April 2006
April
In the beginning of April I was just waiting for the spring to come. I wasn’t birding very much.
The first migrants I saw in Parikkala were Rooks, Herring Gulls, Snowfinches, a Kestrel, Starlings, Lapwings, Common Buzzard and a Wood Pigeon.
On the 7th day the spring came! After the work I went to Siikalahti and saw some nice species like a Golden Eagle, 2 White-tailed Eagles, a Greylag Goose, a Stock Dove, Rooks, Skylarks, Meadow Pipits, a White Wagtail and a Marsh Harrier.
At the weekend I drove to Lappeenranta where we did some birding together with Harry Nyström, Pekka Punnonen and Henrik Salomaa. We began from Joutseno Konnunsuu where we saw 56 Canada Geese, a couple of Merlins, a Hen Harrier and some other common migrants. But we had expected more… We continued to Lappeenranta Luukkaansalmi where only new species were Black-headed Gull. Toikansuo was better: Rooks, a Woodcock and a Reed Bunting. Then we quickly listened to Goldfinches sing in Tykki before we got a message that there was a Moorhen in Toikansuo. The bird was in a ditch which we had checked only a couple of hours before but it was hiding so well that it wasn’t a surprise we had missed it. Now we managed to see it well only when we were in a car.
On the next morning I went again to Konnunsuo and now it was worthy. There was a lot of migration going on. Right away I saw some Bean Geese but also a Pink-footed Goose, a Wheatear, Cranes, 6 Hen Harriers, Mistle Thrushes and later a Dunnock, 3 Rough-legged Buzzards, White-tailed Eagle, a Peregrine and a Hawfinch. There were also hundreds of Skylarks, Wood Pigeons and Lapwings but when Harry arrived, after he had finished a guided trip he had promised to lead, there was almost nothing in the air anymore. In the afternoon we saw some White-fronted Geese, a Linnet, a couple of Lapland Buntings and some Lesser Black-backed Gulls which one of them was a Heuglin’s.
Next few days I managed to do birding only on my lunch hours. Anyway I found 3 Wood Larks, a Wren and a Pheasant, that really tried to crash with cars.
Eastern trip to Sweden
On the 13th day we started our Eastern trip to Southern Sweden with Ilkka Jarva. We had again his parent’s caravan. First we drove to Turku from where we took a ferry to Stocholm. Then we drove south to Lund where we picked up Andreas Lindén who joined us for the time that we were in Skåne – 2 days. The best observations were many Red Kites, a Short-toed Treecreeper, a Firecrest, a Peregrine, many Avocets, some Grey Partridges and Marsh Tits, Nuthatches, an Arctic Skua and many more. We even visited the famous Falsterbo, but it isn’t very good place in spring. Then on the way back to Stockholm, we drove to Hornborgansjö Lake which is an amazing place with thousands of Cranes, Greylag Geese and ducks. There we saw also some Black-necked Grebes. Altogether we saw 125 species in Sweden. Then in Stockholm we took a ferry again and from the ferry we managed to see some Razorbills but also a male King Eider! Then on the early morning of 19th day we were back in Parikkala.
End of April
Once we were back at home we could see there wasn’t a lot of snow anymore on the ground. In Siikalahti I saw many Snipes, Curlews and ducks which meant I had to begin to do duck counts! Also 4 Greylag Geese, a Black-tailed Godwit and a Whimbrel were found.
Also Särkisalmi and Lemmikonsalmi were good for ducks but the better species were seen in Siikalahti: a Grey Heron (20th day) and an early Swallow (21th).
On the 22nd day in Siikalahti I saw a White-tailed Eagle, a Golden Eagle, Bitterns, a Shoveler, 21 Rough-legged Buzzards, 12 Sparrowhawks, 8 Ospreys, 68 Cranes, 3 White-fronted Geese and so on. Later in the day I drove to do duck counts to Saari where were much more ducks than we had expected! But only better observations were 5 Canada Geese, a Grey Heron and a couple of hundred of Bean Geese.
On 23rd day I drove again to Konnunsuo where we birded with Harry, Pekka and Jari Kiljunen. But this time it was really quiet in Konnunsuo – only 3 Pink-footed Geese, so we decided to go twitching! We drove 160km to Pukkila Kantelejärvi to twitch a Kentish Plover. It was a lifer number 333! And we got pretty good pictures too!
Kantelejärvi was a pretty good place, so we managed to see also a Caspian Tern, some Greylag Geese, White-fronted Geese, 2 Pink-footed Geese and a Bewick’s Swan that all were with a flock of Bean Geese.
Next few days I birded a lot in Siikalahti, Särkisalmi and Lemmikonsalmi. I also did counts in Siikalahti and Saari. New yearticks were Common Sandpiper, Slavonian Grebe, Gadwall, Garganey, Yellow Wagtail, Black-throated Diver, Chiffchaff and a Black Kite that migrated in Siikalahti in 26th day. Good observations were also a flock of 121 Great Crested Grebes in Särkisalmi, a family of Bewick’s Swans in Tarassiinlahti and first Water Rails and a Jack Snipe in Siikalahti.
Before the end of the month I still got a Red-necked Grebe, Willow Warbler, Little Gull, Wood Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank and Spotted Crake as a year tick. Also 2 Peregrines were seen.
The last 2 days of the April I was checking the owl nest boxes but there were nothing in them! We are the only area in Finland where is no voles or mice at all! But there are still half of the boxes to check! Only real observations were many Hazel Hens, a Capercaillie and 2 Ural Owls that were heard.