Spring is coming slowly
After a trip to Åland the next days I saw only some woodpeckers, but luckily including White-backed, Grey-headed and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers.
On the 4th of March I did a winterbird count again and had a White-backed Woodpecker, a Black Woodpecker, altogether 16 Long-tailed Tits, a Crested Tit and so on. Only 18 species were found and total number of birds was the second lowest ever. It was the first count ever I didn’t see any Yellowhammers.
On the 5th day I went to Moskuunniemi by bike and managed to twitch a Nuthatch. A Herring Gull was heard and 6 Siskins were seen too.
On the 10th day we did a couple of hour’s owl-trip with Hanna. We heard a Ural Owl in Siikalahti and in Kolmikannankangas. On the next day I saw a Goshawk in Siikalahti. Next night we did a longer owl-trip to Uukuniemi with Harri Partanen but heard only 2 Tengmalm’s Owls.
On the 12th of March we visited Kokkolanjoki in Simpele with Hanna but saw only 7 Whooper Swans, 3 Mallards, 3 Dippers and the only short distance migrants a Goldeneye and a Goosander. On the way back home we saw 3 Whooper Swans flying in Koitsanlahti.
On the 13th of March a Skylark had landed to Siikalahti dam-road and it was the first real migrant! On the next day I saw 3 Whooper Swans there and on the 15th day there were already 5 swans on their territories. The Skylark stayed on the road for several days and a Grey-headed Woodpecker had started to call actively.
On the 16th day there were 2 Skylarks but they both disappeared during the day. A Stock Dove was flying south and a White-tailed Eagle was soaring on the eastern sky. On the 17th day only 7 Herring Gulls were seen.
On the 18th of March we drove to Kirkkonummi and on the next morning we drove early to Helsinki Fastholma. After 30 minutes waiting we found the Azure Tit. It was staying on the tops of the trees and visited the feeder only very briefly so we didn’t get any good pictures. Some Canada and Greylag Geese were seen, a Goshawk flew over us and the same Tawny Owl was again roosting on its favorite place.
We picked up Janne Koskinen from Viikki and continued to Turku where we celebrated TLY that had been active for 50 years and then on Sunday we had BirdLife meeting. On the way back we saw a Great Grey Shrike and 2 Wood Pigeons in Viikki.
After a short colder period the next migrants were seen on the 24th of March when 4 Lapwings, 4 Snow Buntings and a Common Buzzard arrived to Siikalahti.
On Friday the 25th of March was a holiday and we stayed a couple of hours in Siikalahti with Miika Soikkeli. We saw a Golden Eagle, a Common Buzzard, 2 Snow Buntings, same 4 Lapwings and a Crested Tit. In Raikanniemi we saw 2 Long-tailed Tits.
On Saturday I was more than 3 hours in Siikalahti and saw 2 White-tailed Eagles, 2 Common Buzzards, 20 Lapwings, 2 Skylarks, a Starling and a Linnet.
On Sunday I twitched a Nutcracker in Särkisalmi very early. Then I headed to Siikalahti again and as the weather was perfect, I stayed there for more than 7 hours. Lots of people visited Siikalahti as it was Eastern holiday and we saw 120 Lapwings, a Stock Dove, a Wood Pigeon, 18 Skylarks, 23 Blackbirds, 12 Starlings, 18 Snow Buntings, a Canada Goose, a Goldeneye, 9 Common Buzzards and the best birds were 2 Golden Eagles.
And on the second Eastern day on Monday I stayed in Siikalahti again more than 7 hours. The weather was still perfect but maybe there was still too much snow on the ground. Anyway a White-tailed Eagle, a Goshawk, a Sparrowhawk, 6 Common Buzzards, 3 Bean Gees which 2 were Tundra and 1 Taiga, a Greylag Goose, 2 Grey Herons, a Black-headed Gull, a Stock Dove, 8 Wood Pigeons, 2 Fieldfares, a Great Grey Shrike, 2 Rooks, 35 Starlings, 3 Gold Finches and 2 Reed Buntings were seen.
During the week the weather stayed good for a couple of days but migration was quiet. On the 29th day I saw only a Cormorant and on the 30th day 2 Hen Harriers, a White-tailed Eagle, a Sparrowhawk, a Mistle Thrush, 3 Reed Buntings and a Bittern on my lunch-hour visits and a couple of hour visits after work.
On the last day of March it was rainy so there was no migration at all. My lunch-hour visit was worthy anyway as I heard a Water Rail calling from the reedbed. It must have been wintering somewhere nearby as it was at least 3 weeks early and a new March-tick to me. A Lesser Spotted Woodpecker was calling actively and 24 Snow Buntings migrated over me.
J.A.