Spring comes slowly
After Easter I visited Siikalahti daily and spring had taken small steps. On the 6th of April I saw 15 White-fronted Geese, a White-tailed Eagle, a female Marsh Harrier, an early Osprey, a Kestrel, a Stock Dove and 50 Woodpigeons. On the 7th day a Bittern was calling weakly and a White Wagtail was escaping towards south as the weather was turning bad again. Also the first 5 Redpolls of the spring were seen and in the evening 4 Canada Geese and a Goldcrest were seen in Lemmikonsalmi and there and also in Särkisalmi were some Goldeneyes and Goosanders. In Siikalahti already 4 Water Rails were calling and there was a flooded field in Aittavaara where some Wigeons were seen.
On the 8th day a Greylag Goose, Teals, even 370 Mallards, 4 Pintails, 19 Canada Geese, a Grey Heron and a male Pochard were seen and a Common Snipe wad heard in different places in Siikalahti. On the 9th day a male Smew, a Coot and quite a good numbers of grey geese and Chaffinches were seen.
On the 10th of April some Barnacle Geese, a couple of Rough-legged Buzzards, a Heuglin’s Gull and a few Mistle Thrushes were seen. In Aittavaara there were already flocks of Black-headed and Common Gulls and also 3 Common Redshanks.
On the 11th day we started early. Hanna went to photograph birds to Aittavaara and I headed to check a lekking place of Capercaillies. The wind was strong so I found only a single bird that was high on a pine. When I drove back I stopped first in Särkisalmi where a male Tufted Duck was seen. Then I continued to Siikalahti I stopped in Torokanniemi where I heard a Robin and a Wren. I was on the dam-road at 6:30 a.m. and after all we stayed there until 3:30 p.m. A couple of Bewick’s Swans, a Pink-footed Goose, about 900 grey geese, 30 Barnacle Geese, 15 Cormorants, 4 White-tailed Eagles, 5 Hen Harriers, 20 Sparrowhawks, 3 Ospreys, 4 Kestrels, a Peregrine, a Merlin, 5 Curlews, 4 Green Sandpipers, 2 Stock Doves, a White-backed Woodpecker, 2 Meadow Pipits, 6 White Wagtails, 53 Gieldfares, a Song Thrush, 15 Redwings, 12 Mistle Thrushes, a few Gold Finches, Linnets and Redpolls were seen.
The week started with a Hen Harrier, 3 Rough-legged Buzzards and Green Sandpipers and a small flock of Lapland Buntings. In Särkisalmi I saw a couple of Smews and a Lesser Black-backed Gull. On the next day only birds to mention were a Brambling and a Linnet and on Wednesday only Hen Harrier and a Woodcock were seen. On the 15th day a better bird was a Black Kite in Siikalahti and also a Great Crested Grebe had finally arrived at Särkisalmi.
On the 16th of April a Black Kite was seen again and after work we went to Saari to do duck-counts to Natura-areas. Places to visit were all parts of Suuri and Pieni Rautjärvi: Akonpohja that is counted from 2 spots, Nivalahti, Tarassiinlahti (2 spots), Kanavalampi (3 spots) and Pohjanranta (2 spots). On the way we saw a Black Kite in Rautalahti and on the count we saw 37 Bewick’s Swans in Kanavalampi but nothing else better. Some of the areas were still frozen but swan and Mallard numbers were already high. We of course visited some other places too in Saari but saw nothing special. In the evening I went jogging again and heard a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker in Moskuunniemi.
On the 17th day we stayed in Siikalahti for 6 hours and saw a Black-throated Diver, 8 Cormotants, again a Black Kite, a Merlin, 15 Curlews, 12 Green Sandpipers, heard a couple of Lesser Spotted, a Grey-headed and a White-backed Woodpecker and finally saw the first Waxwing of the year – year-tick number 151. Redwings were already everywhere.
On the 18th of April we were on the dam-road at 6:15 a.m. Young birders had a national eco-rally so Veikka Kosonen and Oskari Saunisto who live in Kerimäki had arrived to Parikkala to race. They also arrived early to Siikalahti which of course is the place to see variety. There wasn’t much migration going on but a Black-throated Diver, a Cormorant, 4 White-tailed Eagles, a Rough-legged Buzzard, a Merlin, 32 Curlews, 12 Green Sandpipers, 3 Greenshanks, 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, a Stock Dove, a couple of Black Woodpeckers, a few Gold Finches, a Linnet and a couple of Redpolls were seen. The best birds were a Black Kite again and a Greater Spotted Eagle that was soaring over the bay for some time. When we left to eat boys still continued towards Särkisalmi by bike and after all they got 81 species and were 4th on the competition.
In the evening I had nothing to do so I left to Joutseno where I twitched an American Wigeon in Suokumaanjärvi. While the sun was shining quite low the green on wigeons head turned red in some angles so I started to think about a hybrid. But after all we found out that it can be normal in certain light-conditions. Also a Pink-footed Goose and a couple of Long-tailed Tits were seen there. And a Nutcracker was twitched in Konnunsuo on the way back.
On the 19th day a Black-tailed Godwit was seen on migration and on the bay there were a Greylag Goose and a Slavonian Grebe.
On the 20th day we did duck-counts again in Saari. The spring had been fast and Mallards and Teals were mostly gone already. A couple of Garganeys were seen in Pohjanranta and a stunning Great Grey Owl near Suurenjärvenliete.
On the 21st day I counted 3500 grey geese and saw a male Gadwall, a couple of Red-necked Grebes and a Chiffchaff on my lunch-hour. In the evening I did very long run and saw a couple of Black Grouses, a Grey-headed and a White-backed Woodpecker, surprisingly a Jack Snipe and heard a Wren and some Dunnocks.
On the 22nd day the weather was cold again and only a couple of Slavonian Grebes and Bewick’s Swans were seen. And on the next morning I saw my earliest ever in Parikkala Long-tailed Ducks and Common Scoters in Särkisalmi. On lunch-hour a Black Kite and 10 Rough-legged Buzzards were seen.
On the 24nd of April we stayed in Siikalahti for 4 hours and the best birds were a Barn Swallow and a House Martin that were flying towards south together. Also a flock of 40 Golden Plovers were flying fast towards south as the weather was getting worse. In the afternoon we counted in Saari again and the best observations were 57 Bewick’s Swans in Kanavalampi and 10 Cormorants in Tarassiinlahti. In Jyrkilä we saw 7 Stock Doves. Finally all the roads were driveable as the rain had smelted snow shadows too.
On the 25th day the weather was bad so we started checking owl nest-boxes. On the next day a Pygmy Owl was found incubating 8 eggs. Other birds seen in the forests were Black Grouses, a Hazel Hen and a Crested Tit. On the 27th day a Common Tern was flying behind the health center and in Tarvaslampi I saw a Short-eared Owl migrating while I was cooling down on the terrace of sauna.
On the 28th day we counted in Saari again and saw 3 Pink-footed Geese, 32 Bewick’s Swans, 3 Garganeys, a White-backed Woodpecker, a Great Grey Owl and the best bird was found after the counts in Akanvaara Tetrisuo where a Red-breasted Goose was in a big flock of geese. On the next day only bird to mention was a Ural Owl in a nest-box with 3 eggs.
On the last day of April we left towards Kouvola. Where we met Teo Ylätalo and did a short evening trip with him and Antti Vänskä. Only year-tick was a Ruff. Then we went to an accommodation that Teo had once again offered to us and went to sleep early as we had a race on the next day!
J.A.