. . Lintuharrastajan päiväkirja Birders diary . .

On the 1st of July we still met with Pirkka and his family in Siikalahti but in very windy weather we didn’t see anything special. On the 2nd of July we went to ring 2 nestlings of Nightjar. While walking towards the nest we flushed a female Capercaillie.

On the 3rd of July I went to check that a Black Kite was still on the top of the tree next to its nest. In the evening we went to search for Short-eared Owl chicks and we found 3 of them but they were already flying. We managed to get pretty good pictures of one bird. There were also Long-eared Owl fledglings nearby but they were too shy. On the 4th day I visited cemetery and saw a Grey-headed Woodpecker, a young Wryneck looking out from the nest-hole and heard a Golden Oriole and an Icterine Warbler. In Kukonkanta we heard a Common Reed Warbler and saw a family of Little Ringed Plovers – two young birds were flying well already.

On the 5th day we went to Kesusmaa areas where we managed to make this Atlas-square better. In cemetery the Wrynecks were out from their nest and they seemed to be everywhere. We also heard 2 Golden Orioles. In the evening I went to a proper night-trip to Saari with Arttu Valonen. The trip started well when we found 2 fledlings of Great Grey Owl! But then next 5 hours we were just counting Corn Crakes (48), Long-eared Owls (1 ad+11 juv) and Blyth’s Reed Warblers (7).

When the sun was rising Arttu dropped me to Papinlahti where Hanna had already put up the mist-nets at 3:30 a.m. Right away we had a feeling that there will be lots of birds and for once we were right. On the first two rounds we got plenty of both Great and Blue Tits but then surprisingly the next round was empty. But luckily then the rush continued and on one round we got more than 30 birds. After all we got a Robin, a Redwing, a Song Thrush, a Blyth’s Reed Warbler, a Lesser Whitethroat, 14+1c Common Whitethroats, 3 Willow Warblers, a Pied Flycatcher, 18+1c Blue and 54 Great Tits, a Bullfinch, a Yellowhammer and a Reed Bunting. So altogether we had got 98r+2c = 100 birds!

During the day we went to twitch a Common Quail in Koitsanlahti Syrjärinne and then went to check that everything was OK with Grey Wagtails in Kokkolanjoki – but we found only 1 male and then saw one female-type bird very briefly in flight. Young birds had probably already spread around the river. Once we were back at home Hanna found a tiny young Common Sandpiper from our garden.

On the 7th day I saw a Black Kite and a Great Egret on my lunch-hour and in the afternoon we did a short field-trip and saw Short- and Long-eared Owls, a Hen Harrier, Stock Doves and so on. Then I still saw a flock of 60 migrating Common Scoters in our garden.

On our 25th anniversary it was a storm and very rainy. After my work we went to eat to Iloinen Pässi and then decided to visit Saar Pohjanranta if the storm had dropped any waders there. Luckily we found 8 Dunlins and a Little Stint which were my 200th and 201st Parikkala year-ticks. I have got every year since 2013 more than 200 species in Parikkala.

On the 9th of July we did the second duckling-count in Siikalahti. There were already lots of Mallards, 348 birds and of course mainly adult males but also 158 Wigeons. It was nice to find 2 families of Common Pochards too. But gulls, terns and grebes had really had bad summer as storms and crows had destroyed almost all their nests. We also saw 4 Great Egrets, a Grey Heron, a Black Woodpecker, once again a Black Kite and I heard a Nuthatch.

Next couple of days I didn’t see anything special but on the 12th of July we did SSP-ringing again. We caught a Common Snipe, a Robin, a Song Thrush, a Blyth’s Reed Warbler, a Lesser Whitethroat, 17+1c Common Whitethroats, 4+1c Willow Warbler, a surprise female Red-breasted Flycatcher, 2 Pied Flycatchers, a Great Tit, finally out first Willow Tit in this place, a Greenfinch, 2 Common Rosefinches, a Yellowhammer and 2+2c Reed Buntings. We also heard a Black Woodpecker, a Golden Oriole and a few Common Crossbills and I saw 3 Cormorants.

After SSP we did a quick butterfly-trip and managed to find 5 Poplar Admirals and 4 White Admirals. It was finally warm, even very hot day but anyway we still went to build a new ringing place to Kukonkanta. A huge ditch had been made to our old place so we had to change to a new place there.

J.A.

On the 1st of June we had SSP-ringing in Papinlahti and we caught 4+3c Common Whitethroats, a Pied Flycatcher, a Red-backed Shrike and a Common Rosefinch. We also ringed young Jackdaws on one of our owl nestbox. In the evening I still did a short trip to fields and to Siikalahti dam-road. I found a Taiga Bean Goose, a Hen Harrier, a Great Snipe, a Short-eared Owl, a young Boreal Owl that was right outside the nest-box where it had been living, heard a Savi’s Warbler and a Great Reed Warbler and saw a European Nuthatch.

On the 2nd day only better observations were a too distant female-plumaged harrier and Boreal Owl fledlings that I found at night. And on the next day only birds I saw were 3 Oystercatchers.

On the 4th of June I saw a Black Kite on my lunch-hour and in the evening we went to ring the 2 smaller Tawny Owl youngsters. At night we still visited dam-road and heard a Savi’s, a Great Reed and a Common Reed Warbler.

On the 5th day I saw 2 Red-necked Phalaropes and a Black Kite on my lunch-hour. In the afternoon we did a trip to Saari but only better birds we found were a River and a Common Reed Warbler and a Grey Heron. Then we found another Grey Heron on the way back to home in Särkisalmi. On the next day I saw just the same birds as earlier.

On the 7th of June we did a proper night-trip to Saari but found nothing special. 22 Corn Crakes, 5 Great Snipes, Long-eared Owls, a Short-eared Owl, 5 Nightjars, 21 Thrush Nightingales, an Icterine Warbler, 30 Blyth’s Reed and 4 Marsh Warblers, 3 Golden Orioles and so on were found. We visited Soininmäki forests too and found a Hazel Hen singing, a Three-toed Woodpecker drumming actively and 2 Red-breasted Flycatchers singing. In Tarvassaari we still found a Great Reed Warbler which we decided to catch and ring and we also saw 2 Red-throated Divers flying over us.

On the 8th day we had SSP again and we caught a Sedge and a Bylth’s Reed Warbler, 3+2c Common Whitethroats, a Willow Warbler, 3c Great Tits and 2+1c Reed Warblers. In the evening we made the first stop in Siikalahti and surprisingly heard a Bearded Reedling calling. We played some tape and it came well visible and it was so aggressive that we decided to put up a mist-net and ring it. All local birders who came to see the bird managed to see it well.

When we arriving back at home we found a young White-backed Woodpecker on our garden. Late in the evening we still went to a short trip and found a Great Snipe and a new Common Reed Warbler.

On the 11th of June I saw a Spotted Redshank and a couple of Ruffs which were already on their autumn-migration. On the 12th day we continued mapping Siikalahti and did night-counts. On the southern side of the bay we found a Spotted Crake, 13 Water Rails, a White-backed Woodpecker, a Marsh, a Great Reed, a Common Reed Warbler and a Golden Oriole.

On the 13th day we continued counts and my better observations were a Hazel Hen family, a White-tailed Eagle, a Lesser Spotted and a White-backed Woodpecker and again a new Common Reed Warbler. Hanna found a family of Nuthatches which I had to go to twitch too. On the 15th day counts I saw a Black Kite, 3 White-backed and 6 Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers, an Icterine Warbler, a Common Reed Warbler and the same Great Reed Warbler. In the evening we saw a Tundra Bean Goose, a Great Snipe and then we went to check that everything was OK with Tawny Owl – at least 2 of them were already out from the nestbox. And on the next day we managed to see an adult owl too.

On the 16th day I counted 24 adult and 35 juv Barnacle Geese in Saharanta and in the evening we saw 4 Oystercatchers flying over the village. We also went to see a Nightjar that Hanna had found incubating. On the 17th day Hanna found a Yellow Wagtail in Saharanta and at night I went to twitch a Quail as Rautjärvi-tick but I didn’t hear it.

On the 19th of June I saw a female Garganey on the dam-road and in the evening we went to check some fields and found even 9 Great Snipes on one field and 3 more on another field. And now all the Tawny Owls were out begging food.

At Midsummer morning we slept a little bit longer and then headed to Tähtiniemi to search for a Greenish Warbler that had been found in recordings that had been made on one summer-cottage. After some searching we managed to find it. Then we headed to Rautjärvi and decided to try to twitch the Quail again but again without luck. But on a bog nearby we caught and ringed 3 young Common Greenshanks. On Kokkolanjoki we saw a couple of Grey Wagtails and after some searching we managed to find their nest.

On the 21st of June we had SSP again and we caught a Sedge Warbler, 2c Common Whitethroats, 1c Garden Warbler, 3+1c Willow Warblers, 10 Blue and 2+1c Great Tits and a surprise Crested Tit and a Reed Bunting. In the evening crazy news were out as a young boy had photographed the first ever Dalmatian Pelican somewhere in Finland! Thanks to Martin Helin and Karoliina Hämäläinen the location was revealed and it had been in Kökar island a couple of days earlier. So the news was old after all but luckily there were some birders in Kökar and the bird was located! So we had to start planning a big twitch – but first we left to eat crepes to Hanna’s parents – there must be some order in life…

While we were eating crepes I decided to book a boat for the next morning. Hanna, Elissa and Veikka Kosonen were also ready to go twitching so there were still 21 places in a big boat. After I had put a message to Lintutiedotus it took only a couple of minutes to get the boat full.

We tried to sleep a couple of hours but before midnight we met in our parking place and soon left towards Parainen. It was a long drive but finally we turned to Saaristotie where we saw the first wave of happy twitchers driving towards us. Finally at 5:30 a.m. we were on Nauvo ferry and a half an hour later on Korppoo ferry with several other twitchers. Then we still had to wait for an hour in the harbor before our boat Princess Explorer arrived. Luckily all 25 twitchers had came early and at 7:40 we started sailing towards Kökar.

It took 2 hours to get to Kökar and on the way I had got some ridiculous year-ticks as I hadn’t seen sea at all this year – Common Eider, Mute Swan and Arctic Tern.

Finally we were on Kökar and out captain had booked a couple of taxis for us. The first car was already there so 8 first ones started driving towards the place where the Dalmatian Pelican had been also this morning. We had been driving only some hundreds of meters when we got a call that the pelican was in flight! The rest of our group that was still on the harbor saw it! It was flying close to the wind-mill and with that information we managed to see the bird with Hanna. But we were on the front-seat, it was impossible to see it from the back of the car before it flew behind some trees. So we drove after it to Västerfjärden where it had been also on the previous evening fishing. We could see the bay well from the bird-tower but the furthest part of bay was invisible. After some waiting we decided to leave to the place where the bird had been seen most. And of course we got a call that the bird was flying again. Only I managed to see it flying low behind some tree again, but now it was flying towards the islet where it had been seen most.

We drove along a small track towards Storstensudden where the bird had been watcher. Of course another car was driving towards us and there was no room to pass it. In this car were the owners of the road and they had promised that the early morning twitchers could use the road but it seemed that it wasn’t early morning anymore. So we had to continue by feet as our taxi had to reverse back to a bigger road. Veikka and Teo Ylätalo, who had already seen the bird a couple of times, passed us by bike that they had rented from the harbor. And soon we saw them on a top of a rock and luckily the Dalmatian Pelican was on their scopes as it was on its ordinary islet.

Some of our group was still on the harbor, but they had seen the bird already. And now finally the last twitchers that had been in our car managed to see it. And soon taxis brought the rest of our group to watch the bird. It was quite far but well visible. After some time it flew a little bit but landed to the sea and after some swimming it climbed to another islet where it stayed until we decided to call the taxis to get us back to the harbor.

The way back to Korppoo was happy and on the way I still managed to get a couple of year-ticks: a Black Guillemot and a Razorbill. Then in Korppoo there was really bad Midsummer traffic-jam. Luckily we managed to get to second ferry to Nauvo and then it took an hour to get to another ferry to Parainen. Luckily I managed to sleep a little while waiting for the ferries.

In Turku there were a White Stork couple breeding and in Raisio a Long-billed Dowitcher and then further in Jyväskylä an Eurasian Stone-curlew but we (except Veikka) were too tired to think about any more twitching. On the way we tried briefly to twitch a Ferruginous Duck in Salo Omenojärvi but we saw only a family of Pochards and a Caspian Tern. After we had eaten we continued to Kouvola where Elissa eptied her mail-box and then we continued to Parikkala. There we still went to listen to young Tawny Owls before the trip was over.

On the next day I was really tired but on the 24th of June we went to ring young Common Kestrels in Rautalahti, saw a couple of Whimbrels in Tönkinsuo and then went to check that Nightjar-youngsters had been hatched – but they surely were still too young to ring. Then we continued to Rautjärvi Kokkolanjoki and ringed 6 nestlings of Grey Wagtail. We still continued to a short field-trip and saw a Great Snipe.

On the 25th day we did only a short afternoon-trip and found a Pygmy Owl in Yrttitarha. And on the 26th day there were again 3 Oystercatchers in the village. On the 27th day we did the first duck-count where we tried to count all ducklings. It as easy to say that there aren’t many birds on the northern side of Siikalahti anymore. Only better observations were a few Gadwalls, a Grey Heron and a Spotted Redshank.

On the 28th day we drove to Mikkeli to my cousin’s birthday-parties. There we made only some atlas-records like a nests of a Treecreeper and a Wren. On the 29th day I went to check that everything was OK with the Grey Wagtails. Then in the afternoon we went to Saari where we saw a Black Kite in Akonpohja, a couple of Gadwalls in different places and found a nest of Golden Orioles.

On the 30th of June my brother Pirkka arrived for a short visit with his wife Anitta and two older children Iina and Veikka. In the afternoon we tried to find Golden Orioles in the cemetery but found only an Icterine Warbler and a nest of a Wryneck. At night we did a tour in the area around the village and Siikalahti with Pirkka and Veikka and even though it was already very quiet, we managed to find several Long-eared Owl fledlings, 2 Short- eared Owls, a Red-throated Diver, a few Great Snipes, several Blyth’s Reed Warblers, a Common and a Great Reed Warbler and a River Warbler. So we got a few good year-ticks for Pirkka.

J.A.

Spring-weather was still pretty bad as it was blowing from north almost all the time. There were a couple of days with good geese-migration and in best moments the sky was full of meat. Unfortunately most of the migration was going on during the week when I was at work. Anyway I have been pretty bored to geese for a long time so I would’ve been trying to find anything else from the sky.

In mid May some observations to mention were on a Black Kite and a Common Swift on the 15th and then on the 17th day there were 3 Greater Scaups in Härskiinmutka, 109 Little Gulls and a Gadwall in Akonpohja, a Pink-footed Goose and 2 Temminck’s Stints in Pohjanranta, a Common Rosefinch in Riionsalmi, 2 Temminck’s Stints and 2 Rooks in Kanavalampi and 2 Wrynecks in Karinmäki. And then the best bird of the trip was a Red-breasted Goose in Poutasenryhmä. It was also nice to find some House Sparrows in Koukkuinnurmet.

On the 18th of May we did our first SSP-ringing session and caught 4 Common Whitethroats, 1r+2c Reed Buntings, a Fieldfare, a Bluethroat and a Chiffchaff. We also heard a Golden Oriole singing and saw 2 migrating Honey Buzzards. Then we headed to Saari again where we twitched a Grey Plover in Pohjanranta where we also saw 10 Temmick’s Stints and in Ala-Ollukka we saw 7 Gadwalls and a Pintail couple.

In the afternoon we went to search for Ural Owl chicks and managed to find one to photograph. Then we still went to twitch a Great Reed Warbler to Siikalahti and a Common Reed Warbler in Kukonkanta.

On the 19th day we had duck-counts but before the counts we went to ring our first ever Tawny Owl mama. We had counted that all the eggs had been hatched now as the mama can’t be caught until that.

In the count we saw less birds as almost all the migrants were gone and the breeding birds were hiding on their nests. But the Greater Scaup was still there and we also saw a couple of Gadwalls. We also saw a flock of 2 migrating Arctic Skuas and I saw a White-backed Woodpecker collecting food. After the count we still stayed on the dam-road and saw a few migrating flocks of Long-tailed Ducks and Common Scoters and a migrating Short-eared Owl.

On the 20th of May was the huge geese-migration day. But I was out only on my lunch-hour and again I tried to find something better from the sky. I managed to find a Black Kite, 3 migrating Arctic Skuas, 6 Great Egrets that landed to the bay and a few flocks of Black-throated divers (61 birds) with one Red-throated Diver. I did look at the geese enough to find some Brent Geese too. There were already 60 Common Swifts circling on the sky – so I guess it was summer now.
On the 21st of May I started my lunch-hour by twitching a Red-breasted Flycatcher, a Wood Warbler and an Icterine Warbler as Siikalahti year-ticks – then I continued to dam-road. A Great Reed Warbler was singing and a couple of Black Kites were seen. I was about to pack my scope when I noticed an eagle on the eastern sky. It looked promising but it started gliding towards north before I caught it with my scope. Then I still had to help others to find it before I could really concentrate to identifying it. But the bird was just gliding. It was turning a couple of times so I could see that it had paler upperwing-coverts contrasting to dark flying-feathers. The bird was quite far but Tahvo Repo and Mika Huhtinen were trying to get pictures of it. The rest of us were trying to see more with our scopes. But all I saw was a quite clear and big Aquila-patch.

The eagle kept on gliding and I had to put a message about this “Lesser Spotted Eagle” to Lintutiedotus if there was someone north from us. Probably then the bird made a bigger turn and Tahvo managed to get a couple of better pictures of it. Soon I found the bird again but it was already very far. But then it started soaring and I could see that also underparts of the wings had the same contrast. I also noticed something white on the base of the primaries but I thought it was just bigger than normally half-moon patch. For some reason alarm-bells weren’t ringing when I also thought that the bird looked also long-winged, not at all as compact as it had looked when it had been just gliding…

Tahvo hadn’t got a good computer and only a bad screen with him on his cottage, but finally on the next evening he sent me one picture of this eagle. And immediately I could see that there were clear white bars on the underwings! It really looked like a Steppe Eagle. Soon Tahvo sent more pictures and after all it was quite clear that we had seen a Steppe Eagle! It was my 251st species in Siikalahti, 311th self-found bird in Finland.

But let’s go back to the eagle-day. After the bird had glided far north and disappeared behind the trees I had to hurry back to work. But after work I had to hurry to Lappeenranta Joutseno Kotasaari to twitch a Long-billed Dowitcher that Totti Toiskallio had found. It was my 311th species in South-Karelia. With Veikka Kosonen we checked the rest of the pools and we saw a Ruddy Turnstone, 3 Marsh Sandpipers, a Dunlin, 2 or 3 Black-tailed Godwits, 4 Temminck’s Stints, a Citrine Wagtail couple, 2 couples of Garganeys, a Slavonian Grebe couple, 6 Little Ringed Plovers and we also heard a couple of Common Moorhens, a Common Ringed Plover and a Spotted Redshank. It is quite a bird-paradise! Before I drove back to home, I still twitched an Ortolan Bunting in Konnunsuo.

On the 22nd day a Grelylag Goose couple was again in Siikalahti, in Lahdensuo I saw a Red-backed Shrike and in the evening we went to check our ordinary field and saw 6 Great Snipes and heard a Corn Crake. We ended the trip by twitching a River Warbler that was singing on Harri Partanen’s garden in Moskuunniemi.

On the 23rd day I didn’t see anything special on my lunch-hour and Saari-tour in the afternoon wasn’t much better. A Black Kite and a Hen Harrier were seen and a Blyth’s Reed Warbler was heard. In Kangas we noticed a big nest-box that was now visible because of some trees had been cut and there was a Ural Owl chick perched on the branch in front of the box.

On the 24th day we did part of the night-count in Siikalahti and heard 6 Spotted Crakes and a Nightjar and saw a Long-eared Owl. During the day I saw a Greylag Goose and a Gadwall couples, a flock of 550 Brent Geese, 11 migrating Honey Buzzards, a Black Kite and a Spotted Flycatcher. But the end of the trip was bad as our car broke down. Luckily I got a ride from Matti Lötjönen. In the evening we did as short trip with Tahvo and Harri and saw 3 Great Snipes and heard Corn Crakes and found a new River Warbler.

On the 25th day I had to go to count birds to Siikalahti by bike. Only better bird I found was a Red-backed Shrike. I also heard a possible Bailloin’s Crake, but it stopped calling too soon. I managed to get only 3 weaker notes videoed with my phone. And of course it wasn’t heard later even though we tried several times.

Our car had broken down at the worst possible time as we both had two works to do. Surprisingly I found out that there was a possibility to rent a car in Parikkala. I called to Tarmo Kosonen and found out that he also had a big truck that could take my car to a service. Then he also helped me to contact a service and soon we were towing our car there. It was Sunday but on the next morning I got a call from the service that they would look at our car even though they were fully-booked. And soon they called me that it would take at least this week and maybe next one too to repair our car – but at least it was still possible to repair.

So we also rent small VW Polo and managed to keep on working in Siikalahti. But the next day it was raining so I couldn’t do much. But on the 27th day I saw a couple of flocks of Brent Geese (550 birds) on my lunch-hour. In the evening we did duck-counts and there were fewer birds now as almost all migrants had gone and breeding birds were hiding on their nests. Greylag Geese and Gadwall couples and 3 female Smews were seen and a Wryneck was heard.

On the 28th of May I saw a Black Kite again and then twitched a Marsh Warbler in Moskuunniemi. In the evening we went to ring Tawny Owl chicks but only 2 of them were big enough to get their rings.

On the 29th day we did more counts and rowed around the southern part of Siikalahti. We saw a Long-eared Owl, Greylag Geese again and heard 3 Corn Crakes, a River Wabler and a Common Reed Warbler. Later there were more singers along the dam-road when there were a Common Reed, a Marsh, a Blyth’s Reed, a Great Reed and a Savi’s Warbler singing. During the day we headed to Saari again and saw a Heuglin’s Gull on the way in Kinnarniemi. In Pohjanranta we heard a Common Grasshopper Warbler and saw a Temminck’s Stint and in Akonpohja we saw a White-backed Woodpecker feeding youngsters to nest. In Hiekkaniemi we saw a Tundra Bean Goose and heard a Golden Oriole, in Ala-Ollukka we saw 2 couples of Gadwalls and in Saarenkylä we heard another Golden Oriole.

On the 30th of May our car was fixed! But as Hanna needed our car to make her counts in Siikalahti, we left twitching in the evening with Tahvo, Minna Terävä and Merja Laari with Merja’s car. It was a long drive to Kuhmo Hirvivaara but once there my friends Veikka Kosonen, Pyry Laurikka and Teo Ylätalo were already there and pointed where our target-bird was – and soon we heard the second Oriental Cuckoo for Finland! We spent several hours there listening and sound-recording this cuckoo and after all we managed to see and photograph it too!

The drive back was long and we had to stop in Saari Pohjanranta to stay awake. There were 3 Long-tailed Ducks. Then we ate delicious meat-crepes before continued to Parikkala. The rest of the day I was sleeping.

On the last day of May I did some extra-counts as Hanna was still busy with her school-work. The biggest surprise was a flock of about 100 Red Knots that migrated over me. I also heard a Savi’s, a Great Reed, 2 Common Reed and 2 Marsh Warblers. In the afternoon we still did a trip to Saari where we saw a stunning Grey Plover in two different places – in Pohjanranta and in Ala-Ollukka. In Karinmäki we found once again a Eurasian Curlew that has been ringed in 1997 in Lincolnshire England.

J.A.

My brother Pirkka came once again to spend traditional Bird Tower competition weekend in Parikkala. He has came from Lapland to get some spring-feeling every year since 2013. We started the 1st of May in cold Siikalahti where we saw nothing special but Pirkka of course got plenty of year-ticks. The best bird was a Peregrine Falcon but also a Gadwall, a Garganey, a Whimbrel and a Whinchat were seen. Funny observation was an Elk that was wading in the middle of the bay. In Kangaskylä we visited one Nuthatch.

During the day we were birding in Saari where weren’t many birds as there is no floods at all this spring. In Akonpohja we saw a Gadwall couple, in Pohjanranta a Black Kite and a Little Ringed Plover, in Jyrkilä a Short-eared Owl and in Valkialampi a Slavonia Grebe couple. Late in the evening we still went to Siikalahti where a Spotted Crake was calling.

On the 2nd of May, on my birthday, we started in Moskuunniemi where a Wood Warbler was singing and then saw a flock of Red-breasted Mergansers in Särkisalmi. Then we continued to Saari where we saw a Black Kite in Jyrkilä before we continued to new platform to Kuposenmäki. Finally it was southern wind but it was probably too strong and nothing really was seen. I saw a couple of Yellow Wagtails. After we had made some sausages on the fire we continued to Ala-Ollukka where we checked one more flock of geese and found one Red-breasted Goose. But then we saw nothing else really. In the evening we again visited Siikalahti and saw a couple of Common Redshanks.

3.5. On the 3rd day was the Bird Tower competition. And once again we were in Siikalahti main-tower with # x Aalto and Matti Lötjönen, Miika Soikkeli and Erkko Elonen. When we walked to the tower before 5 a.m. it was raining heavily, so we were soon completely wet.

And it kept on raining whole morning so the beginning was pretty bad but slowly we started to gather good number of species. Some better ones were a couple of calling Spotted Crakes, a couple of Whimbrels, a couple of distant flocks of Common Scoters with at least one Velvet Scoter, a Red-throated Diver, a Red-breasted Merganser, a Gadwall, some Garganeys, a Common Redshank, a Ringed Plover, a Stock Dove, a Sand Martin, a flock of Waxwings, a Gold Finch, a Linnet, a Long-tailed Tit, a Lapland longspur and so on. It started to feel like we were really doing well.

We were really freezing but as there were all the time something new, it was easy to stay focused. But we were really hoping to see something better too and then finally saw some strange-looking bird flying right over us and it was a Nuthatch!

Finally the rain stopped but in same time it started to blow from west. Of course we didin’t get som many new species anymore as at 9 a.m. we had already got 93 species! But still we saw a Greylag Goose couple, a small flock of Cormorants, several White-tailed Eagles, a Rough-legged Buzzard, a Hen Harrier, 2 Merlins, a Goshawk and a Spotted Redshank. But there were still many common species missing like several raptors, woodpeckers, waders and especially passerines. And unfortunately our best observation had been a Beawer – and of course the Nuthatch. When it was 1 p.m. we knew we had got a really good species-list but it started to rain again, so we decided to count our list at home.

At home we counted that we had got 101 species which was our new record by one species. And after all we were the 6th best tower in whole Finland which was clearly the best position ever! But anyway at least I felt very disappointed as we could have got several more species with some more luck. And of course it didn’t help that Team Tarassiinlahti had got 102 species and now got the all time inland-record.

With Pirkka we went to eat to Iloinen Pässi and then decided to visit Simpele Kokkolanjoki where we easily saw 3 Grey Wagtails. And in the evening we went to try to ring a Ural Owl mama on one of our nest-boxes. But surprisingly there weren’t any adults at home but 4 big young owls. So we decided to ring them.

On the 4th of May we visited Siikalahti briefly and then went to twitch a couple of Red-breasted Geese that Harri Hölttä had found in Järvenpää. Then we continued to Saari where we saw a Black Kite in Kanavalampi, Common Scoters and a Long-tailed Duck and heard a Lesser Whitethroat in Tarassiinlahti, but then we had to drive to Särkisalmi to eat and Pirkka had to start a long drive back to Kemijärvi. And he really had a long way as there was a snow-storm in Kuusamo and he had summer-tires. So he had to drive via Oulu and Rovaniemi.

With Hanna we still went to check some owl nest-boxed and finally found on Tengmalm’s Owl with 3 very small nestlings and 3 eggs.

The next days the weather was bad so I didn’t do much else than rested. On the 6th of May I saw a Citrine Wagtail flying over me in Siikalahti. It looked like an adult male but later a 2nd year male was found in the same place.

In the evening we did duck-counts and managed to see this Citrine Wagtail very well and while photographing it, we found also 3 Rustic Buntings. It was nice to hear one of the buntings to sing shortly. On the count we saw nothing special.

On the 8th day I checked some more nest-boxes and I was just driving towards the dam-road when Arttu messaged that he had found a Savi’s Warbler. It took some time but finally I heard it singing shortly.

On the 9th day I also started mapping counts in Siikalahti which Hanna had already started on the previous morning. It was much easier than ever to walk in Siikalahti as it was so dry – and overgrown. I could do the counts wearing only rubber-boots.

During the morning I found a nest of a White-backed Woodpecker and a couple of pairs of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers and Long-tailed Tits. I also saw a Blackcap of the year and heard a Common Whitethroat.

On the 10th day we did night-counts and mapped altogether 28 Water Rails, 6 Spotted Crakes, 8 Great Bitterns and 10 Sedge Warblers and so on. I also heard a Thrush Nightingale briefly. The night was very cold and we thought that it was the reason why we didn’t hear neither of the Savi’s Warblers but then they weren’t heard later either. We still continued with mapping-counts too but didn’t find anything better.

On the 11th day we still had some mapping to do and found one very nice bird but I have to keep it as a secret so it can breed without any disturbance. After the counts we still went to the bird-tower where we saw a Greater Scaup, a Slavonian Grebe, 4 male Gadwalls and nice flock of 8 migrating Bar-tailed Godwits.

In the evening we made a good tour in Saari but as there are no floods at all it is really not so good this spring. On the 12th the only better observation on my lunch hour was a migrating 3cy Golden Eagle. And on the 13th day we went to check Tengmalm’s Olw nest and it wasn’t a surprise that only 2 young birds had survived until ringing age. But even bigger surprise was that Tawny Owl had still only 1 very tiny nestling and 3 eggs so we have to still wait for them to grow up.

It really starts to feel like this is the worst spring ever – at least around here…

J.A.

On the 13th of April I was once again on the dam-road but after short back-winter it was very quiet. For some reason Curlews had arrived and I saw more than 100 of them. Other year-ticks were a Rough-legged Buzzard, a Green Sandpiper and an Osprey. Several Water Rails were calling and also a Rook was seen again. In Särkisalmi I still found an Oystercatcher and a Great Crested Grebe.

On the 14th day an Oystercatcher couple had arrived to Kangaskylä to their territory. But otherwise I saw nothing really, but on the 15th there was an early Red-necked Grebe in Särkisalmi. In the afternoon we did waterbird-counts in Siikalahti and finally there were some Pochards and also 3 Garganeys and a couple of Greylag Geese. In the evening we visited Särkisalmi again and there was a nice surprise – a female Common Shelduck.

On the 16th of April I visited Siikalahti bird-tower and saw a Gadwall, a Slavonian Grebe and a migrating Black Kite. Greenshank and Song Thrush were other year-ticks. On the 17th day the new arrivals were a Dunnock and a Lesser Black-backed Gull – and again a saw a Black Kite.

On the 18th of April we stayed for a long time on the dam-road but only one more Black Kite was seen. It was so quiet that after all I decided to visit Rautjärvi Simpele Lahnanen where I saw a Grey Wagtail couple easily.

On the 19th day we did a proper Saari trip which started well as we found a male Pallid Harrier perched on a field in Akonpohja. From Akonpohja tower we saw 4 Gadwalls, in Pohjanranta a Common Sandpiper, a Gadwall and a migrating Red-throated Diver, in Pohjansuo 5 House Sparrows, in Karinmäki a Northern Wheatear couple and on the way back to Parikkala we twitched 2 Barn Swallows and 3 House Martins in Särkisalmi. Then we still visited a small flood in Lahdensuo where we found 8 Ruffs. In the evening I still twitched a Common Scoter couple in Lake Lahdenpohja. The weather had still been cool but there had been extremely warm just eastern side of the border so some migrants had arrived to Parikkala earlier than ever.

On the Easter Sunday the weather was even colder and wind was northern. It was very quiet so we decided to count the waterbirds again. On the dam-road I saw an early Whinchat, on the northern side of the bay a Chiffchaff and on the western side a Common Redstart and a couple of Redshanks. On the count we saw altogether 8 Gadwalls and also a Cormorant was seen on the count-area. In the evening we visited Lahdensuo again and saw a Little Ringed Plover.

On Monday the 21st of April we visited Saari again. We saw two more Pallid Harrier males, one in Pohjanranta and another in Uukuniemi Suurenjärvenliete. They were my 100th and 101st Pallid Harriers in Finland and it seemed that you have to see more than a hundred of them before you can get any better pictures of this beautiful species.

In Kanavalampi we saw a Black Kite and in Tarassiinlahti 3 Pied Flycatchers. Other early arrivals were a Barn Swallow and a couple of Common Sandpipers and so on. In the evening I still saw a couple of Black-tailed Godwits in Kullinsuo. When it was completely dark we still went to check some fields with thermal-camera. We ringed a couple of Skylarks and a Northern Lapwing but then we surprisingly found 3 Great Snipes too! We didn’t try to catch them as they were on their lekking area. We had no idea that they could be there so early in spring! We also heard a Short eared Owl and a couple of Long-eared Owls hooting and especially Short-eared Owl was very nice to hear well. In Siikalahti we heard the first Spotted Crake of the spring.

On the 22nd day the weather was very bad so we decided to start checking our owl nest-boxes. We had hopes high as there had been lots of owls calling in late winter but for some reason our boxes were empty. In Tarvaslampi we saw a Whimbrel and in the forests one female Capercaillie.

During the rest of the week only birds to mention were a couple of Black Kites, a couple of Black-tailed Godwits and an early Willow Warbler in Siikalahti on the 24th day.

Hanna went to see Capercaillie lek for night and early morning.

On the 25th day we did waterbird-counts again but found nothing special. No there were 3 Black-tailed Godwits and Common Redshanks were having territory. On the 26th of April we celebrated the 15th year of our local Parikkala and Rautjärvi Bird-club. The weather was really bad but we had plenty of food with us on the dam-road and it was nice to chat with the most active birders on our area. Meanwhile we saw at least 3 Black Kites and a Little Gull and heard a Lapland Longspur.

In the afternoon we checked some empty nest-boxes again and only year-tick for me was a Tree Pipit. We also checked one Nuthatch territory and found their nest. In the evening I still saw a Common Tern in Särkisalmi.

On the 27th day we were birding in Saari again but saw some Gadwalls, a Hobby and a singing Great Grey Shrike and so on. In the evening I twitched a 2nd year male Citrine Wagtail in Siikalahti before went to pick up Hanna from Pohjanranta where she had stayed the afternoon and evening on a hide. There I saw a Short-eared Owl. Then we still did a short drive on a couple of fields and heard a Jack Snipe, a flock of Common Scoters and in Siikalahti a few Spotted Crakes.

On the 28th of April there were three small flocks of Common Scoters in Härskiinmutka and on one flock there were a couple of Long-tailed ducks too. During my lunch-hour I saw a Black Kite again. On the 29th there was a Wood Warbler singing in Moskuunniemi but again the wind was northern so nothing else really happened. So I went to check some more nest-boxes and finally it happened – a Tawny Owl flushed from one of the boxes. I checked that it had 4 eggs and left soon.

On the last day of April I still hope to see some early arrivals but saw only some Barn Swallow and House Martins. Nothing else really.

J.A.

Because of the weather forecast was really horrible there couldn’t be any better idea than drive through whole Finland. On Saturday the 12th of April we met in our parking place with Elissa Soikkeli and Veikka Kosonen at 4:30 a.m. and started a long drive towards Northern Ostrobothnia. Thermometer was showing -14 degrees and on the way there were huge snow-clouds so the driving was very slowly. Finally in Siikalatva snowing stopped and in Rantsila we saw a flock of Snow Buntings.

After long drive we turned to Tyrnävä, drove through the village and soon arrived at the fields. And there we started to stop and check every flock of geese carefully. Our goal was to find famous “Klenkka” – a Cackling Goose that had arrived to Western Coast every spring or autumn or both since 2019 mostly to Pori or Tyrnävä where it had now again been seen in a couple of days during last week. The nick-name of the bird was given because it had always had problems with its left leg and it was limping quite badly. This bird was still the second ever tickable Cackling Goose in Finland after the first one which we had found in Parikkala with Hanna on the 1st of May in 2013. But Elli and Veikka still hadn’t seen this species in Finland and for me it was about the time to see it again after the first one.

There were lots of Taiga and Tundra Bean Geese, some White-fronted Geese but amazing numbers of Pink-footed Geese. I had never seen so many! We also found a couple of Barnacle Geese before we continued towards the next fields. We saw a Common Pheasant along the road and soon stopped to scan the next flock. It was so windy that we had to be careful with our scopes.

We were again changing to next fields when Veikka noticed that there was a message in Lintutiedotus that the Cackling Goose had been found in Jokikylä – less than 2 kilometers from us! I asked Veikka to call to the observers and keep their eyes to the bird as we would be there in a couple of minutes.

Soon we parked next to Otso Valkeeniemi and Heikki Jakkula who were watching the goose. And soon we also found it hiding behind some Pink-footed Geese in a small ditch. It was mostly lying down but when it was walking we could see it limping very badly. The locals told that its leg was now worse than on the previous years.

After 30 minutes the goose flew a bit further to the field and wasn’t visible anymore. While we had been observing it, we had seen also a Peregrine Falcon and a couple of flocks of Snow Bunting and of course more other geese.

Then Veikka noticed a message again. A Snow Goose that had been some days in Lumijoki was again there in Lumikari. So we decided to go to twitch it even though Snow Goose is not tickable nowadays but you never know what is the situation in the future? This bird had thought to be an atlantis-subspecies which is the best option for a real-deal.

So we drove quickly to Lumijoki but there were only other geese in Lumikari. When we continued towards next fields Veikka found a couple of Grey Partridges on the field. And soon we saw the next flock of geese and there was a bright white bird with them. Snow Goose was showing very well so we had to take some pictures of it. It really was a big bird, with big bill with grinning-patch and somewhat triangular head. So it really could be atlantis-race.

Next we drove to Liminka to eat very well and then continued to Virkkula where we visited my very good friend Mikko Ala-Kojola and Anni Koskela. It was really good to see Mikko, Anni and their dogs! But after all we had to leave as we had a long driving ahead. Everything had gone so smoothly that we had decided to drive back to southeast. Our ordinary plan had been to stay overnight somewhere and keep on birding on the next day if necessary.

We still stopped briefly in Rantakylä where we saw one more flock of Snow Buntings and a Merlin. Then we still drove to Kempele Koskela where we easily found a couple of Collared Doves. Then it was time to start driving back to Parikkala. Luckily the weather was now nice and finally at 11:30 p.m. we were back in Parikkala. Veikka still continued to Lappeenranta where he had left at 3 a.m. after night-shift at work! We had really had a long day!

J.A.