. . Lintuharrastajan päiväkirja Birders diary . .

Winter is hard time for birds. They have to get enough to eat to survive long nights. Sometimes trees are covered with ice and it can be very difficult to find food. In this weather many birds are visiting feeders. I have had three feeding places in different places around Parikkala. On one feeder in a forest there were different kind of food for woodpeckers and tits, some bought from shop but some self-made. I also had a feeder outside my class-window where we could watch birds also with students. But there weren’t many birds as there were bigger feeders quite close. But still there were a couple of Nuthatches and of course quite a few Great and Blue Tits. But on the feeder that was in front of my hide there were plenty of birds, so I had a good opportunity to photograph them.

Bird-photography must be made so that birds are not disturbed. They get used to camera-sounds quite easily but all movements must be avoided. My Tragopan-hide is green so I had to make a white cover to make it usable in winter too. I also made a small stool that can be used inside the hide.

On the forest-feeder I had also Long-tailed Tits visiting which was very nice. Three different flocks were seen there so it was easy to get pictures of them. Also a Treecreeper was visiting our feeders for the first time.

Several pairs of Great Spotted Woodpeckers, a couple of Grey-headed and White-backed Woodpeckers were there too. While chasing each other and drumming, they also visited the feeder quite often.

Bright late winter days were good for practising passerine flight-pictures. Wings of tits weren’t completely stopped with 1/8000 shutterspeed!

H.A.

In the end of January the best birds seen were a White-backed Woodpecker that came to our own feeder in Siikalahti. For some reason I hadn’t seen any White-backed Woodpeckers in several months in Parikkala. Then on the 29th day we tried to catch and ring it but all we caught were 9 Long-tailed Tits and some Grat and Blue Tits. Only woodpecker that was caught was a Great Spotted Woodpecker and somehow it managed to escape from the mist-net. In the afternoon we participated to Garden Twitch but it was snowing so only 9 common species were seen in about half an hour.

On Sunday the 31st of January we met Jari Laitasalo in Särkisalmi and then we continued to Tarvaslampi from where we started skiing towards Siberian Jay forests. After only some hundreds of meters skiing we flushed a Great Grey Owl that flew so far that we couldn’t relocate it. After we had seen a Goshawk and some Treecreepers, Willow and Crested Tits, we finally were in the place for Siberian Jays. We had to wait quite a long time before the last 3 birds finally arrived. It was so good to see they were still around!

February started with very cold weather so I didn’t see any birds on the first week. On Saturday the 6th a couple of Coal Tits and Treecreepers were seen and on the next day I saw the same 9 Long-tailed Tits and a Great Grey Shrike and a Dipper in Tyrjä.

During the week I was working one day in Imatra and on the way back to home I saw a Great Grey Owl and a big flock of Common Redpolls.

On the 13th day we saw a couple of White-backed Woodpeckers and the same Long-tailed Tits in Siikalahti and here and there some Treecreepers and a Crested Tit and a Great Grey Shrike in Tiviä. On Sunday we found nothing new to mention.

On the 17th day I did a short drive in very cold weather and stopped in Ristimäki. Surprisingly there was one more Great Grey Owl perched on a high tree. When I was about to leave my car-battery had died. Luckily it turned on after some trying and I could drive to buy a new battery.

The weekend started with again one more Great Grey Owl – this time in Siikalahti. Last year I didn’t see any Great Grey Owls and now I had seen four in a few weeks. Long-tailed Tits, a Grey-headed Woodpecker and a Great Grey Shrike were also seen in Siikalahti and in Moskuunniemi we managed to twitch a male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker that had been visiting a feeder. It was about the time to get the first year-tick for February on the 20th day.

On Sunday the 21st day we went to check Kokkolanjoki-river in Simpele. Altogether 9 Goldeneyes, 3 Goosanders, 4 Whooper Swans, a Mallard, 4 Dippers and then also a Little Grebe were found. In the afternoon I did a run in Tarvaslampi and saw a Black Woodpecker which was a year-tick.

And once I finally had started to get year-tick, on the 22nd day a bigger and better was got. It was quite late in the afternoon when we got a message that Hiski Hirvonen had seen a Snowy Owl in Siikalahti! It had been perched on a field in Aittavaara but it had flight towards Huhmarinen. In a couple of minutes we were driving towards Huhmarinen. I dropped Hanna to check the first fields and continued further. I stopped next to Siikalahti parking place to check the fields there and somehow managed to find the owl even though only its head was visible. It was quite close but deep in the snow in the field. I didn’t dare to move until Hanna got there with Harri Partanen, Matti Lötjönen and Hiski.

We photographed the owl for some time until it got bored and flew as far as we could follow to the other side of the field towards Liuharanta. After some planning we drove after it and Matti managed to see the owl again in flight in Liuharanta but he lost it in flight.

It was already almost dark when we decided to go to check the field where we had seen the owl and there it was again. It flushed from the exactly same place with a rabbit on its nails. Luckily it landed further on the same field and Anne Poutanen still managed to see the silhouette of the bird before it was too dark.

Snowy Owl was the first Siikalahti-tick for me after almost 6 year! It was also Parikkala and South-Karelia tick. The last record in South Karelia had been made 16 years ago and in Siikalahti it had been seen only once before 21 years ago. So thank Hiski!

On the next morning we went to check the field but the owl was gone. There were some birders searching for it until the afternoon. I went there again during my lunch-hour and while we were chatting with my old friend Olavi Kemppainen I found a Golden Eagle migrating towards north. So luckily Olavi didn’t had to leave without any better birds. In the afternoon the weather turned awful, so I had to give up with more searching after my work. But I still visited the place where Snowy Owl had been fighting with the rabbit and then been eating. It had been quite a fight.

On the 24th day I visited Kangaskoski again and Little Grebe was still there. Also 3 Dippers and a Goosander were seen and from the main road 6 I saw 4 young Whooper Swans and a Goldeneye on the river. On the way back I saw 3 Elks in a snowy field.

On the 26th of February a White-tailed Eagle was seen in Härskiinmutka and on the next evening a Tengmalm’s Owl was calling in Tarvaslampi. On the last day of February we did winterbird-counts with Miika Soikkeli and saw a Hazel Hen a Goshawk, a Sparrowhawk, 61 Rock Pigeons, 6 Great-spotted, a White-backed and a Three-toed Woodpecker, 109 Great and also 109 Blue Tits, 2 Crested Tits, 3 Willow Tits, 2 Treecreepers, a Great Grey Shrike, 9 Jays, 108 Jackdaws, 36 Hooded Crows, 5 Ravens, 48 Tree Sparrows, 9 Greenfinches, 28 Bullfinches and 17 Yellowhammers.

J.A.

After 3 day hardcore birding the normal life started and it was pretty boring. It was dark before and after work so I could do only a little birding during my lunch-hour.

On the 4th of January I saw a Treecreeper, a Coal Tit and a European Nuthatch as a year-tick and altogether 15 species included also a Whooper Swan and a Great Grey Shrike in Tyrjä. On the next day I managed to twitch a Common Kingfisher which was a new winter-species to Parikkala. Other year-ticks were Bullfinch, Willow Tit and Jay. On the 6th day I saw a Sparrowhawk and also a Black Grouse and a Goshawk, at least one Goldcrest was still alive.

On the 7th day I drove to work in Imatra and saw a Ural Owl flying across the road on the way. On the 8th day the only year-tick was a Grey-headed Woodpecker. On Saturday the 9th we saw a couple of Nuthatches that were already cleaning their nest that they had used on the previous year. But even though we did a long walk in quite cold weather, we saw almost nothing else. So I was happy to twitch a Greylag Goose that was found in Imatra Vuoksi in the afternoon. It was one more species to my list that I have seen every month. With Petri Salakka we saw also a Little Grebe and some Cormorants.

On Sunday the 10th day the only year-tick was a Chaffinch and also a Blackbird was seen on the same feeder in Kannas. In the afternoon I went running and saw a Great Grey Shrike in Tetrisuo.

On the 11th of January I finally saw a Dipper in Tyrjä but then the weather turned really cold. Even I did some birding there was almost nothing to see. Probably these cold days were too much for the Kingfisher too as nobody saw it anymore. And after a long cold period the next birds to mention were 3 Chaffinched in Tiviä on the 22nd day.

On the 23rd day we had been in a boring birding trip with Hanna and once we were back home we got amazing news – Hanna’s sister Elissa had found a possible Slaty-backed Gull in Kouvola Kuusankoski! There was only one previous record in Finland and only 8 records in Western Palearctic! I had twitched the first for Finland.

Of course we got Elissa’s pictures soon and tried to make them as good as possible but as they were phonescoped pictures the quality wasn’t really good. But luckily the bird hadn’t been too far and it really looked promising. Luckily Elissa had immediately sent some pictures to local birders who had sent them to Petteri Mäkelä who had made the first identification. Unfortunately the bird had disappeared soon and only one another birder had seen it in flight briefly. And even though local birders were searching for it in a big area it wasn’t found. But it seemed that it might have stayed in the area so there were birders going in the next morning again.

We had been planning to go to birding to Imatra or Lappeenranta anyway so it was easy to decide to do so as we were much closer to Kouvola then. But we never thought that the gull would be found on it’s ordinary place already very early in the morning. So we had just quick breakfast and started driving to Kouvola.

We got a couple of messages that the bird had disappeared somewhere but luckily it always came back to the river. And when there were already lots of twitchers they started to feed ducks and also this Slaty-backed Gull came to eat bread.

So when we arrived to Kuusankoski the bird was in flight right in front of numerous twitchers. Elissa and also Hanna’s brother Miika were there and so were many friends. The gull was showing extremely well but it was very dark day to get good pictures.

The Slaty-backed Gull was with 4 Herring Gulls but it was the bravest and only gull that came to catch bread. We also saw a female Teal and a couple of Whooper Swans there.

Finally we decided to go to see other birds in Kouvola with Elissa. Also Antti Peuna and Nicolas Ordax-Sommer followed us to the first place that was in Elimäki Ropsala where we soon found a flock of 6 Grey Partridges.

Next we continued to Koihanaho where had been a big flock of carduelis with several species. But there was only a Merlin on the field so no passerines at all. Also 2 distant Black Grouses were seen but nothing else.

Then we drove back to Kuusankoski and managed to twitch a Hawfinch in Takaharju but a Song Thrush wasn’t found in the next place. Finally we drove back to see the gull which was now perched on the ice on the opposite site of the river, so it was too far to get any pictures. When we were walking back to our car the Slaty-backed Gull flew right over us a couple of times in the middle of the city.

It was getting late when we were driving back home and in Lappeenranta we stopped in Kourulanmäki and managed still to find a flock of 4 Twites that had been there for a long time. Then we did some shopping before continued to Joutseno Anola where it was already quite dark, but the Hawk Owl was perched on the wire next to the road so it was an easy twitch. We still ate in Imatra before drove back to home. It had been a great twitching day! Thanks to Elli!

J.A.

We slept over the year change and woke up at 1 a.m. Pirkka had driven whole day from Kemijärvi and now we had slept only a few hours and continued towards south. It was time for a traditional The first of January trip, which we had missed on last 2 years because we had been abroad.

The first stop was made in Lappeenranta where we saw and also heard 2 Eagle Owls and also heard a couple of wintering Teals that were with Mallards.

Then we continued a long way to Salo where we met our old friends Kalle Larsson and Mika Kaukinen. Together we tried to find Jack and Common Snipes that they had seen earlier but we weren’t lucky. I only got my boot wet as I dropped to one ditch.

It was still dark when we followed Marko towards Naantali and finally parked next to Luolalanjärvi bird-tower that was on the N-E corner of the lake. There were already some birders and they told us where they had just found the bird that we were searching for – and soon we also saw a Great Egret that was hiding behind some reeds. We saw also Grey Herons, Goosanders, Goldeneys and heard Great Tits and a distant Wren but Gadwall was missing.

More birders were arriving and also the another tower on the opposite side of the lake was full. One man had probably missed whole Covid as he was coughing all the time. It was continuous and he did nothing to protect other people so after we had seen or heard only Jackdaws, Hooded Crows, Greenfinches, Yellowhammers and a Siskin, we decided to move on.

We followed on kind birder to Karvetti where we tried to find a Nutcracker without luck. Only a Blackbird, Magpies and Tree Sparrows were observed. So soon we continued to Raisio Raisionlahti, seeing a Goshawk on the way, where the same birder was again helping us and told us where to find 2 male Gadwalls. We also saw a Tufted Duck, a Mute Swan, a couple of Whooper Swans and heard a Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Then we tried again just briefly to see the Nutcracker but soon continued to Kaarina Piikkiö Viukkala where we found some White Wagtails easily. After some searching we found a rare Pied Wagtail too that had been with the flock for some time. Also a flock of 3 Common Redpolls were seen and soon we were driving again past some Rock Doves in Piikkiö.

In Salo Jaakola we noticed a Merlin that was perched on the wire and soon stopped in Kinnarpyöli fields where a Hen Harrier had been seen. A Black Grouse was “singing” and a flock of Gold Finched and a flock of Starling were seen. After some time we noticed a raptor perched on the top of a pine behind a bigger perch but could identify the bird as a Hen Harrier. We also saw another Merlin.

Soon we passed a flock of 8 Whooper Swans and 3 Greater White-fronted Geese and saw a Common Kestrel and a Black-headed Gull before we arrived to Halikonlahti where we soon saw some Common Pheasants. We tried to see Wigeons that had been present on the bay but had no luck. Only some more Pheasants and a couple of Black-headed Gulls were seen. We found out that they had been seen on a different place that wasn’t easy to reach, so we soon kept on driving.

We had a longer drive to Raasepori Pohja where we saw a Common Gull and a Common Buzzard before got to Brödtorp where a Common Crane was found very easily. So soon we were driving towards Helsinki and still saw a Great Grey Shrike on the way.

Finally we were in Helsinki Viikki where we walked towards the bay through Etu-Viikki fields that had some Canada Geese. In Hakalanniemi we heard some Goldcrests and Blue Tits before we climbed to the tower where we met some friends. Luckily they showed us a Lapwing right away as it was hiding so well that we couldn’t have found it by ourselves in darkening evening. Also a couple of Great Black-backed Gulls were seen.

Soon we continued to Purolahti tower nearby where we met some friends again and there had been both a Jack and a Common Snipe seen during the day. We counted 330 Canada Geese going to roost and I saw a lonely Herring Gull. With Hanna we heard a Water Rail calling a good series of calls but others missed it. It was already getting dark when an Eagle Owl was found perching on the nest of White-tailed Eagles.

We still hurried back to our car and drove to one forest where we had got information about a Woodcock. After about 30 minuted waiting we heard a shout “Janne!”. Kalle and Marko were about 150 meters from us but they had identified us as we were standing under lights. A Woodcock was flying towards us! It was calling like in summer-night and flew right over us! I had never thought to see this to happen in January!

It had been a long day so we decided to book a night from airport-hotel. As Pirkka had arrived from Lapland we had decided to stay at least for another day in Southern Finland. In a hotel we ate well in restaurant where were only a couple of customers. Our plan to avoid corona had been great.

During the day I had got 7 The first of January ticks, 5 month-ticks which Crane and Lapwing I had now seen in every month in Finland. We had seen altogether 50 species which only Pirkka had seen a Sparrowhawk and Hanna had heard a Black Woodpecker. Next year, if we are in Finland, I have a possibility to reach 150 The first of January ticks – which is quite a big number.

On the 2nd of January we had slept well and woke up before 7 a.m. and soon headed towards Hanko. On the way we saw a Pygmy Owl flying across the road in Karjaa. Finally we parked in Långören where a Grey Wagtail had been present for some time. We met Ossi Tahvonen and together scanned the sea first. We saw Long-tailed Ducks, some Greater Scaups, a couple of White-tailed Eagles and a Cormorant before checked the shores by walking around. We found no Grey Wagtail but a Wood Lark which had been also around for some days but we had somehow missed messages about this bird so it was a nice surprise.

We were already driving when we got a message that a Kittiwake that had been seen almost daily in different shores of Hanko was still on the same place as on the previous afternoon in Gåsörsbukten. Our got lost on the way and saw only a couple of House Sparrows but finally got to Gåsörsbukten where lots of Common Gulls were flying over the sea. After 5 minutes scanning I found the Kittiwake which was flying quite far but luckily turned towards us and after all we saw it very well.

In Varisniemi I saw a Crested Tit briefly and in Kalasatama we saw some Black-headed Gulls and 2 female Common Eiders. Soon we continued to Tallholmarna where the visibility was great and quite a lot od same birds had seen but only new bird was a Great Crested Grebe,

In Täktbukten we saw a big flock of ducks and I counted even 68 Greater Scaups from the flock. We scanned the sea too but saw nothing new. As a couple of other birders were heading to Vedagrundet, we decided to go to Högholmen. 5 Velvet Scoters and 2 Red-breasted Mergansers were seen there.

It was getting late so we headed to Raasepori Tammisaari Stadsfjärden but it had started to snow and also wind was very strong. We still counted 120 Common Coots but found nothing else new there.

It had been another long day and we still had plenty of places to visit, so we took a room from the same hotel again. In the evening we did a short run in heavy snowfall with Pirkka before we went to eat well again.

On the 3rd of January we had breakfast and then headed towards Kirkkonummi Porkkala. It was still snowing and too hard as the visibility was poor. So we saw only a couple of flocks of Velvet Scoters and a couple of White-tailed Eagles. We waited for some time for the snowing to stop but also haze was bad so there was no point to try to see Purple Sandpipers from distant rocks. So pretty soon we started driving inland.

In border of Kirkkonummi and Espoo we saw a Goshawk and a Common Buzzard and after a long drive we were in Riihimäki. Behind a small K-Market there was a feeder and under that there was a Crested Lark. But soon a stupid man tried to get pictures of the bird with his cell-phone and bird flew to a worse place behind the bushes. So we decided to keep on going.

In Lahti we found to Ala-Juhakkala small pool where were some birders already. With help of Arto Laakso and Antti Vaalgamaa we saw a Grey Wagtail immediately and after some waiting we found also one Little Grebe. Then we headed towards Vesijärvi Ankkuri.

We soon found a Common Scoter and then headed to twitch a Collared Dove that Arto and Antti had just also twitched. We got really good instructions how to find the bird so it was seen immediately. Then we walked only about 200 meters to see a couple of long-staying Barnacle Geese. We also saw a Velvet Scoter, a family of Mute Swans and some Herring Gulls.

We still had time to drive to Polttimo where we found a couple of Wigeons in flocks of Mallards. We then realized that these Wigeons could have been seen from Common Scoter place too, but at least we now saw them better.

Then we started a long drive to Parikkala. We ate in Lappeenranta and were finally at home about 7 p.m.In the evening we ran 10 kilometers just because of we had been sitting too much in car. And Pirkka still had a long drive back to Kemijärvi on the next day.

J.A.

In the end of 2014 Sami Luoma sent me an email and asked me to join a competition where birders were going to count how many species they see every month. Of course I joined the competition where were participants around Finland but mostly close to the sea-shore.

After one year I asked if people would count species they will see in their home-region and county. But for some reason I was the only one to start counting them too. Some participants were counting only self-found birds, so I counted them too.

After every month Sami sent the results and after the year he had counted all the lists together. Of course those birders who were twitching most, were of course getting biggest lists every month. Jörgen Palmgren was winner the first 3 years and then Ari Vuorio won the last 2 years.

The winners year-results were from 1680 to 1755 (“Jösse´”s record) and my totals were 1331-1468. On every other year than 2019 when we did several longer trips abroad I got over 1400, so every year my results were pretty much the same. I also was 4th, 5th or 6th every year (about 12 to 15 participants).

The best month-result ever was Jösse’s May 2016 216 species. I got once 212 and once 211 species in May. In winter best was Jösse’s 110 in February 2015, in summer Ari’s 212 in June 2017 and in autumn Jösse’s 174 in September 2017.

In South Karelia my best year-result was 1348, in Parikkala 1273 and self-found birds 1563. The best January was 86, in South-Karelia 60 and in Parikkala 44 (58 self-found). February total 82, S-K 50, Pla 42 (self-found 71). March 89, 80 and 78 (84), April 150, 150 and 137 (147), May 212, 191 and 187 (205!), June 184, 145 and 132 (180), July 167, 142 and 132 (143), August 163, 140 and 137 (160), September 164, 146 and 139 (163), October 146, 111 and 110 (143), November 88, 80, 75 (73) and December 79, 63 and 51 (62).

To me the most interesting thing in this competition was to compare months between years in Parikkala. From six years results I can say that Parikkala is quite bad place to do birding in winter. Actually I have ever seen only 98 species here in winter. In spring it is possible to see really good selection of species – especially in May. Early summer is also very good but then autumn is very pretty poor comparing to sea-coats.

The competition lasted 5 full years and started again in January 2020 but then in February we got awful news, Sami had died. I immediately decided to continue the rest of the year just to finish the year as Sami would have liked. And now I decided to make this kind of article too just to make sure that this won’t be forgotten. I didn’t ask permits from other participants so that’s why I mentioned only some top-results as I am sure these birders won’t mind.

Thanks Sami (R.I.P) and other participants – J.A.

In December there weren’t many birds left in Parikkala. A flock of Common Gulls with some Herring Gulls were still in Kirkkoselkä and on the 3rd day I found a Bewick’s Swan that was with a couple of hundreds of Whooper Swans in Siikalahti.

On the 4th day I headed to Kouvola where with Teo Ylätalo we still did some birding with torches and found a Jack Snipe.

On the next morning we left birding with Teo and Antti Vänskä and found a Woodcock, Pheasants, Mute Swans, Velvet and Common Scoters, Cormorants, Canada Geese, Nuthatch and so on. Durng the whole day we found about 40 species which wasn’t very good.

On the 6th of December we participated Kymenlaakso Independence-day rally but stayed only in Kouvola. We found same Cormorants, Pheasants, Canada Geese, Mute Swans and Common Scoters but other prepared birds had disappeared. A White-backed Woodpecker, a Dipper and a Pygmy Owl were nice bonuses and then also a known Nutcracker was seen and after a long search we also got Waxwings and Fieldfares to our list. The best bird was seen while driving – a Hawfinch. Only gull we saw was a lonely Herring Gull and finally our last species was Velvet Scoter. Only 42 species were found but after all we were 3rd in a race and won the another Kouvola-team quite clearly.

On the 7th day I still saw the same Bewick’s Swan with about 100 Whooper Swans but Siikalahti was freezing fast.

On the 12th day we saw the last Whooper Swan that was wintering in Tyrjänjoki with 10 Mallards. On the next day we visited Siberian Jays and saw also a Goshawk, a Black Woodpecker and a flock of Long-tailed Tits.

Before Christmas I saw mostly tits and Goldcrests that were more numerous than ever in winter. Let’s see how they will survive…

On Christmas Eve we visited Simpele with Hanna and Miika but saw no Dipper at all. 60 Whooper Swans, 8 Goldeneyes and 9 Mallards were seen in river and in Kivijärvensalmi we heard a Grey-headed Woodpecker and in Kangaskoski we saw a Pygmy Owl. In the evening we saw another Pygmy Owl in Punkaharju Laakkee while visiting Hanna’s relatives.

On Cristmas Day I did winterbird-count and saw a Hazel Hen, 28 Black Grouses, a Goshawk, a Sparrowhawk, 3 Rock Pigeons, a Black and a Grey-headed Woodpecker, 6 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 6 Goldcrests, 42 Blue, 70 Great, a Coal and 7 Willow Tits, a new europaea-Nuthatch, 4 Treecreepers, only one Jay, 65 Jackdaws, 19 Hooded Crows, 34 Tree Sparrows, 36 Greenfinches and 4 Yellowhammers.

On Boxing Day we found a flock of 31 Gold Finches in Tiviä and saw a Great Grey Shrike in Siikalahti. We also saw the oldest Nuthatch ever in Finland again as we saw rings of one familiar bird again.

On the 28th day I saw a White-tailed Eagle in Hernesaari and then on the last days I saw only Goldcrests, a Coal Tit, Treecreeper, Black Grouses, a Great Grey Shrike and still 12 Gold Finches. The weather was awful and it was raining and windy.

The year 2020 will be remembered because of Corona. It was also the reason why we couldn’t do any trips abroad. So we were birding even more than normally in Finland and especially in Parikkala. So after all I got 259 year-ticks which more than a long time. In Parikkala I saw 212 species and in Siikalahti 193. When Corona started I started to go jogging and after all I ran more than 1200 kilometers. I counted bird-species than I saw while running and altogether I saw 130 species, which 126 were seen on the runs that I made from home.

J.A.