December 2010
December
December was so cold and snowy that birding wasn’t clever at all. There were absolutely no interesting birds around Parikkala at all. Also price of petrol was so high that I tried to drive as little as possible.
On the 2nd of December I had some studies in Lappeenranta and on the way I saw a Herring Gull and a couple of Cormorants in Imatra Vuoksi. On the next day I saw a Treecreeper and a couple of Crested Tits in Tetrisuo.
On the 4th of December we had a traditional bird-race. We started at 7 a.m. and an hour later had our first bird a Pygmy Owl calling in Melkoniemi. In Tarvaslampi we saw some common feeder birds before we continued to the forests. We walked a kilometre and found the Siberian Jays easily. Also Goldcrests, Crested Tits and a Hazel Hen were found. In Parikkala village we found House Sparrows, Rock Pigeons and Jackdaws easily so we decided to check all the best feeder areas too. A Chaffinch was found in Surumäki and a Nuthatch in Kirkkoranta. Then in Tetrisuo a Treecreeper was found again. Then we drove around Siikalahti but only new species was a White-backed Woodpecker. It was clear that we had used far too much time in Parikkala. We continued to Rautjärvi and saw Dippers in Kokkolanjoki before continued towards Imatra. Along the main road 6 we luckily saw a Capercaillie and a Black Grouse on the top of trees in the middle of the worst storm damages where only some trees were still standing. In Vuoksi we saw first Goldeneyes and Mallards but then found again the Herring Gull, Cormorants and some Goosanders too. In Mellonlahti it was already very late but luckily a flock of Long-tailed tits were found. We had planned to continue much further but we realized it was already too late so we decided to give up. Altogether we had 34 species and came 3rd in the race where winners got 40 species, but it was clear that Imatra and Lappeenranta would have been the best areas. While we were still in Imatra I got a message that there had been a Black-throated Accentor found in Pori. I decided to go twitching! I dropped Hanna to train and started to drive towards south. I picked up Sampsa Cairenius in Lappeenranta and we decided to drive until Pori right away so we could go to see the bird easily early in the morning. We had no plans were to stay overnight but luckily I managed to get us room from my old friends Hannes Tiira’s summer-cottage where we finally were at 11 p.m.
On the 5th of December we woke up early and after a proper breakfast in ABC we continued towards Pihlava Kaunismäki. We were almost there when we got a message that the bird was still there! What a relief! Soon we were there and after some waiting the bird was found again hiding under a thick bush in a snowy garden. My 12th lifer of the year and my 615th WP-tick! The bird was hiding very well so after all I couldn’t get any good pictures of it. After a couple of hours trying we decided to leave to do some more twitching.
In Toukari we found a Marsh tit easily from the feeder so then we decided to go to a crazy twitch to Lapua Alajoki where a Snowy Owl had been found on previous evening. It was a long drive but on the way we saw a Tree-toed Woodpecker, a Goshawk, a Dipper and some Pheasants. In Alajoki we found the bird-tower from where the owl had been seen, but found only a flock of Snow Buntings, a Great Grey Shrike and a Kestrel. We met the man who had found the owl and he told it had been active only in the sunset. Se we waited in cold and windy weather until it was too dark but couldn’t see anything more. Finally we gave up and started a long way back home.
On the 6th of December we did a short walk around Kangaskylä but found only a couple of Coal Tits.
On the 8th day I saw a couple of Dippers and a flock of Waxwings in Simpele. But then the weather changed even more wintery! It was either snowing or far too cold to go out at all! Of course it was also dark all the time
On the 18th of December we went to Lappeenranta to Christmas shopping. On the way we tried to twitch a Marsh Tit in Imatra Teppanala but found only a Coal Tit. In Vuoksi Imatrankoski some Cormorants and a Little Grebe were found easily.
Around the Christmas I was sporting almost too much – more than many years. So I was aloud to eat as much sweets and traditional Christmas food as I wanted. In Christmas eve it was extremely cold, -33.5 degrees! Luckily on the next day the forecast wasn’t that bad as I had planned to do the traditional winter-bird count.
On the 25th of December we started the winter-bird count a little bit late as it was still -24 degrees in the morning. Mikko Ala-Kojola joined me and we skied around Siikalahti and because of there were no skiing tracks at all it took too long. The sun set when we had still a couple of kilometres to go. So I had to count the rest on the next morning.
Altogether only 18 species were seen and there weren’t many birds around. The most numerous species was Yellowhammer – there was a flock of 130 birds in a farm near Siikalahti. Most of the birds seemed to be on feeders and there wasn’t many on our route. The best birds were 1+8 Pine Grosbeaks, one beautiful adult male even, a Hazel Hen and a Black Grouse. Altogether 453 bird individuals were seen which was about the average on my 7 year counts in mid winter.