It’s spring again
On the 21st of March I was in Siikalahti on my lunch-hour and saw 20 Lapwings, 8 Wood Pigeons, 4 Starlings, a Skylark and a Great Grey Shrike and a White-backed Woodpecker.
On the 22nd day I was early and stayed 9 hours in Siikalahti. The weather was really nice so I even managed to burn my face! I had at least 320 Lapwings and 90 Wood Pigeons, 26 Blackbirds, 4 Tundra Bean Geese, a Canada Goose, 2 Goosanders, a Black Grouse, a White-tailed Eagle, 12 Common Buzzards, 4 Stock Doves, a Grey-headed and a White-backed Woodpecker, 8 Skylarks, a Mistle Thrush, a Great Grey Shrike, 4 Rooks, 23 Starlings, a Chaffinch, 2 Reed Buntings and the best bird was the earliest Crane ever in South-Karelia!
On the 23rd day the weather turned worse as there was a rain coming from south. In 3 hours I saw 4 Goldeneyes, 2 Black-headed Gulls and a Meadow Pipit and not so many other migrants. When it started to rain I drove to Simpele where I twitched a Black Redstart in Konkamäki – it was also the earliest ever. In the afternoon I drove around Saari area but heard only a Grey-headed Woodpecker in Kanavalampi.
On the 24th March I was in Siikalahti during my lunch-hour and then after work again. I saw 3 Tundra Bean Geese, 1 Taiga Bean Goose, a couple of Teals, a Sparrowhawk, 2 Kestrels, a Crane, a Rook, 10 Chaffinches and 16 migrating Common Buzzards. On the next morning I woke up early and drove to twitch a Pheasant in Tyrjä, where 2 birds were heard easily. In Siikalahti I saw 30 Chaffinches, 9 Snow Buntings and a Mistle Thrush. Even though the weather was pretty nice it was pretty quiet so on my lunch-hour I didn’t see anything else than a couple of Black-headed Gulls and some woodpeckers and a Great Grey Shrike.
On the 26th day I saw a White Wagtail, a Kestrel and 10 Waxwings. On the 27th day I saw more than 50 Tundra Bean Geese, 4 White-fronted Geese, a White-tailed Eagle, a couple of Goshawks, a Black-headed Gull, a Stock Dove, a Redwing, a Fieldfare and a Mistle Thrush and some flocks of Redpolls. The best bird of the day was a Golden Plover which I had never seen on March before. The saw Wagtail was there too. On the 28th day I visited Siikalahti only very briefly and saw the same Golden Plover. Then I started driving South – I was going to Åland.
J.A.