Everyday summer-birding
On the week that begun on the 15th of June I saw the same species as earlier: Black Kites and other local raptors and some wader-migrants. We did duck-counts again and there were surprisingly many ducklings to count. Local hunters have really done good work with predators. Especially late breeders seemed to be doing well as Hooded Crows had already moved somewhere else to feed their fledlings. So we saw again the same Greylag Goose family, a couple of Common Pochard families and many other duck-families and also 8 Gadwalls. Unfortunately all nests of grebes had once again destroyed in hard winds.
On the 19th day evening we went to Saari but saw already in the way a Greater White-fronted Goose on a field in Särkisalmi. In Akonpohja we saw a male Hen Harrier and a Grey-headed Woodpecker, in Pohjanranta a Grey Heron and a female Garganey and in Kanavalampi we heard a couple of Golden Orioles. Otherwise we didn’t find much, just saw some flocks of Eurasian Curlews migrating towards south.
On the 20th we did a long night to early morning trip again to Saari. We saw the same White-fronted Goose on the way and then in Koukkuinnurmet we found a Common Quail. In Akkakallio we heard a couple of Marsh Warblers and then in Akanvaara Tetrisuo we found the second Quail and in Ratila already the third. In Pohjanranta we heard 3 Spotted Crakes and on in Suurenjärvenliete, in Jyrkilä we found a Tundra Bean Goose and heard a Wryneck and in Akonpohja we heard the fourth Quail of the trip! Of course we had found also Stock Doves, 58 Corn Crakes, 22 Short-eared Owls (mostly youngsters calling), a few European Nightjars, 20 Blyth’s Reed Warblers and so on.
On Sunday we had SSP-ringing again and got a Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2+1c Blue and 7+1c Great Tits, 1+5c Willow Warblers, a Garden Warbler, 1+2c Common Whitethroats, a Pied Flycatcher, a Common Rosefinch and 2 Reed Buntings. Several controls told that we were doing exactly what is the meaning of this SSP-ringing. We also saw a flock of 4 Oystercatchers and 10 Red Crossbills flying over us and heard a Stock Dove and a Golden Oriole. Later in Siikalahti I still saw a flock of 200 Starlings and heard a couple of Golden Orioles.
The week started well as on the 22nd of June early at night I found a male Little Crake that was calling quite far north from the dam-road. It was the first observation for 10 years of this earlier regular visitor in Siikalahti! A few Spotted Crakes and a couple of Corn Crakes were also calling. In the beginning of the week I saw the same Black Kites and came to listen to the Little Crake a few times. The same White-fronted Goose was still in Särkisalmi and from Siikalahti tower I found a female Northern Pintail. The best obsevation of the week was anyway a couple of Caspian Terns that flew over the dam-road on the 24th day. It was only the 4th observation of Caspian Tern in Siikalahti. Once there were 4 Black Kites soaring on the sky together and on Thursday and Friday I went to count Barnacle Geese in Joukio – 130ad and 85 juv. There were also 3 Oystercatchers. The Little Crake was heard still on the 26th day after midnight but it wasn’t heard after that anymore. From the tower we saw part of the Greylag Goose family, 4 Gadwalls and the same Pintail and heard a White-backed Woodpecker and a Golden Oriole.
On Saturday the 27th of June we did a short forest-trip and heard a Greenish Warbler in Soininmäki. While we were driving along a shortcut in Savo and Punkaharju side of the border, we saw a flock of 20 Parrot Crossbills. Once we were back in Parikkala we found a nice old male Red-breasted Flycatcher which has been extremely rare this year around here. At night we headed to southern parts of Parikkala and in Lahdensuo we found a Marsh Warbler and in a few hours also 26 Corn Crakes, 9 Long-eared Owls, 7 Blyth’s Reed Warblers and a couple of Great Snipes from a new location. We ended our trip to Siikalahti where a couple of Spotted Crakes were calling and the same River Warbler that had been quiet for some time had started to sing again.
During the day I visited Simpele Kokkolanjoki where Grey Wagtails had work to do as they were having second breeding.
The week started again well. I started with the same White-fronted Goose and saw even 30 Lesser Black-backed Gulls on the same field. On my lunch-break on the dam-road a Grey Heron was flying towards north and then we saw this time a single Caspian Tern flying south. Erkko Elonen said that he had heard something like a Grasshopper Warbler shortly which rang bells as usually in this time of year there are no Grasshopper Warblers in Siikalahti even though there nowadays too many trees and bushes too. I wore my headphones and kept microphone pointed to the direction that Erkko told but I only managed to hear one extremely short sound that fit much better for a Savi’s Warbler. Luckily Erkko later heard it calling a little bit longer and it indeed was a Savi’s Warbler. At night I also came to listen to it better and took some recordings too.
On the last day of June I saw the same White-fronted Goose and in Siikalahti a Great Egret landed to a perch, a couple of Black Kites were soaring on the sky and the same Savi’s Warbler kept on singing.
On the 1st of July I did duck-counts again and it started well. I was walking towards Siikalahti when I flushed a Great Snipe almost under my shoe. And then even more surprisingly I found a stunning male Greater Scaup swimming on the furthermost water-area of Siikalahti – my first ever summer-record in Parikkala! I also saw the whole family of Greylag Geese again, an eclipse-plumaged Smew, 3 Gadwalls, the same Pintail, Grey Heron and Great Egret, a Little Ringed Plover and once again only one Eurasian Coot – it really seems that there is only one left!
On the 2nd day I saw a couple of Oystercatchers in Kangaskylä and unfortunately they seemed to have lost their only offspring. So only successful breeding of this species had been a couple of years ago. But we have got a couple of records of this species also in different parts of Parikkala so maybe this species is still surviving here.
At weekend it was raining a lot. Anyway we managed to do some birding. On Saturday we started in Siikalahti where we saw 3 Grey Herons and 2 Great Egrets. Then we continued to Saari where in Akonpohja we saw families of Gadwalls and Coots. The first species is just coming a new breeding-species in Parikkala and second one is disappearing quickly. At fields we saw a female Hen Harrier. In Pohjanranta there weren’t many birds but the only swan happened to be a Mute Swan which is a rare bird here – it’s not seen every year. In Suurenjärvenliete we saw another female Hen Harrier but that was it.
On Sunday the 5th of July we had SSP-ringing again: a Blue and a Great Tit, a Blyth’s Reed Warbler, a Garden Warbler, 4c Common Whitethroats, a Blackbird, a Robin, 2 Common Rosefinches, 3 Reed Buntings and a Yellowhammer were caught. Meanwhile we saw a Black Kite, heard some Red Crossbills, a Goldfinch and a family of Golden Orioles. Before rains I still hurried to Saari where Jarmo Pirhonen had found a young Grey Wagtail. I managed to find it easily and it was only the 4th observation ever in Parikkala. I also visited Pohjanranta where the Mute Swan and a Grey Heron were seen. The rest of the day I was sleeping so I could watch some more World Cup football at night.
During the week I saw the same Greater White-fronted Goose, Great Egrets, a Great Bittern flying here and there, Black Kites and other common raptors (12 Hobbies) and heard Savi’s Warbler. From the tower we saw a Smew, ducklings, a couple of Coots and Hanna saw a young bird too. On the 9th day we visited Saari briefly and saw the same Mute Swan still on Pohjanranta. In Siikalahti I saw already 5 Great Egrets and on the 10th day we saw an early young Black-tailed Godwit.
On the 11th day we started ringings in Kukonkanta and caught 4 Blue Tits, a Great Tit, 2 Icterine Warblers, 6+1c Sedge and 10 Blyth’s Reed Warblers, a Marsh Warbler, a Barn Swallow, 4 Willow Tits, 2 Garden Warblers, 7 Common Whitethroats, a Fieldfare, a Pied Flycatcher, a Common Rosefinch and 2 Reed Buntings. We also saw a migrating flock of 65 Common Scoters, a White-backed Woodpecker and a couple of Golden Orioles. At night I went to listen to the same Savi’s Warbler and saw 6 Great Egrets.
On Sunday we had SSP-ringing. The beginning was good but then it really slowed down with a too ho weather. We caught a Barn Swallow, 2 Sedge and 2 Blyth’s Reed Warblers, 3 Common Whitethroats, a European Goldfinch, 3 Reed Buntings and a Yellowhammer. We also heard a Black and a Grey-headed Woodpecker and flocks of Parrot and Red Crossbills and a distant Golden Oriole and surprisingly saw a Great Grey Shrike.
J.A.