. . Lintuharrastajan päiväkirja Birders diary . .

On the 2nd of June we headed to Melkoniemi forests and found altogether 6 singing Red-breasted Flycatchers but still no Greenish Warblers. A Three-toed Woodpecker was drumming and it was a year-tick. Young Tengmalm’s Owl was looking at us from the nest-hole but in the afternoon it was already out.

We continued to Saari where in Akonpohja we saw a Brent Goose and a Black-tailed Godwit. In the evening I saw a Short-eared Owl in Siikalahti and a female Hen Harrier in Tetrisuo. At night we visited the best places nearby and heard 4 Spotted Crakes, 4 Marsh Warblers, a couple of Great Snipes, lots of Corn Crakes and so on.

On the 5th of June Hanna found a Great Reed Warbler in Särkisalmi and of course I had to twitch it. In the afternoon we visited Saari again and saw a couple of Common Ringed Plovers and a Temminck’s Stint. In Kangaskylä we saw an Oystercatcher and in the evening I twitcher a Grasshopper Warbler in Siikalahti. Then I found another Grasshopper Warbler, heard a Great Snipe, lots of Nightjars and Blyth’s Reed Warblers and a new Spotted Crake. Next day only better bird was a Black Kite in Siikalahti.

An Oystercatcher was seen in the village pretty often and then on the 8th day we saw 3 Oystercatchers flying over Papinlahti where we were having SSP-ringing. We caught only 5 Sedge Warblers, 1+1c Common Whitethroats, 3 Garden Warblers, a Willow Warbler, a Great Tit, 2 Common Rosefinches and a Reed Bunting. A River Warbler was singing nearby and a Grey Heron was heard from the sky. In the afternoon we visited Saari again but saw only a Gadwall couple and a Garganey in Akonpohja and a Little Ringed Plover in Pohjanranta.

On the 9th day we woke up a little bit late but then drove to Lappeenranta Joutseno Kotasaari where a Terek Sandpiper had been seen for quite some time already. We searched for it for several hours in windy weather but without luck. We heard a Marsh Sandpiper a couple of times and saw a couple of Garganeys, a Slavonian Grebe couple, 7 Common and 6 Little Ringed Plovers, 5 Spotted and 4 Common Redshanks, a Yellow Wagtail and heard a Great Reed Warbler. Then we went to Konnunsuo where we found easily 5 Ortolan Buntings, saw a Hen Harrier and heard a Quail. Then we headed back to Kotasaari where we had to keep rain for some time before we had to give up. We were just about to leave when a friendly birder stopped us and told that he had just seen the Terek Sandpiper exactly on the same place where we had just minutes before been. We drove back and there it finally was. It was good to see this personally-looking wader and ever better to hear it calling too.

On the 10th of June I went by bike to check that a couple of Little Ringed Plovers had bred successfully – but they had only 2 youngsters. In village there were again several Barnacle Geese families and on Canada Goose family. I also heard a couple of Marsh Warblers.

On the 11th day at least 12 Hobbies were hunting dragonflies in Siikalahti. In the evening I went to a night-trip with Teijo and Miila Saari. We started with Savi’s Warbler in Siikalahti and then we soon saw a Long-eared Owl and heard plenty of Nightjars and a Corn Crakes before we went to listen to Great Snipes. We found one Great Snipe in a different place too.

Next evening we headed to Saari where we saw a couple of Little Tinged Plovers in Pohjanranta, a Golden Plover in Kuussaari, a Grey-headed Woodpecker in Honkakylä and then in Karinmäki we managed to read a ring of a Curlew that we had seen a couple of years earlier last time with Hanna. It had been ringed 27 years ago in Lincolnshire England! It was already getting dark so we checked a couple of fields but found only the same species. But when we stopped in Jyrkilä I immediately heard a promising song. We walked a little bit closer and then we heard it clearly – a Booted Warbler! Soon we also saw this bird and it was only my second ever self-found Booted Warbler in Parikkala – and a lifer for Teijo and Miila. A Short-eared Owl was hunting over the field too so we were pretty happy!

On the 13th day we met with our old friend Danield Burgas and his two Catalan friends in Jyrkilä. They had driven straight from Helsinki-Vantaa airport and at 8 p.m. they started birding and the first bird was a Booted Warbler which was lifer even for Dani who had lived in Finland for 15 years. We had planned to do birding together at weekend but I had been sleeping so well after work that we decided to do some birding right away. After some watching and listening to Booted Warbler we decided to ring it too. The same Short-eared Owl and Quail were still around and of course several Corn Crakes.

We visited some good places and heard a Spotted Crake, a Water Rail, Great Bitterns, Blyth’s and Marsh Warblers and saw a Long-eared owl.

After my work I slept as long as I could and at 11 p.m. we met Catalans in Siikalahti. Savi’s Warbler was still singing. Then we headed to field where I had heard a distant Great Snipe a couple of nights earlier and there were 3 birds displaying right next to the road!

We continued to Papinlahti where an active River Warbler was also seen quite well. A couple of young Long-eared Owls were heard there too. Then we ringed another Marsh Warbler, found several Reed Warblers and managed to see a Thrush Nightingale well in Kukonkanta. The biggest surprise for us were a couple of Hawfinches that flew over us. Then we decided to ring the young Little Ringed Plovers while a Golden Oriole was already starting to sing.

We still spent some time with Blyth’s Reed Warblers before we headed to Melkoniemi forests. On the way I heard a familiar song through open window and there was finally a Greenigh Warbler! We managed to see this warbler surprisingly well before we continued to try other forest-birds. But the forest was surprisingly quiet. After some waiting we saw a Three-toed Woodpecker visiting the nest that Hanna had found earlier and some of us managed to see a Siberian Jay briefly. Then we ended the trip to neighbor to Savo side of the border where a Red-throated Diver was swimming on the pond with a young.

On the 16th of June we had SSP again and we caught a Marsh Warbler, 2+1c Common Whitethroats, 1k Garden Warbler, a Willow Warbler, 2 Great Tits and a Reed Bunting. Long-eared Owl youngsters, a Spotted Crake and a Water Rail were calling and a White-tailed Eagle flew over.

On the 18th day an Oystercatcher youngsters were seen in an island close to Kangaskylä. On th 19th day I saw a Gadwall in Siikalahti but otherwise I didn’t see much during the week. Hanna was birding every night or morning but mostly she concentrated photographing or atlas-birding.

On the 21st, mid-summer day we slept long but then headed to Saari where in Akonpohja we saw a White-tailed Eagle and a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. The Booted Warbler and the Quail were still in Jyrkilä but almost nothing else was found. After we had eaten well, we headed to check that everything was OK with Three-toed Woodpeckers. The nestlings were still very small as a male was inside the nest. Then it started to rain and it was a relief as I really needed some sleep.

But on the next night we were birding again. We checked some new nightsinger areas but found only Corn Crakes, Blyth’s Reed Warblers, a couple of Marsh Warblers and so on. During the day there wasn’t much in Siikalahti either, just a Golden Oriole, 10 Hobbies and the same Savi’s Warbler still. It really seemed that the best birding time was over.

So during the weekend only other things to mention were ringing 2 Oystercatcher chicks that were now on the shore in Kangaskylä – actually they were ringed almost in our back-yard where we also saw a strange flock of 6 other Oystercatchers. Then on the 23rd day we had SSP again and caught a Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2c Sedge Warblers, 2c Common Whitethroats, 2c Garden Warblers, a Willow Warbler, 2 Blue and 7 Great Tits and 2 Reed Buntings. In the afternoon while running with Hanna’s brother Miika we saw a female Capercaillie. And at night I twitched a River Warbler as a Siikalahti year-tick.

On the last week of June it was getting very quiet. A short night-trip at 26th showed that even Savi’s Warbler had gone quiet or moved somewhere and only a single Great Snipe was calling only once. Booted Warbler had also disappeared after our last observation. There is still time to find some singers until bush-crickets start their noise. After all the highlight of the week was a House Sparrow family in Kangaskylä – the last pair is still alive.

On Friday the 28th of June we drove to Loviisa with Hanna and Hanna’s sister Elissa. In Pernaja Särklax there was a flooded field where were some waders and we had to really work hard in bad light and haze before we managed to find a Lesser Yellowlegs. A couple of other twitchers were happy to tick a sleeping Greenshank…

On the 29th day we were in Siikalahti for a few hours but saw only a Black Kite. And on the last day of June we did a long boat-trip to Lake Simpele with Arttu Valonen. We surveyed gulls and other birds and found out that there aren’t many pairs of Lesser Black-backed Gulls left. We also made sure that Cormorants aren’t breeding yet. Then we still visited Rautjärvi Simpele Kokkolanjoki where we checked that 2 pairs of Grey Wagtails were still around and breeding. The rest of the day we took easy.

J.A.