Quiet times
In the end of July it was very boring times for a birder. So all I saw in many days were some Nutcrackers and a family of Gold Finches in the village, some Grey Herons and quite a few Red-backed Shrikes. Only better birds were 2 Cormorants in Härskiinmutka and a Redshank and a Reed Warbler in Kirkkoranta on the 23rd day.
On the 25th of July we were in Siikalahti for the whole morning but saw almost nothing. Of course a Great White Egret arrived o the next morning when I was still sleeping. I managed to twitch it but I still need the species to my self-found list.
On the last days of July there were still some Blyth’s Reed Warblers, Thrush Nightingales and so on on the bushes but even though I saw managed to twitch a Great White Egret that I again didn’t find and saw a very early young Hen Harrier I was so bored birding in Parikkala that I decided to go to Southern Finland for a weekend again. On the way I stopped in Lappeenranta Askola where I saw 11 Dunlins, 2 Curlew Sands, 2 Little Stints, 2 Temminck Stints, 2 Redshanks, 2 Little Ringed Plovers, a Ringed Plover and a Caspian Tern. Then I continued straight to Hanko where I was again in Vedagrundet in the evening. But the sea was very empty comparing what it was 2 weeks earlier.
On the 1st of August I seawatched for 10 hours but saw only 1 Black Guillemot, 2 Arctic Skuas, 4 Caspian Terns and not many other terns either so no Sandwich Terns either. 5 Sparrowhawks were migrating, 2 Golden Plovers, 10 Dunlins and a Broad-billed Sandpiper were only other goodies.
On the 2nd day I seawatched for 5 hours and saw 2 Pintails, a Velvet Scoter, 2 Curlew Sandpipers, 35 Dunlins and a Whimbrel. On the way back I stopped again in Suomenoja and saw all the regular birds plus a Marsh Warbler.
The Great White Egret stayed in Siikalahti for the next week but showed only in flight in the northern end of the bay. A White-tailed Eagle, a Thrush Nightingale, a couple of Blyth’s Reed Warblers, White-backed Woodpeckers, Bitterns, Grey Herons, a Cuckoo and Red-backed Shrikes were other species I saw there. In Moskuunniemi I still saw an Icterine Warbler and in the village I still saw one Nutcracker.
On the 8th day I walked around Siikalahti again with Hanna’s brother Miika but the rainy weather wasn’t good and we saw nothing special. On the next day I saw a Merlin there and a Nuthatch near Lahdenkylä. during the next days I saw the first Yellow Wagtails for the autumn, twitched a Moorhen in Imatra while I was visiting Russia for gasoline once again and on the 12th day I saw the Great White Egret for the last time.
On the 13th day I found a Wryneck in Siikalahti and it stayed there for several days. On the 15th day we saw 3 Siberian Jays, a Capercaillie and heard a Goshawk, a Hazel Hen and a Two-barred Crossbill in the forests. In the afternoon we continued to Saari with Miika and saw a Merlin, a flock of 140 House Martins and a Wryneck but nothing else really. The next days produced a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and a Spotted Redshank in Siikalahti, a one more Wryneck in Lahdensuo, a Temminck Stint and a Great Grey Shrike in Akanvaara Tetrisuo and still on the 23rd day I saw a Blyth’s Reed Warbler in Siikalahti and on the 25th I saw a flock of 25 Common Scoters in Härskiinmutka.
On the 27th day I saw a Black Grouse in Kontiolampi and 8 Canada Geese in Härskiinmutka. On the 28th day I twitched a Turnstone in Imatra Immalanjärvi.
J.A.