. . Lintuharrastajan päiväkirja Birders diary . .

The weather had once again changed much colder so I wasn’t birding very much: on the 8th of May the best birds were a flock of 20 Oystercatchers in Härskiinmutka and on the 9th day I saw a migrating Peregrine in Siikalahti. And on the 10th day it was snowing again…

On the 11th of May I saw the first Pied Flycacther and a couple of Whinchats in Siikalahti. Other birds seen were a Common Redstart, a Gold Finch and a Rough-legged Buzzard. In Härskiinmutka I saw 52 Black-throated Divers. In the evening we went to check some empty owl nest-boxes and on the way we saw 2 Hazel Hens and finally the first Capercaillie of the year. On the way back home we saw a Nutcracker in Kangaskylä – I had never seen it before in Parikkala in May.

On the 12th day the best birding was made in the evening in Saari where with Miika Soikkeli we saw a Gadwall in Pohjanranta, a Redshank in Suurenjärvenliete and 5 or 6 Stock Doves in Jyrkilä.

On the 13th of May I did duck-counts in Siikalahti and during the 4 hours count and after that I saw 2 Greylag Geese, a Peregrine, a Hazel Hen, a Redshank, a Bluethroat, a Lesser Whitethroat, a Swift and a Red-breasted Flycatcher that Hanna found while she was photographing birds from her new hide. But the best bird of the day was a Marsh Sandpiper that I first heard and then found already landing just in front of us to a small island. It was hiding very well behind other waders and soon left with a flock of Wood Sandpipers. In the evening we did a visit to Saari again and in Pohjanranta we saw a flock of 20 Bar-tailed Godwits but almost nothing else.

On the 14th of May the day started with 7 Scaups in Härskiinmutka and then we headed to Siikalahti. During the morning and day we saw a flock of 11 Velvet Scoters, 2 Cormorants, a Black Kite, 6 White-tailed Eagles, a Hen Harrier, female Pallid Harrier, a really distant Golden Eagle, a Peregrine, 110 Golden Plovers, a Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Dunlins, 150 Wood Sandpipers, 18 Swifts, a Grey-headed Woodpecker, a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, a Red-throated Pipit, a Bluethroat, a Sedge Warbler and a Lesser Whitethroat – so it really was the best day of the whole spring!

On the 15th day there were 10 Scaups in Härskiinmutka and on my lucn-hour I saw a Spotted Flycatcher in Siikalahti. On the 16th day I saw a Honey Buzzard on my lunch-hour and in the evening we headed to Saari with Miika. In Pohjanranta we saw a Garganey and a Peregrine, in Pohjansuo there was a flock of 390 Golden Plovers, in Suurenjärvenliete 4 Brent Geese, a Temminck Stint, 3 Ringed Plovers, a Little Ringed Plover and a Lapland Bunting, in Jyrkilä we saw again some Stock Doves and in Kanavalampi 80 Wood Sandpiper and a Dunlin.

On the 17th of May I was watching migration on our own beach and saw 40 Brent Geese and 4 Velvet Scoters. In Moskuunniemi I still heard a Common Whitethroat before I had to go to work. On my lunch-hour I saw a Black Kite in Siikalahti and in the evening we went to check the situation of our breeding owls with Hanna and Miika. One of the Tengmalm’s Owl nests had been predated but one had 5 eggs and one 5 small nestlings. Both Pygmy Owls still had 7 eggs and both Ural Owls had 2 chicks which we ringed. Another mother-owl was very aggressive and it hit a few times really hard, but luckily we have really good equipment, so neither us or the owl was injured.

On the 18th of May 2 Bluethroats were singing in Siikalahti dam-road and a Dunlin was seen migrating. The 19th of May was the first very warm day so it really felt that the short spring was already gone. In Siikalahti a couple of Thrush Nightingales and Blackcaps were singing and surprisingly I heard also a Grasshopper Warbler and a Corn Crake. In Härskiinmutka I saw a Cormorant and 6 Scaups before I had to go to work.

J.A.

On the 4th of May I visited Siikalahti a couple of times, first before my work and then on my lunch-hour. I saw 5-6 White-tailed Eagles, 5 Wood Sandpipers, a House Martin, 2 Yellow Wagtails and heard a Chiffchaff. In the afternoon we went to check owl-nestboxes and found and ringed a Pygmy Owl which had 7 eggs and a Tenmalm’s Owl with 5 eggs.

On the 5th of May I visited Siikalahti on my lunch-hour and again after work. A White-tailed Eagle, a Hen Harrier, both male and female Pallid Harriers, a Merlin, a Ruff, a Spotted Redshank, 28 Wood Sandpipers and 10 Lapland Buntings were seen. The male Pallid Harrier was flying high up on the sky with Marsh Harriers. A Grey-headed Woodpecker was still calling and Willow Warbler was singing – it really looked promising for the next day’s Birdtower competiton, but the weather forecast looked extremely bad – cold and northern wind.

After 10 p.m. my brother Pirkka arrived and of course we met in Siikalahti where Water Rails were calling and after some waiting we heard also a Jack Snipe extremely well.

On the 6th of May we woke up at 3:30 a.m. and soon I was biking towards Siikalahti while others were driving by car. I wanted to get some eco-ticks as we have a competition with some friends. At the parking place we met Matti Lötjönen and while walking to the tower we saw and heard a White-backed Woodpecker and a Wren was singing behind the tower. Soon also Ilpo Kuusisalo and Miika Soikkeli arrived and at 5 a.m. the competition started.

The beginning was pretty quiet but some very good species were got like a Wren and a Grey-headed Woodpecker which both were new species in our birdtower competition 18 years history. We also got White-backed Woodpecker, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Smew, Shoveler, Pintail, Kestrel, Black Grouse, Water Rail and so on soon. The first surprising species was a Cormorant that landed to the bay and stayed there for whole day! Soon we had seen 3 species of geese but unfortunately we didn’t see more at all.

A lot of passerines were migrating and especially thrushes, Redpolls and Siskins were numerous. And because of the northern wind the flocks stayed low and some of them were flying close enough to the tower. So soon we had seen all the common thrushes, but also Tree and Meadow Pipit, Lapland Bunting, Waxwing, Yellow Wagtail, Jay and also Red-breasted Merganser, Black and Red-throated Diver, Golden Plover, Wood and Green Sandpiper, Greenshank, Spotted Redshank and Ruff but we really hoped to see more migrating waders, but we weren’t lucky. On funny observation was a Willow Warbler that was found extremely far but because of the cold weather the visibility was extremely good and it was easy to identify even from that distant.

Before 7 a.m. we had already more than 80 species and eve after that we got species very well. But nothing better was found until Matti said: “There is a Grey Heron or GREAT WHITE EGRET COMING!” and a Great White Egret came from north and flew almost straight over us and landed to the shore of the bay.

But soon after the egret it went quiet. Even though lots of migration was still going on, we couldn’t get any new species. Common local raptors were seen which a Hobby and 3 Hen Harriers were the best ones but even White-tailed Eagles were missing. Only other better species was a Great Grey Shrike. And then we had even 1.5 hours without any new species! But finally a 2 Goldfinches flew over us. The last 2 hours went again a little bit better and we still got Northern Wheatear, Dunnock, White-tailed Eagle and the last species was Merlin. But we still had hoped to find a Sand Martin as there were altogether more than 100 Swallows and House Martins, or the Pallid Harriers that were now completely missing or any other better species at all… So when we counted our species it was a surprise that we had made the new inland record with 99 species! Our own old record was 97 species but in Saari Tarassiinlahti our friends had got 98 species even twice.

After we had eaten and rest a little bit, we headed to Saari with Pirkka. On the way we saw nothing but in Akonpohja we saw 3 Little Ringed Plovers. Then in Pohjanranta we had 2 Oystercatchers, a Greylag Goose, 7 Canada Geese, 2 Bewick’s Swans, a Common Sandpiper and a Pink-footed Goose-looking bird flying over us. The goose was found on the field nearby and it indeed was a Pink-footed Goose. In Jyrkilä we saw 2 Stock Doves and a Great Grey Shrike and in Kanavalampi we found a female Redstart. The best bird of the trip was a Great Grey Owl in place Y. After all we had seen 111 species during the day in Parikkala, and we didn’t try to find any common birds. I think this is very good number if you think that most of the passerines haven’t arrived yet.

On Sunday we started in Härskiinmutka where we saw single flocks of Long-tailed Ducks and Common Scoters. Then we headed to Siikalahti to count ducks. There were much less ducks than one week earlier and it really seems that we are losing some species soon. We saw only 2 Slavonian Grebes, 20 Pochards and 31 Black-headed Gulls! And I still haven’t seen any Garganeys in Parikkala!

While doing the count we saw 2 White-backed Woodpeckers, a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, heard a Black and a Grey-headed Woodpecker and a Cuckoo, and saw also 2 Sand Martins, a male Redstart and 2 Long-tailed Tits and so on. The “funniest” accident happened to me – I was trying to get to one counting-tower and the water level was a bit higher than I expected as the Lake Simpele had opened during the previous day. I also expected that the bottom would still be frozen but it was only on my first 2 steps. So after all I had to swim to that tower… The water was probably +4 degrees but after very cold night the 30 meters path to the tower was much colder, so my walk to the tower and back with my bare feet was horrible! After I had managed to get back to my car, I drove to home to get dry clothes and continued to the next place to continue counts.

After the count the weather turned very cold again and it started snowing. And the weather forecast looked awful for the next week again! This is really the worst spring ever, or actually it feels that spring still hasn’t arrived at all…

J.A.

On the 26th of April I started checking owl-nestboxes. I was good to find out that the same Ural Owl was in the same box than last year. But all the other nestboxes in Tyrjä-area were empty.

On the 27th day I saw a White-tailed Eagle, a Hen Harrier and a Greenshank in Siikalahti and checked again some empty nestboxes. In the evening it started snowing a lot and there was soom several centimeters snow on the ground!

Luckily the snow melted on the next morning and I visited Siikalahti a couple of times during the day. Only better bird was a Black-tailed Godwit. There were more birds in Särkisalmi where I saw 28 Black-throated Divers, 107 Great Crested, 2 Red-necked and a Slavonian Grebe, plenty of ducks, a Common Sandpiper, 4 Common Terns and 17 Little Gulls. In the afternoon we did a tri to Saari where we saw 12 Bewick’s Swans in Pohjanranta, a Peregrine in Suurenjärvenliete, 55 Greenshanks, 27 Green Sandpipers and a Redshank in Jyrkilä and a stunning Great Grey Owl in place X.

On the 29th of April I did duck-counts in Siikalahti and saw 73 Whooper Swans, 128 Tundra Bean, 125 White-fronted, 2 Canada and 8 Barnacle Geese, 37 Wigeons, 121 Teals, 55 Mallards, 12 Pintails, 2 Shovelers, 18 Pochards, 69 Tufted Ducks, 85 Goldeneyes, 34 Smews, 32 Goosanders, 8 Great Crested, 1 Red-necked and 2 Slavonian Grebes and 28 Coots. I also saw a nice male Pallid Harrier a couple of times and a distant migrating Black Kite. In the evening I checked some nestboxes and it was good to find a new Ural Owl with already 2 tiny chicks and one egg.

On the 30th day the weather was really bad again. So we were checking some nestboxes again and it was good to find one Pygmy and one Tengmalm’s Owl. Pygmy Owl was ringed but Tengmalm’s Owl was the same bird that had been breeding in another nestbox nearby 3 years ago! In the evening we headed to Saari again and on the way saw a Swallow in Rautalahti. Several Northern Wheatears had arrived and in Pohjanranta we saw 18 Bewick’s Swans, in Suurenjärvenliete a Hen Harrier, a Rough-legged Buzzard, a Little Ringed Plover and a Redshank, in Jyrkilä we saw a Hen Harrier, a Merlin, 3 Whimbrels, a Redhank and 7 Stock Doves. Then we dropped Hanna to Pohjanranta where she had put up a tent already on the previous day. She was going to stay in tent overnight and try to photograph swans, geese and ducks. I still stopped in Särkisalmi where I heard a Chiffchaff and a Redpoll and at night I visited a couple of minutes in Siikalahti and heard what I was hoping – a Spotted Crake.

At night Hanna was trying to sleep in the tent while swans and geese were calling all the time just next to the tent. The night was cold and the shallow water clse to the tent got frozen. Anyway early in the morning there were lots of ducks, geese and swans to photograph, but later they all moved further to the still frozen part of the lake to rest.

On May Day which in Finland is always on the 1st of May I headed to Siikalahti already at 6 a.m. There were quite a few other birders too so I stayed there until 1 p.m. We saw a Cormorant, 5-6 White-tailed Eagles, 2 Hen Harriers, a Pallid Harrier (maybe the same), a too brief female harrier that looked promising (I hope there is a couple), 6 Rough-legged Buzzards, 5 Whimbrels, a Black-tailed Godwit, 6 Common Terns, a Black Woodpecker, a Swallow, a Great Grey Shrike, a Lapland Bunting and a Grey-headed Woodpecker was still calling quite a lot.

In the afternoon we went to pick up Hanna with her brother Miika Soikkeli. We checked the best places quickly but found only 5 Whimbrels in Jyrkilä and a Redshank in Suurenjärvenliete. Luckily we stopped in Särkisalmi on the way back and found a nice flock of 20 Steller’s Eiders! There was also 34 Black-throated Divers, 12 Little Gulls and 17 Common Terns.

On my 40th birthday, the 2nd of May, I was at work again. I visited Siikalahti already early in the morning and saw a Spotted Redshank and when I arrived to health-center, a Wryneck was calling nearby. But nothing else was seen during the day. On the 3rd of May our car was in service so I didn’t go to Siikalahti at all. In the evening I went to check nestboxes in Melkoniemi and luckily found one more Tengmalm’s Owl.

J.A.

In the beginning of the week the cold weather continued and most birds I saw were gathered in open water areas in Särkisalmi and Lemmikonsalmi. On the 13th of April I counted 139 Mallards in Särkisalmi and 419 in Lemmikonsalmi where was even 470 on the next day. Other ducks were still almost missing and only some Teals, Wigeons and Pintails were seen. Siikalahti was mostly frozen but in a meadow with some open water there were even 58 Wigeons and in front of dam-road where was some open water, there were already 6 Pochards and even 240 Teals. In Kaukola I saw a Bewick’s Swan with whoopers.

On the 14th of April I saw a Song Thrush in our garden and in Siikalahti I counted 179 Cranes and saw another Bewick’s Swan and while driving to Lemmikonsalmi I saw a Kestrel. On the 15th day we did a trip to Saari. We saw a Hazel Hen on the way and in Akanvaara Tetrisuo we saw 2 Great Grey Shrikes, in Pohjanranta 650 grey geese (mostly Tundra Bean but also quite a few White-fronted Geese), in Suurenjärvenliete a Rough-legged Buzzard, in Jyrkilä 730 grey geese including 3 Pink-footed Geese, 333 Cranes and so on. On the 16th day we heard a couple of Water Rails in Siikalahti and saw a White-tailed Eagle in Kullinsuo.

On the 17th of April we went to twitch Bearded Reedlings to Savitaipale Lavikanlahti with Arttu Valonen. But we weren’t lucky even though the reedbed wasn’t very big. Only year-tick there was a Lapland Bunting. On the way back we went to Joutseno Konnunsuo where were amazing flocks of Chaffinches. We guessed that there were 90 000 birds flying around the fields. There were also lots of raptors chasing them and in an hour we saw 8 Hen Harriers, 3 or 4 Peregrines, a Merlin and a Kestrel.

On the next day days the wind was again northern but luckily on the 20th of April the wind turned to south for a while. So on my lunch-hour I saw a nice Black Kite, a Peregrine and a Redshank. In the evening we went to Saari with Arttu but saw almost nothing . the first couple of Tufted Ducks and a Hen Harrier. On the way back we saw a Cormorant in Särkisalmi.

On the 22nd of April I was in Siikalahti counting migration for 10 hours. Luckily there were several friends with me as the migration wasn’t too good. Best birds were a Grey Heron, a Greylag Goose, an Oystercatcher and a spotted eagle that never came close enough as it flew toward Lake Ladoga. Only other birds and numbers to mention were 9 Bewick’s Swans, 23 Barnacle Geese, 2 Black-throated Divers, 254 Wood Pigeons, 161 Fieldfares, 77 small thrushes and 628 Chaffinches. Some local birds were a Whimbrel, a Rook and quite a few woodpeckers. In the afternoon it started to snow…

On the 23rd of April I did a duck-count in Siikalahti. Big parts of the bay were still frozen but anyway I counted 400 Tundra Bean, 174 White-fronted, 2 Canada and 27 Barnacle Geese, 31 Whooper Swans, 104 Mallards, 135 Teals, 8 Wigeons, 2 Pochards, 5 Tufted Ducks, 37 Goldeneyes, 2 Goosanders, a Slavonian Grebe and 43 Coots. While counting I heard a Penduline Tit a couple of times but didn’t manage to see it at all. Grey-headed, White-backed and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers were seen or heard calling and a Black Woodpecker was drumming, a Wren and a Dunnock were heard singing. The day was nice but again in the afternoon it changed much colder.

On the 25th of April it was cold but the wind was southeastern, so there was a good migration going on while I was at work. On my lunch-hour I saw a Greenshank and a Whimbrel but in the afternoon it started to rain again and at night it was snowing. On the 26th only new birds were a couple of Common Scoters in Särkisalmi.

J.A.

After my work-day on Friday the 7th of April I started driving towards Helsinki. On the way I saw a Kestrel in Joutseno and 2 Oystercacthers in Hamina. In Helsinki-Vantaa airport I picked up my brother Pirkka and we continued towards Turku. In Turku we did some shopping and drove to the harbor from where our Viking Grace ferry left to Ahvenanmaa. On the ferry we went straight to eat.

Finally the long ferry-trip was over and we were in Lumparland Långnäs from where we still had 30 minutes driving to Mariehamn Solhem.

On the 8th of April we had the bird-race. The alarm woke us up at 5 a.m. and soon we were having breakfast with other participants who had arrived earlier on the previous day. And soon we were driving towards Eckerö.

We stopped a couple of times but heard only Robins, Blackbirds and Redwings – no owls. In Marsund we also heard some Eiders calling. At 6 a.m. the race started and we heard quite a few Song Thrushes but also a Grey Heron from the dark sky.

Our first real stops were made along Skeppsvik road where we heard several Treecreepers and Coal Tits and a couple of Wrens. An Osprey flew over us even though it was still quite dark. We had hoped to hear some Black Grouses, Black Woodpeckers, Bullfinches or to see a Jay but we weren’t lucky and none of these species were seen later either.

Along the road to Strysingsudden we saw a couple of Parrot Crossbills and heard a couple of Dunnocks. Once we had walked to the shore we saw plenty of Eiders, Common Scoters and Long-tailed Ducks but not much else. A couple of Wigeons flew over us and we couldn’t have guessed that they were the only ones we’ll see. After some time we had seen some Black Guillemots, Razorbills and Velvet Scoters and when a couple of other teams had arrived we found a female Smew migrating. A Green Sandpiper was heard and finally we saw some better species migrating when we saw 4 Red-throated Divers, 2 Red-necked Grebes, some Cormorants, a Shelduck and a Black-throated Diver.

We left from Styrs before the other teams to avoid following other teams to other places nearby and of course they soon saw a Common Guillemot. In Skeppsvik we found a Lesser Black-backed Gull and a Rock Pipit and in Torp village we saw some field-birds. In Sandviken we found a couple of pairs of Slavonian Grebes and a Common Crossbill flew over us.

In Degersand we saw a lonely Purple Sandpiper, a couple of Ringed Plovers and a migrating Arctic Skua. Also the first White-tailed Eagle was seen but later they seemed to be everywhere! Along the road we heard a Willow Tit and soon we were in Storby Postbryggan where we saw a Caspian Tern and luckily found a Black Redstart that had been found on the previous day.

Then we headed to Hammarland and on the way saw some Whooper Swans, Coots and so on. In Lillbolstad we found a Common Buzzard, White-fronted and Bean Geese but unfortunately missed a flock of Twites that was seen on the other side of the field where we saw another team.

In Bodafjärden we found a Redshank, a couple of early Common Terns and a Goshawk. In Ramsholmen we found the traditional Nuthatch immediately and soon we were climbing to Torpfjärden bird-tower. From the tower we saw a couple of Shoveler and a male Garganey and when we were already driving towards Mariehamn, we saw a Great Grey Shrike.

In Mariehamn we tried to find Collared Doves, but none were found, but luckily we saw 3 Rock Doves and from the bay we found 3 Scaups.

Then we headed to Gällaräng fields where we found a flock of Golden Plovers and a Rook and while driving towards Saltvik we saw a flock of Linnets and quite a few Stock Doves in Gölby.

In Satvik Haga we had hoped to see any new raptors but we weren’t lucky. Also the flock of geese had nothing new. Luckily a distant flock of Redpolls were seen and in Lötö we saw Shovelers, Common Terns, 2 Black-throated Divers and 6 Pochard. In Österbyviken we had no new species but a couple of Caspian Terns and 3 Ospreys.

Finally we decided to drive to Jomala Gottby fields where a Ring Ouzel had been seen. The thrush was no found but we found amazing early Whimbrel which was our last species.

After all we came 6th in the race but were only 2 species behind the third. Anyway it was good we had seen exactly 100 species. And it is not so good to have only 2 in a team, 3 or 4 is much better team-size. The winners were overpowering with their 111 species. The best species of the race had been a Gannet that only one team had seen in Styrs in the afternoon. Also we tried to twitch it in Degerand but it had already gone towards Utö where it was seen a couple of hours later,

In the evening we were extremely tired so we went to sleep quite early. And we still had 3 days for birding while other teams were leaving on the next day.

On the 9th of April we headed to Styrs after the breakfast which was at 6 a.m. Surprisingly there was no-one else. There were more birds migrating so we stayed there until mid-day. A couple of other teams visited the place during the morning but soon they had to leave to catch their ferry. Some better species and numbers we saw were 29 Velvet Scoters, 94 Red-breasted Mergansers, 26 Red-throated Divers, 3 Black-throated Divers, 12 Red-necked Grebes, an Arctic Skua, 45 Black Guillemots, 271 Razorbills, 3 Common Guillemots and a local Rock Pipit.

During the day we saw the Black Redstart again in Postbryggan and in Böle we twitched a Moorhen. Then we headed to Lillbolstad again and now managed to see the flock of Twites and there were now even 59 birds in the flock! During the day we saw some more raptors and it seemed that Sparrowhawks were now almost in every place and also a Rough-legged Buzzard was seen.

In Torpfäjrden we now managed to find a couple of Bearded Reedlings and also a new Nuthatch was found. In the afternoon we headed to Jomala Hammaruddan where we walked along the shore and found a Rock Pipit and a flock of 16 Purple Sandpipers. When we were driving back towards Mariehamn, we still stopped in Gottby where the Whimbrel was still present.

On the 10th day we headed again to Styrs but there was much quieter. We saw about 1450 Common Scoters, a couple of Gadwalls, 15 Red-throated Divers, 11 Red-necked Grebes, an Arctic Skua, 10 Black Guillemots, 138 Razorbills and the same Rock Pipit.

We stopped sea-watching earlier and headed to Bodafjärden where we saw the first couple of Pintails of the trip – we really wondered where all the ducks were? Then we did a couple of stops in new lakes but saw only a Marsh Harrier in Bjärströmsträsket.

In Saltby we also saw mostly the same birds than in the racebut in Ödgarbyviken we saw a couple of Gadwalls and in Haga fields we saw a Great Grey Shrike. From the reeds we found again some Bearded Reedlings and also a Pheasant was seen crossing the road.

On the way back we stopped again in Gällaräng and visited also Ytterbyviken but found nothing new. In Storängen the only new species for the trip was a Bullfinch. Then we headed to Gottby again but saw only the Whimbrel again and once we were back in Solhem a Nuthatch was singing in the garden.

On the 11th of April the weather forecast was bad but luckily the weather was much better. In Styrs we were sea-watching together with Rasmus Mäki but there wasn’t much migration. Anyway we stayed until mid-day and saw 2 migrating Purple Sandpipers, a distant Common Guillemot, 22 Red-throated Divers, 4 Black-throated Divers, 2 Red-necked Grebes, a Slavonian Grebe, 3 Arctic Skuas, 17 Black Guillemots, 53 Razorbills and the same Rock Pipit. While we were driving back we still saw a Kestrel along the road to Styrs and the same Nuthatch was singing again in Solhem.

In the afternoon Viking Grace left towards Turku and as the weather was pretty bad we went straight to eat again and stayed in and did some computer-works the rest of the trip.

From Turku we drove to Helsinki where I dropped Pirkka to the airport-hotel and then I continued to Parikkala where I was about 1:30 a.m. and next morning I had an early wake up to work.

J.A.

On the 1st of April we had the traditional wilderness bird-race again. Our area was almost too familiar as t had Kangaskylä, Siikalahti, Kullinsuo and so on in it. It’s really the least wild are in Parikkala but as there was once again 8 teams exploring different area, it was our turn to have this area.

We started at 3 a.m. searching for owls and drove around the best forests in the area and stopped many times but heard nothing. At 5 a.m. we met Miika Soikkeli in Kannas and as I had driven mine and Hanna’s bikes there already in the previous evening, we could soon start biking. In this race it is OK to split in two groups, so Hanna started to bike towards Kolmikanta and with Miika we headed towards Siikalahti.

In this race points are given differently, only one point is given from most of the species, but wilderness-species can give you different amount of points per individual. So with Miika we concentrated on woodpeckers which we knew are common around Siikalahti.

In Kaukola we saw 3 Roe Deers – points are given also from mammals. Then closer to Siikalahti we heard our first Grey-headed Woodpecker which really was the species of the day – altogether we heard and saw 11 individuals! Around Siikalahti we found also a couple of White-backed Woodpeckers, a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, a Black Woodpecker and plenty of Great Spotted Woodpeckers (altogether 40 were found during the day).

Only 3 female Black Grouses were seen during the day and none were heard displaying. A Goshawk and a Sparrowhawk were seen in Siikalahti and 9 Common Buzzards altogether. A Stock Dove was seen migrating and during the day we saw some flocks of Tundra Bean Geese and a couple of single White-fronted Geese. In Torokanniemi a Wren was singing shortly and in Peltola we saw a Rook. Only 16 Willow Tits, 10 Treecreepers, 29 Bullfinches, 13 Jays and 27 Ravens were seen. Hanna saw 5 Common Crossbills, a few flocks of Snow Buntings were seen and a single Linnet. The best bird of the day was seen by Hanna in Lahdenkylä where she found a Nuthatch. Other better species she saw were a Goldfinch, a Hazel Hen and a Black Woodpecker. But of course many common point-species were seen in the forests. With Miika we biked along tracks in Siikalahti until we ended up to a track that was still full of snow and we had to turn back. So we headed to Siikalahti dam-road.

Once Hanna had biked until the main road 6, we went to pick her up and continued to Kangaskylä. In Ristimäki we saw a flock of Waxwings, in Kirkonkylä a Coal Tit and in Kangaskylä Rock Pigeons and House Sparrows. Then I was dropped back to Siikalahti and Hanna and Miika continued towards Särkisalmi. But the weather had changed windy and the afternoon birding didn’t produce much. I had hoped to see some eagles but saw none. We still visited Tyrjä where we found the 3rd White-backed Woodpecker of the day but not much else.

Finally the race ended and the results were given in Rautjärvi Pitkäjärvi. The winners were once again Jussi, Arttu and Perttu Valonen with Ari Parviainen, they had been in Rasvaniemi-Kirjavala-Kesusmaa area. Arttu and Perttu had been biking almost whole day. Some very nice birds had been seen and heard like 2 Great Grey Owls, a Hawk Owl, a Tawny Owl, quite a few other owls too, 4 Wood Larks, 30 White-backed Woodpeckers, 38 Grey-headed Woodpeckers, 88 Black Woodpeckers and so on. But only 1 Capercaillie had been seen and it had been migrating over Lake Simpele!

The evening was long but after all we had to drive back to home in extremely bad weather!

On the 2nd of April I saw a couple of Mistle Thrushes, some Fieldfares and 3 Gold Finches in Siikalahti before I had to drive to play the final of this year’s rinkbandy series to Lappeenranta. We won after penalties.

On the 4th day there were already 40 Tundra Bean and 10 White-fronted Geese in Siikalahti. 2 White-tailed Eagles were migrating, 2 Marsh Harriers and a Meadow Pipit were also seen.

The 6th of April was also a bird-day. I saw a couple of Canada Geese, Teals, a male Pochard, a Hen Harrier, 2 Ospreys, more than 10 Common Buzzards, 6 Sparrowhawks, 2 Merlins, a Rough-legged Buzzard, a Golden Plover and a couple of Curlews in Siikalahti during my lunch-hour.

But then the weather changed worse again and at nights it was very cold. On the 7th day I still saw a couple of Pintails in Särkisalmi but after my work-day I headed towards South-West and Ahvenanmaa where we were going to participate the traditional bird-race and then spend 4 days birding with my brother Pirkka.

J.A.