The first half of November
At November our tradition Parikkala & Rautjärvi bird-race started. I started by doing winter-bird count from Kangaskylä to Siikalahti and back. Autumn had been very warm so there were still plenty of birds around and therefore I had probably the best count ever. I saw even 55 species: 66 Whooper Swans, 88 Greater White-fronted and 100 Tundra Bean Geese, 10 Long-tailed Ducks, 4 Velvet Scoters, 34 Goldeneyes, 7 Goosanders, 35 Tufted Ducks, 3 Shovelers, 1 Gadwall, 23 Mallards, 42 Wigeons, 2 Teals (I must mention that most of Siikalahti is not visible on my route but I also see a part of Lake Simpele), 4 Hazel Hens, 3 Black Grouses, 4 Great Crested Grebes, 2 Feral Pigeons, a Common Crane, 5 Common, 10 Herring and 1 Great Black-backed Gull, 12 Black-throated Divers, 56 Great Cormorants, 2 White-tailed Eagles, 4 Grey-headed and 10 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, a Great Grey Shrike, 14 Jays, 18 Magpies, 90 Jackdaws, 3 Ravens and 7 Hooded Crows, 181 Blue, 201 Great, 2 Coal, 2 Crested, 19 Willow and 13 Long-tailed Tits, 40 Bohemian Waxwings, 22 Goldcrests, 4 European Nuthatches, 9 Treecreepers, 4 Blackbirds, 141 Fieldfares, 19 Tree Sparrows, a Brambling, 4 Chaffinches, 55 Bullfinches, 36 Greenfinches, 210 Redpolls, a Red Crossbill, a Goldfinch, 2 Snow Buntings and 39 Yellowhammers.
In the evening we visited Harri Hölttä’s birthday-parties but after that I still went to check some fields with thermal-camera. I found even 30 Woodcocks, 3 Short-eared Owls, a Long-eared Owl, 3 Snow Buntings and a Skylark.
On Sunday we went to Saari but didn’t find as many birds as we had expected. Better ones were 70 Greater White-fronted and 10 Tundra Bean Geese, a couple of Common Scoters, Smews, a Pintail, 5 Teals, a flock of 5 Hazel Hens, a flock of even 153 Black Grouses, a Sparrowhawk, 2 Goshawks and the best birds were a Great Egret in Lahdenpohjajärvi, a Red-necked Grebe in Muukkosenselkä and 3 Mistle Thrushes in Pohjasuo. On the way back we still checked Tarvaspohja where we found a Coot.
In the afternoon I still went to check southern parts of Lake Simpele but found only a few Greater Scaups and saw a Redwing on the way.
I had estimated that it could be possible to see 60 species during the weekend but I got my 60th species only at Monday morning when I saw a Black-headed Gull in Härskiinmutka.
Thanks to stupid clock-changing it was again dark before and after work so all birding I could do during the week was on my lunch-break. As Siikalahti was still open, I visited there almost every day. On the 3rd day I saw 4 Long-tailed Ducks, 3 Smews, 3 Shovelers, 6 Pintails and still some hundreds of Mallards and Wigeons. In the evening we had our Birdclub photo-evening where we showed pictures that we had taken in this area.
In the late evening we still went to check some fields and it paid off when we caught and ringed a couple of Snow Buntings. We also saw 15 Woodcocks but ringed only 2 of them and also a Skylark was still seen.
On the 4th day I saw only the same birds than before but again I went out at night and saw 2 Woodcocks, 1 or 2 Short-eared Owls, a Snow Bunting and on the way back still a Tawny Owl.
On the 6th day I saw again 11 Greater White-fronted and 5 Tundra Bean and 8 unidentified geese. And on the 7th day I saw 3 Gadwalls and a Pintail. The same Crane was still on the same field too and on our garden I saw a Redwing. Then after work I hurried to Lappeenranta Kourulanmäki where a Northern Shrike-type of bird had been for some days already but now some better-quality pictures had been available and it really looked much better than any previous ones I have seen. After 30 minutes searching I managed to find the bird but it was very mobile so I couldn’t really look or photograph it very well. I hope this bird will be caught and positively identified.
On the 8th of November we were checking Lake Simpele from every corner but saw only 155 still migrating Greater White-fronted Geese, a couple of Red-throated Divers and the same duck-species we had already seen. A surprise was seen from our garden when I saw a Grey Heron flying above the lake. In the afternoon Birdclub was doing some collectivework in Siikalahti but meanwhile I was doing the last duck-count. Most of the ducks were hiding or gone but I still saw 2 Canada Geese, 3 Gaswalls, 3 Pintails and also a Common Snipe.
On the 9th day we did a forest-trip but found only a lonely Siberian Jay. Also other birders had seen only a single bird there lately which is very worrying. We have to hope that this is just the bird which had been alone also earlier and the couple is just visiting somewhere… Then we went to Tyrjä where we saw a Rough-legged Buzzard and found a new couple of Nuthatches. And of course we still visited Siikalahti where we saw again more ducks with a Shoveler, 3 Gadwalls and 4 Pintails amongst them. And the same young Crane was still feeding on the same field.
But then came the second cold nights of the autumn (the first ones had been when we were in Hanko). Siikalahti was partially frozen but still on the 10th day I saw a couple of Gadwalls. Most of the birds were gone, even the Crane which was never seen again.
During the week I still did short visits to bays but even though the weather was warmer again, it was very windy and rainy. So I didn’t really find anything new.
Finally I had to give up and count that in the first half of November I had seen 77 species. It was very close to my November-record (79) and I could have easily brake it with some missing species like Barnacle Goose, Red-breasted Merganser, Capercaillie, owls, Black, White-backed, Lesser Spotted and Three-toed Woodpecker, Dipper, House Sparrow and so on. But at weekend, when it was getting cold, I was going to once again to Costa Rica.
J.A.