Quiet summer-time
When the Scottish group had left it was time to go back to work. Also the weather changed totally and it was raining all the time very hard! Of course we were also very tired after all spring birding and in the evenings I was watching football WC-matches which didn’t help at all to that problem. So I was too tired to do any good night-trips.
I did only some short trips in the evenings and of course did some jogging and biking so of course some birds were seen. On the 15th of June I was checking the route of Tour de Parikkala bike-race and saw 2 Black Woodpeckers in Tyrjä. During the race I saw a Grey-headed Woodpecker in Siikalahti. On the 16th day the Great Reed Warbler was still singing on dam-road.
On the 19th day we found some Great Snipes again from their ordinary field. Also a Quail was singing there and Tawny Owls were still in Kasuri.
On the 21st evening I did a bike-trip to twitch the Great Snipes. Quail was heard again and also a couple of Nightjars, a new Marsh Warbler and a young Long-eared Owl on the way. Then it started to rain very hard again and I was completely wet when I was back at home.
During the day we did a short trip to Oronmylly orchid-bog with my parents that had arrived earlier. Of course we checked that all 8 Pygmy Owls were still on their nest-box. On the way back home we saw a late flock of 36 migrating Barnacle Geese. In the evening we saw 7 Graet Snipes, probably 5 males and 2 females.
On the 22nd day we walked in Siberian Jay forests but they weren’t found. Some Wren families, a Red-breasted Flycatcher and a Parrot Crossbill were found. During the day I saw a Pheasant and heard 2 Icterine Warblers on my bike-trip. In the evening we visited Siikalahti and saw 2 White-backed Woodpecker and a male Smew. Later we saw only 2 Great Snipes.
During the next evenings I visited fields only briefly between the matches and there were quite good floods on the field. Great Snipes were still lekking but only other waders were some Ruffs, Wood Sandpipers and Greenshanks. I also saw a Grey-headed Woodpecker and a leucistic female Teal.
During the weekend I was participating with my friends to a national floorball tournament in St Petersburgh. It was a great trip and we even came 3rd even though our evenings were quite long.
On the 1st of July I saw a Parrot Crossbill in flight on our garden and on the 2nd day the floods had a Pintail, 60 Lapwings, 2 Ruffs, 3 Whimbrels, 13 Curlews, 12 Wood Sandpipers, a Spotted Redshank and 12 Greenshanks. Also a Quail and a couple of Great Snipes were still active. In Tetrisuo I saw 2 Grey Herons, 110 Lapwings, 2 Ruffs, 21 Greenshanks, 60 Wood Sandpipers and a Short-eared Owl and in Siikalahti a family of Black Grouse and a River Warbler. This kind of wader numbers are not normal around here…
On the next days it was raining again and I was watching football. Luckily there was some serious birding coming too as we headed towards Enontekiö Lapland!
J.A.