There were lots of Hawk Owls in Parikkala and during the month I went to see some of them almost every day. I tried to keep count how many there were as some of them were in very small area. Also some Great Grey Shrikes were hunting numerous voles and shrews on the same fields.

On a couple of visits to Imatra I saw a Canada Goose and a leucistic white Mallard on Vuoksi. In Parikkala Joukio there was an adult Whooper Swan wintering. It probably wasn’t ok but luckily the stream kept the place open even on the colder days.

I visited Melkoniemi Siberian Jays a couple of times and saw the 4 birds on every visit. On the best visit I saw also Black Grouses, 2 Hazel Hens and a Capercaillie too.

On Christmas eve we visited Hanna’s relatives and saw a Nuthatch and a Treecreeper on Hanna’s grandmother’s feeder in Särkisalmi.

On a Christmas day we did a winter-bird count with Mikko Ala-Kojola. There was no snow at all and it was raining a little bit but anyway we managed to see a normal number of birds. But we didn’t see any woodpeckers, Bullfinches or House Sparrows – but they all had been rare this winter. We saw altogether 13 Great, 42 Blue, 10 Willow, 1 Coal, 1 Crested and 4 Long-tailed Tits, 2 Treecreepers, 22 Tree Sparrows, 20 Green Finches, 17 Redpolls, 88 Yellowhammers, 33 Magpies, 2 Ravens, 34 Hooded Crows, 4 Jays, 21 Black Grouses, 1 Hazel Hen and 2 Hawk Owls.

On the Boxing day we tried to ring that Nuthatch in Särkisalmi, but we caught only too many tits. There were too many birds for one ringer and one mist-netter. Later we still went to twitch a Hawk Owl with Hanna’s sister and brother. The weather was bad again so we visited 8 owl-places without seeing a single owl. But when the rain stopped we checked started another round and finally found an owl in Joukio. We also saw a male White-backed Woodpecker and a Great Grey Shrike in Siikalahti, 3 Gold Finches in Tetrisuo, a family of 6 Whooper Swans in Lahdenkylä fields and a flock of 6 Goosanders in Pistonniemi – so it really felt like in March!

On the next day Paavo Rantanen found a Great White Egret in Imatra Vuoksi. I had to go to twitch it as it was a year-tick – I had never seen one in winter either. Luckily the bird stayed there along the river and I managed to see it well even though it was far on the other side of the river and there wasn’t much light. Anyway it was my year-tick number 275 – this had been my best year-tick year ever.

On the 29th day I went to check the open parts of Lake Simpele but I didn’t find any ducks. 3 Herring Gulls had arrived and also 2 families of Whooper Swans were in Koitsanlahti. I also saw 3 Hawk Owls on the way.

J.A.

On the 5th of December I drove to Hamina to twitch a Spanish Sparrow. I was there when the sun is already setting down but there was still 30 minutes light to watch the feeder, but the bird wasn’t seen anymore after the first observation. I saw more than 100 Tree Sparrows, some House Sparrows, a Blackbird, some tits and a Nuthatch there. Then I continued to Porvoo where I met Juha Tuomaala. In the evening we planned the next day’s bird-race.

On the 6th of December was the traditional Independence Day bird-race in Porvoo area. Together with Juha, Markus Keskitalo and Seppo Sarvanne we started from Porvoo where we saw the first species, a Rock Dove, in the dark. Then we drove a long way to Ruotsinpyhtää Saaristotie.

The sun was getting up when we walked to the shore in Busholmen. Goldcrests were calling and soon we saw the first flock of Cormorants. The weather was awful windy and snowy and there were almost no birds on the sea. We saw Common, Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls, some Goldeneyes and finally 3 Velvet Scoters but the Long-tailed Ducks I saw were too brief and nobody else saw them. When it started to snow too hard, we continued to the end of Saaristotie where we saw some Tufted Ducks, Mute Swans, Mallards and luckily a couple of Long-tailed Ducks and so on.

We stopped a couple of times along Saaristotie and saw a Hawks Owl and a couple of White-tailed Eagles and some common species. Then we walked to see Klobbfjärden and power plant shore and there we saw a Black-headed Gull with other common gulls. But no ducks were seen at all.

In Loviisa we checked some gardens and after we had found some common species Markus stayed searching a House Sparrow while the rest of us went to tick a Barnacle Goose that Juha had seen earlier. The bird looked sick but it had found a good field where it could survive for some time. But Juha already planned the rescue mission for it. After ticking the House Sparrow, we continued to Lapinjärvi where we saw a Jay in Juha’s garden and soon we stopped to a Collared Dove place. After 15 minutes waiting the dove came to its favorite spruce and it was a good tick! Then we continued to Ralf Rikberg’s forest-feeders where we easily saw a Blackbird, a Coal Tit, some Crested Tits and a Treecreeper.

Then it was time to continue towards Porvoo. We dipped a Kestrel and a Dipper that had been around earlier but in Koskenkylä we saw 4 Canada Geese in a flock of 65 Whooper Swans and then saw a Great Grey Shrike and some Black Grouses too. Then we continued to rubbish tip where we stayed more than an hour. All the gulls were gone already but we saw a Sparrowhawk, a flock of 4 crossbills which at least one of them was a Two-barred Crossbill, but nobody else saw it so well so it was just a crossbill sp for us to the race. It was already getting dark when we saw first a Common Buzzard and then a Goshawk but only me and Juha saw the latter – 3 of us needed to see a species to get a tick. For the last hour of the race we were searching for Tawny Owls but we didn’t hear any.

After all we came 2nd in the race while the winner team had 47 species against our 45. There were 11 teams altogether. The weather had been crappy so there were very common birds missing on each team’s lists. For example not a single Waxwing was seen and only one Fieldfare. Altogether 74 species were seen and after all I was a little bit disappointed as with a little but luck and a little bit better plans we could have won.

We still went to eat with almost all participants and at 11 p.m. we left to sleep. On the next morning I went to listen to a Tawny Owl that had been heard on the same place where we had been on the previous evening. I heard it after some waiting and then I continued to the rubbish tip. There I heard an Eagle Owl that we had missed by 15 minutes on the previous morning and evening! At 9 a.m. gulls started to arrive but I didn’t see a Glauscous Gull that had been seen on the race. I saw a Common Buzzard again and 3 Starlings that we had missed in the race but nothing else. At 10 a.m. I decided to start driving to Parikkala

J.A.

We stopped once in Lapinjärvi Pukaro where we also saw a Hawk Owl and after a long drive we parked our car to Helsinki Kivikko at 9:30 a.m. We started to walk towards agility-park and right then got a message that a Desert Wheatear that had been found 2 days earlier was still found. And soon we saw the bird perched on the fence in front of us The bird was showing extremely well but there was still no light to get good pictures. But soon there were more and more birders coming so we decided to go birding.

We checked briefly the surrounding of Viikki farm, but saw only a couple of Blackbirds. Then we continued to Arabianranta where we saw 2 Canada Geese and 3 Barnacle Geese. While we were walking back to our car Petri mentioned that he had never seen a Kittiwake, only a minute after that we got a message that a Kittiwake that had been seen in a couple of days in Kirkkonummi had been seen again. So after 50 minutes (and after we had seen one more Hawk Owl in Sunds) we parked to Kirkkonummi Bussviken and walked to the shore. We sea-watched for 30 minutes and saw mostly Common Gulls before I found the young Kittiwake that flew just 20 meters from us in perfect light!

So soon we continued to Salfjärden where we saw our third Hawk Owl of the day, a Grey Heron and a Goshawk. Then we continued to Espoo Otaniemi where we managed to find a Song Thrush that had been reported to Tiira on the previous day. But Laajalahti was mostly frozen, so nothing else interesting was found. Then it was time to start a long way back home. We had really had a great twitching trip!

J.A.

We had a November bird-race with Parikkala and Rautjärvi Bird Club so it was nice to try to list species. Anyway it was always dark when I got to work and when I got away from work so only birding during the week I did on my lunch-hours.

On the next day I saw 17 Barnacle Geese and a young White-fronted Goose in Eskola fields. In Vartialahti I saw 12 Long-tailed Ducks, 3 Velvet Scoters and a Great Crested Grebe and in Särkisalmi a Goldeneye and a couple of Black-headed Gulls. During the next couple of days I saw a Wigeon in Moskuunniemi, a Long-tailed Duck in Särkisalmi and a Black-throated Diver in Härskiinmutka.

On the 7th of November when I had just started my work-day, I got a message that Jari “konza” kontiokorpi had found a Glossy Ibis in Lahdenkylä fields. It was only 5 kilometers to that place so I left immediately. The bird was with a flock of Whooper Swans and I just watched it briefly and hurried back to work. Of course I went back on my lunch-hour and then again together with Hanna and once more after my work. So I managed to get some videos and pictures even though it was pretty far. On the next morning I checked Lake Simpele from several places and saw altogether 19 Velvet Scoters, 3 Red-breasted Mergansers, a Red-throated Diver, 4 Black-throated Divers, 5 Great Crested Grebes, a Dipper in Simpele Kokkolanjoki, some Ravens, a new Hawk Owl and still 2 Barnacle Geese in Joukionsalmi. In the afternoon I went to check that the Glossy Ibis was still there. It stayed on the field when the last swans left to sleep.

On the 9th day I visited Siberian Jays with some Glossy Ibis twitchers. 4 birds came to eat everything we offered. These twitchers from Helsinki thought that Siberian Jays were much better birds than the Glossy Ibis had been! We also saw a Black Woodpecker, heard a Crested Tit and a Black Grouse and I still saw a Capercaillie on the way back home. I still stopped in Särkisalmi where I saw 10 Canada Geese, 2 Siskins, 3 Redpolls and 2 Arctic Redpolls. During the day I drove to Mikkeli to a floorball tournament and on the way I saw a Hawk Owl in Rautjärvi and a Common Buzzard in Joutseno.

I stayed night in Mikkeli and next morning we left twitching with “Potu” Suojarinne who was finally feeling a little bit better after the disease from Corvo. At 9 a.m. we were in Orivesi Pappilanniemi bird-tower where some birders had been already for an hour. After an hour waiting I found the bird that we were searching for – a Stejneger’s Stonechat was moving far close to the shore on the willows and reeds. It never came much closer but after all we saw the bird pretty well. We also saw a Lapwing there. When we left back towards east we saw a Hawk Owl in Orivesi, in Jämsä-Jyväskylä border and in Kangasniemi. We still visited a couple of places in Mikkeli but it was raining hard and all we saw were 2 Wigeons. So I left towards Parikkala soon.

On the 11th day I saw even 205 Barnacle Geese and again the same young White-fronted Goose in Siikalahti, In Vartialahti I saw 2 Great Crested Grebes and in Kannas an arctic Redpoll. Next day only 27 Barnacle Geese were seen but also a Great Grey Shrike and a Common Crossbill in Kangaskylä. On the 13th day I saw another Hawk Owl, 13 Canada Geese and a Great Grey Shrike in Rautalahti. In Särkisalmi I saw a Velvet Scoter, 6 Long-tailed Ducks and still a Black-headed Gull. On the 14th day a visit in Siberian Jay forest was worthy as I heard a Goshawk calling. In Tarvaspohja I saw a Smew and other observations were a Black Grouse, 6 Long-tailed Tits and a Treecreeper.

On the 15th day I found one more Hawk Owl in Kullinsuo, where I also saw a flock of 400 Yellowhammers. In Tiviä I saw the same Hawk Owl as a month ago. 2 Barnacle Geese were still in Joukionsalmi, a Great Grey Shrike in Lahdensuo, a Hazel Hen in Lahdenkylä and 7 Velvet Scoters and 3 Long-tailed Ducks in Vartialahti.

On the 16th of November I left towards Helsinki. In Lapinjärvi Pukaro I saw a Hawk Owl in the first light. I parked my car to the hotel at 9 am. and an hour later we had a meeting with Twitchers association authorities. During the day we had the statutory meeting of the association and after that Swedish Staffan Rodebrand and French Pierre-Andre Crochét were presenting lectures about birding on Azores. Unfortunately I had to leave a little bit early to BirdLife Finland 40th birthday parties evening show that started at the hotel I was staying. So the rest of the evening went there.

Next morning we had BirdLife meetings until 2 p.m. and after that I went to see my grandmother before I started a long drive back to Parikkala.

On the 18th day I saw again one familiar Hawk Owl, new Great Grey Shrike and also one Velvet Scoter. On the 19th day I saw 46 Whooper Swans, 13 Canada Geese and a Velvet Scoter in Rautalahti and on the 20th day 2 Barnacle Geese and a Great Crested Grebe were still in Joukionsalmi. Altogether I saw 36 Common Gulls from 2 spots in Simpelejärvi.

On the 23rd day we went to see Siberian Jays with Hanna. On the way we saw a Great Grey Shrike and a Grey-headed Woodpecker and then in the middle of the forest we found a White-backed Woodpecker! It was the weirdest place I have ever seen this species. We found the Siberian Jays easily and while feeding these 4 birds we heard a Pygmy Owl calling. After some searching we heard a Three-toed Woodpecker but it disappeared. On the way back home we stopped in Härskiinmutka and saw a Red-throated Diver.

On the 24th day we visited Siikalahti bird-tower but there were only 63 Whooper Swans and a Mallard. We checked also some other places and Hawk Owl was still in Tiviä and 2 Barnacle Geese in Joukionsalmi. In the evening it started to get much colder! So next morning the bays of Lake Simpele were frozen. In a small open water area in Siikalahti there were now 40 Mallards and a Wigeon with Whooper Swans. In Muttelinmäki I finally saw a Coal Tit as a November-race tick. On the 26th day I twitched a Nuthatch in Kirkonkylä and in Rautalahti there was still a tiny open water area with some Mallards and 2 Teal, which was my 60th species on the month. On the 27th day I saw a flock of 22 migrating Velvet Scoters in Tiviä but a quick check to Lake Simpele was boring – only some tens of Whooper Swans, 2 Common Gulls and a Herring Gull. In Koitsanlahti I saw one more Hawk Owl – how many more do I need to get bored to this beautiful species? On the 28th day I visited Simpele as I had to get Rock Dove as a November-tick. I also saw a Dipper in Kokkolanjoki, a Hawk Owl in Joukio where also 2 Barnacle Geese were again as the bay was partly open and the field free from snow. There I also saw a migrating Gold Finch.

On the 29th of November we drove around Saari with Harri Partanen. We found 4 Great Grey Shrikes and 3 Hawk Owls. Other birds we saw were a Goshawk, 10 Black Grouses and a couple of flocks of Whooper Swans. On the 30th day I saw still a flock of 294 Goosanders, 33 Common Gulls and 5 Herring Gulls but the Lake Simpele was freezing. I also visited Siberian Jays and saw 3 birds and in Siikalahti I saw a White-backed Woodpecker. It really looked like the winter was coming in right time.

J.A.

In Lahti I tried to find a Pectoral Sandpiper that had been a couple of days in Kujala rubbish tip but it had either left or already gone to sleep as it was already getting late. Then I still drove a long way to west to Pori where I finally parked in Reposaari Lontoo and made my car ready and started to sleep.

On the 10th day I woke up early at 7 a.m. and soon I was walking around the bushes. The first birds started to wake up and I heard Robins, a Wren and then a familiar call of a Sardinian Warbler! It was still too dark to see it but I heard it well. Soon a couple of other twitchers arrived and together we tried to find the warbler again but even though we tried until early afternoon it wasn’t found again. While searching we saw some migration: 4000 Jackdaws, 1200 Cranes, 120 Long-tailed Tits and also a Nuthatch and a late Tree Pipit. Finally I left towards north and of course after a half an hour the Sardinian Warbler had showed briefly but well.
On the way I saw a couple of Hawk Owls and stopped in Vaasa and tried to twitch a Richard’s Pipit but the bird wasn’t found. I was finally in Oulu after 9 p.m. and about at midnight I picked up Pirkka from the railway-station and then we finally got to sleep to Riku’s upstairs.

On the 11th of October we woke up early and at 6:30 we picked up Antti Vierimaa and soon were on Hailuoto ferry. Soon the sun rose and once we got to Hailuoto we started birding. Soon I noticed a big owl just next to the road and stopped but then Pirkka said that: “Don’t reverse, there is another one in front of us!”. And there were 2 stunning Great Grey Owls only 20 meters from each others. Unfortunately the birds were very active and I managed to get only a couple of pictures before the flew into the forest.

Soon we were walking around Pökönnokka where we found a Jack Snipe, a Bar-tailed Godwit, 28 Dunlins and 5 Velvet Scoters. In Ojakylänlahti we saw 1100 Tufted Ducks, 63 Smews, a flying Bean Goose and a hunting Goshawk. In Ulkokarvo crossing I saw a black crow landing to a field but soon it flew over us and we could see that it was not a Rook – it was an moulting adult Carrion Crow! Unfortunately we couldn’t compare it to Carrion Crows nor take any pictures so we decided to try it again on the next day. We still checked some places but saw only Long-tailed Tits that were absolutely everywhere! Also a Pheasant was seen but we were sure it wasn’t a rally-species because there had never been Pheasants before. Around 6 p.m. we drove to Santonen where we met Harry Nyström, Mikko Ala-Kojola, Jari Kiljunen and Jani Varis. We ate a lot again and had fun until late night but after all we managed to go to sleep early enough.

On the 12th of October we had Hailuoto rally. With Pirkka and Antti we left to start to Riisinnokka as did our another team too. On the way we saw a Hawk Owl but soon we parked to Rautaletto parking place. We walked towards the sea and we were almost there when the rally started at 8 a.m. One of the first birds we got was a Three-toed Woodpecker and soon we were on the shore. While seawatching we got a Lapland Bunting, a Reed Bunting, 2 Merlins, Dunlins, Grey Plovers, 3 Golden Plovers, a Bar-tailed Godwit, Scaups, a Shoveler, a Gadwall and 2 Wood Pigeons but from the sea we got only 6 Cormorants – there was no migration at all.
While walking back to our car we got some passerines and also a Woodcock. Then while driving towards Kirkkosalmi we saw the same Hawk Owl, a Coal Tit and a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, but then we started to be unlucky. When we parked to Kirkkosalmi a huge bus parked there too. Soon the tower was full of students and it was shaking a lot. Anyway Kirkkosalmi was almost empty too but we really lost time there. Only new species were a Redwing and a Jackdaw. Then we drove a long round in forests but got only a Common Crossbill. Huikku had only the second Wagtail of the trip and in Pökönnokka there were 2 huge dogs running free, so we had to really work hard to fins a single Snipe there. Luckily Ojakylänlahti was better: we got a very late Spotted Redshank and 3 Snow Buntings and in Karvonlahti we saw the same Carrion Crow with Hooded Crows. Now we could make the identification sure – but of course it wasn’t a rally-species – just a sub-species.

Pöllä was empty but in Kuivasäikkä we had 2 Barnacle Geese. But then it started to get late and we headed to forest-roads again but managed to see only some Black Grouses before the rally ended at 5 p.m. We hadn’t seen a Robin, a Mistle Thrush or a Song Thrush during the day! So it wasn’t a surprise that we didn’t win, but our second team did. Luckily we managed to win the 3rd best team by 1 species – maybe it was a Pheasant which we had seen a flock of 5 birds and surprisingly it was counted as a rally-species.

In the evening we had fun again, ate a lot and had sauna and so on. During the night the weather changed radically – the wind was stormy. So we decided to leave Hailuoto right away. We went to Liminga where we checked the information center and together with Pirkka we continued to the bird-tower. We counted the ducks and found a Gadwall but almost nothing else. So after we had eaten in Liminka and seen a Collared Dove there, we continued to Tauvo ringing station.

Once we got to Tauvo, Matti Tynjälä had just got a Waxwing and the first 2 Pine Grosbeaks of the season from the mist-nets. There was still time so we decided to go to check Ulkonokka where we saw 3 Dunlins, 3 Jack Snipes, 3 Scaups and so on. In the evening we talked with Matti and played Tengmalm’s Owl tape and got 3 owls to ring.

On the 14th of October we were watching migration from the tower almost whole morning but only better birds were a Two-barred Crossbill, 17 Parrot Crossbills and some Arctic Redpolls. Also a Grey Plover was seen. We walked around Ulkonokka again but it was almost empty. In the afternoon we still saw a Peregrine from the tower. It was really getting quiet but anyway it was once again very nice to be in Tauvo!

On the 15th of October I dropped Pirkka to Raahe bus-station and the drove back to Tauvo. Near Tauvo I saw a Hawk Owl and a Ural Owl. It was a busier day on the mist-nets as there were lots of Long-tailed Tits now. Other good species were a Coal Tit, some Waxwings and an adult male Pine Grosbeak. In the afternoon I slept a little bit but Matti came to wake me up when there was a Grey-headed Woodpecker in the back-yard. Unfortunately it didn’t hit to mist-nets even though we played the tape for it. Soon I was walking to my car and saw a Willow Grouse on the way. Then I started a long drive towards south. I saw again a Hawk Owl in Vöyri and finally I parked to Kristiinankaupunki Siipyy bird-tower where I started to sleep in a car.

On the 16th day I woke up before the sun and climbed up to the hight Siipyy bird-tower. Soon I started to see lots of Goldeneyes and other common ducks. There was almost no migration at the sea, just a couple of flocks of Razorbills. From the rocky islets I found altogether 5 Purple Sandpipers and 41 Scaups and a Red-necked Grebe were found from the sea. Lots of Long-tailed Tits were seen again and also a Three-toed Woodpecker passed the tower. After some hours I decided to continue to Pori again. Soon I was in Reposaari again and I had decided to stay there for an hour and a half. Together with one other twitcher we watched to the bushes for almost whole time, but the last 10 minutes I decided to spend watching to sea-buckthorn bush. It was worthy as soon I saw a warbler flying towards me and luckily it stopped to the top of the bush and I managed to see the Sardinian Warbler well. It was only the 4th ever in Finland! So soon I was driving towards south again.

I drove straight to Espoo Laajalahti where I met “Potu” Suojarinne. We spent an hour in the tower and saw a Little Grebe, 114 Gadwalls, 5 Grey Herons, 9 Lapwings, 8 Ruffs and so on. Then we went to eat and then continued to Kirkkonummi to my parents. On the next day we were leaving to Azores!

J.A.

On the 2nd day I went to twitch a Pallas Leaf Warbler to Luumäki, Nuoppola. I was there late as I had about 130 kilometers driving after my work, so it wasn’t a surprise that the bird was not found. I did find some tits and Goldcrests and a Treecreeper but no “phyllosc” warblers at all.

On the 3rd of October I went twitching again, but this time about 130 kilometers towards north to Joensuu Höylas. A Dusky Warbler had been there already for 2 days so I really had to go to try to get it as a WP-tick. Once I got there it had been heard just minutes earlier and after a couple of minutes waiting I heard it too! Then after 30 minutes it called longer series of calls and after that I saw a brown warbler in flight for a second. Then after some wait we still heard it a couple of times and once I saw a brown warbler chasing a Chiffchaff for a second but then it wasn’t heard anymore, because of it was getting late. Anyway I was happy to tick it. It was my WP-tick number 675 and also my new year-tick record in Finland – 269.

On the 4th day I visited Siikalahti on my lunch-hour and I managed to see an older Golden Eagle. Next morning we did a short trip to Saari but saw only 8 Golden Plovers, 4 Skylarks, a Grey Heron, a Great Grey Shrike and some 1400 Barnacle Geese.

On the 6th of October we participated to a Bird-place competition in Siikalahti. Together with Hanna and “Potu” Suojarinne we went to Siikalahti early – at 6:30 a.m. Soon we walked to the northern end of bay to Raikanniemi and back to the dam-road, which took more than an hour. Once we got there “Jassi” Kiljunen and Harri Partanen had been walking on the other side of the bay and altogether we had seen already 45 species. Best ones had been a Coal Tit, Goldcrests, a Dunnock, a Shoveler, a Hazel Hen, a Merlin and a Grey-headed Woodpecker. Soon also Matti Lötjönen and Veijo Vilska arrived and later also family Kontiokorpi – Jari stayed with us until the late afternoon, but some others had to go home earlier.

After mid-day Long-tailed Ducks started to migrate and in 3 hours we saw 5002 of them. Other better observations were 1000 Barnacle Geese, 5 White-fronted Geese, 11 Black-throated and 3 Red-throated Divers, a Common Buzzards, a Rough-legged Buzzard, a Smew, 2 Water Rails, a Stock Dove, a Black Woodpecker, 18 Waxwings and so on. Then at 3:55 p.m. we heard strange calling from the bushes right next to us. I realized almost right away that it was a Radde’s Warbler! There was a flock of tits that were also calling actively (actually the first moving flock of the day) and it was with them. I started pishing and all the tits came closer and visible but they also stopped calling as did the warbler too. And of course we couldn’t see it! I ran to get my player and tape-lured Radde’s when all of us could say that the call had been exactly the same as on the tape, but the flock was already gone! We had heard it calling very actively for about a minute, both calls and series of calls – and it is one of the easiest calls to identify!

The rest of the evening we mostly tried to find the warbler but it was gone with the tits. This is how these birds go inland in autumn – fast towards west – and usually they doesn’t call at all. At 5 p.m. we still walked to the bird-tower and counted 200 Whooper Swans and saw a Scaup but nothing else new. Altogether we had got 66 species in Siikalahti during the day.

J.A.

It was surprisingly quiet in Saari, only some hundreds of Barnacle Geese were seen before in Jyrkilä I found about 2500 and in Tarassiinlahti 7500 of them. Some flocks of Tundra Bean Geese were seen but only a couple of White-fronted Geese. Swans were all Whooper Swans so there are still lots of birds to come…

On the 25th of September it was raining whole day – it was even snowing a little! I checked the fields around Siikalahti during my lunch-hour, but I found only one flock of about 1000 Barnacle Geese. In the evening I got an sms that family Kontiokorpi had found a Bar-headed Goose in Kinnarniemi field. I left there immediately and saw a Nutcracked flying over the road on the way. I managed to find the flock easily and the Bar-headed Goose before I stopped. It was getting dark already. The goose was very close to the main road so I didn’t dare to get out of the car at all. I watched it by binoculars through a wet car-window, but then a truck and a bus came and scared the whole big flock to the sky. The flock flew to the Lake Simpele but too far, so even though I still saw the flock, I couldn’t find the Bar-headed Goose anymore.

On the next morning I went to check the same field and managed to find the flock with the Bar-headed Goose from the other side of the field. I managed to drive behind some trees to digiscope it. They didn’t care about me at all and even walked closer but then a car came and flushed the flock again. They landed again to the other side of the field but for me it was time to go to work.

On my lunch-hour I went to see the geese again as the weather was a little bit better. Bar-headed Goose was sleeping on a small Barnacle Goose flock. Barnacles were moving to the other side of the field to a bigger flock and after some waiting also Bar-headed Goose woke up and soon it left to a bigger flock.

On the 27th of September there was again some geese migration but the mid-day was pretty quiet anyway. We went to check the fields nearby with Jari Kiljunen but found nothing better, but we saw a nice flock of geese with 39 Bewick’s Swans. We thought the migration could get better so I went back to Siikalahti and saw much more geese, 1200 grey geese, 2500 Barnacle Geese and 42 Bewick’s Swans. I also saw 110 Cranes, 5000 local Barnacle geese, a Ruff, a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and a very late Marsh Harrier and even later Honey Buzzard.

On the 28th of September I was watching migration in Punkaharju Punkasalmi, but all geese were migrating very far on both sides of the Lake Saimaa. I saw about 4000 geese altogether in 4 hours. Other birds were 50 Black-throated and 5 Red-throated Divers, a Long-tailed duck, a Cormorant and 2 young White-tailed Eagles. Once I was back in Parikkala I drove to Siikalahti and while I was parking Jouko Rantanen called me that he had seen the Bar-headed Goose flying around Saari Vaaranmäki tower and then started to head towards Siikalahti with a big flock of Barnacle Geese. I ran to the tower and immediately found 2 big flocks of geese coming towards me. The first flock had only Barnacle Geese but on the first flock I managed to see the same Bar-headed Goose migrating towards south! On Tetrisuo fields I still saw a Redstart.

In the evening we tried to catch owls again but we heard only a Tengmalm’s Owl once. But the geese were really migrating! During the evening and night we could hear flocks of geese all the time! There must have been hundreds of thousands of them! The most of the calls we heard were White-fronted Geese but also Barnacle and Bean geese flocks were numerous.

On the 29th of September we were in Siikalahti in cold weather. In a couple of hours we saw 3500 migrating Barnacle Geese and a hybrid between Barnacle and Canada Goose. Other birds were the same Marsh Harrier, a Black Woodpecker, a Chiffchaff, 3 Great Grey Shrikes and 7 Long-tailed Tits. On the way home I saw 2 Nutcrackers in Kangaskylä. In the afternoon I went to Saari where I still saw about 15000 Barnacle Geese. Other birds were a Hazel Hen, a Capercaillie, 2 Long-tailed Tits, 2 Hen Harriers, a Bewick’s Swan, a Golden Plover and a Jack Snipe.

J.A.

On the 20th of September I was a little bit sick but in the afternoon I made a trip to Saari where I saw a couple of thousands of Barnacle Geese, 57 Tundra Bean Geese, 6 White-fronted Geese and a Greylag Goose. Other observations were a Black Grouse, a Hazel Hen, 3 Hen Harriers, a Honey Buzzard, 3 Rough-legged Buzzards, an Osprey, 13 Golden Plovers, a Jack Snipe and a Dunlin.

On the 21st day I counted 186 Great Crested Grebes and Red-backed and Slavonian Grebes were still there. During the day I participated to Joutseno half-marathon. I was still a little bit sick so I took it pretty easy. I heard a Two-barred Crossbill while running. It took an hour and 53 minutes. After that I went to Konnunsuo where I saw altogether more than 10000 Barnacle Geese. Other geese were 70 Tundra Bean, 30 White-fronted, 2 Greylag and a Brent Goose. I also twitched a Red-breasted Goose that unfortunately had a tiny ring on it’s right leg. It was really difficult to see the ring but unfortunately it seemed to be an escape. Other birds there were 3 Hen Harriers and a Marsh Harrier, 2 Rough-legged buzzards, a Merlin, a Goshawk and a Grey Plover.

On the 22nd day I saw 3000 Barnacle Geese, a White-tailed Eagle, 5 Rough-legged Buzzards, 6 Common Buzzards, a Goshawk and a Honey Buzzard in Siikalahti but then the migration stopped. Other birds there were a White-backed Woodpecker, a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and a Great Grey Shrike. In the evening I got a message that Karri Kuitunen had found an Isabelline Wheatear in Ruokolahti. I left to twitch it as it was only 75 kilometers away. Once I got there the bird was on the scopes. The bird ran closer and closer and after all I managed to get some pretty good pictures of it. This bird was my year-tick number 268 which is equal with my record ever. Let’s see when I can break my record and what will be the species?

J.A.

So after the massage we were driving towards Imatra. Once we parked our car to Saunasuo we got the news that the bird had just moved a kilometer further to a long field. So soon with the finder Jorma Liesma and Boy we moved closer to the bird along one road while the rest of twitchers stayed on the place where they could see the whole field.

A Hen Harrier was flying around the fields but it didn’t flush the bustard. So after the bird had been missing for 2 hours, I started to plan a walk to the field. Soon I sent a message that after 30 minutes at 6:30 p.m. we would walk to the field and try to flush the bird. This was the way to make sure that everyone that was still on their way to Imatra could call me to wait if they couldn’t get there in time. Because of I didn’t get any calls at 6:30 we, 8 birders, were in our positions on the field and started to walk towards the place where the bird had been seen to land.

After some hundreds of meters walk the Little Bustard finally flushed and it flew a couple of rounds on the sky and then dropped down to a green field about 1 kilometer from us. Luckily everyone managed to see the bird well, we probably much better than the rest that were watching from the road.

We had a long walk back to our cars but soon we were checking the field where we had seen the bird landing. Then arrived the only twitcher that came too late. Unfortunately he hadn’t called – we could have waited this 15 minutes, but not more as it started to get dark. Soon the fog surrounded the fields and we decided to drive back to Parikkala.

So after all the day had ended well! The car-keys weren’t found but I the second key started to work after all. And I had got a really good South-Karelia tick!

J.A.

It was a long drive but at 8 p.m. I finally turned to a small road towards Tauvo. I visited a harbour but I didn’t see anything there. So soon I turned to Tauvolantie. In Tauvola I saw a Hawk Owl perched on an electric pole and of course I took some pictures. Soon I was walking with my gear towards the station.

In the station I met Mikko Ojanen who had came there to ring and his wife Liisa and a Belgian birder Sander Buylants that had came to Oulu University 2 weeks earlier. He hadn’t seen a Hawk Owl in wild, they had just caught one early in the morning so we decided to try if the bird was still in Tauvola. We weren’t lucky so soon we were back in the station where a Tengmalm’s Owl tape was already playing.

We started to catch Tengmalm’s Owls soon and when Pirkka and his children arrived they could right away see some owls. We played the tape until midnight and managed to catch 7 Tengmalm’s Owls. Then it was time to go to sleep – we had an early wake coming.

On the 14th day we woke up after 6 and found still a couple of Tengmalm’s Owls from the mist-nets. Then we climbed to the bird-tower to watch the scenery to Ulkonokka. At 6:30 we started to check every single bird as on the same day there was a Surnia bird-race in Siikajoki. We had decided to participate only from Tauvo. Soon we had some common birds like Yellowhammer, thrushes, Robin, Redpoll etc. on our list. Then Sander found a Hawk Owl perched on the top pf a pine-tree but soon the bird dropped down and straight to a mist-net. I hurried to get it away from the mist-net and I checked immediately that it was not ringed as it was a relief to Sander that it wasn’t the same bird that they had caught less than 24 hours earlier. He had talked about a 24 hours rule about the trapped birds. But the bird was new so finally Sander had got a pure lifer.

While I had been freeing the owl Pirkka and Sander had seen a crossbill flock where had been at least one Two-barred Crossbill calling.

Soon Mikko and others went to do the first round to the mist-nets and there were mostly just Robins. I also joined to the next round and there were now some Reed Buntings, tits, a Chiffchaff and then a nice surprise – a Yellow-browed Warbler!

We stayed on the tower with Sander almost whole morning and saw a Merlin, 2 Black Grouses, a Black-throated Diver, 2 White-tailed Eagles, a Marsh Harrier, a Sparrowhawk, about 200 Cranes, 4 Black Woodpeckers, still some Swallows, a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, a migrating Three-toed Woodpecker and heard a Hazel Hen calling. Jays were also on the move and we had an amazing flock of 78 Jays! Altogether we counted 98 Jays. at least 500 Fieldfares were seen and 45 Common, 5 Parrot, 5 Two-barred and 30 unidentified Crossbills.

Even the children were joining to the net-rounds and Veikka’s first round ever was great. He went of course first to the nets and we heard it even to the tower when he shouted that he had found a bird from the net – and he shouted that it was green! He had found the second Yellow-browed Warbler of the day!

When the fifth Black Woodpecker of the day was flying over the tower Mikko changed a Black Woodpecker tape to the player and soon we caught it! It’s amazingly powerful bird in hand!

At midday it started to get very quiet so we left to walk around Ulkonokka with Pirkka and Sander. It was very dry so I managed to survive with only walking boots. First we found only Ringed Plovers (altogether 33) but after a long walk we found also 25 Dunlins, 9 Sanderlings, 4 Little Stints, 3 Knots, 15 Ruffs, 17 Snipes, 10 Golden Plovers and a Grey Plover. Also a young Arctic Tern was seen.

After a sweaty hot round we relaxed a little bit but then climbed to the tower again. Mikko had changed a Redpoll tape to the player and caught 9 Redpolls and 2 young Arctic Redpolls. From the tower we saw a young Peregrine that tried to catch a young Black-headed Gull for more than 10 minutes but it didn’t manage. At 18:30 the bird-race ended and we counted that we had got 74 species.

In the evening we played first Pygmy Owl tape but soon changed Tengmalm’s Owl tape again. And before the midnight we had caught 13 more Tengmalm’s Owls.

On the 15th of September we woke up at 6:30 and soon climbed to the tower again. There were less birds now and the weather was also a little bit cooler. A Tengmalm’s Owl was found from the closest mist-net and the first round produced some thrushes. But later during the morning there were almost only Reed Buntings on the mist-nets. One of them was ringed in Italy! Only better mist-net birds during the morning were a Chiffchaff and a Lesser Whitethroat. We heard one Yellow-browed Warbler but didn’t manage to see it at all.

Pirkka was doing the ringing so we stayed in the tower together with Sander. The best birds we saw were 3 Mute Swans, a Three-toed Woodpecker, again all three crossbills and the best bird was a migrating Wood Lark which was maybe only the second ever in the station. Also 60 Jays were seen again.

At midday it was again very quiet so we packed most of our gear and then still decided to visit Ulkonokka very briefly. We walked to the place where most of the waders were and counted 20 Ringed Plovers, 40 Dunlins, 5 Sanderlings, 5 Little Stints, 12 Golden Plovers, 4 Grey Plovers and 4 Bar-tailed Godwits.

When we were back in the station Matti and Annikki Tynjälä had arrived. Matti was again going to stay there for a long period. Soon we had cleaned the building and packed everything and it was time to say goodbye to everyone. We walked to our cars where I said goodbye to Pirkka and his family and left towards Parikkala.

I was finally at home at 10:30 p.m. and I was absolutely tired. But anyway I had really had a great weekend – I had even got 3 new year-ticks!

J.A.