February 2008
February – and it’s not a winter
On the 1st of February once I had finished at work I drove to twitch some February-ticks. At Imatra Vuoksi I saw Canada Geese and a Black-throated Diver and also Whooper Swans, a Tufted duck, Smews, a Red-breasted Merganser, 3 Herring Gulls, a Goshawk and some Cormorants. In Lappeenranta Tuohimäki I saw a Kestrel but In Toikansuo only Redpolls and 5 Arctic Redpolls.
In the evening I drove in a terrible weather to Kotka where I birded next day with Markus Keskitalo. The sea was fully open and there were no snow at all, but it was raining. Common Gulls and Great Black-backed Gulls, a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and a Cormorant were seen and a Wood Duck in Sapokka and a Pochard in Sunilanlahti were twitched. A Black-throated Thrush was finally found on third try from Mussalo Etukylä where also a White-tailed Eagle was soaring on the sky. In the evening I drove to Lappeenranta where we birded together with Pekka Punnonen and Jari Kiljunen on the next day. The weather was still awful and only a Goldfinch, Chaffinches and all the same bird in Imatra Vuoksi were seen.
On the 5th day I drove to Savonlinna to twitch a Pintail and do some shopping. Pintail was again one more bird that I’ve seen now in every month. On the 7th days evening I was once again in Lappeenranta and finally I heard a Tawny Owl calling in Hanhijärvi. I also twitched 2 calling Long-eared Owls in Joutseno Pieni-Läykkä. On the 8th days evening we heard a Ural Owl calling in Kullinsuo.
On the 9th day I was birding with Sampsa Cairenius. First we twitched a Rough-legged Buzzard in Savitaipale Tainasuo where also a Great Grey Shrike was seen. Then we continued to Lemi where in Urolanlahti a migrating Goldfinch was surprisingly seen. Soon we were again in Toikansuo where a Rook and a Teal were seen and then we hurried to Joutseno Kukkuroinmäki where Jarmo Pirhonen had found a Capercaillie. In Konnunsuo area we still found a couple of Great Grey Shrikes.
On the 10th day I finally found a Hawfinch in Imatra Linnansuo and also all the wintering birds were seen in Vuoksi again. Now there were 6 Herring Gulls. In the evening we went to check the Ural Owls were again on their nesting site.
On the 14th day I surprisingly saw a Fieldfare and a White-tailed Eagle in Siikalahti. It was a good an hour trip: only 7 species were seen but 2 winter-rally ticks and also a White-backed Woodpecker. On the 16th day we saw several White-backed Woodpeckers, 2 Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers and 14 Black Grouses there.
On the 17th days morning we kept a birdwalk in Imatra Vuoksi. The weather was awful but some of the wintering ducks were seen. During the day we birded in Lappeenranta with Jari Kiljunen but in a horrible weather nothing else that a Grey Heron in Luukkaansalmi and a Fieldfare and a Great Grey Shrike in Toikasuo were seen.
On the 21st days evening we heard a Pygmy Owl in Jalaslampi but then again the weather went bad. On the 23rd morning we went to skiing and see Siberian Jays with Jari Kiljunen. Also a displaying Goshawk was seen. In the afternoon I drove to Joutseno Kukkuroinmäki to twitch 2 or 3 Common Buzzards. In the evening in Vuoksi we counted already 130 Herring Gulls and also 3 Great Black-backed Gulls – the spring was here!
During the next day we went to see the Siberian Jays with Pekka and we also found 2 Hazel Hens, 2 Treecreepers and 1 or 2 Three-toed Woodpeckers. In Kirkonkylä we saw and heard a Grey-headed Woodpecker and in Siikalahti a White-backed, a Black and a Black Woodpecker. With common Great Spotted Woodpecker we saw altogether 6 woodpecker species in 3 hours! In Satumäki we saw a flock of 12 Siskins.
On the leap day I went to twitch day-ticks. On the morning I got a Grey-headed and White-backed Woodpecker. After the work I drove to Vuoksi where all the same birds were seen but the diver had disappeared. Then I twitched a Kestrel, Common Buzzards and a Great Grey Shrike in Joutseno and Grey Herons, a Rook and Teals in Lappeenranta. Then we continued with Pekka to Askola where we heard an Eagle Owl that I recorded. In Hanhijärvi we heard 2 Tawny Owls that unfortunately stopped too soon when another Eagle Owl started to call. Then we still heard a Tengmalm’s Owl in Penttilä. I still continued to Hanhijärvi to try to record Tawny Owls but now there were 2 Tengmalm’s Owls calling with the Eagle Owl.