December 2020

In December there weren’t many birds left in Parikkala. A flock of Common Gulls with some Herring Gulls were still in Kirkkoselkä and on the 3rd day I found a Bewick’s Swan that was with a couple of hundreds of Whooper Swans in Siikalahti.

On the 4th day I headed to Kouvola where with Teo Ylätalo we still did some birding with torches and found a Jack Snipe.

On the next morning we left birding with Teo and Antti Vänskä and found a Woodcock, Pheasants, Mute Swans, Velvet and Common Scoters, Cormorants, Canada Geese, Nuthatch and so on. Durng the whole day we found about 40 species which wasn’t very good.

On the 6th of December we participated Kymenlaakso Independence-day rally but stayed only in Kouvola. We found same Cormorants, Pheasants, Canada Geese, Mute Swans and Common Scoters but other prepared birds had disappeared. A White-backed Woodpecker, a Dipper and a Pygmy Owl were nice bonuses and then also a known Nutcracker was seen and after a long search we also got Waxwings and Fieldfares to our list. The best bird was seen while driving – a Hawfinch. Only gull we saw was a lonely Herring Gull and finally our last species was Velvet Scoter. Only 42 species were found but after all we were 3rd in a race and won the another Kouvola-team quite clearly.

On the 7th day I still saw the same Bewick’s Swan with about 100 Whooper Swans but Siikalahti was freezing fast.

On the 12th day we saw the last Whooper Swan that was wintering in Tyrjänjoki with 10 Mallards. On the next day we visited Siberian Jays and saw also a Goshawk, a Black Woodpecker and a flock of Long-tailed Tits.

Before Christmas I saw mostly tits and Goldcrests that were more numerous than ever in winter. Let’s see how they will survive…

On Christmas Eve we visited Simpele with Hanna and Miika but saw no Dipper at all. 60 Whooper Swans, 8 Goldeneyes and 9 Mallards were seen in river and in Kivijärvensalmi we heard a Grey-headed Woodpecker and in Kangaskoski we saw a Pygmy Owl. In the evening we saw another Pygmy Owl in Punkaharju Laakkee while visiting Hanna’s relatives.

On Cristmas Day I did winterbird-count and saw a Hazel Hen, 28 Black Grouses, a Goshawk, a Sparrowhawk, 3 Rock Pigeons, a Black and a Grey-headed Woodpecker, 6 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 6 Goldcrests, 42 Blue, 70 Great, a Coal and 7 Willow Tits, a new europaea-Nuthatch, 4 Treecreepers, only one Jay, 65 Jackdaws, 19 Hooded Crows, 34 Tree Sparrows, 36 Greenfinches and 4 Yellowhammers.

On Boxing Day we found a flock of 31 Gold Finches in Tiviä and saw a Great Grey Shrike in Siikalahti. We also saw the oldest Nuthatch ever in Finland again as we saw rings of one familiar bird again.

On the 28th day I saw a White-tailed Eagle in Hernesaari and then on the last days I saw only Goldcrests, a Coal Tit, Treecreeper, Black Grouses, a Great Grey Shrike and still 12 Gold Finches. The weather was awful and it was raining and windy.

The year 2020 will be remembered because of Corona. It was also the reason why we couldn’t do any trips abroad. So we were birding even more than normally in Finland and especially in Parikkala. So after all I got 259 year-ticks which more than a long time. In Parikkala I saw 212 species and in Siikalahti 193. When Corona started I started to go jogging and after all I ran more than 1200 kilometers. I counted bird-species than I saw while running and altogether I saw 130 species, which 126 were seen on the runs that I made from home.

J.A.