April 2011
Finally spring
On the 1st of April the Nutcracker was again on our back-yard. The weather was finally getting warmer so in Siikalahti I finally saw some more migration: a Kestrel, 2 Bean Geese, 16 Lapwings, a White-tailed Eagle, a Golden Eagle, 3 Wood Pigeons and 2 Blackbirds. It really felt like spring!
On the 2nd day we participated to Mid-Karelian wilderness bird-race. At night we heard 2 Ural Owls, an Eagle Owl and a Tawny Owl. Then it started to rain heavily and it stopped only at morning. During the day we found 4 Black Woodpeckers, 16 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, a Three-toed Woodpecker, 22 Willow Tits, 2 Coal Tits, 28 Bullfinches, Black Grouses, 2 Hazel Hens, 2 Parrot Crossbills and 5 Snow Buntings. The best bird was found in Hyypiä Canal where we found a Marsh Tit on the feeder!
On the 3rd day the Nutcracker was seen last time and in Siikalahti White-backed Woodpeckers were drumming, a White-tailed Eagle, 60 Snow Buntings and 3 Chaffinches were seen. On the next day I saw a Lapland Bunting, 3 Black-headed Gulls, a Skylark, a Wood Lark, a Merlin, a Reed Bunting, a Common Buzzard, 132 Lapwings, 35 Wood Pigeons, 3 Fieldfares, 13 Starlings and 3 Chaffinches – Finally it was spring!
On the 5th day I saw 12 Common Buzzards, a Rough-legged buzzard, a Merlin, a Hen Harrier, a Crane, a Linnet, already 250 Lapwings and so on. In Särkisalmi there was any other ducks than 4 Mallards but also a Song Thrush. And on the next day I saw the first White Wagtail in Siikalahti and in Särkisalmi I found a good bird – a Moorhen!
Matti Lötjönen came to twitch it and surprisingly found also a Water Rail! During the next days I went to photograph these birds for several times and on the 7th day also a Grey Heron was seen and a Robin heard singing there. Also first Redwings were seen during the day.
On the 8th of April 2 Greylag Geese were migrating in Siikalahti. Also a Hen Harrier and a Meadow Pipit were seen, but the migration was so poor that I decided to go to find a Black Redstart to Kukonkanta. I really told to other birders I go to find one! And after 5 minutes I called them that I had found a 2nd c-y bird that was singing on the top of buildings on hippodrome.
On the 9th day I stopped in Imatra Vuoksi River, where 4 Coot, a couple of early Scaups and a couple of Canada Geese were seen. I also twitched a Blackcap in Lappeenranta Kourula and in the afternoon we went to twitch a Stonechat to Ristiina Haikola with Henrik Salomaa. The bird was seen well but the hard wind made photographing difficult. On the way back we stopped in Lemi Nuorajärvi where we saw a Mistle Thrush.
On the 11th day a Great Black-backed Gull and a Rook and on the next day a White-tailed Eagle, a Marsh Harrier and already 50 Black-headed Gulls were seen in Siikalahti. On the 13th day I saw a Pink-footed and a White-fronted Goose, 5 White-tailed Eagles, a Golden Eagle, a Coot, 23 Curlews, 2 Green Sandpipers, 120 Black-headed Gulls, and on the 14th day a Golden Plover and a couple of Long-tailed Tits in Siikalahti.
On the 15th of April I went to play rink-bandy to Turku and on the way I stopped in Lappeenranta Joutseno Konnunsuo where I saw 1200 Bean Geese, 400 White-fronted Geese, a Greylag Goose, 300 Lapwings, 23 Teals, 3 Pintails and a Black-tailed Godwit. On the way to Turku I saw Tufted Ducks from the bus window.
On the 17th day in Siikalahti we saw 2 Wigeons, 38 Teals, a Bittern was heard calling weakly, 30 Rough-legged Buzzards were migrating, 3 Ospreys, 4 Snipes, a Dunnock and 1500 Chaffinches were also seen. On the next day I saw a Greylag Goose and on the 20th day 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls were in Särkisalmi. On the next day a Greenshank and a Rook were seen and a Wren heard in Siikalahti and in Särkisalmi there was a couple of Shovelers.
On the 22nd day a Stock Dove and a couple of White-tailed Eagles and a Bittern were seen in Siikalahti and in Saari area we found several bigger flocks of Bean Gees and 2 Redshanks and in Rautalahti we saw a Pink-footed Goose, a Greylag Goose, 40 White-fronted Geese and in Särkisalmi a Great Crested Grebe.
On the 23rd day we had a day when many birders were counting migration all around Finland. In South Karelia we were counting everything from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. and we were of course in Siikalahti. Altogether we saw 72 species plus a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and a Wren next to the information centre. The best birds and numbers were 2 Bewick’s Swans, 5 Black-throated Divers, a Slavonian Grebe, 4 Cormorants, 2 Water Rails, 570 Wood Pigeons, 522 Fieldfares, 760 small thrushes, 11 Jays, 3520 Chaffinches and a Great Grey Shrike and so on.
On the next day I saw 2 Hen Harriers, 2 Redshanks and 2 Red-necked Grebes before I got information about a Baikal Teal in Rantasalmi Putkilahti. We went to twitch together with Pekka Punnonen and luckily we saw the bird even though it was very far and in bad light conditions. Once it was awaken by Mallards and we could see it much better but soon it swam behind the reeds and we decided to leave. On the way back we saw a Red-breasted Merganser in Särkisalmi and in the evening we went to Siikalahti where some Woodcocks, 9 Water Rails and a Spotted Crake were heard.
On the 25th day the weather was extremely warm and nice. The best bird was a migrating Black Kite, but also 3 Hen Harriers, a Grey Heron, a Wood Sandpiper, a Common Sandpiper and 2 early Little Gulls were nice seen. In Kullinsuo I finally had my first Goldcrest of the year and in Lahdensuo a Northern Wheatear.
On the 28th day the weather wasn’t so nice anymore but a Swallow was flying on a hard wind in Siikalahti. In the evening I went to twitch a Red-breasted Goose to Lappeenranta Jäkkö as a month-tick.
On the 29th day the wind was very hard and from north, but anyway a Whinchat was singing in Siikalahti dam-road. I decided to start checking the owl nest-boxes and surprisingly I found 2 incubating Ural Owls and a Tengmalm’s Owl even though I checked only 15 nest-boxes.
On the last day of April we went to Joutseno. In Karhula we saw a Swallow and a Goldfinch, in Kotasaari we saw 2 Ruffs and in Konnunsuo 16 Barnacle Geese with numerous White-fronted and Bean Geese. Also a Yellow Wagtail was seen there. Then we got a message that Markku Loippo had found an Isabelline Wheatear in Taipalsaari Saikkola Kolinlahti. We drove there and the bird had been missing for some time but luckily it was soon found from the middle of the field feeding on a dung heap. This was our 2nd in Finland and a nice South Karelian tick.
On the way back to Parikkala we checked all the nest-boxes in Rautjärvi and it wasn’t a surprise that most of the nest-box trees had fallen in last autumn’s storms. Luckily only one wasn’t found at all and the rest were ok. Only bird-observations were a singing Chiffchaff and a couple of Hazel Hens. In the evening we went to Siikalahti where 2 Jack Snipes were heard.