. . Lintuharrastajan päiväkirja Birders diary . .

The weather was finally changing warmer but still it was minus degrees at nights. Snow was melting quickly anyway when sun was shining and there were some days with almost no wind at all and of course some warm rains too.

On the 9th of April I saw already a flock of 45 White Wagtails and 20 Meadow Pipits and finally first flock of 6 Tundra Bean Geese, a Greylag Goose, a Common Redshank, 3 Golden Plovers and the best bird – a Shore Lark that was flying towards south. Also 8 Black-headed Gulls, Goshawk, Kestrel, White-backed and Grey-headed Woodpecker and a Linnet were seen. In the afternoon I visited Särkisalmi where I saw 6 Mallards, 6 Goldeneyes and a Goosander.

But then it came a couple of quieter days again and on the 10th day I saw only a White-tailed Eagle, a Rough-legged Buzzard, a Great Grey Shrike, a couple of Marsh Harriers, a Long-tailed Tit and 5 Common Crossbills and on the 11th day a White-tailed Eagle, a Merlin and heard a Great Bittern.

The 12th day was a bit better again so I visited Siikalahti a couple of times. I saw 3 Hen Harriers, 3 Song Thrushes, 4 Ospreys, a Wood Lark, 65 White Wagtails and 45 Snow Buntings. In Särkisalmi I saw a Bittern standing on the reeds and when a couple of Whooper Swans came to look at it, it opened it wings and looked even more stupid than normally.

On the 13th day I heard the first Robins and a Dunnock and on a couple of visits to Siikalahti I saw 43 Tundra Bean Geese, 3 Kestrels, 2 Goshawks, 8 Sparrowhawks, 2 White-tailed Eagles, 4 Linnets and then in 5 minutes I saw a Black Kite and a male Pallid Harrier. Later I still saw a possible female Pallid Harrier but it was too distant.

On the 14th day I went to Lappeenranta to play rinkbandy Finnish Championship tournament. It was funny to play on the highest level first time since 1999. We lost 2 games but managed to play a draw against a team which came second after all. And even I managed to make a couple of goals and give an assist which wasn’t too bad as we did only 8 goals altogether. Between the matches I did some birding and visited Joutseno Konnunsuo where I saw a Peregrine, 3 Green Sandpipers, Common Gulls, 5 Rough-legged Buzzards and so on. In Kivisaari I saw 3 Curlews and in Luukkaansalmi 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

On the 15th of April we were in Siikalahti for a long time and saw 20 Tundra Bean Geese, a Greylag Goose, a Teal, 18 Mallards, 4 Goldeneyes, 5 White-tailed Eagles, again a Pallid Harrier and a Black Kite migrating in 5 minutes, 2 Hen Harriers, 2 Rough-legged Buzzards, 4 Coots, 7 Curlews, 3 Green Sandpipers, 13 Common Snipes, 70 Black-headed, 4 Common and 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, a Stock Dove, a Northern Wheatear, a Great Grey Shrike, a Brambling, a Gold Finch and a flock of 25 Common Crossbills.

On Monday the 16th of April I was in Siikalahti on my lunch-hour and I was talking with Esa Sojamo and Pertti Koskimies when I noticed an eagle on the north-eastern sky – it was a beautiful adult Greater Spotted Eagle! It was soaring a couple of minutes and then continued towards north-west. A Water Rail was heard when a Marsh Harrier tried to catch it from the reeds.

Then then next days were quiet again. First there was no wind at all and then it turned northern. Anyway it was quite warm, but only migrating birds were Curlews. There were already a couple of hundreds of geese, mostly Tundra Bean and White-fronted but also some Barnacle and Canada Geese and also some Taiga Bean and almost every day also at least one Greylag Goose. Only year-ticks were a Chiffchaffs and a couple of Wood Cocks that I saw in the evening.

On the 19th day I saw a Grey Heron, 8 Wigeons, a White-tailed Eagle and 12 Waxwings on my lunch-hour but surprisingly my evening visit was much better when I found immediately a Black Kite, then soon saw a Mute Swan landing to a field with some geese and then Matti Lötjönen called that he had found a Great Grey Owl nearby. I saw a southern, eastern and northern species in 30 minutes. Later I still found that there was also a Bewick’s Swan on the field with Whooper Swans and the Mute Swan. So it was nice to see all species of swans on the same field.

On the 18th day I saw a flock of 14 Barnacle Geese and a couple of Great Crested Grebes in Särkisalmi and the first Tufted Ducks and Pochards, 4 Greylag Geese, a Peregrine, a Cormorant and heard a Greenshank in Siikalahti

At weekend the weather was very bad as usual. On Saturday we did a good tour in Saari but found almost nothing. 3 Greylag Geese, a couple of Shovelers, Merlins and Golden Plovers. Boring…

On Sunday we were almost whole day in Siikalahti with several visiting friends. Migration was quiet but at least some Rough-legged Buzzards were moving and we counted 34 birds. But we got some goodies too as a female Pallid Harrier was seen a couple of times pretty well, a younger Golden Eagle migrated quite distant and a Black Kite was seen late in the afternoon. Also 6 Bewick’s Swans, 3 Greylag Geese, 18 Pochards, 2 White-tailed Eagles, 61 Cranes, 67 Curlews, a Whimbrel and a Snow Bunting were seen.

Week started quietly and on Tuesday the 24th day I saw a couple of Black-throated Divers, an early Spotted Redshank, a couple of White-tailed Eagles, a Greylag goose, a Whimbrel and 20 Lapland Buntings in Siikalahti. After my work I had to drive to Uukuniemi Suurenjärvenliete to twitch a Mandarin Duck that was a new species and maybe the 300th species for Parikkala. The flood was huge and there were lots of ducks but I couldn’t find the Mandarin Duck. I counted 35 Green Sandpipers and at least 70 Song Thrushes were seen in huge flocks of Fieldfares and Redwings. I checked all best places in Saari too but found only a couple of Bewick’s Swans, a Whimbrel and several flocks of about 40 Curlews but I expected to find much more…

On the 25th of April there were 3 Oystercatchers and 2 Black-throated Divers in Särkisalmi and in Siikalahti I saw a flock of 22 Greenshanks. In the evening we had Parikkala and Rautjrävi Bird-club meeting where nice pictures were shown. On the 26th day a flock of 11 Common Scoters and a Common Sandpiper were in Särkisalmi and in Siikalahti I saw a Garganey, a couple of Shovelers, a Whimbrel and heard a Ringed Plover migrating. After work I went back and managed to relocate a 3rd c-y Greater Spotted Eagle which was showing well a few times. But crows were chasing it all the time, so it didn’t come very close. Other birds seen were a female Hen Harrier and the first Barn Swallow. In the evening I went to check one owl nest-box and there was a Ural Owl.

On the 27th of April I saw in Särkisalmi 72 Great Crested Grebes, 24 Black-throated Divers, 2 Red-necked Grebes, 2 Slavonian Grebes, 3 Red-breasted Mergansers, 14 Smews and so on. In Siikalahti I saw a Greylag Goose, 4 Cormorants, a White-tailed Eagle, 3 Little Gulls and heard a Tree Pipit. In the evening a group of 4 Catalan birders came and we still saw a Long-tailed Tit, a Grey-headed Woodpecker, a couple of Bewick’s Swans, a Black Grouse and then of course went to see a Ural Owl too.

On the 28th day I was again in Siikalahti and there was a nice group of birders it was quite enjoyable even though migration was still quiet. We saw a couple of Gadwalls, a Slavonian Grebe, 3 White-tailed Eagles, 23 Rough-legged Buzzards, 2 Hen Harriers, 3 Common Terns and a flock of 10 Parrot Crossbills. I was away from the dam-road for 15 minutes and missed the same Greater Spotted Eagle but luckily Catalans saw it. In the afternoon we did a tour to Saari but saw only a couple of Grey Herons and of course some, but only some flocks of geese. In the evening we still heard a White-backed Woodpecker drumming in Siikalahti, but didn’t see it.

On the 29th day we went to try to see Siberian Jays but the birds didn’t show up. Luckily we saw a Three-toed Woodpecker drumming. In Särkisalmi we saw an Oystercatcher and the rest of the day I was again in Siikalahti where a couple of Bewick’s Swans, 9 Cormorants, a male Pallid Harrier, a Hobby, a couple of Whimbrels, a flock of 10 Ruffs and 2 Black-tailed Godwits, a couple of Wood Sandpipers and a House Martin were seen.

On the last day of April a Common Redstart was singing in our garden. During my lunch-hour I saw almost nothing in Siikalahti, but in the evening I went jogging in Tarvaslampi and finally saw the first Capercaillie of the year. After sauna we still went to Siikalahti and heard a Spotted Crake and a distant Jack Snipe as year-ticks.

Next 2 weeks should be really good time to find something better so I hope to find something better than “every spring rarities”…

J.A.

I had great photographing possibilities when there was still snow to reflect light and migrants started to arrive. In the end of the month birds clearly started to find more food from nature so I stopped photographing. During next summer I am planning to build shallow water pool in the front of the hide. Birds can drink and bath on it. This pond will hopefully bring more interesting species to the photographing area. I have also plans of totally rebuilding feeding area for next winter season.

Here you can see collection of the images taken from my hide.

H.A.

On the 4th of February we visited Siberian Jays. 3 birds were found and these beautiful birds were once again fed well. Other birds seen in the forests were a Treecreeper and a Long-tailed Tit.

On the next days I did some birding on my lunch-hours saw the Chaffinches in several feeders, some Brambling in Kirkonkylä, Coal Tits, Blackbirds and Fieldfares.

On the 7th day there were a couple of Great Grey Owls in Tetrisuo and it seemed that there were many of them everywhere around Parikkala. A couple of dead Ural Owls were found later and the rings told that these birds had been ringed in Mikkeli and Ruokolahti. Unfortunately also some too tame Greay Grey Owls and a couple of dead Tengmalm’s and one Tawny Owl were found, so owls didn’t have enough to eat. There was just too much snow.

I visited Simpele Kokkolanjoki a couple of times and saw wintering Whooper Swans, some Dippers and found a Great Grey Owl there too. In Konkapelto I saw a Sparrowhawk. In the afternoon I twitched a Tengmal’s Owl that Matti Lötjönen found in Siikalahti.

I was playing in Lappeenranta every weekend so I stopped in Imatra Vuoksi several times. There I saw the wintering Smews, a Scaup and of course Cormorants, Goosanders and Goldeneyes. While driving I saw some Great Grey Shrikes.

On the 10th of February we went to Joutseno with Hanna and her sister Elissa and brother Miika. We twitched Oriental Turtle Dove in Haukilahti which finally showed up after more than an hour waiting. In Hyvättilä we didnät find Collared Doves but surprisingly I found a Lapland Bunting visiting one feeder with Chaffinches and Yellowhammers. It was my first record in February ever.

I was in Lappeenranta also on the next day and birds seen there were a Teal in Reijola, a Great Crested Grebe, 4 Cormorants and a family of Whooper Swans in Luukkaansalmi.

On the 13th day I saw a Nuthatch in Kirkonkylä and on the next days I visited Siikalahti several times but found only some White-backed and Grey-headed Woodpeckers. On the 15th day there were a family of 11 Whooper Swans in Tyrjänjoki where a Black Woodpecker was also drumming.

On the 17th of February we left to Thailand where we birded with Mikko Ala-Kojola and Antti Peuna in Northern part of the country from 18th of February to 3rd of March. Trip report can be found here: North Thailand.

On the 4th of March we drove back to Parikkala and saw a Hawk Owl in Porvoo and a Great Grey Shrike in Loviisa. Once we were in Parikkala I wore lots of clothes and left to do winterbird-count. There weren’t many birds: 4 Whooper Swans flying over, 22 Rock Doves, Black Woodpecker, 8 Great Spotted Woodpecker, White-backed Woodpecker, Waxwing, 2 Fieldfares, only 9 Blue Tits, 55 Great Tits, Coal Tit, Crested Tit, not a single Willow Tit, Treecreeper, Jay, only 7 Magpies, 77 Jackdaws, 9 Hooded Crows, 2 Ravens, 7 Tree Sparrows, 11 Greenfinches, Common Redpoll, 12 Bullfinces and 12 Yellowhammers. I also saw a Least Weasel.

The spring was really not even close! During our trip to Thailand it had been the coldest time of whole winter and still it was snowing more and more. So I didn’t find many new birds and most of the wintering birds had also disappeared. On the 6th day I found 10 Mallards in Tyrjänjoki. They had probably overwintered there? On the 9th day I saw the first Herring Gull in Vuoksi. On the 10th day we went to find 2 Dippers in Peruspohjanjoki, in Kokkolanjoki we saw 2 Goosanders, in Kannas 2 Arctic Redpolls and in Tyrjä a new Great Grey Owl.

On the 11th day I saw 11 Herring Gulls in Vuoksi, then with Sampsa Cairenius we managed to see the Collared Doves in Hyvättilä and Oriental Turtle Dove again in Haukilahti, even though it had been told to disappear already some time ago. But then it came colder again.

On the 17th of March we twitched a Ural Owl in Moskuunniemi and on the 18th day we put up some nest-boxes for Nuthatches. A couple of birds were seen on their territories and a Treecreeper was singing already. The first Lesser Spotted Woodpecker of the year was seen in Siikalahti. And in Kirjolankangas we photographed a Pygmy Owl that was hunting on a feeder.

On the next few days I visited Nuthatches a couple of times, but they weren’t visiting the nest-boxes yet. A flock of Long-tailed Tits was also seen.

On the 23rd of March I started to visit in Siikalahti on my lunch-hours, but saw only some Long-tailed Tits and 2 Common Crossbills.

On the 24rd of March was wilderness bird-race again. Our area was in the middle of Ruokolahti. The start was amazing, it was -22 degrees, but we soon heard a couple of Ural Owls in Ahjärvi and later altogether 7 Pygmy Owls in 10 minutes! But then the rest of the day was quite boring. It started to wind pretty hard and only better birds we found were a Grey-headed Woodpecker, a Dipper and an Arctic Redpoll. Other birds we got some points were a Hazel Hen, 35 Great spotted Woodpeckers, 4 Goldcrests, 2 Coal Tits, 20 Crested Tits, 39 Willow Tits, 5 Treecreepers, 11 Jays, a Common Crossbill and 57 Bullfinches. After all we got anyway 2nd most points while Harry Nyström, Jarkko Rutila and Ari Salminen had worked very hard in much better area and won clearly.

On the 25th day a family of Whooper Swans had arrived to Särkisalmi and finally on the 28th day I saw some migrants in Siikalahti when I saw 17 Herring Gulls, a Sparrowhawk and 2 White-tailed Eagles.

The end of March had been too cold and frustrating but luckily on last 2 days some birds were finally seen. Whooper Swans, Goshawks, Herring Gulls and woodpeckers were seen on both days and on the 30th day I saw 3 Common Buzzards, a Merlin, a Woodpigeon, a Starling, 2 Goldfinches and a Wood Lark which is quite rare here. And on the 31st day we saw a White-tailed Eagle, 2 Common Buzzards, 2 Stock Doves, 2 Woodpigeons, a Rook and 15 Snow Buntings. In the evening we still saw a new Great Grey Owl in Tarvassaari.

On the 1st of April we tried to ring this Great Grey Owl but without success. In Melkoniemi we saw 9 Black Grouses and in Särkisalmi 4 Snow Buntings before we drove to Siikalahti. There we saw 2 White-tailed Egles, 2 Sparrowhawks, 4 Common Buzzards, a Kestrel, a Goldfinch and so on, but it was still very quiet comparing what we have used to see this time of year.

There was still too much snow so only some new birds arrived. On the 4th day I saw a White-tailed Eagle, 15 Lapwings, a Stock Dove, 5 Woodpigeons and a Reed Bunting. On the 5th day only birds to mention were 44 Snow Buntings, but on the 6th day I saw a Marsh Harrier, a Kestrel, a Stock Dove, 47 Woodpigeons, 6 Starlings and finally the first Skylark and so on.

On the weekend we expected to see much more but still we were disappointed. It had been raining during the night so snow had been melting, but on Saturday the wind was northern and even though I was 6 hours in Siikalahti, I saw only 4 Cranes, 2 Marsh Harriers, 4 White-tailed Eagles, 2 Merlins, 2 Kestrels, 20 Blackbirds, a Mistle Thrush, a Redwing, 7 White Wagtails, 50 Snow Buntings, 2 Reed Buntings and do on. And on the 8th of April we saw 3 Canada Geese, 2 Mallards, a Black-headed Gull, a Stock Dove, 15 Skylarks, again a Wood Lark, 8 Meadow Pipit, 12 White Wagtails, 4 Fieldfares, 6 Mistle Thrushes, 45 Chaffinches, a Siskin, a Linnet, 50 Snow Buntings and a Great Bittern that was hiding between the vegetation on still completely frozen bay.

But now it started to feel like spring and weather-forecasts look promising. I hope to see much more birds soon!

J.A.

I have been long thinking building my own bird photographing hide. Now I have one! This hide has been built mostly of recycled or vintage materials. My father and brother, who are experienced builders, were great help.

The hide is 250cm wide and long. An opening in the front is 180cm x 70cm. Photographing is possible through a mirror surface glass (same that Bence Mate uses in his hides) or through openings in a fabric screen. The windows are 80 x 60cm. Birds won’t fly to the windows, because I have placed a strip of fence net hanging over the upper part of the window. From bird´s perspective mirrored image of the net is visible in the window. Photographer can easily see through the net what birds are approaching.

This hide is made for 2-3 photographers. Cameras should be held on tripods. A tilting front wall gives lots of space for photographer´s and tripod´s legs. Bag wall has a bed that can be also used as space for necessary photographing gear.

So far fogging or freezing of the windows has not been a problem. This hide has a high ceiling so moisture from breathing will rice up. Vents up in the wall take humid air out. This hide has not heating and wearing lots of clothing and provided blankets is necessary. Even if the hide is high, it will shadow photographing area only during couple of midwinter months. Hide´s indoor walls still need painting and furnishing.

During winter months I will keep a bird feeding station around the hide. Next summer there will built a shallow 2 x 2,5m pond where birds can drink and bath. Taking care of pond and feeding station hygiene is of course important. I will bring nice branches and trunks where birds can sit on. I will also make nest boxes and plant fruit bearing bushes to surrounding area.

Here are some test images taken from the new hide.

H.A.

For years I had been working with birds that had been reported in Garden Watch in the end of January. There were always some impossible birds like Ortolan Buntings and then easy to misidentify birds like flocks of Linnets and of course plenty of Green Woodpeckers – which of course are always Grey-headed Woodpeckers. So mostly I have been deleting birds in Tiira, but sometimes I have been asking more information.

Now there was a report of a Turtle Dove in Joutseno, which had been reported several days after the watch. I immediately thought about an Oriental Turtle Dove but there is always a possibility that it could be a strange-looking Feral Dove, Fieldfare, or almost anything. But once again I asked more information in hope to get some response soon.

More than 24 hours later I got an email that the bird had still been seen in the garden and it was OK to go to check and identify it. With Pekka Punnonen we had planned to go to twitch an Oriental Turtle Dove to Hamina where one had been wintering, but after I got a couple of more responses to new emails that told that the bird had white tail-tip and brown head, I called to Pekka and told that we weren’t going to Hamina but to Joutseno which was much closer!

On the 3th of February early in the morning I drove to Joutseno Haukilahti where Pekka arrived also soon. We found the right garden and it looked good. There was a feeder close to a spruce-fence and there was a nice forest with pines, spruces and other trees nearby.

We soon met the lady that I had been in contact and after some talking I was quite sure there really was some kind of Turtle Dove. She stayed with us in the garden where we could see the feeder but also the surrounding well. There was a dog in the fence but luckily it got used to us soon and was quiet. We talked with the lady and the most surprising information was that the bird had been visiting the feeder since 30th of December! She also told that the bird arrived earliest at 9:30 but sometimes later about 11 a.m.

It was more that minus 10 degrees so soon we started to feel frozen. There were lots of birds visiting the feeder like tits, 5 Long-tailed Tits, 2 Blackbirds, Chaffinches (which seem to be everywhere this winter), several Great Spotted Woodpeckers and a White-backed Woodpecker. But the dove wasn’t seen.

Finally after 10 a.m. 2 Sparrowhawks flew over us and I saw a dove flushed from the pines next to us. But we saw the bird only through the trees, but anyway it looked very promising. It was big and quite narrow-winged. But it seemed to fly very far!

We were feeling very cold so Pekka did a couple of walks towards the direction where the dove had been flying but he found nothing. But then at 10:45 a.m. Pekka noticed that the dove had just landed to an apple-tree in front of us! And indeed it was a nice “meena” Oriental Turtle Dove!

I started to take pictures but soon the bird landed to the feeder where it was a bit behind snow all the time. I tried to get a little bit closer but still couldn’t get any better photos. But after some 10 minutes when also the lady had come to watch the bird with us, the bird flew back to the apple-tree right in front of me. So I managed to get really good pictures!

We put the news out and of course said many thanks to lady and of course we had told that there would be some twitchers coming soon. And in next 2 hours there were maybe 25 twitchers visiting the garden. The dove had flight back to the pine, but was well visible with scope, so everyone saw it. It was a new and 342th species to South-Karelia!

It was good to sees o many happy twitchers which some had been waiting for more than 20 years for this bird! When there was only one twitcher with us, we decided to go birding with “Potu” Suojarinne and Esa-Matti Lampinen who had also arrived.

We headed to Hyvättilä where we couldn’t find Collared Doves but heard a Grey-headed Woodpecker. Then we found nothing in Konnunsuo, so we headed to Lappeenranta. In Pappilanniemi we saw only a Black Woodpecker and in Luukkaansalmi a couple of Cormorants and a wintering Great Crested Grebe. Then it was already so late that I had to hurry to play a match once again.

J.A.

On Monday the 2nd of January it was time to start working again after a relaxing holiday. I was birding every day on my lunch-hour and it seemed that there were still quite a few birds in Parikkala. On the 2nd of January I saw a Whooper Swan family in Siikalahti, some coal Tits, 2 Goldfinches and a Brambling and in the afternoon I went to see the Great Grey Owl and surprisingly found out that there were 2 birds on the same field. Other birds seen during the week were the same wintering Blackcap in our back-yard and a Black Woodpecker in Särkisalmi. We also tried to catch the Great Grey Owls but it was too warm weather. Our fake mouse didn’t move smoothly enough on the snow. On Sunday the 7th of January we saw still 14 Fieldfares, some Blackbirds, 2 Bramblings and 2 Goldfinches in Kangaskylä, a White-backed Woodpecker, 9 Goldfinches and an Arctic Redpoll in Kannas, 2 Treecreepers and 2 Goldcrests in Tyrjänkoski, a flock of 12 Black Grouses in Siikalahti and a flock of 9 Pine Grosbeaks in Kangaskylä.

During the week I saw 2 Grey-headed Woodpeckers and Willow Tits in Siikalahti and a Dipper in Simpele Kokkolanjoki. On Saturday I saw even 35 Chaffinches in Kannas but other birds were the same as earlier. On Sunday the 14th of January I went playing to Lappeenranta and did a good birding on the way. In Imatra Vuoksi I saw a Little Grebe, Cormorants and 2 Smews, in Joutseno Hyvättilä I twitched a Collared Dove and in Konnunsuo a Hawk Owl, in Lappeenranta Kourulanmäki 25 Linnets with 2 Twites, in Reijola 3 Teals and in Pusupuisto a Ural Owl.

During the week it got colder againbut a lonely adult Whooper Swan was till in a small open water area in Siikalahti. Unfortunately the place is impossible for any rescue-attempts and on the next days I couldn’t find the bird anymore. In Muttelinmäki I saw a Hazel Hen, in Intsilä a Pygmy Owl and then the same Chaffinches, Blackbirds and Fieldfares. In Tyrjänkoski I saw 9 Mallards.

During the weekend I was playing in Joutseno and visited Vuoksi on both days. Little Grebe, Smews and Cormorants were seen again but I also saw a wintering Scaup on both days. On Sunday the 21st of January I also saw a Herring Gull flying along the river.

During the week the only surprise was that the wintering Stock Dove was still alive. It hadn’t been seen for a month but now I and Matti Lötjönen both saw it twice. It was only once with Feral Doves, so it seems to stay somewhere nearby alone. Only other year-tick was a Nuthatch in Kirkonkylä.

And again at weekend I had to drive to Lappeenranta on both days and in Luukkaansalmi I saw a Grey Heron on Saturday and a Great Crested Grebe on Sunday. Only other year-tick was an Eagle Owl in ordinary place.

On the 30th of January the best bird was a Haw Finch in Kannas where still were lots of Chaffinches too. In Muttelinmäki I heard a Common Crossbill and a Grey-headed Woodpecker. And on the next day there was a huge female Goshawk perched on a tree in the same place.

J.A.