The end of spring
Once I was back from Oulu I didn’t rest much, already on the next morning, on the 28th of May, I twitched a Great Reed Warbler in Siikalahti. during my lunch-hour I drove to check the best fields in Saari, Akanvaara Tetrisuo and Pohjasuo and managed to find one Dotterel. Also a Pheasant was heard in Tetrisuo. In the evening I saw an Oystercatcher in Kangaskylä.
On the 29th day I checked the fields around Siikalahti but found only some small flocks of Barnacle Geese and 7 Ringed Plovers in Kullinsuo. In the evening I got a message that there was a Caspian Gull in Joutseno Konnunsuo and I decided to go twitching as it was raining so hard that I had nothing else to do and I also thought that might keep the gull still. When I was just turning to the field-road I got a call that the bird had left towards the bird-tower. Luckily I was there in less than a minute and managed to find the bird flying with 3 Herring Gulls. It landed pretty far to the field but I managed to see it both in flight and on the ground well. Soon it started to rain very heavily so I still checked the biggest flock of Dotterels ever that was on the back-fields and managed to count at least 133 birds! soon I got a message that there was a Terek Sandpiper on the pools nearby so I drove there and there were not only a Terek, but also 7 Dunlins, 2 Little Stints and a Broad-billed Sandpiper. But soon I was so wet that I had to leave back home.
On the 30th day I got a message that there was a Turtle Dove in Siikalahti, Tetrisuo I managed to get there very quickly and heard it calling for a couple of times. It was only my 2nd Turtle Dove ever in Parikkala. Then we left to Saari with Harri Partanen and Rolf Mortensen and in Akanvaara, Tetrisuo we found a Hen Harrier, a Short-eared Owl, a Pheasant and 3 Ortolan Buntings. In Pohjanranta we counted 405 Barnacle Geese and in Suurenjärvenliete we saw another Short-eared Owl. Then we continued to Jyrkilä where I noticed a falcon flying next to our car and landing to a wire – it looked promising. We stopped and it was a 2nd c-y male Red-footed Falcon! We photographed it while it was catching bugs from the field, but it always ate them on the wire. We also saw 62 Barnacle Geese, 6 White-fronted Geese and 2 Stock Doves there.
Then we still found a Tundra Bean Goose in Kanavalampi, but then we had to turn back to Parikkala. On the way we still saw 2 Haw Finches in Särkisalmi. And in the evening while jogging I saw a White-backed Woodpecker in a same place in Särkisalmi and once I was back at home I saw a flock of 150 Brent Geese migrating over our house.
On the 31st day I left to a bike-trip at 2 a.m. I drove around Ristiharju, Sammallampi, Lahdensuo, Kullinsuo, Kontiolampi and headed to Siikalahti. The weather was really good and birds were very active. I found 3 River Warblers, a Grasshopper Warbler, 3 Icterine Warblers, a Red-breasted Flycatcher, 3 Wrens, 2 Golden Orioles and numerous Blyth’s Reed Warblers. The best bird I found in Siikalahti but it was so far that I couldn’t identify it 100% sure – but I thought it was a female Little Crake. But I already knew that we were going to do a bird-count in Siikalahti by rowing-boat next night so I knew it would be identified if it would stay there where it was. I ended my long bike-trip to Tetrisuo where I managed to hear the Turtle Dove again. During the day we visited Siikalahti again but heard only the same Great Reed Warbler and saw 8 Hobbies and 2 families of Whooper Swans with tiny youngsters.
On the 1st of June we went to listen to Nightjar to Sounio and heard it immediately but we heard also a Quail! It was calling on a field pretty far along the Ristiharjuntie. But after we had listened to a Savi’s Warbler and Great Reed Warbler on dam-road, we were soon on the boat counting singers in Siikalahti. There were amazing number of Sedge Warblers, but only 6 Water Rails and 3 Spotted Crakes. We rowed a long time before we finally heard the call I had heard last night. We went closer and it was a female Little Crake! Soon after that we heard one series of calls of another female Little Crake too! Other birds there were 10 Thrush Nightingales, 5 Bitterns, 2 Blyth’s Reed Warblers, 3 Golden Orioles and a Corn Crake.
During the day I went to ring the biggest 3 youngsters of a Pygmy Owl but another youngsters nearby on another nest-box were still too small. In the afternoon I did a long bike-trip to Punkaharju and heard a Long-tailed Tit and a Red-breasted Flycatcher on the way.
On the night of 2nd of June we did a bike-trip to Siikalahti with Harri. We heard a Nightjar easily but the Quail had continued somewhere else. We also heard both Little Crakes and saw 2 Long-eared Owls. In Kukonkanta we heard a River Warbler and a Reed Warbler so the trip was OK anyway. Then on the couple of next days I visited Siikalahti on my lunch-hour, but didn’t see anything special – heard only the same Great Reed Warbler singing loudly all the time.
On the 4th day I ringed the second Pygmy Owl nestlings with Matti Lötjönen, on the way we saw a male Merlin in Malkoniemi Lahdenpohja.
On the 6th of June I did a long biking trip to Melkoniemi very early in the morning. A Marsh Warbler, 2 Greenish Warblers, a Capercaillie couple, some Hazel Hens, Black a couple of Woodpeckers and a River Warbler were found before I had to hurry to work. During my lunch-hour I saw a White-tailed Eagle in Siikalahti and a Haw Finch in Kasuri. In the late evening I biked to twitch a Quail and the trip started perfectly when I found a fledlings of Tawny Owl! Then I still found out that there were 2 Quails in Ristiharju, so I was happy to bike back home. I had to get some sleep as on the next day we started a one week tour in Eastern Finland with a Scottich group.
J.A.