Spring keeps on going
On the 25th of April a couple of Shovelers had arrived to Särkisalmi and in Siikalahti I saw 8 Smews, a White-tailed Eagle, 10 Rough-legged Buzzards, a Peregrine, a Black-tailed Godwit, a White-backed Woodpecker and a House Martin. In Tetrisuo there were some hundreds of Tundra Bean and White-fronted Geese and also 5 Bewick’s Swans, 2 Greylag Geese and 9 Canada Geese.
On the 26th day after my work I drove to Lappeenranta. It was really windy so In Konnunsuo I saw only a Linnet and in Kivisaari a couple of Swallows and a Redshank. I met Ilkka Jarva in Kaslanen where Ferroginous Duck was still present. There were also 2 Slavonian Grebes, 11 Barnacle Geese and a goose that looked like a hybrid between White-fronted and Bean Goose. We visited also Toikansuo but didn’t see anything there. At 5 p.m. I left together with Eksote hospital rink-bandy team to Jyväskylä to tournament. On Saturday we won the tournament and on the way back I saw a female Capercaillie in Suomenniemi.
On the 28th day I counted all the ducks in Siikalahti but there weren’t many! 3 Slavonian Grebes, 2 Red-necked Grebes and 17 Smews were the best birds. A Pied Flycatcher was heard and 1 or 2 Little Gulls were seen too. During the day we did a tour to Saari with Harri Partanen but there weren’t many bird there either. A Redshank and a Black-tailed Godwit was seen in Suurenjärvenliete and a Gadwall in Kanavalampi. In the evening I started to check owl-nestboxes and a Ural Owl was flushed from one of them but there was no eggs yet so I decided to continue after some more days.
The weather stayed windy so on the 29th day all I saw were a Willow Warbler and a Yellow Wagtail. On the 30th day a couple of Barnacle Geese had landed to Tetrisuo and a Common Tern was in Siikalahti. At night we visited Siikalahti where 2 Spotted Crakes were calling and a small flock of Common Scoters were heard from the sky.
J.A.