Easy birding in South Karelia
After several try I finally on the 11th of January saw a Little Grebe that Pauli Kantonen had found a couple of days earlier in Särkisalmi. There was also a flock of Siskins on the trees close to the small open water area.
On the 12th day I saw a Grey-headed Woodpecker in Kirkonkylä. It was perched on the top of a tree and didn’t move at all even though I watched it for several minutes. There was a Jay on the next tree and the woodpecker probably was trying to avoid conflicts with it.
On the 14th day we went shopping to Lappeenranta. On the way we saw first a Great Grey Shrike in Ruokolahti and of course we planned to stop along river Vuoksi. We were parking to Itä-Siitola where were a couple of birders already, Paavo Rantanen and Kauko Kauppinen. Suddenly they started to wave for us so we almost ran to them and they had just seen a Steller’s Eider landing to the river. The bird was moving fast with the water but soon it flew to the other side of the river close to a place where people are feeding wintering Mallards. We drove there and luckily I managed to get a couple of pictures of it before it again was drifticg too far.
In Lappeenranta while Hanna was shopping I went to see a Nuthatch to Pappilanniemi where also a flock of Waxwings was seen. I also visited a couple of other places but I didn’t see anything special
On the morning of 15th of January I birded with Pekka Punnonen, Jari Kiljunen and Petri Salakka in Parikkala. The Little Grebe was still present and showing well together with an Otter. Also a lonely Goosander was still there and a flock of 4 Gold Finches. Also a small flock of Common Crossbills flew over us.
We still continued to Melkoniemi forests to see Siberian Jays. 2 birds were found easily and they are always so nice birds to see!
J.A.