August 2007
It was raining a lot in August
The weather in August was very rainy. So there were good possibilities to see some migrant waders that are not normally landing to Eastern Finland. In a 1st of August I saw 10 Dunlins, 50 Lapwings, Wood Sandpipers and Greenshanks in Siikalahti. In Argusjärvi a Grey-headed Woodpecker was seen again. It was moulting really hard. The feathers were dropping when it flew.
On the 4th day we went shopping to Lappeenranta. I checked to Askola pools but nothing special was found. In the evening in Siikalahti 5 Grey Herons, an adult White-tailed Eagle, 5 calling Water Rails and a Temminck’s Stint were seen. On the next day we saw a Grey-headed Woodpecker in Punkaharju Naaranlahti.
On the 6th day I went to Joutseno rubbish tip with Sampsa Cairenius and Jarmo Pirhonen. They had found a possible Caspian Gull and we went to photograph and record it. After many hours searching we found the bird and managed to get good documents of the bird. In the late evening I still went to see a nest of a Collared Dove to Lauritsala.
Next days were quiet: a Temminck’s Stint, Dunlin and a Short-eared Owl were seen in Siikalahti. Then on the 11th of August I got a message that there was a young Black-winged Pratincole in Joutseno Kotasaari. We drove there quickly and managed to watch the bird for more than half an hour before it left directly towards South-West. Also a Curlew Sandpiper, some Little Ringed Plovers and a Golden Plover was seen on the pools. Later we continued birding with Ilkka Jarva but only a couple of Cuckoos and now 3 Collared Doves were seen. On the way back we went to try to photograph a Grey Wagtail that was still in Kokkolanjoki and I managed to get some pictures.
On the 12th day we saw in Siikalahti for example 480 Coots, a Bittern, 9 Grey Herons, 9 Honey Buzzards, 8 Ospreys, a Spotted Redshank and heard calls of migrating Grey Plover.
Next better observations were made 2 days later when I got a call that there was a spotted eagle in Siikalahti. I drove there and found Mikko Pöllänen watching a younger Greater Spotted Eagle. When I was watching the eagle a falcon flew across the picture and surprisingly there was a young Red-footed Falcon flying! Not a bad 15 minutes.
The Red-footed Falcon stayed about a week in Siikalahti and I managed to get pretty good pictures. On the 16th day we counted 225 Cranes in Jyrkilä and saw an Ortolan bunting in Akanvaara Tetrisuo.
On the 17th of August I drove to Joutseno to pick up Sampsa Cairenius and we continued to Helsinki to harbour where we met Erkki Valsta. We took a ferry to Tallinn and continued driving to Southern Estonia where we took part to Estonian Open bird race.
We slept a couple of hours in a hotel in Otepää and at 3 a.m. on the 18th day the rally started. We birded 14 hours in inland in Valga and Viljandimaa and saw altogether 130 species. Middle Spotted Woodpeckers, White-backed Woodpeckers, Hazel Hens, a Ural Owl, a Pygmy Owl, a Tawny Owl, a Marsh Tit, hundreds of White Storks, Lesser Spotted Eagles, a Black Redstart, Black Terns, some Great White Egrets and a good luck with waders in the end of the rally made the day really good! There were 16 teams which 5 of them were Estonians but we became 2nd and we were the best Finnish team.
After the rally we wake up early. We twitched one more Middle Spotted Woodpecker and continued to Öru Saunjalahti to twitch a very rare Black-necked Grebe. Luckily we found the bird and got a really good Estonian tick. We still stopped in Noarootsi Haversinlahti where we had lots of waders: Ringed Plovers, Dunlins, Knots, Curlew Sandpipers, Temminck’s Stints, Little Stints, Bar-tailed Godwits and some Sandwiched Terns. But soon we had to hurry to Tallinn to catch a ferry.
On the 20th day the Red-footed Falcon was still in Siikalahti. We also found 4 Nutcrackers in Kangaskylä. In the evening we put up the mist nets to Tarvaslampi and luckily caught 2 Pygmy Owls during the night.
On the 25th day we drove around the field areas nearby and saw lots of Hobbies and Kestrels but luckily also a migrating flock of 25 Grey Plovers and 5 Knots. On the next morning I drove to Joutseno where I watched migration in Tiuruniemi with Kauko Kauppinen for a couple of hours. Later we were birding around Joutseno with Pekka Punnonen and 5 Red-throated Pipits, some Hen Harriers, a Cormorant, a very late Quail and a couple of Wood Larks were seen. On the way back I again saw the Grey Wagtail in Kokkolanjoki.
On the 27th day Hanna’s family called that they had found a weak raptor. We drove there and picked up a young Honey Buzzard that was very thin and weak. We took it with us and tried to feed it but after a couple of better days it went weaker and died even though we really tried to do our best.
In the end of August I still saw a flock of 8 migrating Bean Geese, a young Smew, a late Wood Sandpiper and some Red-throated Pipits in Siikalahti. On the 31st day I started a long way to Oulu. On the way I stopped in Akanvaara Tetrisuo and it was worthy: I saw in 30 minutes White-tailed Eagle, a Lapland Bunting, 12 Red-throated Pipits and a young Pallid Harrier!
I had another stop in Outokumpu Vuonos but only a Little Stint was found. I still saw a flying Tengmalm’s Owl in Tyrnävä before I finally were in Oulu Hietasaari where we had 2 cottages rented with my brothers family and my parents. Hanna came there by night-train from Helsinki where she had been in BirdLife meeting.