On the 27th of December we went together with Hanna and her brother Miika and sister Elissa to Savonlinna Punkaharju Laukansari to walk to the forests that have many foreign trees. We found a flock of 20 Coal Tits, nice flock of 25 Two-barred Crossbills, 45 Common Crossbills, 2 Nutcrackers, 15 Long-tailed Tits, Treecreepers, Crested Tits, 75 Fieldfares, a Blackbird and 2 Black Woodpeckers. On the way back home we saw a male Capercaillie on the top of a pine in Laisennurkka and a flock of 250 Fieldfares in Moskuunniemi.

The last birds of the year I marked on the 28th day when on the way to Lappeenranta I stopped in Rautjärvi Simpele Kokkolanjoki where I saw a Dipper and in Imatra Vuoksi where I saw 3 Cormorants.

The year 2014 was really good but very rare birds wee missing in the whole country! I managed to see 267 species in Finland and 241 of them were self-found. In South-Karelia I saw 236 species and even 224 in Parikkala, which I think was the best number I got. In Siikalahti I saw 196 of them! 204 species were seen while eco-birding, all in Parikkala. I got only 7 new Western Palearctic ticks, all from Azores. The only Finnish-tick was a Red Kite I twitched in December and only self-found tick was a Lesser Grey Shrike. Let’s see what will the year 2015 bring?

J.A.

On the 20th of December I decided to try how many species I can find in Parikkala in the darkest time of the year. I started in Särkisalmi where I saw the common tits, Tree Sparrows, Bullfinches, Yellowhammers and a Grey-headed Woodpecker. Then in Petala I saw the same Blackcap again, Waxwings and Fieldfares. Then I continued to forests where I found out that there was much more snow than I had expected. Surprisingly I didn’t get stuck and found Great Spotted Woodpeckers, a Treecreeper, a Redpoll, a Hazel Hen, Common Crossbills, Willow Tits, a flock of Pine Grosbeaks and a Jay but a Crested Tit was heard on the wrong side of the border of Savo.

I managed to get away too without getting stuck and saw Ravens. In Särkisalmi I saw a White-backed Woodpecker and 2 Rock Pigeons, but In Moskuunniemi I couldn’t find a Nuthatch. Only new species there was a Common Gull. In Kangaskylä I had Greenfinches but no Starlings or House Sparrows. In Raikanniemi I saw a Goldeneye. Vartialahti still had Whooper Swans, 15 Mallards, a Scaup and a Velvet Scoter and in Tyrjä I managed to see a Dipper easily, but nothing else – I had hoped to find at least some Black Grouses. Nuthatch wasn’t found on my second try either nor were the Starlings or House Sparrows. In Ristimäki I had a Hawfinch flying over me and it was already getting dark when I got to Tähtiniemi. Lake was empty but a Goshawk flew over me and was my 38th species of the day in Parikkala (a Crested Tit was 39th). I think it was a good result even though I didn’t see a House Sparrow, a Nuthatch, a Great Grey Shrike, a Black Grouse, a Chaffinch, a Starling or some other species that were still around.

On the 21st day we were birding in Imatra with Pekka Punnonen and Petri Salakka. In Immalanjärvi we saw 2 Black-throated Divers, 2 Long-tailed Ducks and 2 Scaups and in Vuoksi-river 7 Whooper Swans, 2 Red-breasted Mergansers and a Coot which I had never seen in winter in South Karelia before. Waxwings were numerous and Blackbirds were seen here and there. Also a Great Grey Shrike was seen. We still had 3 Starling in Lappeenranta Toikansuo with Pekka before I had to go to a bandy-match.

On the 22nd of December I still saw 71 Whooper Swans, 3 Canada Geese and a Golden eye in Vartialahti which was now freezing very fast. In Moskuunniemi I saw 6 local and 12 migrating Whooper Swans and in the village I saw a Starling again. On the 23rd day it was really getting cold and I went to see the last open waters in Haikanniemi and Tähtiniemi but I couldn’t find a single bird there anymore. In Ristimäki I saw a Blackbird and in Koitsanlahdenkangas I found a flock of 20 Pine Grosbeaks.

In the Christmas Eve we were visiting Hanna’s relatives and eating a lot! And the next day we were just eating a lot…

J.A.

We really lost too much time in Yyteri but finally we continued to Nakkila Järvikylä to twitch the Red Kite. It had been seen already and once we got there there was no other twitchers anymore. After 1 hour Pekka found first on White-tailed Eagle and soon I found another one very far in south-east. And soon I found one more raptor following them and there it was – a Red Kite! The bird was really far but it was flying closer. We lost it behind some trees but after some time Pekka found it perched on the field not too far anymore. I was hoping to get some pictures, but soon it was flying again. I managed to get one crappy video of it flying before it disappeared again. Soon it came close to us to a place where it has been seen often but it dropped behind the forest too soon again.

We still waited for some time and saw a Stock Dove flying over us – I have now seen a Stock Dove in every month in Finland. Other bird seen or heard were a Common Buzzard, a Black Woodpecker and a Great Grey Shrike.

Then we drove to Pori again where we tried to find a Tundra Bean Goose in Halkokari, but found only 3 Grey Herons. Then we headed towards Kauhajoki but twitched a Crane in Lavia Ruojärvi on the way. In Kauhajoki we ate well and then continued to Teuva Opintola Bed&Breakfast to have sauna and sleep.

On the 14th of December we headed early to Kauhajoki fields. We were trying to twitch a Snowy Owl that had been staying there for a long time. We first went to Anintie bird-tower but when we couldn’t see the owl there, Sampsa stayed there but with Pekka we left driving around the fields. We searched it for 3 hours before getting back to Sampsa and then did another tour around every single place where the owl had been seen but we couldn’t find it. We did see a White-tailed Eagle, a Goshawk, 2 Sparrowhawks, a Merlin, a Great Grey Shrike, a Chaffinch and a Linnet but the owl wasn’t found. After more than 7 hours searching it started to get dark so we had to give up and start driving back home. It was a long drive but after all I was at home 11 p.m.

J.A.

We parked to Busholmen when it was still pretty dark but soon once we had walked to the shore we started to see some birds. The first bird was a Goosander at 8:38 a.m. Soon we saw some Common Gulls and a flock of 5 Velvet Scoters but only other bird was a calling Goldcrest. So we drove to a harbor nearby where we saw some Mute Swans, Goldeneyes, a White-tailed Eagle, a Greater Black-backed Gull but the hard wind and rain weren’t the best combination so there was nothing else. So we started to drive towards Loviisa and stopped many times on the way. Great, Blue, Willow and Crested Tits, Blackbirds, Fieldfares, Yellowhammers, Hooded Crows and Magpies were seen and in Jomalsund we saw a male Smew. Soon we tried to find a Hazel Hen and managed to hear it after some searching. We watched to the sea in a coupe of places but only new bird was a Tufted Duck, some more Smews were also seen.

In Loviisa we found Greenfinches, Tree Sparrows, Jackdaws, Waxwings and after some searching a male Chaffinch. Then we headed towards Lapinjärvi where in Juhas feeder we saw only a Great Spotted Woodpecker and heard a Treecreeper. In a traditional Collared Dove place we saw only Bullfinches but Markus decided to stay there while we went to see House Sparrows, Pheasants and a Jay. Once we got back Markus had just found a Collared Dove so we got it to our list.

Then we headed towards Liljendal and found a Grey Heron a kilometer wrong place, but another stop in a good feeder place didn’t give us any woodpeckers. Also Dippers were missing and we couldn’t find them. Only new species for a long time was a Rock Pigeon.

In Koskenkylä we saw 10 Whooper Swans and on the way to Isnäs we saw a Great Grey Shrike and another Hazel Hen of the day. In Isnäs we saw finally a Herring Gull and also a Black-headed Gull. It was alrready late when we finally headed to Porvoo. In rubbish tip we finally saw 2 Ravens but Hawfinched weren’t found in the city. In Ruskis we stopped on the 3rd bridge and after some waiting heard a flock of Bearded Reedlings very far! It was already completely dark but we still tried to find Pygmy Owl or Cormorant but found nothing anymore.

The results were given in Amarillo restaurant and it was a tight race. The winners got 43 species, we and 2 other teams had 42 and at least 2 teams had 41. Altogether 13 teams had been participating. We ate also well and at 11 p.m. we headed to Lapinjärvi to sleep.

On the 7th day we woke up early again and after 7 a.m. we headed toward Lahti with Juha. Juha was driving along strange roads and I followed. In Orimattila I saw a Nutcracker flying on the sky and after an hour driving we were in Lahti Myllysaari. We walked to the island and put up our scopes and started to scan the lake. After some time we had found only some Goosanders but finally I found what we were searching, a young White-billed Diver that was extremely far on the other side of the lake. So we decided to drive there. In Mukkula we found the bird again and there it was showing very well. I even got some phonescope-pictures.

But soon I decided to continue to Heinola where I twitched a Shoveler in Kirkkolampi and a Crane in Viltasniemi. Then I had to start driving to Lappeenranta where I had a bandy-match at 2 p.m. On the way I saw a Black Woodpecker and some Black Grouses in Mäntyharju.

On the 8th day I visited Vartialahti on my lunch-hour and saw 147 Whooper Swans, 30 Mallards, a Wigeon, a Scaup and 3 Velvet Scoters. In Raikanniemi I still saw a Treecreeper. On the next day the same birds were still in Vartialahti but I saw also a Goshawk and 450 Fieldfares in Liuharanta and twitched 2 Blackcaps in Särkisalmi.

On the 10th of December same birds were still in Vartialahti, but I also saw a Tufted Duck and a Goldeneye. In Petala I saw 1 Blackcap and in Satumäki I found a Chaffinch. On the 11th day I saw a Sparrowhawk in Muttelinmäki, a Great Grey Shrike in Huhmarinen and the same birds plus a heard Two-barred Crossbill in Vartialahti. On the 12th day I saw the same birds again but also an asiatica Nuthatch in Moskuunniemi again.

J.A.

While I was still celebrating my new South-Karelia tick, a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker came to the closest tree and after that I counted 190 Whooper Swans and found also 2 Scaups and a Velvet Scoter. A lonely Herring Gull was flying over me. I still continued to check the bottom of the bay in Vehkalahti and found a Wigeon that was hiding behind the Whooper Swans.

I still had time to check the northern end of Siikalahti in Raikanniemi and there I found only 18 Whooper Swans, but also 5 Canada Geese, 5 Mallards and a male Goldeneye. So I had really had a good start for December!

- J.A.

In November we had again a local traditional November bird-race and I started it with even more traditional winterbird-count. It is now my 11th year on this route and it was absolutely my best ever walk around Siikalahti on these counts. It was again a long 18 kilometers and because there were so many birds, mostly thrushes moving, it took the whole daylight. I counted even 481 Fieldfares and also 4 Blackbirds and a Mistle Thrush were seen, and other berry-eaters were 91 Waxwings, but still I didn’t see any Pine Grosbeaks, even though they have been very numerous elsewhere. Lakes were still open and I counted 35 Whooper Swans, 2 Mallards, 16 Goosanders, 3 Red-breasted Mergansers, a Great Crested Grebe, 17 Common and 4 Herring Gulls. But the best bird was a migrating young Pomarine Skua! 3 Rock Pigeons, 5 Great Spotted and a White-backed Woodpecker, 5 Goldcrests, 22 Long-tailed, 11 Willow, 2 Coal, a Crested, 41 Blue and 111 Great Tits, 4 Treecreepers, a Great Grey Shrike, 9 Jays, 20 Magpies, 29 Jackdaws, 26 Hooded Crows, 14 Ravens, 2 House and 20 Tree Sparrows, 28 Greenfinches, 2 Gold Finches, 4 Siskins, 181 Redpolls, 20 Bullfinches, 4 Common Crossbills, 2 Hawfinches and 26 Yellowhammers were also seen. 41 species was a new record and Pom Skua, Mistle Thrush and Hawfinch were new species.

During the next days I saw 7 Canada Geese, a Tufted Duck and a Goldeneye in Rautalahti, a Grey-headed Woodpecer in Kullinsuo, 32 Long-tailed Tits in Moskuunniemi and finally on the 6th day 4 Pine Grosbeaks in Siikalahti and a Velvet Scoter in Härskiinmutka. On the 7th day a Scaup was in Tarvaspohja and in Tyrjä I found my 223rd Parikkala-yeartick a Dipper. On the 8th of November we did a forest-trip with Hanna and her brother Miika and saw 3 Siberian Jays, a Three-toed and a Grey-headed Woodpecker, a Pygmy Owl, and on the lake 21 Canada Geese, a Velvet Scoter, Scaup, a Long-tailed Duck and a Tufted Duck. On the 9th day I twitched the Dipper as my number 201 eco-yeartick. I also saw 4 Coal Tits, which is now more numerous than usually.

On the 11th of November I saw a Black Woodpecker in Koitsanlahdenkangas and on the next day a Wigeon and a Common Scoter in Rautalahti, a Smew and a Velvet Scoter in Haljakanranta and a Great Crested Grebe still in Moskuunniemi. On the 14th day I tried to see a Ural Owl that had been seen in Moskuunniemi but all I found were a couple of White-backed Woodpeckers, a Nuthatch and even 6 Coal Tits.

On the 15th and 16th day we were in Jyväskylä in BirdLife weekend. The bird of the trip was seen during a half-time of the meeting on Sunday when a Glauscous Gull was found in a flock of gulls that was outside the hotel-terrace. Also a Great Black-backed Gull was seen but on the ways we saw only one Great Grey Shrike.

Next days were quiet and nothing much was found: In Siikalahti I counted still 102 Whooper Swans, 23 Canada Geese and saw also a White-backed and Grey-headed Woodpecker. And finally I got a Nutcracker as a race-tick.

On the 22nd day I drove to Helsinki to Bongariliitto meeting and there Roni Väisänen and Markus Lampinen were telling about ringing in Eilat and Jonathan Meyrav about winter-birding in Northern Israel. On the 23rd day I was birding with Sampsa Cairenius and Pekka Punnonen in Lappeenranta and we found a crazy bird – a Bluethroat in Toikansuo! It was probably the second latest ever in Finland! We also saw 2 Blackcaps in Rakuunamäki, 2 Nuthatches in Pappilanniemi, some Goldfinches, a Chaffinch, a flock of 340 Goosanders, 3 Velvet Scoters, a Goshawk, more than 1000 Fieldfares and so on.

On the 24th of November I saw an adult White-tailed Eagle in Moskuunniemi. On the next day I saw a Hazel Hen in Koitsanlahdenkangas and on the 26th day I finally saw the Nuthatch in Moskuunniemi and it was an asiatica, the first asiatica for me since 1999. On the last century all my Nuthatches had been asiaticas. On the 27th day I saw a Chaffinch in Särkisalmi and heard a Black Woodpecker in Tarvaslampi. On the 28th day I birded again on my lunch-hour and I already thought that I won’t see anything at all, but then in Kangaskylä I saw a flock of 4 Starlings. In the afternoon I still found a young Great Black-backed Gull and a Scaup in Vartialahti and a Redwing in Tyrjä. I still saw a few hundreds of Fieldfares eating rowan-berries.

On the 29th day we were shopping in Lappeenranta and saw a flock of 4 Pine Grosbeaks in Hyrymäki. On the last day of November I biked to forests to try to find a Three-toed Woodpecker that I still needed to my eco year-list. I walked there for hours but couldn’t find any, but I did find a Two-barred Crossbill and a Pine Grosbeak so my list is now 203 species by walking or biking in Parikkala. I also saw Siberian Jays again. But I got only 1 new species to my November race so after all got 67 species and I was third after Jari Kontiokorpi who got 69 and Jari Kiljunen, 68 species.

J.A.

On the 1st of October I saw 9000 Barnacle Geese and a White-tailed Eagle in Siikalahti. After my work I drove to Saari where I found geese from Jyrkilä fields. On the first flock there were only about 1000 geese so I found a Red-breasted Goose pretty easily. It had been seen already on the previous day. Then in the middle of the fields there were about 16000 geese more and I scanned them for an hour and found Bean and White-fronted Geese but also a Pink-footed Goose, a Greylag Goose and the same white-headed hybrid again. With Whooper Swans there were also 4 Bewick Swans. Other birds seen in Saari were 3 Great Grey Shrikes, a Kestrel, a Hen Harrier and a White-tailed Eagle. On the 2nd day I saw a Common Buzzard, Goshawk and a White-tailed Eagle in Siikalahti and 8000 Barnacle Geese in Kullinsuo. On the 3rd day I saw almost the same birds. In the evening my brother Pirkka arrived and we had planned to do birding whole weekend.

On the 4th of October we woke up at 5:30 a.m. and soon were going to Siikalahti. But there was a very thick fog. We had planned to try to find as many birds as possible from Siikalahti together with our local bird club. So we started walking toward the northern end of Siikalahti while Jari Kiljunen and Harri Partanen went to eastern side, Veijo Vilska was already on the main bird-tower. The fog stayed too long, but anyway we found some Black Grouses, a Snipe, Treecreepers, a Black Woodpecker and a Chiffchaff. Once we got back to the dam-road we heard Water Rails. Jassi and Harri had found some new species and Veijo had also 2.

Rolle Mortensen arrived too and finally the fog moved away. We stayed in the tower until 2 p.m. but the migration was pretty lame. Jassi and Harri found the best bid, a Red-backed Shrike, which was very late. But it disappeared too soon. We had a migrating Greylag Goose and a Nutcracker which were also nice. Maybe best migrants were 296 migrated Black-throated Divers – the biggest flock was 106 birds! Only 2 Red-throated Divers were found from the flocks. Other birds seen were 5 Cranes, 2 White-tailed Eagles, a Goshawk, a Common Buzzard, 12 Long-tailed Tits and 2 Chiffchaffs. From the tower we had only some common ducks but nothing better.

In the afternoon we decided to go to Saari to watch local geese. But the fields were empty! Luckily we found the geese on Kuposenmäki, but most of them were swimming in the middle of the lake. We estimated about 15000 Barnacle and about 2500 more were seen migrating. Later in the evening there were more and more White-fronted Geese migrating too and some flocks of Brent Geese. Also on Pink-footed Goose was seen migrating and a Greylag Goose was swimming with Barnacle Geese. In a few flocks of Whooper Swans we saw 11 Bewick Swans migrating too. In the evening we still tried to catch Tengmalm’s Owls without luck.

On Sunday the 5th of October we decided to go to Savonlinna Punkaharju Hirvikoski where we hadn’t visited for years. The main goal was to try to see local or migrating skuas that had been pretty commonly seen in big lakes – and also to see a Saimaa Seal. We arrived there at 7 a.m. and almost immediately found 3 skuas from the huge lake. They were very far but we managed to identify at least 2 of them as Pomarine Skuas! There was also quite good geese-migration going on but they were far on the western side of the lake. When the migration stopped we decided to stay there until 10 a.m. and finally at 9:50 o’clock I found a Saimaa Seal! It was pretty far but we all saw it quite well!

Then we drove to Saari where all fields were empty! We found only some hundreds of geese! In Kullinsuo we still found some 2000 Barnacle Geese but I found a good bird when a Shore Lark was found from the sky. Luckily it landed to a field and we saw it well too! It was my 220th bird-species seen in Parikkala this year!
Pirkka left to a long drive back to Kemijärvi but I still went to check a couple of places in Lake Simpele for skuas. But I saw only a flock 15 of 15 Red-throated DIvers.

On the 6th day I still saw a Nutcracker but after my work I started driving to south. I was leaving again to Azores very early on the next day!

J.A.

On the 17th day I saw already 200 Barnacle Geese and 13 Bean Geese in Siikalahti. 2 Golden Eagles were very nice and surprisingly there were 15 Rock Doves in Kangaskylä. 10 birds had arrived from somewhere. On the 18th day I still saw a Marsh Harrier, a Honey Buzzard and 2 Tree Pipits but the bird of the day was a Little Grebe that I found from Härskiinmutka! In the afternoon I went to Saari but saw only 27 Ruffs in Pohjanranta and 200 Cranes in Jyrkilä and so on. In Moskuunniemi I still heard a White-backed Woodpecker.

On the19 th day I saw altogether 4910 migrating Brent Geese, but almost nothing else was moving. On the next day I was running a half-marathon in Joutseno.

On the 21st day the morning was very misty, but even though the weather was good also after that it was very quiet. In only geese-flock there was a Pink-footed Goose migrating, a couple of White-tailed Eagles were hunting on the bay, a Marsh Harrier and the last Swallow were seen and a Grey Plover was heard from the misty sky. 2 Bluethroats were still on the bushes where also a Wren, some Chiffchaffs and Sedge Warblers were seen. On the 22nd day I saw a White-backed Woodpecker in Härskiinmutka and on a short visit to Saari I saw 900 Barnacle Geese in Pohjasuo. There was also a strange white-headed, dark hybrid goose in a flock. A Grey-headed Woodpecker was calling there too.

On the 25th day I saw only a couple of small flocks of migrating Long-tailed Ducks. It was raining pretty hard but nothing special was found from the fields either. On the 26th there were 900 Barnacle Geese and a Grey Heron and a Rough-legged Buzzard were seen migrating. In the afternoon I decided to go twitching to Joensuu Penttilä. I had some difficulties to find the right place but luckily I got good instructions from Janne Koskinen and once I got to the right place I met Mika Ilari Koskinen and Tarmo Lehtilä who had really good instructions. So soon I heard a right kid of “tacking” from the bush – a Dusky Warbler was calling! But it was really difficult to see the bird. After an hour I had seen it only in flight but then Mika managed to see it on the ground. I waited and waited in the same place and Mika walked towards the bird and then it stopped for a second just in front of me and I finally saw the bird pretty well! Also 2 Bluethroats, 8 Chiffchaffs, a Willow Warbler, a Dunnock and a White-backed Woodpecker were seen there. On the way back I stopped in Kitee Puhos where I counted 3000 Barnacle Geese from the field.

At the weekend I was in Siikalahti again. On Saturday I stayed there for 7 hours and saw a Grey Heron, 2 Peregrines, a Dunlin, a Bluethroat and a Sedge Warbler. 2 Nutcrackers were seen in Kangaskylä and in Kullinsuo I counted 1000 Barnacle Geese and in Kannas 140 Bean Geese, 20 White-fronted Geese, 77 Whooper Swans and 3 Bewick Swans. On Sunday I was 6 hours in Siikalahti and during the morning we saw lots of thrushes, finches and Wood Pigeons migrating but nothing really good. 200 Great Tits and 40 Goldcrest migrating were something that we don’t usually see in Siikalahti, but only a Chiffchaff and one possible Yellow-browed Warbler was seen in flight with them. A young Red-backed Shrike was seen which was pretty late, a Peregrine was chasing ducks and 1000 Barnacle Geese. A Bewick Swan was seen landing to the lake and an Osprey was still hunting on the bay. In the evening I counted 3300 Barnacle Geese in Kullinsuo and in Kannas I found a Pink-footed Goose that was with 270 Bean and White-fronted Geese.

On the 29th day an Osprey was still there and a Water Rail was calling. I saw again some Brent Geese – 2000 bird were migrating during my lunch-hour. In Kullinsuo fields there were already 3500 Barnacle Geese.

On the 30th of September migration was strong but I was at work. The flocks weren’t very big and they were very high up and in wide range. There were also several species in most of the flocks, even 4 species – White-fronted, Bean, Barnacle and Brent. So the best observation of my lunch-hour weren’t some 4500 migrated geese but a nice flock of 77 Black-throated Divers.

J.A.

After work we left towards Oulu and drove straight to Siikajoki Tauvo where we met Mikko Ala-Kojola and Antti Peuna. We walked to Tauvo bird-ringing-station and there we started to put up the mist-nets almost immediately. It was a huge work as everything wasn’t that organized and well planned as we had hoped so we had managed to put only half of the nets up when it came too dark to continue. So we started to play owls from and soon we had first Tengmalm’s Owl on the nets. The sky was full of pretty nice aurora-borealis, so Hanna went to photograph them to the tower. When my brother Pirkka arrived, we had already caught 6 owls and there were still more coming. We heard calls of owls from the sky all the time! Until midnight we had caught 11 Tengmalm’s Owls.

On the 13th of September we woke up at 5 a.m. Mikko and Antti left to Raahe bird-race but with Hanna we continued with the nets. There were still a couple of Tengmalm’s Owl on the nets so Pirkka stayed and ringed them but came soon to help us. It took still a couple of hours as there were a couple of nets missing, or too short or too long. First birds were already on the nets so Pirkka started ringing with Hanna while I was making the net-rounds. During the morning and day we caught 18 Willow Tits, 9 Great Tits, 5 Robins, 4 Reed Buntings, 4 Willow Warblers, 2 Blue Tits, 2 Crested Tits, 2 Dunnocks, a Song Thrush, a Treecreeper and a Yellowhammer. Other birds that I had seen or heard were 2 Willow Grouses, 2 Rustic/Little Buntings (only heard), 2 White-tailed Eagles and some migrating Crested Tits.

In the afternoon we closed the nets and planned to go to walk around the Ulkonokka-shore. Then Allan Hamari called that he was also coming to Tauvo to see us, so we waited him to join us. We walked a long way but all birds were in the furthest corner. Luckily we canned the sea too and Pirkka found a migrating skua. First we thought it was an Arctic but I wanted to watch it more carefully – and it was a Long-tailed Skua! It landed a couple of times but continued towards south. It was a very late adult bird.
Other birds we found were 8 Sanderlings, 7 Dunlins, 4 Little Stints, 19 Ruffs, a Shelduck, a Greylag Goose and so on. In Merikylänlahti we saw a too well hiding Meadow Pipit and the ugliest Skylark ever which also called totally wrong, but anyway it was just a Skylark.

Once we got back to the station, Mikko and Antti were already opening the nets and soon we were catching owls again. Until midnight we had caught 11 Tengmalm’s Owls again.

On the 14th of September we did the first net-round at 6 a.m. but the morning was windy and there wasn’t that many birds moving. During the morning and day we caught 20 Willow Tits, 13 Reed Buntings, 5 Robins, 3 Blue Tits, 2 Great Tits, 2 Dunnocks, 2 Siskins, 2 Chiffchaffs, 2 Song Thrushes, a Redwing, a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and a Coal Tit. Other birds seen were some flocks of Common and Parrot Crossbills, a Three-toed Woodpecker and some Crested Tits, a Hazel Hen was heard.

In the afternoon we took away the nets as there was nobody else coming to the station soon which is sad. It took a couple of hours again and then Mikko and Antti had to leave to Oulu. With Hanna, Pirkka and Allu we still made a short walk to Ulkonokka where we saw almost the same birds again. Then we said goodbye to Allu and left towards Raahe. There we tried to twitch a Citrine Wagtail that had been found on the race, but we couldn’t find it. There were still 100 Swallows with a Sand and House Martin and about 10 Gold Finches.

Finally we said goodbye to Pirkka and left to a long way back home. On the way we saw a couple of Capercaillies but nothing else. After all we were back home just before midnight.

J.A.

On the 4th of September I was again in Imatra, in Lammassaari with my colleagues and saw a Grey-headed Woodpecker. On the 5th day I visited Kullinsuo again on my lunch-hour and this time it was worthy! I found a pipit perched far on the cut field, but it looked good. It was chasing some insects and finally landed next to a Northern Wheatear and I could see that it was a big one! Anyway I wanted to see it better and walked to the field but then I lost the bird. I walked maybe 500 meters and finally flushed it and it called several times and I could easily identify it as a Richard’s Pipit! It was a new South-Karelia tick for me and only 4th record ever in Parikkala.

In the afternoon I biked to Kullinsuo with Matti Lötjönen and also Jari Kiljunen was there. “Jassi” had already heard the bird but after some searching we finally saw it again. We saw it in flight a couple of times but still didn’t manage to get any pictures. There were also some Red-throated Pipits.
Later we still visited Kontiolampi fields and Siikalahti and saw a White-tailed Eagle and the first Brambling of the autumn. In the evening I still saw a Woodcock.

On the 6th day I biked to Siikalahti already after 6 a.m. On the way I heard a Coal Tit in Muttelinmäki. Water Rails were still calling actively and along the dam-road I found still 12 Sedge Warblers, 2 Bluethroats, a Common Whitethroat, a Garden Warbler and so on. There was not much migration but a Nuthatch was nice to see again. Some Red-throated Pipits, Yellow Wagtails, 8 Bean Geese, a White-backed Woodpecker drumming, 2 Black Woodpeckers, a White-tailed Eagle and a Grey Heron on an electric wire were seen. In Tetrisuo I still saw 3 Lapland Buntings. In the afternoon I still went to Saari but only 52 Ruffs and were seen in Pohjanranta.

On the 7th of September the morning was foggy so we went to Siikalahti only at 9 a.m. A lonely Bean Goose was migrating and 8 more were still present. A White-tailed Eagle was seen again and a Hen Harrier was hunting on the fields. Water Rails were calling and a Ruff was flying over us with a Spotted Redshank. 6 Red-throated Pipits migrated, a Bluethroat was calling from the reeds and the weather was too good! In Kullinsuo we found only common pipits and a Lapland Bunting. In the afternoon I was jogging a long run and saw 4 Rock Doves, a Garden Warbler, a Yellow Wagtail and a Chiffchaff.

On the 8th day I went to Siikalahti on my lunch-hour and found almost immediately a Great Grey Shrike. I soon realized that it looked more interesting than usually as it had white forehead which continued above supercilium. Soon it flew a little bit and I could see huge white patches on its wings, white uppertail and rump and once it landed a little bit closer I still saw that it was quite pale grey. It was a “Homeyeri”! Soon it continued towards us and flew right over us and soon disappeared to south.
I also saw an Acro which disappeared too soon. On the next day I saw only a Chiffchaff and local raptors in Siikalahti and later in Härskiinmutka I saw 2 Common Terns.

On the 10th of September I visited Siikalahti early in the morning and found 2 Bluethroats. In Härskiinmutka I saw a flock of 10 Long-tailed Ducks. In the afternoon I visited Saari Pohjanranta where only a Grey Heron, a Ringed Plover and 82 Ruffs were seen. On the 11th day I saw 2 Gadwalls landing to Siikalahti, 7 Taiga Bean Geese and so on.

J.A.