. . Lintuharrastajan päiväkirja Birders diary . .

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.

Spring was coming quickly in the beginning of March. Sun was shining and it was raining quite a lot so there wasn’t too much snow anymore. Wind were from south so I was expecting to see much more migrants than I did.

So after all it was quite boring to look to the empty skies after amazing Thailand trip, where we saw more than 300 species in 9 days. Anyway I started visiting Siikalahti on my lunch-hours, but on the 10th of March there were still only some winter-birds. Only surprise was that House Sparrows had arrived back to Kangaskylä after they had been missing whole winter.

On the 12th day I was in Imatra and hoped to see lots of gulls, but for some reasons there are not many gulls nowadays on Vuoksi. I saw only 88 Herring Gulls. A few Whooper Swans were also seen and one more was seen in Parikkala Joukionsalmi too.

On the 13th day I twitched a Marsh Tit in Kannas where it was again in feeder. I didn’t see any Marsh Tits in whole February, so it was good to see that at least one bird was still around. A Whooper Swan was heard and a couple of Siskins flew over me.

On the 14th of March I saw a White-tailed Eagle in Siikalahti. Whooper Swans were already on their territory, just sleeping on the ice. A Grey-headed Woodpecker was calling all the time like in many springs before. On the 15th day I saw 4 Lapwings and 12 Snow Buntings. And now there were more Whooper Swans fighting for their territories.

On the 16th of March I saw a Skylark, 5 Starlings, 51 Snow Buntings and an early Red Bunting. A couple of Goshawks were soaring on the sky and already 10 Lapwings were flying around.

On the 18th day there was already all the regular swans and a couple of families were migrating too. A Blackbird was seen briefly and woodpeckers were very active. I saw 2 Black Woodpeckers, 2 Grey-headed Woodpeckers and 2 Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers, also a Common Crossbill was seen. On the 19th day almost the same bids were see but there was already 6 Starlings and now a flocks of 70 Snow Buntings. On my way to Imatra again I saw a Dipper in Simpele Kokkolanjoki and the overwintering Canada Goose had got some friends in Vuoksi.

On the 20th of March I saw a couple of Common Buzzards, but on the 23rd day I had an amazing surprise as I saw the earliest ever Marsh Harrier in whole South Karelia! It was already flying over it’s old breeding place in Siikalahti! Other birds seen were a Common Buzzard, a Stock Dove, 5 Wood Pigeons, 30 Lapwings, 2 Skylarks and 3 Reed Buntings. On the 24th day only birds to mention were a Crane and a nice flock of 180 Snow Buntings.

I was checking the only open water places in Särkisalmi several times but for some reason there was almost nothing! I saw only Whooper Swans, a couple of Mallards and 2 pairs of Goldeneyes, but even most of them left when the overwinter arrived.

On the 25th day the weather changed and it started to snow again. The wind was from north and nights were very cold! Then I still saw a Common Buzzard, 10 Lapwings, 4 Skylarks, 9 Starlings, 7 Reed Buntings, a Gold Finch and a Rook but on the next days there was no way to go birding at all!

On the 29th day it was still cold and again snow on the ground. It had been more than 10 minus degrees at night. Most of the migrants had returned more south. Anyway a brief visit to Siikalahti was worthy as I saw a White-tailed Eagle, a Common Buzzard, a Sparrowawk, a Stock Dove, a Wood Pigeon, a Skylark and 7 Snow Buntings. On the 30th day I saw a White-tailed Eagle and on the last day of March another White-tailed Eagle, an adulta Great Black-backed Gull, which is surprisingly rare in Parikkala, a Rook and the first White Wagtail. And still the weather forecast didn’t promise any better very soon…

J.A.

On the 8th of January we came back from Ireland and on the way back to Parikkala, we stopped a couple of times in the evening and saw an Eagle Owl in Lappeenranta and Mallards, Goldeneyes, 2 Smews and a Canada Goose in Imatra Vuoksi.

On the 9th day we had both started at work again but on my lunch-hour I saw Rock Doves in Kangaskylä, twitched 2 Marsh Tits that had been found (or relocated, the birds might be the same that I had found already in November) in Kannas where I also saw a White-backed Woodpecker.

On the 10th day I saw the Marsh Tits again and also a Treecreeper and a Blackbird and in Tyrjä I found 6 Mallards. On the 11th day I saw a Goshawk in the village and a flock of 5 Black Grouses in a short forest-trip.

On the 14th of January I had a game in Lappeenranta and on the way I stopped in Simpele where I saw 3 Nutcrackers and in Vuoksi where I saw 3 Cormorants and the same Canada Goose. On the 15th day I visited Melkoniemi forests again and saw some Crested Tits and familiar Siberian Jays. In Peruspohjanjoki I found a Dipper. On the 16th day I saw 5 Long-tailed Tits in Kannas and a Great Grey Shrike in Siikalahti. On the 17th I saw 2 Nuthatches in Kirkonkylä and a White-backed Woodpecker in Siikalahti.

On the 19th the Rock Doves had been breeding again and there were 6 birds flying around the village. It is crazy that they are breeding in the middle of the winter! On the 21st day I saw a Great Grey Shrike in Kolmikannankangas, 8 Whooper Swans and 2 Dippers in Simpele Kokkolanjoki and in Lappeenranta 6 Teals in Reijola, a Grey-headed Woodpecker in Pappilanniemi and 3 Cormorants in Kaukaanselkä.

On the 22nd of January we were birding with Hanna and her brother Miika and sister Elissa and after we had seen 2 Grey-headed Woodpeckers in Tarvaslampi, we started from the Siberian Jays. Then we saw a Goshawk while driving towards Melkoniemi and then surprisingly found a new Marsh Tit that was visiting one small feeder. After we had seen a flock of 9 Black Grouses and a big flock of Yellowhammers with some Tree Sparrows and 1 House Sparrow, we made next stops in Kokkolanjoki. There we found some Whooper Swans and a Dipper and heard a Redpoll.

In Koitsanlahti Mantkanniemi we saw the familiar 2 Marsh Tits and soon continued to Siikalahti where we had a Great Grey Shrike and then we ended the trip in Kannas where we saw 2 more Marsh Tits. So we saw 5 Marsh Tits in a couple of hours!

On the 26th day I saw a Hazel Hen in Siikalahti and on the 27th a Coal Tit in Kannas where I didn’t see any Marsh Tits anymore and strangely I didn’t see any other Marsh Tits either anymore. During the day I drove south to Kirkkonummi but on the way I saw only the same familiar birds in a very thick fog.

27th of January Matias Castrén picked me up and together with him and Jari Laitasalo we drove to Hanko where we had Bongariliitto meeting in the weekend. But first we did some birding and saw Mute Swans, Common, Herring, Great Black-backed and some Black-headed Gulls, a Coot, some Red-brested Mergansers, some hundreds of Long-tailed Ducks, a few White-tailed Eagles and so on on the open sea. Later we met the others in Tvärminne and had a long meeting which ended about at midnight.

On the 29th we started birding again and after we had seen a Black Woodpecker in Tvärminne we headed to Vedagrundet where we found a Rock Pipit that had been seen a couple of days earlier there. We checked a couple of places before it started to get too windy and saw mostly same species as on the previous day but also some Tufted Ducks with 29 Scaups and a Smew in Täktbukten Kobben and about 70 Velvet Scoters with at least 1 Common Scoter in Högholmen.

On the 31st day I found a Nuthatch in Siikalahti and of course there was also a White-backed Woodpecker.

On the 1st of February I saw a couple of Coal and Crested Tits in Särkisalmi and a White-backed and a Grey-headed Woodpecker and a Great Grey Shrike in Siikalahti. In the evening we heard a Tengmalm’s Owl in Tarvaslampi while having sauna.

Marsh Tits had disappeared even though I visited the feeders several times but woodpeckers were seen almost daily. On the 2nd day the only new bird was a Chaffinch in Särkisalmi.

On the 4th day I saw Long-tailed Tits and a couple of Siskins in Kirkonkylä and then we continued to Siikalahti with Harri Partanen. There we had a magical time as we saw a Grey-headed, a White-backed, of course several Great Spotted but also a Lesser Spotted and a Three-toed Woodpecker and a Nuthatch in a very short time! We had so great time that we still drove to Rautjärvi Latvajärvi and twitched a Hawk Owl.

On the 5th day I was again in Lappeenranta and saw some familiar birds on the way. I also tried to twitch Collared Doves but had no luck. But I managed to see the first ever wintering Stock Doves, 4 birds in Joutseno Myllärilä.

Then I saw again only woodpeckers and the same Great Grey Shrike and on the 10th day the same Mallards and a Dipper in Tyrjä. On the 11th day I was driving a long way along forest-roads but saw only one flock of 5 Black Grouses and 2 Common Crossbills.

On the 12th of February I was in Lappeenranta again and on the way I managed to twitch 2 Collared Doves in Anola. I had to wait for them for an hour before together with Pekka Punnonen we saw them flying over us and an adult male Goshawk was chasing them! It was vey close that the another bird wasn’t caught but luckily it survived. We managed to see also the Stock Doves again and then I had to hurry to my game.

On the 13th day I visited Melkoniemi forests in nice sunny weather and saw a Black Woodpecker and heard 3 Hazel Hens. On the 17th day I saw in Siikalahti a White-backed Woodpecker and a Nuthatch again. On the 18th day I did a winterbird-count and there were less birds than ever. I started a little bit late and the weather was also quite poor, but I really had to make the count now, as all the other possible days I will be doing something else, mostly birding in Thailand. Anyway there were some nice surprises like 2 Coal Tits, a Grey-headed Woodpecker, 3 Redpolls, 2 Hazel Hens and a Rook that was really a big surprise! In the evening we did a owl-listening trip to Melkoniemi and heard altogether 5 Tengmalm’s Owls.

On the 19th of February there were 4 Whooper Swans, 13 Mallards and a Goosander in Kokkolanjoki. On the next day there were already 5 Goosanders. Then on the next days we were preparing to our trip to Thailand. Only bird seen was on the way to the airport when we saw a Common Buzzard in Porvoo.

J.A.

On the 9th of December I visited Simpele Kokkolanjoki where I saw a Little Grebe and a Dipper. On the way I saw one of the same Marsh Tits in Koitsanlahti. On the 10th day we stopped in Imatra Vuoksi where we saw 9 cormorants, a Canda Goose and a male Smew.

On the 11th of December I was in Kokkolanjoki again and with Miika Soikkeli we checked all the better places. We saw 2 Little Grebes4 Whooper Swans, 9 Mallards, 3 Goldeneyes, a Black Woodpecker and a flock of 9 Long-tailed Tits. In Latvajärvi we saw 35 Black Grouses and in Änkilä a Goshawk. On the way back we saw 2 Grey-headed Woodpeckers in Koitsanlahti.

During the week I saw only a Goshawk in Kangaskylä and a Velvet Scoter in a small open water area in Lemmikonsalmi. On the 14th day I saw a Nutcracker in Simpele Roukko and on the 16th a Dipper in Tyrjä.

On the 18th of December we were again in Simpele and on the way we stoped in Koitsanlahti where were no Marsh Tits this time but 5 Pine Grosbeaks flew over us and a White-backed Woodpecker was drumming quite distant.

On the Christmas Eve both Marsh Tits were seen again and there was a Lesser Redpoll in a flock of Redpolls. It was my first ever in South Karelia. On the 26th day we visited Melkoniemi forests and saw all 4 Siberian Jays. A Capercaillie was heard flushing but almost nothing else was found.

On the 27th of December I did my winter-bird count again and it was one of the worst counts ever. All I saw were 17 Black Grouses, 2 Rock Pigeons, a White-backed Woodpecker, 19 Long-tailed Tits, 22 Blue Tits, 63 Great Tits, a Crested Tit, 2 Willow Tits, a Treecreeper, a Great Grey Shrike, 11 Jays, 17 Magpies, 50 Jackdaws, 14 Hooded Crows, 5 Ravens,12 Tree Sparrows, 15 Green Finches, a Redpoll, 10 Bullfinches and 30 Yellowhammers.

On the 29th day we were in Vuoksi again together with Miika Soikkeli and Ilkka Jarva. We checked most of the Finnish part of the river and saw a young Mute Swan that had been found earlier, a Canada Goose, a female Smew, at least 26 Cormorants and a couple of Common Crossbills.

On the 30th of December we drove to Kirkkonummi for New Year (or really to do first of January trip). On the way we saw a Goshawk in Joutseno and then tried to twitch a wintering Ortolan Bunting in Asikkala but all the fields were completely open, so there we no Yellowhammers at all. On a flock of 80 Redpolls we saw 2 Arctic Redpolls and 2 Gold Finches flew over us.

On the last day of the year we visited Kirkkonummi Porkkala but there were almost no birds at all, even though the sea was completely open. Only bird to mention was a young White-tailed Eagle.

The first of January we started with at least 130 other twitchers in Turku Topinoja. At 9 a.m. the gates were opened only because of us and we marched behind local birders to the right spot where even 3 Siberian Accentors had been overwintering. There was a small feeder where at least one of the birds had been visiting, so we started to look at it. It was still dark when I found the bird behind some bushes and managed to identify it as a Siberian Accentor but only a handful of other twitchers saw it. And as Hanna didn’t see it, we had to see it again.

During the morning we of course saw plenty of year-ticks and some of the better birds were a Goshawk, a Sparrowhawk, about 250 Herring Gulls with only 1 young Great Black-backed Gull, a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, a Fieldfare and a Woodpigeon that flew over us.

The locals were walking in the hill-side where the accentor had been any times but after a couple of hours there was still no sign of it. Then a bigger group decided to walk through the hill-side in a line and finally they flushed a Siberian Accentor that landed in front of all twitchers to the top of one bush. We were finally ready to move on and while we were walking back to our car, 4 Starlings flew over us.

We drove to Paimio Pitkäporras where should have been abselutely sure Stock Doves but all we saw was a flock of 400 Redpolls with some Arctic Redpolls. While we were driving again, we saw a White-tailed Eagle.

We drove through Salo centrum but didn’t see any Collared Doves, but 5 Woodpigeons. Then we continue to Kumela where we finally found 6 Stock Doves. But then the rest of the day didn’t go well. We tried to find Nutcrackers in several places without luck. Of course some common year-ticks were seen. So after all I got only 2 new first of January ticks.

On the 2nd of January we had an early flight to Ireland. We were birding mostly in western coast and the trip-reports can be read here:

J.A.

The end of November was pretty quiet. Weather was changing a lot and after several very wet days on the 25th of November there was again some open water in Siikalahti and Whooper Swans had arrived to check their territories. It seems the birds are wintering very close, probably in Simpele Kokkolanjoki and moving further only if necessary. There was also open water in Lake Simpele and I checked it from a couple of points but found only Common Gulls and Goosanders. Other birds seen were a Great Grey Shrike in Siikalahti and one of two long-staying Marsh Tits in Koitsanlahti.

During the weekend I had games in Lappeenranta on both days so I was birding there. On the 26th of November I saw 11 Cormorants in Imatra Kupari and a Wren, a Sparrowhawk and 9 Long-tailed Tits in Toikansuo. On the 27th day I was driving to Lappeenranta again and saw a Golden Eagle on the way in Rautjärvi Laikko. I picked up Sampsa Cairenius from Imatra and there we saw 16 Cormorants in Kupari and a long River Vuoksi we saw 5 Whooper Swans, a Canada Goose, 2 Long-tailed ducks, a Tufted Duck, almost 600 Mallards, Goldeneyes, Goosanders, some Common Gulls and a Black-throated Diver that is probably the same bird that was moved to the river after it had got some treatment. In Immalanjärvi we saw 18 Velvet Scoters and in Toikansuo we saw a Wren, 2 Robins, and a Chiffchaff that was back there along the ditch after several weeks. In Joutseno we still saw a flock of Waxwings and a Chaffinch.

On the 29th day I saw a Grey-headed Woodpecker in Kangaskylä and on the last day of November I still got some ticks to my Parikkala-Rautjärvi Bird Club November-race list: a Chaffinch and Goldfinch were found in Kangaskylä and Nutcracker in Särkisalmi. Altogether I saw 74 species in the race.

On the 1st of December I saw an Arctic Redpoll and a Siskin in Kangaskylä and a Goshawk in Koitsanlahdenkangas. On the 2nd day I heard a Grey-headed Woodpecker in Koitsanlahti but the feeder in Mantkanniemi was once again empty so there were no birds at all. Luckily on the 3rd day the feeder was full again and I saw the familiar 2 Marsh Tits again. In Siikalahti I saw 2 White-backed Woodpeckers and a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and in Kirkonkylä I saw a Blackbird and a Nuthatch.

On the 4th of December I had again a game in Lappeenranta in the evening so we went birding together with Sampsa again. After I had stopped briefly in Vuoksi and seen a Canada Goose and a Smew, I picked up Sampsa in Joutseno and we continued to Luumäki Lepistö to twitch Lapland Buntings. There had been at least 3 birds in a flock of Yellowhammers. It was a cold morning and it took some time to find the flock but when we finally found it, there were 1300 Yellowhammers! Luckily we managed to find one Lapland Bunting almost immediately and in those 3 hours we were checking the birds, we saw at least 1 more bird. We also saw very briefly one very whitish bunting but it disappeared too soon. It really looked a bit like a Pine Bunting. And while we were there a male Pine Bunting was found in Loviisa Pernaja, but I still don’t know why we didn’t go to twitch that bird as we were only 1.5 hours from Pernaja. Maybe we were freezing too much? Or probably I was thinking that I would visit the place anyway a couple of days later in Porvoo area Independence-day bird-race… Other birds we saw in Luumäki were a flock of 9 Black Grouses, a Goshawk, a Sparrowhawk, a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, 6 snow Buntings, a Chaffinch, a Common Crossbill and a Great Grey Shrike. Back in Lappeenranta we saw a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker in Mattila and a Wren again in Toikansuo.

On the 6th of December we had a traditional Independence-day bird-race in Porvoo area where I had been several years already. On the previous evening I drove to Lapinjärvi to Juha Tuomaala and in the evening we made the plan for the next day with Juha, Nette Meriluoto and Markus Keskitalo who we contacted by phone.

The wake up was before 5 a.m. and about a half an hour later we were driving towards Porvoo where we picked up Markus. And soon we were ticking the first birds as Markus knew roosting places for House Sparrows and a Pheasant. Then we continued to Juha’s friend’s garden to twitch a Tawny Owl. We were hooting there for some time without any answers, but when we were already walking back to our car, the owl started to call!

Then we drove a longer way to Loviisa where we planned to be near the nuclear-plant when the sun started to rise. We soon had some Bullfinches, a Blackbird and common tits with also Willow, Coal and Crested Tit and also saw a White-tailed Eagle before reaching the open sea. There we saw some Mute Swans, Tufted Ducks, 7 Smews, quite a few Herring Gulls but no other gulls, 4 Mallards flew over us, but no Cormorants or any other ducks were seen.

A brief visit in Loviisa centrum was worthy as we saw a Goshawk. Then we started to drive towards Pernaja where the Pine Bunting had been. But there was no news about the bird in a whole day and also on the previous day it had been seen only once in the morning. It was an important species for me, as Finnish Rarity Committee had rejected all records of female Pine Buntings recently and I had seen only one female long time ago.

On the way we saw a Jay and a Black Woodpecker and finally we were in Kopparsbacken about at 11 a.m. We soon saw lots of twitchers standing along a field-track but after we had parked we soon noticed that there were familiar faces standing almost next to our car. From Markku Loippo and Vesa Väkevä we heard that the bird hadn’t been seen during the whole morning and even on the previous day only 3 of about 60 twitchers had seen it! So many twitchers were there already for second day!

We were talking with Markku and Vesa when we noticed that the big group was twitchers was moving nervously – they clearly saw something! We were quite far from them so there were two options: either start watching the birds that were now visible on trees in the middle of the field or then go to check what they were doing. I decided to start running towards them and after some running someone shouted to me that the bird was right on those trees, on the right tree and the second lowest bird. I stopped and started scanning the Yellowhammers with my scope but I was in different angle, so the bird was on the second tree from right and the lowest bird on that tree. But there it really was – a stunning male Pine Bunting! But then I realized that the bird was in very bad angle to my friends, so I started running back. And the track was extremely slippery and I fell down and broke my tripod! Luckily the birds didn’t got scared of the bang and no bones were broken even though my knee and ankle hurt pretty badly. When I got up and kept on running I saw that Markku had luckily found the bird and soon everyone in my team had seen it too!

I soon got my camera from the car and managed to take some pictures of the Pine Bunting and some more twitchers that were just arriving managed to see the bird from our scopes before all buntings suddenly flushed and flew over us to the other side of the big field.

We had really managed well, exactly as we had planned on the previous evening! We had lost only 10 minutes and got an excellent race-tick! I had really been afraid that this visit in Kopparsbacken could destroy our whole race, as I really wanted to see this species…

We continued soon and saw a flock of Redpolls, 10 Goldfinches and 3 Arctic Redpolls and the next stop was in Porvoo Emäsalo bridge where we saw Common Gulls and a Great Black-backed Gull. Tanssisaari feeder had got several species of woodpeckers but in a brief visit we saw nothing new. But soon Markus found a flock of Long-tailed Tits that were crossing the road while we were driving again. Then we saw plenty of Fieldfares and a Chaffinch and then we saw a few species that we had though we should use much more time without stopping at all – great Grey Shrike, Common Buzzard and Rough-legged Buzzard were seen in a couple of minutes.

Then we had to start driving towards Lapinjärvi. It was a long drive but finally we were in a big field and found a Hawk Owl easily. On the next stop Grey Partridges weren’t found but I found a young Golden Eagle flying on the other side of the field!

Soon after that we twitched a Nuthatch on one feeder and then hurried to twitch Dippers. But we had to check 4 rapids before we found 2 Dippers and then it was getting dark already. Luckily while we were walking back to our car we flushed a Hazel Hen!

We still tried to find some owls especially Pygmy Owls but without luck. Finally it was almost 5 p.m. when I said goodbye to Juha, Markus and Nette who continued back to Porvoo to hear the results of the race and I started driving back to Parikkala as the next day was a work-day.

I was already back at home when I heard the results. We had got 50 species and once again lost the victory by 1 species! We had seen 3 species that no other 13 teams had seen and because of that we came second. But this time a silver didn’t taste bad at all – we had enjoyed a perfect weather with good friends and really had a good birding day! And the most important thing for me was that we had seen a Pine Bunting which was a WP-tick for me! And the bird hadn’t been seen since that…

J.A.