Early arrivals
On the 13th of April I was once again on the dam-road but after short back-winter it was very quiet. For some reason Curlews had arrived and I saw more than 100 of them. Other year-ticks were a Rough-legged Buzzard, a Green Sandpiper and an Osprey. Several Water Rails were calling and also a Rook was seen again. In Särkisalmi I still found an Oystercatcher and a Great Crested Grebe.
On the 14th day an Oystercatcher couple had arrived to Kangaskylä to their territory. But otherwise I saw nothing really, but on the 15th there was an early Red-necked Grebe in Särkisalmi. In the afternoon we did waterbird-counts in Siikalahti and finally there were some Pochards and also 3 Garganeys and a couple of Greylag Geese. In the evening we visited Särkisalmi again and there was a nice surprise – a female Common Shelduck.
On the 16th of April I visited Siikalahti bird-tower and saw a Gadwall, a Slavonian Grebe and a migrating Black Kite. Greenshank and Song Thrush were other year-ticks. On the 17th day the new arrivals were a Dunnock and a Lesser Black-backed Gull – and again a saw a Black Kite.
On the 18th of April we stayed for a long time on the dam-road but only one more Black Kite was seen. It was so quiet that after all I decided to visit Rautjärvi Simpele Lahnanen where I saw a Grey Wagtail couple easily.
On the 19th day we did a proper Saari trip which started well as we found a male Pallid Harrier perched on a field in Akonpohja. From Akonpohja tower we saw 4 Gadwalls, in Pohjanranta a Common Sandpiper, a Gadwall and a migrating Red-throated Diver, in Pohjansuo 5 House Sparrows, in Karinmäki a Northern Wheatear couple and on the way back to Parikkala we twitched 2 Barn Swallows and 3 House Martins in Särkisalmi. Then we still visited a small flood in Lahdensuo where we found 8 Ruffs. In the evening I still twitched a Common Scoter couple in Lake Lahdenpohja. The weather had still been cool but there had been extremely warm just eastern side of the border so some migrants had arrived to Parikkala earlier than ever.
On the Easter Sunday the weather was even colder and wind was northern. It was very quiet so we decided to count the waterbirds again. On the dam-road I saw an early Whinchat, on the northern side of the bay a Chiffchaff and on the western side a Common Redstart and a couple of Redshanks. On the count we saw altogether 8 Gadwalls and also a Cormorant was seen on the count-area. In the evening we visited Lahdensuo again and saw a Little Ringed Plover.
On Monday the 21st of April we visited Saari again. We saw two more Pallid Harrier males, one in Pohjanranta and another in Uukuniemi Suurenjärvenliete. They were my 100th and 101st Pallid Harriers in Finland and it seemed that you have to see more than a hundred of them before you can get any better pictures of this beautiful species.
In Kanavalampi we saw a Black Kite and in Tarassiinlahti 3 Pied Flycatchers. Other early arrivals were a Barn Swallow and a couple of Common Sandpipers and so on. In the evening I still saw a couple of Black-tailed Godwits in Kullinsuo. When it was completely dark we still went to check some fields with thermal-camera. We ringed a couple of Skylarks and a Northern Lapwing but then we surprisingly found 3 Great Snipes too! We didn’t try to catch them as they were on their lekking area. We had no idea that they could be there so early in spring! We also heard a Short eared Owl and a couple of Long-eared Owls hooting and especially Short-eared Owl was very nice to hear well. In Siikalahti we heard the first Spotted Crake of the spring.
On the 22nd day the weather was very bad so we decided to start checking our owl nest-boxes. We had hopes high as there had been lots of owls calling in late winter but for some reason our boxes were empty. In Tarvaslampi we saw a Whimbrel and in the forests one female Capercaillie.
During the rest of the week only birds to mention were a couple of Black Kites, a couple of Black-tailed Godwits and an early Willow Warbler in Siikalahti on the 24th day.
Hanna went to see Capercaillie lek for night and early morning.
On the 25th day we did waterbird-counts again but found nothing special. No there were 3 Black-tailed Godwits and Common Redshanks were having territory. On the 26th of April we celebrated the 15th year of our local Parikkala and Rautjärvi Bird-club. The weather was really bad but we had plenty of food with us on the dam-road and it was nice to chat with the most active birders on our area. Meanwhile we saw at least 3 Black Kites and a Little Gull and heard a Lapland Longspur.
In the afternoon we checked some empty nest-boxes again and only year-tick for me was a Tree Pipit. We also checked one Nuthatch territory and found their nest. In the evening I still saw a Common Tern in Särkisalmi.
On the 27th day we were birding in Saari again but saw some Gadwalls, a Hobby and a singing Great Grey Shrike and so on. In the evening I twitched a 2nd year male Citrine Wagtail in Siikalahti before went to pick up Hanna from Pohjanranta where she had stayed the afternoon and evening on a hide. There I saw a Short-eared Owl. Then we still did a short drive on a couple of fields and heard a Jack Snipe, a flock of Common Scoters and in Siikalahti a few Spotted Crakes.
On the 28th of April there were three small flocks of Common Scoters in Härskiinmutka and on one flock there were a couple of Long-tailed ducks too. During my lunch-hour I saw a Black Kite again. On the 29th there was a Wood Warbler singing in Moskuunniemi but again the wind was northern so nothing else really happened. So I went to check some more nest-boxes and finally it happened – a Tawny Owl flushed from one of the boxes. I checked that it had 4 eggs and left soon.
On the last day of April I still hope to see some early arrivals but saw only some Barn Swallow and House Martins. Nothing else really.
J.A.