Very poor autumn
In the end of September there weren’t many bird-observations to mention. On the 23rd day I saw a flock of 650 and on the next day 165 Brent Geese. There still weren’t other geese around.
I visited Helsinki for a couple of days and on the 25th day we managed to do short morning-twitch with my father – and after quite a long search we managed to see a Crested Lark briefly in Espoo Vermo.
At weekend we were once again ringing and there really weren’t many migrants around anymore. On Saturday the 27th of September we caught 57+2c Great, 19+3c Blue, 1 Willow and 16 Long-tailed Tits, 11+2c Chiffchaffs, 2 Willow Warblers, 3 Goldcrests, 5 Dunnocks, 10 Robins, 21 Chaffinch, 1 Siskin, 9 Yellowhammers and 1+1c Reed Buntings. We also saw thousands of migrating Barnacle Geese and the migration continued whole day. In the afternoon we did duck-counts in Siikalahti but only better birds were 5 Gadwalls and a Red-throated Diver and 4 Common Scoters that were outside the counting area.
On Sunday the 28th we were in Lietteenlahti and caught 4 Blue, 18+1c Great and 5 Long-tailed Tits, 10 Chiffchaffs, a Treecreeper, a Wren, 16 Robins, 8 Dunnocks, a Chaffinch and 2 Reed Buntings. On the way back home there was a flock of 113 Whooper Swans in Huhmarinen. During the day we went to Saari where we counted 7000 Barnacle Geese in Pohjanranta and 2000 in Akonpohja where we saw also one leucistic bird. Otherwise we saw only a couple of Great Egrets, a Merlin and so on.
On the 29th day there were 3 Tundra (Bewick’s) Swans on the same swan-flock and in Siikalahti I still saw a Marsh Harrier. In the evening we visited fields which were still too dry so only 3 Woodcocks were ringed and on the way we saw a Tawny Owl looking owl briefly. Auroras were extraordinary beautiful!
On the last day of September I saw the first 6 Greater White-fronted Geese but otherwise there were still nothing else migrating. In Liuharanta I saw some 2000 Barnacle Geese and a late Tree Pipit.
On the 1st of October the last Osprey with a blind eye, finally left. Also 5 White-tailed Eagles were soaring on the sky and waited for geese to come finally. 3 Golden Plovers were in Huhmarinen. On the 2nd day there were 2 Pochards, 6 Gadwalls and 8 Great Egrets in Siikalahti. On the 3rd day I found a Nuthatch couple in Raikanniemi.
At weekend we were in Kukonkanta and on the 4th day we caught 13+1c Blue, 44+11 Great and a Coal Tit, a Treecreeper, 4 Chiffchaffs, the first Siberian Chiffchaff for Parikkala ever, 2 Redwings, 12 Blackbirds, 10 Robins, 2 Dunnocks, 2 Bramblings, a Siskin and a Yellowhammer. A very late Tree Pipit was seen. In the afternoon we went to Saari again but saw almost nothing. There still weren’t more geese. In Pohjanranta we saw 5 Great Egrets, in Jyrkilä a couple of Hen Harriers and 2 Kestrels and some Great Grey Shrikes here and there.
On Sunday it was much more quiet: 7+1c Blue and 9+7c Great Tits, 4 Chiffchaffs,a Treecreeper, a Wren, a Robin, a Brambling, 2 Siskins and 3 Yellowhammers. Only other birds seen were a Barn Swallow, 4 Woodpigeons and a Starling. In the evening I visited Siikalahti and still saw a Pochard, a few Gadwalls, and the found a nice surprise a Little Grebe!
On the 6th of October there were still 9 Great Egrets in Siikalahti but otherwise on the next days I saw only a couple of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers and Rough-legged Buzzards. Southern winds were still keeping geese somewhere north. On the 9th day I saw the same Little Grebe again and a young Dunlin was trying to find a place where to land in Siikalahti. At Kangaskylä there were still at least 6 Barn Swallows flying around. On the 10th day we did duck-counts again but only a couple of Long-tailed Ducks, 3 Greater Scaups and still a couple of Pochards were birds to mention.
On the 11th day Hanna was at work even though it was Saturday. I was hoping to go to twitch anything anywhere but of course exactly on that day there were nothing to twitch. So I checked some fields and other places nearby but found nothing. So on the 12th day we decided to make one more try in Kukonkanta and caught 39+8c Blue, 36+17c Great, 2 Willow and 16 Long-tailed Tits, 2 Chiffchaffs, 4 Goldcrests, 4 Robins, a Bullfinch, a Siskin, a Reed Bunting and 2 Yellowhammers. But still we have never caught a single Yellow-browed Warbler or any other better species from east. We saw some thousands of Barnacle Geese, 8 Red-throated Divers, 12 Woodpigeons and 7 White-tailed Eagles. In the afternoon I still went to Saari but it was raining and I really saw nothing.
During the week I still saw 2 Barn Swallows on the 14th day and in Siikalahti there was one poor-looking young Crane which could fly at least pretty well but for some reason it had left behind the others. Finally the winds turned and on a couple of days there were geese migrating but very high and on wide area. Anyway I saw several thousands of Barnacle and also Tundra Bean and Greater White-fronted Geese but only other observation was a Rough-legged Buzzard. On in the end of the week it really started to feel that there weren’t any bird anywhere anymore, a White Wagtail was still on our garden but that was it…
J.A.