Spring coming faster than ever
On the 2nd of April we participated to Wilderness bird-race again. Last year we hadn’t got enough teams but luckily now we got all parts of Ruokolahti and Rautjärvi filled. Our area was islands of Äitsaari, Härskiänsaari and Salosaari. Together with Hanna and Miika Soikkeli we spent night in Pitkäjärvi and then at 1:45 a.m. woke up and soon were driving towards Äitsaari.
We made a couple of stops in Salosaari but started the race soon after 3 a.m. when we saw a Rackoon Dog. In this race points were given also from mammals and different numbers of points were given from wilderness birds.
We stopped very many times to listen to owls but heard none until finally just before the sun was rising we heard 3 Pygmy Owls and a Hazel Hen. But they were the only ones we heard even though there was lots of good looking biotope.
We spent the morning in Äitsaari and found 11 Canada Geese, a Marsh Harrier, 2 Skylarks, 6 Starlings, a Robin and more importantly wilderness species that gave us lots of points: 4 Grey-headed Woodpeckers, 3 White-backed Woodpeckers, 6 Black Woodpeckers, 13 Mistle Thrushes, a Sparrowhawk and 13 Long-tailed Tits. In Härskiänsaari we found a Wren, a Three-toed Woodpecker and one more Black Woodpecker. Altogether we found 16 Common Buzzards, 26 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 5 Goldcrests, 23 Willow Tits, 6 Crested Tits, 12 Jays, 10 Ravens and 54 Bullfinches. 2 Woles, a European Hare and a Red Fox were also seen. The end of the race we spent in Salosaari and found a Goshawk, a Coal Tit, one more White-backed Woodpecker and 7 Rock doves but the wind was too strong to find anything else.
The results were given in Pitkäjärvi and while eating I saw a strange white bird in flight through the window. Luckily I saw it landing and it was a leucistic Pheasant. The three best teams had of course had good areas but they had all also spent much more time walking and cycling so they really deserved their prizes.
On the 3rd of April I spent several hours in Siikalahti where were quite a few other birders too. 20 Tundra Bean Geese, 7 White-fronted Geese, 2 Canada Geese, a Bittern, a Water Rail, a Black Grouse, a Hen Harrier, a Goshawk, 3 Black-headed Gulls, 2 Coots, 7 Cranes, 2 Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers, a White-backed Woodpecker 20 Chaffinches, 2 Stock Doves and a Short-eared Owl were observed. In Särkisalmi I still saw some Goldeneyes, Goosanders and Mallards and in Lemmikonsalmi a Canada Goose.
On the 4th day I heard a Gold Finch in Särkisalmi and 4 saw Canada Geese and a Common Gull. In Siikalahti I saw some geese again and a Hen Harrier, a Goshawk, some Cranes, a Linnet, a Redwing and 3 Meadow Pipits.
After one rainy day and night there were lots of birds in Siikalahti on the 6th of April. 3 Marsh Harriers, 3 Kestrels, a Golden Plover, a Green Sandpiper, a Snipe, 50 Black-headed Gulls, 10 Common Gulls, 30 Blackbirds, 10 Redwings, 25 Fieldfares, 2 Song Thrushes, 2 Gold Finches, a Linnet and 72 Snow Buntings were seen on short visits. On the 7th day there were a couple of Teals, a White-tailed Eagle, a Hen Harrier, 4 Rough-legged Buzzards, 2 Merlins, 22 Coots, 2 Curlews, a Green Sandp
iper, 5 Snipes, 10 White Wagtails and some other migrants that had been seen on the earlier days too.
On the 8th Wigeons were already numerous, 20 birds were with a flock of 240 Mallards, 75 Teals and 2 Pintails. Also Smews, Tufted Ducks, Pochards, a Greylag Goose, 3 White-tailed Eagles, 2 Grey Herons, nice and very early Black Kite, already 6 Marsh Harriers, Heuglin’s Gull, a Baltic Gull and so on were seen.
Next night brought numerous Robins that were singing everywhere, also 4 White-tailed Eagles, 13 Rough-legged Buzzards, 16 Sparrowhawks, 5 Ospreys, a Peregrine, very early Northern Wheatear, a Gold Finch, a Linnet and 35 Snow Buntings were seen.
On the 10th of April we did a trip to Saari but saw only a Merlin, some Pintails, a Woodcock and some flocks of displaying Black Grouses. In Siikalahti we saw 2 Pink-footed Geese, a Greylag Goose, 2 White-tailed Eagles, 7 Ospreys, a Hen Harrier, a Merlin, a Northern Wheatear and a Linnet.
On the 11th of April the weather was bad, but I visited Siikalahti anyway and saw a Black-tailed Godwit. On the next day it was still windy and rainy so only birds I saw were 2 Great Crested Grebes in Särkisalmi and a Dunnock in Tetrisuo. On the 13th day 2 Barnacle Geese, 2 White-tailed Eagles and a White-backed Woodpecker were seen in Siikalahti and on the 14th day I visited the main tower and surprisingly the bay was almost completely open! A Slavonian Grebe, 31 Pochards, 9 Tufted Ducks, 15 Smews and 2 Long-tailed Tits were seen. I also tried to twitch a Grey Wagtail in Rautjärvi KAngaskoski but I didn’t find it.
On the 16th of April I cycled to Siikalahti very early and spent there 8 hours and saw a Pink-footed Goose, 2 Barnacle Geese, 4 Pintails, a Garganey, 5 Black-throated Divers, 3 White-tailed Eagles, 5 Rough-legged Buzzards, stunning Greater Spotted Eagle, 15 Green Sandpipers, 35 Snipes, a Great Grey Shrike, a Linnet, a Black Woodpecker, a White-backed Woodpecker and so on. After a short brake I came back by car and met Mikko Kataja from FotoFennica as they had come to sell birding equipment for the evening. We still saw 17 Barnacle Geese and so on.
On the 17th of April we headed to Siikalahti early again. Until midday we had seen 31 Rough-legged Buzzards, a White-tailed Eagle, a Black Kite, 2 Grey Herons, 3 Shovelers, 2 Greenshanks, 2 Redshanks, 20 Bramblings, a Great Grey Shrike and heard a singing Chiffchaff. Then we decided to go to Saari to show new places to Mikko and Johanna but after 5 minutes we were called back to see a stunning Greater Spotted Eagle that flew beautifully right over us!
In Saari we had a good time too and found altogether 3 Redshanks, 4 Greenshanks, 23 Barnacle Geese, 3 Hen Harriers, 10 Golden Plovers, a Stock Dove, a Jack Snipe, 2 extremely early Yellow Wagtails, a White-backed Woodpecker, a Merlin and a flock of 8 Linnets.
Then the weather turned bad and it started to get windy and rainy. So spring really hit the brakes on…
J.A.