Spring, already in February
On the 21st of February I had been resting more than 24 hours after an inner-ear surgery. So I was ready to do some easy birding. I drove to Kirkkonummi Saltfjärden where I saw a Hawk Owl and the first real migrant – a Stock Dove. It was quite chilly so I continued soon to Sunds bird-tower but there I saw only frozen sea, the only open water was too far. I still had a couple of hours before olympic ice-hockey quarter-final Finland-Russia so I decided to go to Helsinki Viikki to twitch a Hen Harrier. Once I got there I soon found out that there were some birders on the other side of the field watching to a reed-bed. I walked there carefully and soon heard that the bird had landed to the reeds an hour earlier. After 30 minutes it finally flew again and I got a nice February-tick. Actually it was a new species to my list of birds that I have seen every month in Finland “ace”. Soon I was back at my parents enjoying a great ice-hockey match.
On the 22nd day I drove to Hanko where I found out that there was so foggy that I couldn’t see the sea at all from Högholmen. But soon I got a message that a Kittiwake had been seen from Gåsörsbukten, so I drove there. And finally the fog cleared and after 30 minutes I saw the Kittiwake flying towards south. Also Herring, Common and Great Black-backed Gulls, Mallards, Goosanders, Goldeneyes, Mute Swans and a couple of Cormorants were seen.
I continued to western harbour where I saw a couple of Black-headed Gulls, another “ace”. In Tallholmarna I saw 350 Long-tailed Ducks, 9 Red-breasted Mergansers and 2 White-tailed Eagles. Then I decided to drive back to Kirkkonummi to take easy.
On the 23rd day I mostly just relaxed. I saw a Sparrowhawk through the window and in 2 short visits to Saltfjärden I saw the same Hawk Owl, 2 Canada Geese and a White-tailed Eagle and in a couple of other places nearby I saw a family of Whooper Swans and a Common Buzzard.
Next day the forecast was good so I decided to go to Hanko again. On the way I saw a Great Grey Shrike and a migrating Wood Pigeon. I drove straight to Varisniemi where a sea-watched for a couple of hours. Siskins were singing and I saw 3 Velvet Scoters, 2 Common Scoters, a White-tailed Eagle, 3 Red-breasted Mergansers, 3 Wood Pieons and 4 female Scaups.
Then I continued to a rubbish tip where I saw 3 Skylarks, my 100th “ace”. In Täktom I saw 4 more Skylarks and then I decided to drive to Siuntio Myrans to twitch a Lapwing which was another February-tick. Luckily 1 Lapwing was still there and I also saw 2 Fieldfares.
On the 25th of February I went to Espoo Ämmässuo rubbish tip where I watched through the fences at least 4000 Herring Gulls soaring high up in the air and they never landed. So it was impossible to find anything better. In Saltfjärden I saw 3 Starlings, 2 Stock Doves, a Whooper Swan and the same Hawk Owl. Late in the evening I did a short owl-trip and heard a Tawny Owl in Junkars.
On the 26th day I visited Saltfjärden again and saw 3 Whooper Swans, 5 Stock Doves, 4 Wood Pigeons, 2 Skylarks and 3 Lapwings. Then in the afternoon I started driving to South Karelia. In Helsinki Maununneva I stopped for a second and twitched a Haw Finch. In Porvoo I saw a Common Buzzard and In the evening I twitched an Eagle Owl in Lappeenranta.
Next morning I had a meeting with a doctor, but soon I was in Joutseno Konnunsuo where I saw 2 Hawk Owls, a long-stayer Rough-legged Buzzard and a Great Grey Shrike. In Imatra Vuoksi I saw a Cormorant and in Simpele Kokkolanjoki a Dipper. In the evening we did an owl-trip with Hanna and heard a Ural Owl in Kolmikannankangas.
On the 28th of February we were a couple of hours in Siikalahti and managed to see a Rook and a Stock Dove which are amazing records in Parikkala in February. We also saw 2 Whooper Swans, a Great Grey Shrike, a Sparrowhawk, 2 White-backed Woodpeckers and a Grey-headed Woodpecker. At night we did a longer owl trip with Hanna and Harri Partanen and heard a Long-eared Owl, a Tengmalm’s Owl and 2 Eagle Owls in Malkoniemi forests.
J.A.