Forest bird-race in Saari
Spring was coming slowly as the wind has turned to north. On the 2nd of April I saw 3 Coots and a Snipe in Siikalahti, on the 3rd day a couple of Wigeons and heard a really early Water Rail. On the 4th day I saw a Marsh Harrier and heard a Bittern that was still calling very weak. Otherwise only Bean Geese, Black-headed Gulls and a female Goshawk that was chasing a flock of 225 Wood Pigeons were seen.
On the 5th of April we had the wilderness bird-race again. Together with Hanna and Matti Lötjönen we had an area that had all best birding places in Saari. On the previous evening we planned the race and decided to take bicycles with us. It was aloud to part in 2 groups so we planned that one could bike all the time.
We woke up at 2 a.m. and an hour later we were near Jyrkilä fields where I started to go by bike and Hanna and Matti continued by car. Unfortunately there was nothing heard in the first hour so we had to start the race at 4 a.m. with a Robin and the early Hooded Crow. Luckily Hanna soon heard a Hawk Owl and a Ural Owl.
Then before 5 a.m. we changed so that Hanna continued by bike. Hanna heard soon lots of Goldcrests and tits and with Matti we found a stunning Great Grey Owl. Also 42 Black Grouses, 2 Capercaillies, 9 Hazel Hens, 2 Black Woodpeckers and so on were found. Hanna counted lots of Goldcrests, Willow Tits, Crested Tits, Long-tailed Tits, Trecreepers, Bullfinches and a flock of 15 Common Crossbills that also gave us some single points. Better species gave us more points in this race.
At 11 a.m. we met in Pohjanranta tower where Hanna had just seen a Hen Harrier and a White-tailed Eagle. I stayed there while Hanna and Matti continued to the forests. But the wind has started to blow too hard so there was nothing really migrating and it was impossible to hear any passerines anymore. I still counted some Common Buzzards, Sparrowhawks, Kestrels and the many migrants that gave us only the species points. I still biked to Kuposenmäki, Tarassiinlahti and Kanavalampi but found nothing else than some migrants like Canada Geese and a Pintail. Altogether we saw 62 species, but not enough real forest-species to get enough points. So after all we came 3rd in the race – the winners had got much less species but more points. Anyway the day had been really nice and so was the evening.
J.A.