November birding
After the trip to Azores I decided to keep on birding every day. On the 3rd of November I went to do winter-bird count with Hanna. We walked again 18.6 kilometers around Siikalahti. The weather was nice, a couple of plus degrees and no wind at all. Siikalahti had been once already frozen but now everything was open again. Altogether we saw 112 Whooper Swans, 12 Mallards, 7 Goosanders, 2 Great Crested Grebes, 25 Common Gulls, a Herring Gull, 2 Hazel Hens, a Hawk Owl (new species for the count), a Pygmy Owl, only 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 2 White-backed Woodpeckers, a Grey-headed Woodpecker, a Blackbird, 8 Goldcrests, 11 Willow Tits, 44 Blue Tits, 200 Great Tits, 7 Treecreepers, a Great Grey Shrike, even 30 Jays, 19 Magpies, a Nutcracker, 80 Jackdaws, 22 Hooded Crows, only 6 House Sparrows, 26 Tree Sparrows, one hybrid sparrow, 58 Green Finches, 17 Redpolls, 4 Bullfinches and 6 Yellowhammers.
We had a November bird-race with Parikkala and Rautjärvi Bird Club so it was nice to try to list species. Anyway it was always dark when I got to work and when I got away from work so only birding during the week I did on my lunch-hours.
On the next day I saw 17 Barnacle Geese and a young White-fronted Goose in Eskola fields. In Vartialahti I saw 12 Long-tailed Ducks, 3 Velvet Scoters and a Great Crested Grebe and in Särkisalmi a Goldeneye and a couple of Black-headed Gulls. During the next couple of days I saw a Wigeon in Moskuunniemi, a Long-tailed Duck in Särkisalmi and a Black-throated Diver in Härskiinmutka.
On the 7th of November when I had just started my work-day, I got a message that Jari “konza” kontiokorpi had found a Glossy Ibis in Lahdenkylä fields. It was only 5 kilometers to that place so I left immediately. The bird was with a flock of Whooper Swans and I just watched it briefly and hurried back to work. Of course I went back on my lunch-hour and then again together with Hanna and once more after my work. So I managed to get some videos and pictures even though it was pretty far. On the next morning I checked Lake Simpele from several places and saw altogether 19 Velvet Scoters, 3 Red-breasted Mergansers, a Red-throated Diver, 4 Black-throated Divers, 5 Great Crested Grebes, a Dipper in Simpele Kokkolanjoki, some Ravens, a new Hawk Owl and still 2 Barnacle Geese in Joukionsalmi. In the afternoon I went to check that the Glossy Ibis was still there. It stayed on the field when the last swans left to sleep.
On the 9th day I visited Siberian Jays with some Glossy Ibis twitchers. 4 birds came to eat everything we offered. These twitchers from Helsinki thought that Siberian Jays were much better birds than the Glossy Ibis had been! We also saw a Black Woodpecker, heard a Crested Tit and a Black Grouse and I still saw a Capercaillie on the way back home. I still stopped in Särkisalmi where I saw 10 Canada Geese, 2 Siskins, 3 Redpolls and 2 Arctic Redpolls. During the day I drove to Mikkeli to a floorball tournament and on the way I saw a Hawk Owl in Rautjärvi and a Common Buzzard in Joutseno.
I stayed night in Mikkeli and next morning we left twitching with “Potu” Suojarinne who was finally feeling a little bit better after the disease from Corvo. At 9 a.m. we were in Orivesi Pappilanniemi bird-tower where some birders had been already for an hour. After an hour waiting I found the bird that we were searching for – a Stejneger’s Stonechat was moving far close to the shore on the willows and reeds. It never came much closer but after all we saw the bird pretty well. We also saw a Lapwing there. When we left back towards east we saw a Hawk Owl in Orivesi, in Jämsä-Jyväskylä border and in Kangasniemi. We still visited a couple of places in Mikkeli but it was raining hard and all we saw were 2 Wigeons. So I left towards Parikkala soon.
On the 11th day I saw even 205 Barnacle Geese and again the same young White-fronted Goose in Siikalahti, In Vartialahti I saw 2 Great Crested Grebes and in Kannas an arctic Redpoll. Next day only 27 Barnacle Geese were seen but also a Great Grey Shrike and a Common Crossbill in Kangaskylä. On the 13th day I saw another Hawk Owl, 13 Canada Geese and a Great Grey Shrike in Rautalahti. In Särkisalmi I saw a Velvet Scoter, 6 Long-tailed Ducks and still a Black-headed Gull. On the 14th day a visit in Siberian Jay forest was worthy as I heard a Goshawk calling. In Tarvaspohja I saw a Smew and other observations were a Black Grouse, 6 Long-tailed Tits and a Treecreeper.
On the 15th day I found one more Hawk Owl in Kullinsuo, where I also saw a flock of 400 Yellowhammers. In Tiviä I saw the same Hawk Owl as a month ago. 2 Barnacle Geese were still in Joukionsalmi, a Great Grey Shrike in Lahdensuo, a Hazel Hen in Lahdenkylä and 7 Velvet Scoters and 3 Long-tailed Ducks in Vartialahti.
On the 16th of November I left towards Helsinki. In Lapinjärvi Pukaro I saw a Hawk Owl in the first light. I parked my car to the hotel at 9 am. and an hour later we had a meeting with Twitchers association authorities. During the day we had the statutory meeting of the association and after that Swedish Staffan Rodebrand and French Pierre-Andre Crochét were presenting lectures about birding on Azores. Unfortunately I had to leave a little bit early to BirdLife Finland 40th birthday parties evening show that started at the hotel I was staying. So the rest of the evening went there.
Next morning we had BirdLife meetings until 2 p.m. and after that I went to see my grandmother before I started a long drive back to Parikkala.
On the 18th day I saw again one familiar Hawk Owl, new Great Grey Shrike and also one Velvet Scoter. On the 19th day I saw 46 Whooper Swans, 13 Canada Geese and a Velvet Scoter in Rautalahti and on the 20th day 2 Barnacle Geese and a Great Crested Grebe were still in Joukionsalmi. Altogether I saw 36 Common Gulls from 2 spots in Simpelejärvi.
On the 23rd day we went to see Siberian Jays with Hanna. On the way we saw a Great Grey Shrike and a Grey-headed Woodpecker and then in the middle of the forest we found a White-backed Woodpecker! It was the weirdest place I have ever seen this species. We found the Siberian Jays easily and while feeding these 4 birds we heard a Pygmy Owl calling. After some searching we heard a Three-toed Woodpecker but it disappeared. On the way back home we stopped in Härskiinmutka and saw a Red-throated Diver.
On the 24th day we visited Siikalahti bird-tower but there were only 63 Whooper Swans and a Mallard. We checked also some other places and Hawk Owl was still in Tiviä and 2 Barnacle Geese in Joukionsalmi. In the evening it started to get much colder! So next morning the bays of Lake Simpele were frozen. In a small open water area in Siikalahti there were now 40 Mallards and a Wigeon with Whooper Swans. In Muttelinmäki I finally saw a Coal Tit as a November-race tick. On the 26th day I twitched a Nuthatch in Kirkonkylä and in Rautalahti there was still a tiny open water area with some Mallards and 2 Teal, which was my 60th species on the month. On the 27th day I saw a flock of 22 migrating Velvet Scoters in Tiviä but a quick check to Lake Simpele was boring – only some tens of Whooper Swans, 2 Common Gulls and a Herring Gull. In Koitsanlahti I saw one more Hawk Owl – how many more do I need to get bored to this beautiful species? On the 28th day I visited Simpele as I had to get Rock Dove as a November-tick. I also saw a Dipper in Kokkolanjoki, a Hawk Owl in Joukio where also 2 Barnacle Geese were again as the bay was partly open and the field free from snow. There I also saw a migrating Gold Finch.
On the 29th of November we drove around Saari with Harri Partanen. We found 4 Great Grey Shrikes and 3 Hawk Owls. Other birds we saw were a Goshawk, 10 Black Grouses and a couple of flocks of Whooper Swans. On the 30th day I saw still a flock of 294 Goosanders, 33 Common Gulls and 5 Herring Gulls but the Lake Simpele was freezing. I also visited Siberian Jays and saw 3 birds and in Siikalahti I saw a White-backed Woodpecker. It really looked like the winter was coming in right time.
J.A.