of Sand Martins to Sounio, because of Sand Martin was BirdLife project species this year. On the 5th day I still heard a couple of new Blyth’s Reed Warbler sand saw my first Red-backed Shrikes of the year in Parikkala. What a bad summer this was for many species! With Pekka Punnonen we made a tour in Saari but only a Hen Harrier was seen and a couple of Golden Orioles heard. I also ringed a couple of young Lapwings.

On the 6th day I saw a Wryneck in our backyard and at night I headed to Sulkava to identify 2 different strange locustella warblers. Another one was just a normal River Warbler but even though the second one was also a River Warbler, it was singing all wrong! Strange River Warbler -recording While I was driving back I saw a couple of Elks, a Black Grouse and a couple of Nightjars.

On the 9th day I saw a couple of Grey Herons in Siikalahti and a Hen Harrier in Kullinsuo. I laso ringed a couple of more Lapwings and in Lahdensuo I saw a couple of Whimbrels. On the 11th day we had a short night-trip to Koitsanlahti where a Quail was still calling and a Red-backed Shrike was making a couple of Thrush Nightingales angry.

On the 12th day I started to visit Siikalahti at least a couple of times during the day because of it was the best time to see adult waders. On my best visits I saw 102 Lapwings, 30 Wood Sandpipers, 17 Ruffs, 3 Dunlins, 3 Temminck’s Stints. 2 Whimbrels, 10 Greenshanks, 2 Green Sandpipers and 2 Spotted Redshanks. But of course most of the visits were really boring. After the mid July I also made several night-trips because of I hadn’t really done any during that time of year before – and it was really easy to realize why I haven’t. A Nightjar was still singing for a couple of days but then it went silent. A River Warbler was singing in 16th and a Grasshopper Warbler from 17th to 19th day and there were several families of Long-eared owls around Siikalahti, but nothing better was found. Otherwise only a Garganey, a Goldfinch and just some normal bird for the season were seen.

On Friday 24th of July I drove through the whole country west to Kristiinankaupunki. I parked to Kiili harbour where after some waiting a boat with driver and 2 happy twitchers arrived at the jetty. We just changed places and soon were on the way to small island of Domarkobban. Toni Vilkki was driving the boat and a Black Guillemot was seen on the way. Soon we were on the rocky shore of Domarkobban and after just some seconds I found the bird that we were twitching – a Lesser Sand Plover! This 1st ever Lesser Sand Plover for Finland had been found a day before and there had been lots of twitchers all the time coming and thanks to local birders they had made it possible for every single birder to visit the island and see the bird! Good for the on Sunday the bird had disappeared.
In the evening it started to rain very hard but I decided to go to visit all bird towers of Kristiinankaupunki. In Siipyy I saw a couple of Arctic Skuas and huge numbers of Cormorants and I am pretty sure I managed to see the Lesser Sand Plover standing on a rock on the shore of Domarkobban – for sure it could have been identifies in better weather in that place.
At night I drove to Rauma to my friend Juha Honkanen. And on the next day we were in Sonisphere festivals where for example Linkin Park and Metallica were playing!

On Sunday I was birding in Pori. Already on the way to Yyteri I saw 2 Collared Doves and a Nutcracker. From the parking place I found a Pygmy Owl. And from the tower could just see that the water was too high to see anything. So I decided to go to walk and try to find where the waders were. And I managed to found a Ruddy Shelduck that had been there for some time but was claimed to disappear just a day before, 8 Curlew Sandpipers, 2 Grey Plovers, a Bar-tailed Godwit, 33 Grey Herons, 35 Dunlins, altogether 88 Shelducks and some other nice birds.
During the day I still visited Kirrinsanta where I saw a flock of 36 Caspian Terns, walked a bit in Yyteri sand-beaches and checked Kaarluoto bird-tower before I had start a long way back home.

The 1st week of June went in Kuusamo where I was preparing to a bird race. The weather was very bad, windy and cold! Unfortunately my preparations weren’t very successful. On the 1st day we went to Oulanka together with Jukka Salokangas and found only a Willow Grouse, a Rough-legged Buzzard, a Kestrel, a Merlin, a Wryneck, a Dipper and then a Ural Owl that was flying far in Russian side of the border. On the way back to Ruka we saw a Jackdaw in Juuma.
On the 2nd days night we were checking many different small lakes east from Kuusamo with Jaakko Aarniala, but found only a couple of Garganeys, 2 Shovelers, Willow Grouses, a Rustic Bunting, a Starling and then near the city we found Tree Sparrows.

On the 3rd of June we had gone to check some places for a Bluethroat and were about 40km north from Kuusamo when I checked from internet by my phone if there were anything seen in Finland and realized that my brother Pirkka had found a Great Northern Diver in Kemijärvi – only 100km from us! The problem was that Jaakko wasn’t very interested to stop preparations so I drove him to Kuusamo where he had planned to bike around whole morning before I could start my way to Kemijärvi.
After all I managed to get to Kemijärvi about 2 a.m. and the bird was there waiting on Pirkkas scope. Unfortunately it was very far and it was sleeping, so it was hardly possible to identify. So we tried to get closer from the other side of the bay but it seemed to be impossible. Luckily Pirkka had a permit to go inside a big factory-area and from there we managed to see this bird much better, but it was still just sleeping.
I decided to drive back to Kuusamo so I could do my planned preparations and after a half an hour I got a call from Pirkka and he told that the diver was gone! I still had time to check the planned places but found only a Jack Snipe and some Red-necked Phalaropes. After I had picked up Jaakko we still saw a Rook, a couple of Temminck’s Stints and Common Scoters and a Great Crested Grebe nears the city.

On the 4th day ”potu” Suojarinne was also visiting in Kuusamo so we went together to Valtavaara where we heard some Red-flanked Bluetails, Wrens, Chiffchaffs and saw Siberian Jays. In Ruka we saw a Grey Wagtail but that’s it. We were in Konttainen parking place and again listening to one Bluetail when we got a message about a Lesser Spotted Eagle that was coming straight towards us. We and also the rest of my rally-team (except Jukka) drove to Virkkula hill to wait for it to come. And after some waiting we did find a good looking eagle, but it never came close. We just saw that the shape was good and then very pale coverts. Later in the evening we heard that there had been possibly 2 eagles – first a Lesser Spotted Eagle and then this eagle that we had been seen, which had been photographed from another place and it seemed to be a Eastern Imperial Eagle! Only after a couple of days I also saw the pictures of this bird and it never was a Lesser Spotted Eagle! But after all it seems that it has probably been a pale half-fulvescens Greater Spotted Eagle. That would fit perfectly to that what we saw, even though we saw it really far. But let’s see what a rarity committee says…

But on 5th day the rally started at 9 a.m. Our team was me, Jaakko Aarniala, Andreas Lindén, Jukkas Salokangas and Vesa Jouhki. The weather was really horrible! The wind was very hard and it was SNOWING! After twenty minutes in Valtavaara we had 3 species: a Willow Warbler, a Chaffinch and a Brambling – what a disaster start! In Konttainen we heard a Red-flanked Bluetail and then we managed to find a Jay and a Ruff before we drove to Ruka to see a Grey Wagtail. When we continued only 3 of us saw a Honey Buzzard so we couldn’t count that. In Vuotunki we saw Bean Geese, Red-necked Phalaropes and after that a Rough-legged Buzzard and so on. After a Lesser Whitethroat and a Blackbird we continued to Kuntivaara which had been a good place for raptors.
First we ticked a Little Bunting and a Wren and then with some time we managed to find White-tailed Eagles, a Golden Eagle, 2 Black Kites and a Sparrowhawk. Then we headed to city where we saw a Great Crested Grebe, good surprises a Hobby and a Peregrine and also Common Scoters and from rubbish tip we found a Starling. In the evening it was snowing very heavily so we weren’t very lucky and we got only some well prepared species like a Goshawk, an Osprey, Siberian Tits and so on. Later we were having even worse times and had only a Slavonian Grebe (surprisingly in 2 places) and at night from Oulanka we had only a Woodcock.
During the early morning we found Siberian Jays, a Great Grey Shrike and a Tengmalm’s Owl and once we were back near the city we got a Willow Grouse and heard a Garden Warbler singing even though it was snowing very hard!
Finally in morning everything started to go better. When we were in our traditional places in south the weather changed better for an hour which was enough. We go a Three-toed Woodpecker, a Treecreeper, a very good Red-breasted Flycatcher, a Wryneck, Red-throated Divers, a Jack Snipe, Broad-billed Sandpipers and a Golden Plover. Then we headed to city again and after all gad our last species a Temminck’s Stint only 2 minutes before the end of the rally.

After all we had only 119 species even though during the preparation week we had found 144 species. Anyway it was enough to come 2nd in the race. The winner team had 127 species so we weren’t even close.

On the 7th of June I had a short visit in Konttainen but it was still too windy to record a Red-flanked Bluetail. So I continued to Vuotunki where I recorded a Rustic Bunting that we hadn’t found in a race and then continued to Kuntivaara to record a Little Bunting. After that I started my very long way to south. In Hyrynsalmi I decided to make only one stop and I was extremely lucky to find a Grey Wagtail in Ukkohalla – a new self-found bird! After a very long drive I was in Kirkkonummi in my parents’ home at late night.

On the 8th of June I was sleeping very late. In the afternoon I went to birding and visited Espoo Laajalahti to see some waders and hear a Reed Warbler and also Finno where I saw once again lots of Gadwalls and Moorhen but also a hybrid male between Tufted Duck and Pochard and heard a Marsh Warbler.

On the 9th of June we left with Hanna and 9 other birders to Spitsbergen. The tripreport can we read here: Spitsbergen: 9th to 15th og June 2009. (For example Ivory Gulls, a Sabine’s Gull, Grey Phalaropes, Little Auks, a Green-winged Teal and Polar Bears, Walruses and Arctic Foxes.)

On the 16th of June we were back from Spitsbergen. Hanna had to continue back to Parikkala to work but I still had 5 days holiday left. There was a White’s Thrush found and finally identified only a night before and there were hundreds of twitchers now in Kalajoki. I left from Helsinki about 1 a.m. and after a long drive I was in Kalajoki Holmanperä about at 6.30 a.m. There was nobody else around but after 10 minutes I heard a strange tuneless whistling from the forest – there it was a White’s Thrush! The bird was moving all the time and never came closer and then I saw it flying over the forest and that’s it.

I was very tired when I met some birders that had been sleeping somewhere nearby. Soon I drove to Vihaspauha parking place where I saw some Arctic Skuas and Little Terns before started to sleep in my car. I woke up in the afternoon and went to eat and shopping. On the way I saw a Stock Dove. And then went to sleep again. I woke up at 10 p.m. and slowly went again to Holmanperä where were now about 50 twitchers. I was just going to talk with some friends when I heard a White’s Thrush again! Most of birders didn’t hear it but soon it started again. After some hours listening and recording I went to a gas-station nearby to eat and there I met some friends from Oulu. It was about 3 a.m. when I went once more to record this thrush and now there were again nobody else. So I finally managed to get really good recordings without anybody talking on the background. White’s Thrush singing (mp3, 721kb, 45sec).

Finally I decided to leave Kalajoki but I had no idea where to go next? I had planned to go to Oulu but I had forgotten that my brother Riku and his family were just going to leave to Rhodes on next day. So I decided to drive home. There were plenty of birds waiting to be found in Parikkala. In the beginning I still saw some Short-eared Owls but later in the mid-Finland nothing. In Ruokolahti I had to sleep for a cople of hours before I continued to home.

On the 18th of June I had been resting enough so at night I went to twitch lekking Great Snipes in Kullinsuo. At least 2 birds were heard, but they were too far to see or record. A Quail wasn’t found in Koitsanlahti but a Blyth’s Reed Warbler was singing. Then I got a message that there were young Tawny Owls in Ristimäki. Thanks to Matti Lötjönen I saw and recorded these funny small owls that unfortunately were already flying, I had all ringing equipments with me.

On the 19th day I went to Siikalahti by bike and I was just biking towards the dam-road tower when I saw a familiar-looking bird perched on a tree on the northern side. A Greater Spotted Eagle was back again! The same bird had been perched on the same tree so many times in 2 last summers too. This bird was now possible to identify as a 4 c-y also from the plumage.

On mid-summer day on the 20th of June we had a short trip with Hanna. We went to listen to Great Snipes and now also saw 3 birds lekking. Of course we went to see the Tawny Owls too.

On the 21st of June we did a 42 kilometres biking-trip with Hannas brother Miika. We started at midnight and soon we heard the Tawny Owls and some Blyth’s Reed Warblers. On the way to Kolmikanta we heard many Corn Crakes and also a Nightjar and a family of Black Grouses. But unfortunately then it started to rain and even though we were for an hour in Kullinsuo we didn’t hear or see Great Snipes. Then we continued to Siikalahti and on the way we heard a Chiffchaff, a Wren, a Crested Tit and other common morning singers. In Sounio we counted all the Sand Martin nests and saw a Wheatear before continuing to dam-road. A Bittern was heard and saw and Water Rail and Great Reed Warbler heard and a flock of 32 Common Crossbills seen, but even though we visited the main tower, nothing interesting was found. After all we saw 82 species during the trip.

Next night we had a short trip with Hanna and Mikko Ala-Kojola. Great Snipes and Tawny Owls were seen and heard, but then only Water Rails, Blyth’s Reed Warblers and Nightjars. Anyway they were all good for a birder from Oulu.

On 23rd day Pekka Punnonen managed to talk me to Lappeenranta to twitch an Arctic Warbler. It was good because of this bird was very interesting! It was singing actively but also calling a lot. It had several strange calls but it also was drumming with its wings when it was flying. It didn’t open its wing completely but was hitting its wings against sides. But soon we had to drive back to Parikkala where we went to a night-trip with Hanna, Mikko and Daniel Burgas. Again Great Snipes and Tawny Owls were seen and heard, but also Short- and Long-eared Owls and lots of Corn Crakes and Blyth’s Reed Warblers, a Spotted Crake, a Nightjar and a Grasshopper Warbler were heard.

On the 25th of June I found a nest of Wryneck and then my friend ”kile” Huotilainen called me that there was a tiny young Whooper Swan on the middle of his field. I went to catch this cute animal and decided to carry it to Tiviänlampi where a Whooper Swan was nesting. Of course there were also 3 pairs in Siikalahti but I thought that in Tiviänlampi it’d be easier to find a family. After a couple of days we saw a Whooper Swan family there so I think everything turned good.
In the evening I heard that there was a Booted Warbler found in Rautjärvi Lahnanen. So I drove there immediately but the bird was quiet. But on the next morning I went there again at 6.30 a.m. and the bird was singing beautifully. Also a White-backed Woodpecker was seen.
In the evening I went once more to try if the Great Snipes would be closer but only a single bird was heard and it was far. Then I continued to Lappeenranta Joutseno where 3 Quails were twitched in Ravattila and a Turtle Dove in Perä-Ahola. I also found 2 Ural Owls, probably young birds and lots of Corn Crakes but nothing really interesting.

On the 29th we were again on a night-trip with Hanna but we found only a Grasshopper Warbler in Koitsanlahti. In Kullinsuo we heard the Great Snipes and saw a couple of Short-eared Owls. Otherwise it was again really quiet. Only a Great Reed Warbler was heard in Siikalahti. This was for sure the worst ever June for night singers in Finland!

During the last days of June it was raining again.

On the 1st of May we were birding in Sari but only a White-tailed Eagle and a Bewick’s Swan were seen. There were more than 800 Teal in Lammitaus so we couldn’t locate a Green-winged Teal even though it was still there.

On my birthday I went to a short nightsinger trip and heard a Ural Owl, 2 Long-eared Owls, 4 Spotted Crakes and 10 Water Rails. In morning we went to see a Grey Wagtail to Oronmylly and then went to Siikalahti were only a Red-throated Diver, a Rough-legged Buzzard, some Whimbrels and a flock of 11 Jays were seen. Then we decided to leave to Virolahti to stay the rest of the weekend. On the afternoon we were in Kurkela where we managed to see only one bigger raptor but luckily it was a Greater Spotted Eagle! In Lintulahti we saw some Spotted Redshanks, a couple of Caspian Terns, Arctic Terns, Pied Flycatchers and so on and in Hurppu we saw Eiders and Red-necked Grebes. We put a tent up to Leerviikki and at night we heard some migrating flocks of Common Scoters, Long-tailed Ducks and a Bewick’s Swan.

On the 3rd of May we were the whole morning in Hurppu where we saw 56 Bewick’s Swans and 249 swans that were too far to identify, 3195 geese, 2158 of them were already Barnacles, at least 4000 Common Scoters, 128 Black-throated Divers, 736 Oystercatchers, 7 Whimbrels, a Bar-tailed Godwit and 5 White-tailed Eagles. On the way back home we stopped in Ylämaa Väkevänjärvi where was a flock of 10 Steller’s Eiders, a White Stork and a Black Kite! On Joutseno Konnunsuo we counted still more than 4000 grey geese (Bean and White-fronted) and in Imatra Liete we twitched a Moorhen and in Rautjärvi Miettilä we saw a female Capercaillie. Pretty good trip we had!

On the 4th day I had a good lunch hour as I saw 3 White Storks and a Black Kite in Siikalahti. Also the first Sand Martin of the year was seen. On the next night I heard a Jack Snipe and on the 6th day I saw a Hawfinch in Tarvaslampi and a Temminck’s Stint and a Little Ringed Plover in Siikalahti.

On the 7th day ”potu” alias Miika Suojarinne came to Parikkala and right away we managed to twitch a Kingfisher in Sammallampi. A couple of Sedge Warblers had arrived there too. On a short night-trip we heard a Ural Owl, a Long-eared Owl, 2 Spotted Crakes and 10 Water Rails. On the 8th day we were birding in Saari again and found 2 Pink-footed Geese in Rautalahti, an Ortolan Bunting and 40 Lapland Buntings in Akanvaara Tetrisuo and a Ringed Plover in Lammintaus.

On the 9th day we had a traditional bird tower competition again. In 8 hours we managed to see 86 species but nothing really special. The best birds were 4 Greylag Geese, a flock of 22 Bewick’s Swans and a Dunlin. 2512 geese were seen altogether. Nothing really was migrating and sun was shining too bright! In the afternoon we went to twitch a Black-tailed Godwit in Tarassiinlahti and in the evening we were extremely lucky to see a 2 c-y Montagu’s Harrier migrating from our back-yard! On the 10th day we found 2 Wrynecks and 2 migrating White Storks but soon we were really too tired and we had to go to rest.

On the 11th day maybe the same 2 White Storks were back again. Now they were in Tetrisuo fields where they stayed whole day and on the next night they were sleeping on the top of electric poles. During a couple of days the year-ticks were a Wood Warbler, a Lesser Whitethroat and a Thrush Nightingale. On th13th day we were checking the last owl nest boxes and saw a female Capercaillie and also went to check that everything was ok with our only breeding Tengmalm’s Owl.

On the 15th I drove again to Virolahti. On the way I stopped in Konnunsuo where I found 7 Pink-footed Geese and a Short-eared Owl. In Virolahti I found “potu” and together we continued to the sea and we saw a Turnstone in Leerviikki and a Knot in Hurppu.

On the 16th day we woke up at 3 a.m. heard a couple of Thrush Nightingales and Water Rails and drove to Lakakallio where we started counting the arctic migration at 4.15 a.m. During the next 8 hours we saw 5 Bewick’s Swans, 15419 geese, mostly grey geese – a Pink-Footed Geese with them, 274 divers, 3 Black Kites, 30 Whimbrels, a Swift, a Red-backed Shrike and 2 Wood Larks that were singing the whole day. In the afternoon we saw only about 3000 Barnacle Geese but at least 50 000 arctic ducks (Common Scoters and Long-tailed Ducks). A Bluethroat was singing a couple of seconds and an Arctic Skua migrated. At night a Nightjar was singing.

On the 17th day we started again at 4.15. and during the next 7 hours we saw 32680 geese, mostly Barnacles – 20696. The best bird was a Lesser White-fronted Goose that only I saw migrating in a flock of 1300 Barnacles. I was very lucky to find the bird right when it was very close, but it was impossible to tell to the rest of birders where it exactly was. Also 51 Scaups, 266 divers, 2 Short-eared Owls, a Spotted Flycatcher and so on were seen. Same time Hanna was guiding a Dutch group there in Virolahti and they were lucky to see a family of 4 Lesser White-fronted Geese migrating in a flock of Barnacles.

On the way home I stopped in Vakevänjärvi where I saw 2 Arctic Terns (rare in South Karelia), a Honey Buzzard and a Bittern. In Lappeenranta Ihalainen I twitched an Icterine Warbler. And even though I was extremely tired at home I still went to back-yard to watch evening-migration and saw more than 7000 Common Scoters and Long-tailed Ducks and an Arctic Skua.

On the 18th day Hanna was back from North Karelia with her group and in the afternoon we went to ring some Ural Owls. The group had one of the most memorable experiences as we were really targets for an angry Ural Owl female. Luckily we had good helmets with Hanna so nobody got hurt and 3 chicks were ringed soon. Then we went to see a Tengmalm’s Owl and checked that there were now 6 chicks but 2 of them were much bigger than 4 really small ones. With Hanna’s brother Miika I still went to ring another Ural Owl’s chicks. This female wasn’t that aggressive but it was nice to hear a male calling too.

On the 19th day I heard already 10 Thrush Nightingales in Siikalahti and on the 20th day I saw a Dunlin and a Redshank and on 21st the next year-tick was a Common Rosefinch.

On the 22nd day I started a long way to Oulu. In Juva I picked up “potu” and the next stop was made in Siikalatva Piippola Kortteinen where 2 Black Terns were found. In Oulu we ticked a Terek Sandpiper in 5 minutes before we went to see my brother Rikus family where we also stayed at night. After an hour or so we went to pick up Antti Vierimaa and continued to Sanginjoki to check a Pygmy Owl nest. In Pyykösjärvi we still found a Pochard and luckily saw a flying Glauscous Gull. At 11.10 p.m. we still picked up Andreas Lindén from the railway-station and went to sleep.

On the 23rd day we woke up at 7 a.m. and drove to Kiviniemi where a Common Whitethroat was heard and then went to pick up Antti and continued to Toppila where a Black Redstart and a Blackcap were found easily. In jätäri we saw 2 Turnstones and a Cormorant and heard several Common Rosefinches. In Huutilampi we weren’t lucky to see a Moorhen but then our time was over – we had been lucky on our short preparation for the 24 hour bird-race that was going to start.

We went to start the race to Sanginjoki where not only a Pygmy Owl but also Hazel Hens, a Black Woodpecker, Common Crossbills, a Crested Tit, Treecreepers and 3 Waxwings were found. We still couldn’t find a Moorhen but a Gadwall and a Pochard were found in Pyykösjärvi, a Black Redstart, a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and a Blackcap in Toppila and a Cormorant and Turnstones in jätäri. Also a Terek Sanpiper was found and a Pheasant and Stock Doves. In Kiviniemi we just missed a big rarity – a Bee-eater has just left south. We got the message while we were parking there! A Sparrowhawk, a Merlin, Little Terns, a Common Whitethroat and Starlings were seen. In Kempeleenlahti the best birds were 2 Bar-tailed Godwits, 2 Little Stints and a Broad-billed Sandpiper and in Teppola some Black-tailed Godwits and a Short-eared Owl.
We continued to Tyrnävä Murto where Ortolan Buntings were singing and 2 Whimbrels were heard and seen, Short-eared Owls were flying and a beautiful Dotterel was standing on a muddy field. In Liminka we got a Collared Dove and in Virkkula a White-tailed Eagle and Shelducks. In Lumijoki Letto we saw a falcon that was either Hobby or a Red-footed Falcon, but it landed too quickly and in Sannanlahti we saw a Caspian Tern.
It was already late so we continued to Siikajoki Tauvo where we walked for an hour and saw a Smew, 2 Slavonian Grebes, an Arctic Skua and a Bluethroat. The water level was very low, Tauvo was like a desert!
In Raahe dump we saw an Eagle Owl and then we continued south to Pyhäjoki where in Heinikarinlampi we heard a Spotted Crake, a Willow Grouse and several Green Sandpipers. The rest of the night we were trying to find something from the fields but we found only several Short-eared Owls. At 4 a.m. we drove to Elävisluoto were quite a few divers and arctic ducks including 2 Scaups and 2 Eiders and also 2 Razorbills were seen. A barnacle Goose was standing on a rocky island and also 2 Arctic Skuas were migrating. In Tankokari we heard a Garden Warbler and in Hanhikivi we saw a Red-necked Grebe.
Then we drove towards north again and saw a Mute Swan in Raahe Lapaluoto and a Buzzard and a Jay before we were in Siikajoki Säikänlahti where only some Bramblings were heard. In Sääri area we found Linnets, a Golden Plover, a Red-backed Shrike, 2 Bean Geese and a beautiful flock of 45 Knots. Also a Rough-legged Buzzard kind of buzzard was seen migrating but too far. In Lumijoki Varjakka area we finally heard a Wood Warbler and a Chiffchaff and also saw a male Three-toed Woodpecker. It was our last species number 156 and after all we came 3rd in the race. Pretty well done as 3 of us were living far from Oulu and Antti had been mostly away from Oulu whole spring.

With ”potu” we had a horrible drive back home, but luckily in Juva we managed to twitch a stunning male Montagu’s Harrier that had been found 10 minutes earlier. Finally I was back at home after being 40 hours awake!

On the 26th of May I saw 3 Dunlins, a Temminck’s Stint and heard a Great Reed Warbler in Siikalahti. On the 28th I heard an Icterine Warbler and a Corn Crake and heard and saw a Nightjar and on the 29th day I went to hear a River, Grasshopper and Blyth’s Reed Warblers and Golden Orioles as they had all arrived in a couple of days. I also heard now 2 Great Reed Warblers.

On the 29th day my holiday finally started. I drove directly through the whole country to Jalasjärvi to twitch a Blue-winged Teal. The bird had been just found again so I could tick this lifer easily from other twitchers scopes. Also a couple of Marsh Sandpipers had been found just a couple of hours before and I even saw them copulating. Other birds seen on this very good birdlike were 9 Red-necked Phalaropes, a Broad-billed Sandpiper, a Redshank, 2 Temminck’s Stints, a Ringed and a Little Ringed Plover, a Marsh Harrier, a Short-eared Owl and 4 Garganeys.
At night I drove until Kärsämäki Nurmesjärvi, on the way I saw some Short-eared Owls and an Eagle Owl. After some hours sleeping in my car I continued to Kuusamo where I checked a small pool in rubbish tip where a Little Ringed Plover and 2 Red-necked Phalaropes were found and then continued to a hut where the rest of my birdrace team: Jukka Salokangas, Andreas Lindén, Jaakko Aarniala and Vesa Jouhki were already. They had already been preparing to Kuusamo bird race for a couple days – Jukka even longer.

After a good sleep I started to prepare for the race but at night of 31st of May I really couldn’t find anything. At morning I twitched 2 Red-flanked Bluetails from Konttainen.

The month changed while preparing for a race where we had our victory from last year to defend.

On the 1st of April I tried to twitch a Black-throated Thrush again in Savonlinna, but the bird was gone. On the way back to Parikkala I saw a Nuthatch in Punkaharju Lusto. In Siikalahti and small open waters nearby I saw some Whooper Swans, Goldeneyes, Lapwings, Woodpigeons, Blackbirds, Common Buzzards and a Snow Bunting. On the next couple of days I saw also some Starlings and Skylarks and a couple of Canada Geese and twitched a Greylag Goose and 2 Nuthatches.

On the 4th day in Siikalahti I saw already 30 Lapwings, 7 Buzzard, 52 Woodpigeons, a Rook, a Goldfinch and a Reed Bunting. Also a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker was seen amongst the “common” White-backed Woodpeckers, a Grey-headed and a Black Woodpecker and several Great Spotted Woodpecker. In the afternoon I went to check some owl nest boxes and saw a young White-tailed Eagle migrating.

During the next few days it was colder again so almost all Lapwings and Woodpigeons were going back to south. It was pretty cold and everything still covered with snow. So on the 5th day I drove to Joutseno where in Konnunsuo were already more like spring. 2 flocks of Bean Geese, lots of Common and Rough-legged Buzzards, some Chaffinches and a couple of Stock Doves and Meadow Pipits. On the way back I saw still 2 Red-throated Divers in Imatra Vuoksi.

On the 7th day I saw 2 Nuthatches, I even got pretty good recordings. In the afternoon I drove to Ylämaa to twitch a Great White Egret. The bird was found standing on the ice with Whooper Swans. Also the 1st White Wagtail was seen and on the way back I saw some Black-headed Gulls. On the next afternoon I had pretty good time in Siikalahti where an Osprey, a Marsh Harrier, a Merlin, a Stock Dive, a Curlew and altogether 3 White-tailed and a Golden Eagle were seen. A Grey-headed Woodpecker and Black Grouses were calling too.

On the 9th day the best birds were a Cormorant and the 1st vulpinus Buzzard. A Flock of Mistle Thrushes, 500 Woodpigeons and 250 Lapwings were again flying south, and soon it started to snow very hard. So on the next day we decided to visit my grandmother in Mikkeli.

On the 11th day it was more like spring even though the weather was stilp retty poor. 68 Curlews were going straight to north. 45 Black-headed Gulls, 3 Lesser Black-backed and 2 Common Gulls, 40 Skylarks, a Wood Lark, 2 Song and 4 Mistle Thrushes, 24 Fieldfares, 10 Redwings, 25 Meadow Pipits, 100 Starlings, 500 Chaffinches and 25 Siskins were also seen. A flock of 15 Long-tailed Tits were moving towards east. On the small open water places Goldeneyes, Mallards, Goosanders and Coots didn’t hate too much space. Also a Couple of Canada and Bean Geese were swimming there.

On the 12th day I twitched a Shellduck in Imatra and on Konnunsuo there were already 550 Bean, 50 White-fronted and 6 pink-footed Geese. Also 6 Hen and 4 Marsh Harriers, 4 Merlins, a Peregrine, 10 Golden Plovers, a Green Sandpiper, some Linnets and Lapland Buntings and at least 5000 local Chaffinches were seen.

On the 13th of April I went to twitch. On the way I twitched a Mute Swan and saw an Oystercatcher in Imatra but then I continued to Pukkila Kantelejärvi where I easily saw a Green-winged Teal – my bird number 339 in Finland. The spring was further there so I stayed there longer and saw Pochards,, Tufted Ducks. Wigeons and Pintails. I continued to Orimattila Ruha to see geese but the biggest surprise weren´t the geese or Bewick’s Swans but that I found the same Green-winged Teal there! It had moved several kilometres exactly while I was changing the place. On the way back I saw a Wheatear and 2 Shelducks in Lappeenranta.

On the 14th day I saw my 1st Rough-legged Buzzards for the year in Parikkala. The species had been very common only 100 kilometres south for whole winter! 40 Wagtails were also migrating. On the next few days the open water areas were still very small but Teals, a Pochard and a Bittern arrived. On the 15th day I saw 8 Canada Geese, 2 Bean Geese, 3 Cormorants, 4 Snipes, 3 Goldfinches and so on in Siikalahti but then it started snowing again! So I went to check some owl nest boxes and found the first Ural Owl. In Rautjärvi Lahnanen I saw again 2 Shelducks, they were probably the same birds that had been flying around South Karelia for days.

During the next days the back-winter continued: On the 16th day I saw a Greylag Goose, on the 17th another Ural Owl was found, on the 18th a Tengmalm’s Owl was found, on the 19th we saw a Woodcock and on the 20th day a Bittern was walking on the ice in Siikalahti. On the 21st day 2 White-tailed Eagles, already 7 Marsh Harriers and a Rook were seen.

On the 22nd day 125 Curlews were migrating and 75 Bean Geese were flying around. 2 Rooks were on the field with a Whimbrel on a flock of Curlews. The open water areas were already full of common waterfowl but nothing better.

On the 23th of April I found a hybrid male of Mallard and Wigeon. Also the 1st Wigeon, and 2 Great Crested Grebes were seen, but the best bird was a beautiful male Pallid Harrier that I found in Siikalahti. In the afternoon I drove to Lappeenranta Vainikkala to twitch a flycatcher that had been there for days but only now it had been though to be something else than Pied… The bird had been found again just a minute before I got there and the bird sure was something special. As I’ve seen quite a few Semicollared Flycatchers on my trips I really thought this to be the 1st ever in Finland. Unfortunately the bird wasn’t caught during that evening and on the next morning it was gone. Maybe it stays as a mystery bird forever?

On the 24th day new birds in Parikkala were a Smew, a Pochard, 2 Bewick’s Swans, a Linnet, a Greenshank and a couple of Hen Harriers. In the evening also 3 Water Rails were heard. On the 25th day we were counting migration in Siikalahti. And it was really a good day! In 8 hours we saw altogether 5212 thrushes, 7369 finches, 1746 Woodpigeons, 93 Wagtails, 80 Whooper Swans, 420 Bean Geese, 7 Black-throated Divers, 2 Red-breasted Mergansers, 36 Rough-legged Buzzards, 201 Lapwings, 105 Curlews, 655 Black-headed Gulls, a Common Tern, 2 House Martins, 3 Tree Pipits and some local bird numbers were 2 Gadwalls, 102 Teals, 350 Mallards, 6 Pintails, 5 Shovelers and so on. In the evening I twitched a White Stork in Simpele.

On the next day still small open water areas were full of life: altogether more than 200 Goldeneyes and Teals, 128 Mallards, 31 Great Crested Grebes and Smews, a Common Sandpiper and a Chiffchaff were found. In Siikalahti the first couple of Slavonian Grebes, 2 Little Gulls, a Garganey, a White-tailed Eagle and a Common Tern were seen but I decided to go to see what birds I could found from the new open waters in Saari. Greenshanks, Shovelers and Pintails were found on every place; in Jyrkilä I found 2 Pink-footed Geese and lots of Teals. I decided to check all of them carefully. In Lammintaus I found 200 geese but also lots of Teals again. I was checking them for a second time when I found it – a Green-winged Teal! After an hour the 1st twitchers arrived – it was the 3rd ever in South Karelia.

During the next days I was able to go to see the 1st ever Grey Wagtail in Parikkala. The bird was singing actively so we decided to keep the place as a secret because of there might have been too many birders coming to see it as the season in Siikalahti was beginning.

On the 28th day I saw a Greylag Goose and 2 Garganeys in Lemmikonsalmi, already 14 Slavonian Grebes, 10 Ospreys, a Ruff, 2 Redshanks, a Hobby, 2 Swallows, a Rook and a Whinchat in Siikalahti. At night the 1st Spotted Crake, 5 Water Rails and a Long-eared Owl were heard.

On the 29th day I went to ring the Tengmalm’s Owl mother that had still 6 eggs on its nest. On the last day of April we went to Saari to twitch a Green-winged Teal as a lifer to Hanna. It was pretty difficult to find from a flock of 820 Teals! Also a Redshank, a Yellow Wagtail, a Spotted Redshank, 5 Wheatear, 5 Whinchats and altogether 400 geese were seen and a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker was heard. At night I heard 6 Water Rails, 2 Bitterns, 2 Long-eared Owls and a Ural Owl.

On the 1st of March we were still in Åland with my brother Pirkka, “potu” Suojarinne and Mikko Ala-Kojola. After an early breakfast we went together with several other rally-teams to Styrsingsudden. There was almost no migration at all, a couple of Eiders and 25 Black Guillemots were swimming on the open sea and better migrants were a couple of Scaups and a Razorbill. On the forest-road we heard a flock of Parrot Crossbills, Goldcrests and a singing Treecreeper. In Västerfjärdeni we saw a Wren and in Storby another one. In a harbour we saw a female Eider and also a Common Scoter. We were already on our way to Hammarudda when we got a message that there was a Moorhen found in Storby Postbryggan. While we turned around we saw a Jay but soon we were twitching a Moorhen. One day earlier it’d been a really good winter-tick. In Jomala Djurvik we saw a couple of Common Crossbill – a male was singing. In Hammarudda we saw some Black Guillemots and Re-breasted Mergansers and a Black-throated Diver.

We still went to Lemland Nåtö where we saw 15 Grey Herons, in Maarianhamina we saw an Arctic Redpoll in a flock of Redpolls and while we were waiting to get to the ferry we saw a migrating Common Buzzard. From the ferry we saw in harbour a couple of Grey Herons and a Black-headed Gull. We still were scanning the sea for a couple of hours from the ferry and saw 2 Common Scoters, 3 more Black-headed Gulls and a flock of 8 Velvet Scoters and 8 male and 7 female Steller’s Eiders!

During the next days I wasn’t very motivated to do any birding because of it was really still a winter in Parikkala. On the 3rd of March I saw 2 Herring Gulls and on the 6th some Mallards and a Goldeneye in Tyrjä. A White-backed Woodpecker was seen In Siikalahti and a Tawny Owl was heard in Melkoniemi at night. On the 8th day I saw a Goshawk migrating and a Great Grey Shrike again in Siikalahti. On the next day in Saari the best observation was a flock of 27 Waxwings. On the 13th I we heard an Eagle Owl in Simpele and during the next day I was playing the last ice-hockey tournament of the season and a couple of Whooper Swans were seen. In the evening I went to twitch an amazing flock of 8 Red-throated Divers to Imatra Vuoksi. Also 500 Herring Gulls and a Great Black-backed Gull was seen.

On the 15th of March I tried to see eagles in Tyrjä, but only better birds were a Common Crossbill and a Herring Gull. But in Siikalahti I managed to see an adult White-tailed Eagle migrating. In the evening we went to Vuoksi and saw the divers again and altogether 1250 Herring Gulls, 2 Great Black-backed Gulls and a probably intermedius Lesser Black-backed Gull. On the way back we managed to hear a couple of calls of a Great Grey Owl in old breeding place and also a couple of Tengmalm’s Owls. On the 16th I saw an eagle that was too far to identify in Siikalahti. It was probably a Golden Eagle. A Grey-headed Woodpecker was calling and a Black Woodpecker was seen. On the 18th day I saw an adult Golden Eagle migrating even though the weather was awful. Also a Goldfinch was migrating and in Tyrjä I saw a Dipper and some Whooper Swans here and there.

On the 21st day we drove to Kiljava to BirdLife weekend. On the way we stopped in Vuoksi and on the way we saw 2 Great Black-backed Gulls and common Buzzards. On the next day we stopped in Lahti Asemantaus where a Crested Lark was wintering still and in Vuoksi we saw 2 Great Black-backed Gulls and an early Pochard and so on.

On the 24th day I saw a beautiful “borringe” Common Buzzard. Also a Snow Bunting was seen and a Grey-headed Woodpecker was calling and White-backed Woodpecker was seen again in Siikalahti. On the next day I saw again a Golden Eagle but the weather was again really bad. On the 26th day only a Common Buzzard and some Whooper Swans were seen. In the afternoon I did a long bicycle trip, but saw almost nothing.

On the 28th day we had a traditional wilderness rally. We got a familiar area, but somehow all woodpeckers were missing! We couldn’t find any better woodpeckers. All our better observations were made in very early morning in dark: an Eagle Owl, a Tengmalm’s Owl, a Pygmy Owl and amazing 13 Hazel Hens were heard and 1 seen. 6 Black Grouses were lecking and later during the day only 2 Goshawks, 2 Common Buzzards and a Great Grey Shrike

On the 29th day I saw the first flock of 5 Lapwings, a Woodpigeon, a Skylark, a Fieldfare and an adult White-tailed Eagle migrating. A Grey-headed Woodpecker was calling and 3 Black Woodpeckers were fighting – of course now, not the day earlier.

On the 30th day I saw again an adult White-tailed Eagle, a Starling, a couple of Common Buzzards and on the last day of March I saw 20 Lapwings, 13 Common Buzzards, some Woodpigeons, a Skylark, a Starling, 3 Snow Buntings and a big surprise a young White-fronted Goose. The weather was still very cold, it was snowing but when the sun was shining it was really warming!