Great White Egrets
After the bird-race in Hailuoto I started to visit Siikalahti every day. 2 Great White Egrets were still there and I saw at least one of them every day and both together in some days. On the 13th of August Hanna managed to get some good pictures of one another bird when it flew over the dam-road.
There were also 6 Gray Herons in best day and quite a few local raptors. Honey Buzzards were calling pretty actively which was something that is not so often heard. Other birds seen during the next week were a family of Red-backed Shrikes, a young Goshawk and a young Hen Harrier, some Water Rails were still calling and the best birds were seen on the 12th of August when I found 2 Caspian Terns. It was only my second ever observation of the species in Siikalahti and the 3rd in Parikkala.
Birds seen in other places were a flock of 20 Long-tailed Tits in Tarvaslampi where we also saw a Beaver, a Nutcracker that was still in Kangaskylä in the beginning of the week and 2 Nuthatches that I twitched in Kirkonkylä on the 15th of August. On the 17th day I saw a beautiful young Pallid Harrier flying over me in Härskiinmutka. It flew towards west over the Lake Simpele. On the 18th of August I saw the Great White Egret for the last time. It was still seen a couple of days later but not since that.
J.A.