March 2008

March – Spring comes and again winter

The March started with a Pygmy Owl in Sammallampi. The bird was sitting on a top of a tree for whole morning and several birders saw it.

On the 2nd of March we did a winter-bird count. We found altogether 6 White-backed Woodpeckers. The most common bird was a Redpoll but most of the 87 birds were in one flock. Otherwise the count was pretty boring; a couple of Goldfinches were only other interesting birds.

On the 5th day 40 Herring Gulls were already at river Vuoksi in Imatra. On the 8th day I went to record woodpeckers and saw the first Common Buzzard and a Whooper Swan. In Tyrjänmäki I saw a Grey-headed Woodpecker.

On the 10th day in Kanavalampi I saw 12 Whooper Swans and on the next day the spring seemed to be arriving when a Skylark and a Lapwing were seen.

On the 12th day I saw some more Lapwings even though the fields were covered with snow. In small open water in Lemmikonsalmi was the first couple of Goldeneyes and Herring Gulls, also a Blackbird, a Rook, a Snowfinch, a Common Buzzard and the first migrating flock of Waxwings were seen.

On the 14th day we twitched an Owl that was calling in Tarvaslampi, it was an Eagle Owl. I managed to get really good recordings! We also stopped in Melkoniemi where a Tengmalm’s Owl and a couple of Tawny Owls were heard.

On the 15th day we went to Kiljava to BirdLife meeting. On the way we twitched an overwintering Crested Lark in Lahti. The weekend was great and on the way back we saw all the overwintered birds on Vuoksi (Smews, Tufted Ducks, Canada Geese, Whooper Swans and a Red-breasted Merganser) and plenty of Herring Gulls and a Great Black-backed Gull.

On the 17th day I saw a White-tailed Eagle in Siikalahti and on the 19th day there were 3 Rooks on our backyard.

On the 20th day I drove to Kirkkonummi where Hanna was already once she had a dream job from Helsinki zoological museum – she was painting the backgrounds for dioramas. On the way I stopped on Vuoksi and in Lappeenranta Toikansuo where I finally found 2 Twites. I was hoping the Eastern holiday in Southernmost Finland would give me many interesting observations and several month-ticks. But what happened, very bad back-winter! It was minus 20 degrees at nights and snowing a lot. Still on the

21st day we had pretty good weather and we started at early morning in Porkkala. The only migrating birds were 2 Grey Herons but 500 Long-tailed Ducks, 300 Eiders, 20 Mute Swans and a Parrot Crossbill were nice to see. In Saltfjärden we right away saw 2 Bearded Reedlings, heard a really early Bittern and saw several Reed Buntings. Later 57 Canada Geese, 20 Lapwings, 10 Buzzards and 2 Goshawks, Starlings, a White-tailed Eagle and a Mistle Thrush were seen. In Mattby we saw 4 Bean and 2 Greylag Geese, in Helsinki Lauttasaari a Wigeon and in Espoo Nuottalahti 90 Tufted Ducks and 4 Pochards.

On the 22nd day we had planned to go to Hanko but on the way a really horrible snowing started. So we decided to check some fields in Karjaa where 2 Bewick’s Swans, 55 Bean and 37 Canada Geese were found in Kvarnbacka. In Lappträsk the birds had kept the water open and there were 146 Mute and 110 Whooper Swans, 72 Canada Geese, 62 Mallards, 29 Tufted Ducks, 18 Goldeneyes and 16 Coots. But the weather was so bad it was impossible to continue so we decided to go sightseeing to the castle of Raasepori and Mustio canal. The roads were extremely slippery so we had a small accident and checked how deep are the local ditched. Luckily I managed to keep 3 wheels on the road and the car was easily lifted up. On that road most of the cars we saw were on the ditches! Calls to Hanko and Kirkkonummi told that the weather was as bad in Hanko but in Kirkkonummi the sun was shining. So we had a short stop in Inkoo Gallery Karaija where were again lots of bird paintings and then continued to Kirkkonummi. Nothing special was found but in Järsö we twitched a Ringed Plover and saw a flock of 50 Stock Doves, a Wood Pigeon, 3 Rooks and a White-tailed Eagle.

On the 23rd day I birded with my old friend Risto Nevanlinna. We had been birding together last 20 years ago when I lived in Espoo. The day was really cold so nothing really special was found. In Suvisaaristo we saw 130 Tufted ducks and 100 Long-tailed Ducks, in Kasavuori 2 Grey Herons, 6 Smews and Cormorants already on their colony. Anyway the day was really fun! In the afternoon I picked up Hanna from Helsinki where we twitched a Little Grebe in harbour. Later we still birded a little in Kirkkonummi but only a flock of 6 Wood Pigeons, a Great Grey Shrike and a White-tailed Eagle were seen.

On the 24th morning I went to Saltfjärden where I finally saw a local Golden Eagle. Also 4 White-tailed Eagles, 55 Reed Buntings and a Bittern were around. Then I twitched a Wood Lark in Hila before I started my long way back home. I decided to drive first to Kotka where I twitched again a Black-throated Thrush and a Wood Duck. Then I continued to Hamina where I twitched a Great Grey Owl. On the same place also a White-backed Woodpecker and a Nuthatch were heard- Also a couple of Chaffinches were already singing. Also some more common birds were seen on the way.

In South Karelia there was maybe more winter than in whole winter. There was lots of snow and really cold! So I didn’t do almost any birding for days.

On the 29th of March we had a traditional wilderness-rally. Hanna came also and we were birding in a border of Russia in Rautjärvi. We started at 02.30 a.m. but the owls were absolutely quiet. The first bird was seen after 3 hours driving when a Hazel Hen was found. Soon we heard a couple of Pygmy Owls too. Then we started to look for woodpeckers because all the real wilderness species gave more points than regular species in this rally. The best point-species was a White-backed Woodpecker. After all we managed well: we found 7 Grey-headed Woodpeckers, 4 White-backed Woodpeckers, 5 Hazel Hens, 2 Black Grouses, a Black Woodpecker, 3 Goshawks, 12 Common Buzzards, 2 Dippers, 5 Great Grey Shrikes and 6 Snow Finches but the best species was a Great Grey Owl! With all the woodpeckers we came 2nd in thi race where 9 teams were exploring in different areas. The social evening was again great!

On the 30th day in Särkisalmi was a Canada Goose and in Lemmikonsalmi a Goosander. In Rautalahti I saw 92 migrating Snow Finches. It seemed that the spring was finally coming (again), even 3 Lapwings were flying around over the snowy landscape.

On the last day of March it was +10 degrees and sun shining so the snow was melting really fast! On my lunch hour I saw a White Wagtail, 30 Lapwings and a flock of 2 Wood Pigeons and a Stock Dove. In the afternoon I saw more Lapwings and Wood Pigeons, a Kestrel, a Starling and a Black-headed Gull.

The spring was finally coming, but we’ll go to catch the summer to Kuwait. More soon…