. . Lintuharrastajan päiväkirja Birders diary . .

During the last 2 weeks of 2015 I did some birding outside the winterbird count. On the 14th of December I saw a couple of male Grey-headed Woodpecker in a same tree and still 94 Whooper Swans in Siikalahti, on the 18th day 15 Canada Geese were in Härskiinmutka and on the next day there was 320 Goosanders and a Black-headed Gull which I still saw on the next day too.

On Boxing day we went to twitch a Bewick’s Swan to Saari Pohjanranta with Miika Soikkeli. There were also 70 Whooper Swans, 20 Canada Geese and 50 Mallards.

On the 27th day I drove to Lappeenranta to play and on the way I found a White Wagtail in Simpele! In Imatra the Lake Immala was still open and I saw 7 Whooper Swans, 2 Tufted Ducks, 3 Scaups, 2 Velvet Scoters and 2 Herring Gulls. In Lappeenranta I managed to get nice pictures of ice near Luukkaansalmi.

Then it got cold! On the 28th day Lake Simpele was freezing and I saw 110 Whooper Swans from Härskiinmutka. A lonely Common Gull was also seen too but on the next day almost whole lake was frozen and only 4 Whooper Swans and a Herring Gull were seen. It was good to stay in for the next couple of day and wait for the New Year.

The first of January in Helsinki

The traditional first of January trip started early. The first stop was made in Imatra Kymälahti where we hoped to see a Ural Owl, but saw surprisingly even better owl, a Long-eared Owl – at 4:30 a.m.

In Lappeenranta we tried to see an Eagle Owl without luck. Then we continued a long way to Heinola where we found a Shoveler in a flock of 250 Mallards very easily even though it was still pretty dark. Then we headed towards Helsinki and saw only a Blackbird on the way in Kerava.

We parked to Fastholma and walked towards the shore with many other birders. A Hooded Crow was heard before we got close to the feeder where soon a White-backed Woodpecker was found. With Hanna we walked next to the reed-bed because there were too many twitchers watching the feeder. It wasn’t a surprise that soon we were the first ones to see the Azure Tit coming from the reed with a flock of Blue Tits.

While other birders where chasing the Azure Tit we managed to see many Blackbirds, hear a Wren and find another White-backed Woodpecker. Also Bullfinches were heard and Great Tits, Magpies and a lonely young Whooper Swan seen. A little bit later a Great Spotted Woodpecker was found and then a Pygmy Owl came to see the feeder. While we were walking back to our car we still found a flock of 13 Gold Finches.

We continued to Töölönlahti but couldn’t even find the right place to find a Wigeon. On the way we saw Rock Pigeons, Jackdaws and Herring Gulls. Next we twitched a Moorhen in Tali which was very easy. Then we continued to Lauttasaari and now saw a flock of Canada Geese, Goosanders and Great Black-backed Gulls on the way. In Lauttasaari we found the right feeder and there were Green Finches, Tree Sparrows, a Coal Tit and the a Blackcap we were hoping to see. On a windy sea we saw only some Goldeneyes and Mute Swans.

Next we headed to Espoo Kaitalahdenranta where we found a Reed Bunting and saw a White-tailed Eagle. Soon we continued to the other side of the bay to bird-tower where we saw 7 Reed Buntings, another White-tailed Eagle and finally heard a couple of Bearded Reedlings. A Treecreeper was found on the way back to the car.

We had heard that the Wigeon was still in Töölönlahti and we got instructions to find the right place but once we got there the Wigeon was gone. A flock of House Sparrows and 2 Barnacle Geese were seen.

Then we started to drive back towards home. In Lapinjärvi we tried to twitch a Hen Harrier that had been seen an hour earlier but soon continued towards Kouvola where we had planned to end the days birding. On the way we still saw a flock of Waxwings and finally got to Tolkkila just before the sunset.

There were already many twitchers that had been waiting for owls to show up. It was freezing cold and in hard wind it really wasn’t comfortable! Anyway we waited and waited until it came dark. Most of the twitchers gave up but we decided to stay as long as it was still possible to see anything. But soon it was too dark. Anyway we decided to try to see if there were any owls in flight and possible to see while driving along the field-road. We drove only a couple of hundreds of meters when a Short-eared Owl flushed on our head-lights. We alarmed a couple of local birders there but before they came, we saw a flock of 3 owls which at least 2 of them were Long-eared Owls. Once Teo Ylätalo and Antti Vänskä got there we turned our head-light towards the field and managed to find a Short-eared Owl perched and 3 Long-eared Owls in flight. We could watch the Short-eared Owl for maybe 10 minutes but before the other twitchers came back, the bird flushed an disappeared to the dark.

We were absolutely freezing with Hanna so we started to drive towards Parikkala. In Rautjärvi Simpele we still tried to twitch 2 Bewick’s Swans in Lahnanen and it was a worthy try as it would have been possible to see the birds as there had been snowing a little and Lahnanen was mostly frozen and the open water area was quite small. But we couldn’t see or hear any swans there or a couple of other places we still visited nearby.

During the day I had got 8 new first of January ticks which 4 of them were also new January ticks and Moorhen even a winter-tick.

On the 2nd of January we birded with Miika. First year-ticks came in Tarvaslampi where a Grey-headed Woodpecker and a Jay were seen. In Särkisalmi we saw another Grey-headed Woodpecker and in Moskuunniemi 2 Siskins, a Willow Tit and 2 White-backed Woodpeckers.

Then we headed to Simpele and saw a on the way a couple of Ravens in Joukio and a Black Woodpecker in Koitsanlahdenkangas. In Kivijärvi school-yard we saw already the 3rd Grey-headed Woodpecker of the day and in Kokkolanjoki Uudensillankoski a flock of 3 Black Woodpeckers and 3 Dippers.

Then we heard that the Bewick’s Swans hadn’t been seen in Lahnanen, so we decided to drive around Lake Simpele back to Tarvaslampi. I hoped to find some grouses and other forest-birds. But it was absolutely quiet until I decided to turn to Peruspohja where we found a Dipper on the river.

Somehow we ended up to take a shortcut along a tiny forest-road which ebded up well when we found a flock of 4 Pine Grosbeaks!

We still continued to see Siberian Jays and were happy to find the 3 familiar birds. Also a couple of Crested Tits were seen.

Then I dropped Miika to Tarvaslampi and still continued to Siikalahti where I found a couple of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers and a flock of 10 Yellowhammers. Then I got news that the Bewick’s Swans were back in Lahnanen and decided to go twitching. Luckily I found these 2 adult swansa easily and got another January-tick again.

The 3rd of January started badly as my car didn’t work. Luckily I tried again after an hour and it worked fine again. I headed to Siikalahti where I saw a flock of 11 Black Grouses and in Kannas I saw a Coal Tit and a Blackbird. In Lahdensuo I saw 2 more Black Grouses and then in Kullinsuo I found 4 Mallards on a ditch that was still free from ice. Anyway it felt that there was nothing else to find as it was extremely cold – so it can take some time before I have something new to tell here…

J.A.

In Christmas Eve we did a winterbird count again with Hanna’s brother Miika Soikkeli. The weather wasn’t that good, but it was still like in autumn, no snow at all and all lakes completely open!

We started a little bit too early but after some waiting we could see that there weren’t many bird in Lake Simpele, only some Whooper Swans and a flock of Goosanders.

When we started to walk it was absolutely quiet! Only birds were 100 Jackdaws and 30 Hooded Crows – all passerines were missing. It stayed very quiet until we crossed the main road 6. We had seen only 7 species until that! Only 4 Tree Sparrows and one single Green Finch had been seen. Once we continued towards Siikalahti we started to see more Great and Blue Tits but also some Jays and Willow Tits.

In Siikalahti we saw some Ravens, a few flocks of Bullfinches, more Jays and once we finally saw the bay, we saw some tens of Whooper Swans and 5 Mallards. A flock of 16 Black Grouses and a young male Goshawk were also seen and in the western side of the bay we saw 2 Hazel Hens.

But then it was very quiet again until we finally saw the only woodpecker of the day, a Great Spotted Woodpecker and heard the only Yellowhammer. In Tetrisuo we saw a Great Grey Shrike.

Once back in Kangaskylä, we saw a Sparrowhawk and on lake we now saw 23 Common Gulls, 5 Herring Gulls and 76 Goosanders.

Altogether we saw 24 species and 545 birds. Goosander, Common and Herring Gull were all new species to mid-winter count, but anyway it was pretty quiet count without all seed and berry-eaters.

Now it’s time to summarize my year-long project as I walked this winterbird count every month this year. It was nice to see what species it is possible to see in this walk in different times of the year. Maybe I will do this again after 5 years or something, to see if there are big differences between years.

Altogether I saw 144 species in these 12 walks, 14683 birds. Monthly numbers were: (1) 23/463, (2) 29/501, (3) 29/527, (4) 75/1281, (5) 94/1587, (6) 96/4147, (7) 79/1195, (8) 69/1036, (9) 66/1047, (10) 41/1689, (11) 35/665 ja (12) 24 species/545 birds.

The most numerous bird species was Barnacle Goose, with (only) 3188 birds. I could have seen 10 times more with a count in right day, but I made all the counts when I happened to have time to walk whole day. Maybe never it was the most ideal day to do it. More than 1000 Black-headed Gulls were counted, but of course they were same birds in several months, which is of course with many other species too. More than 800 birds were seen both Great Tit and Whooper Swan, around 600 Jackdaws and Hooded Crows and more than 300 Chaffinches, Siskins, Willow Warblers and surprisingly Common Terns.

Better observations were more almost 200 Common Tern in May, a couple of Gadwalls, a flock of 240 Common Scoters in mid-summer, a Little Crake, an Oystercatcher, a Woodcock in November, a Short-eared Owl, a Jack Snipe, a Bluethroat, a Grasshopper Warbler, 2 River Warblers, a Great Reed Warbler, a Brambling in June, a Twite in March and the flocks of Gold Finches and Common Crossbills in the beginning of the year.

Some species that were seen less than expected were all arctic migrants in autumn, many ducks like Pochards, Red-necked and Slavonian Grebes, many migrant waders and White-backed Woodpeckers that had disappeared somewhere in the end of the year even though it was supposed to be the best year ever in Finland. In autumn there were no seed or berry-eaters and then both Sparrows are really disappearing. In winter all House Sparrows have gone somewhere and only some Tree Sparrows are around.

Anyway I must say that this was really fun project even though it was difficult to have time to do the 18 kilometers long walk in the busiest time of the year as the weather must be at least ok to do it. The worst time to do it was in autumn when the vegetation is long and thick and usually also wet. But then both winters were perfect with snow in the beginning of the year so I could ski and then no snow at all in the end of the year, so it was easy to walk.

J.A.

On Saturday the 12th of December we left with Hanna to twitch several birds to Southern Finland. On the previous evening we went to sleep very early and woke up after 3 a.m. in the morning. At 4 a.m. we were driving towards Imatra and there we crossed the border and bought cheaper Russian gasoline. Luckily there were no queues in that time.

Before 9 a.m. we parked to Tuusula Jokela Perttu and soon could hear a Siberian Lesser Whitethroat calling. It was giving both chak and trrrt calls very actively. It was still pretty dark but when we had met the owner of the house whose feeder the bird was visiting, we walked to see the feeder. And the whitethroat was already there.

We were looking at the bird for about an hour and there were quite a few other twitchers too as this was the first weekend day that this bird was twitched. And many other birders had similar plans with us for the rest of the day. But we stayed studying the Siberian Lesser Whitethorat for much longer so almost everyone else continued to the next place before us.

So when we finally, after a couple of U-turns, got to Helsinki and Tähtitorninmäki, there weren’t many birders. Pallas Leaf Warbler had been missing for about 10 minutes but luckily after 10 more it was found on the top of the trees. It was a WP-tick for Hanna but unfortunately it stayed too high for photographing. The bird was very active, but it was still about 10 degrees! A couple of days later it came cold and the bird disappeared.

Our next target was in Viikki Fastholma and after we had walked a kilometer or so and saw a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker on the way, we found the feeder. The Azure Tit that had been extremely difficult to twitch on windy days had been now easier and once we got to the right place next to a reedbed it took only 5 minutes to see it. It came very close to the trees, but stayed pretty high but anyway we saw this bird extremely well!

Unfortunately there were too many birders chasing the bird with their cameras so I didn’t enjoy staying watching the Azure Tit very long, so we started to walk back towards our car. After 100 meters we saw a group of birders that were watching a Tawny Owl that was roosting on the chimney of a house! It was my first ever roosting Tawny Owl in Finland so I was very happy even though the bird soon dropped inside the chimney and invisible. We also saw a White-backed Woodpecker before continued to our car.

We continued towards east and saw a Hawk Owl in Porvoo and in Pyhtää Heinlahti we stopped to twitch a couple of Red-crested Pochards. There had been birders for whole day and a male had been seen only very briefly early in the morning. So we weren’t very hopeful and after talking shortly with some friends, we decided to keep on going. Anyway after 10 kilometers driving, I got a message that male Red-crested Pochard had just been found, so we made an U-turn and hurried back! It was getting foggy, but luckily we managed to see the bird! Also 26 Coots, 3 Smews, a Wigeon and lots of Mute Swans and Canada Geese were seen in Heinlahti.

In Kotka we saw a Sparrowhawk and in Virolahti a Goshawk before we managed to get to Ylämaa Hujakkala about 30 minutes after the sunset. But there was still some light and we managed to find a male Gadwall that was in a big flock of Mallards on a flooded field. It was a good winter tick to South Karelia.

I had planned that if everything goes extremely well, we could still visit Kaislanen in Lappeenranta, but it was too late. But anyway when we got home, we were very happy – it had been quite a day!

On Sunday the 13th day I then drove to Lappeenranta and together with Pekka Punnonen we birded a few hours there. We started in Kaislanen where we saw a Pochard which I now have seen in every month in Finland. Also 134 Whooper Swans and a Smew were found there. Otherwise we didn’t see much, a Nuthatch in Pappilanniemi as usual. On the way back to Parikkala I again filled my tank in Russia and then stopped in Kymälahti tower where I saw a few Scaups and Tufted Ducks and 3 Velvet Scoters. It had been amazing weekend with lots of different kind of strange winter-birds!

J.A.

After coming back from Helsinki the week went normally. I did short birding trips on my lunch-hours – it was dark before and after work. On the 23rd of November I saw a Fieldfare in Kangaskylä and a Velvet Scoter in Särkisalmi. On the 24th I found a Teal with 103 Mallards in the northern end of Siikalahti. On the 25th a Goshawk flew over me in Kangaskylä and I also saw a couple of Coal Tits and a Great Grey Shrike. On the 26th a Hazel Hen and a couple of Redpolls were the only better birds.

On Saturday the 28th of November I twitched the first Amur Wagtail for Finland in Lahti Kujala rubbish tip. It is maybe never going to be an own species but anyway it was nice to see a bird that I had never seen before! Luckily I saw the bird right away I got there early in the morning by the pool where it had also been found on the previous afternoon. Then it flew to the rubbish tip but luckily it was relocated there and I could get some pictures and videos too. There were maybe 30 twitchers during that morning. The bird stayed in the area for a couple of next days before it disappeared.

On the way back to Parikkala I saw a flock of 13 Pine Grosbeaks in Lappeenranta. It was raining a lot, so I didn’t stop at all on the way.

On the 29th day we found a Long-tailed Duck in Siikalahti and in Rautalahti we saw 16 Canada Geese with Whooper Swans. In Härskiinmutka we saw a Common Scoter and then we twitched a Coot in Kirkkoranta. On the last day of November I finally managed to see a White-backed Woodpecker which I hadn’t seen for more than 2 months! And it has been the best autumn for woodpeckers ever in other parts of Finland! It was my 65th species in November and I won the November race. Harri Partanen was second with 60 species.

On the 1st of December I managed to find a Bewick’s Swan with Whooper Swans in Siikalahti! A White-tailed Eagle was hiding on the reeds and 3 Canada Geese were in Raikanniemi. The coot was still in Kirkkoranta and it was already the second new winter species for me to Parikkala.On the 2nd day I saw only a Common Scoter in Särkisalmi and on the 3rd a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and a Great Grey Shrike in Siikalahti and I still saw the Coot for the last time.

On the 4th of December I started do drive south after my work. In Imatra Immalanjärvi I stopped at new bird-tower in Kymälahti and saw a White-tailed Eagle, a Common Scoter, 3 Velvet Scoters, 3 Tufted Ducks, 2 Scaups and a Long-tailed Duck. In Lappeenranta Mustola the Black-throated Diver had changed to winter-plumage and in Kaislanen I saw 3 Smews but no Pochard that had stayed there for a long time as it seemed to be injured.

In the evening I was in Lapinjärvi and on the next day we were preparing the Porvoo-area bird-race in Porvoo. But we saw only a Great Crested Grebe in Loviisa Liljendal Hopomjärvi, a Lesser Redpoll in Porvoo Tolkkinen and altogether 5 Chaffinches. Not much else.

On the 6th of December was the traditional Independence Day bird-race but we really didn’t do well! Together with Juha, Markus Keskitalo and Nette Meriluoto we managed to find 41 species in horrible weather. Only better bird was a Hawfinch that was seen on Nette’s feeder. We came only 5th on the race.

during the week I still did short trips but saw mostly only Whooper Swans. On the 8th day I found a Teal couple in Tarvaspohja and a Black-headed Gull in Särkisalmi, both were new winter-species for me in Parikkala. In the end of the week I still saw a couple of Goldeneyes in Muikkulahti, a Velvet Scoter in Tarvaspohja, a Grey-headed and a Black Woodpecker in Tarvaslampi and Siberian Jays in their own forest. On the 11th of December I still saw the same Black-headed Gull.

J.A.

On Friday the 20th of November I drove to Kirkkonummi. On the way I stopped in Imatra Immalanjärvi and saw 5 Long-tailed Ducks, a Velvet Scoter and a Scaup.

On Saturday I woke up early and headed to Espoo Kaitalahti where had been a flock of Bearded Reedlings and 2 Little Grebes. It was still dark when I arrived at Kaitalahdenranta as it was only 7:55 a.m. I saw a passerine flushed from the parking place and decided to go to have a look what it was as it looked like a bunting. Kaitalahdenranta is very good place for Reed Buntings and they are even wintering there but when I found the bird that was again on the road, it looked too small and different. It was absolutely too dark to see any real identification marks, but the birds really looked like a Little Bunting! Then a man came walking towards me and flushed the bird away from the road. Luckily I found the bird again and after some time it started to get lighter and I could really see that it was a Little Bunting!

I tried to get some pictures of the Little Bunting but it was still too dark. So I checked the bay and walked back later and there the bird still was. After some 30 minutes trying I managed to get a picture where the bird was easy to identify. And as there still were no twitchers, I decided to move to Kaitalahti bird-tower to try to twitch Bearded Reedlings.

(Pictures here are pretty much what I saw in the beginning and then a picture taken much later with 1 second exposure).

Soon I got some phone-calls that the bunting had disappeared. And even there were people for whole day, nobody else saw it! I managed to hear a couple of Bearded Reedlings and also a Reed Bunting, but never saw a Little Grebe. Soon I had to drive back to Kirkkonummi from where I took a train to Helsinki where we had Bongariliitto (twitchers association) meetings. After the meetings Markus Lampinen and Juho Könönen showed pictures from their ringing trip to Baikal. And I was back at Kirkkonummi after 9 p.m.

On Sunday I headed to Kaitalahti again but saw really nothing there. In Suomenoja I saw 12 Gadwalls and then I headed to Kirkkonummi Masala where I managed to twitch a Hoopoe pretty easily even though there were plenty of twitchers that hadn’t seen the bird earlier in the morning at all. At midday I went to eat to my parents and soon I started a long drive towards Parikkala.

In Porvoo I twitched a Little Grebe in Seitlaxfjärden and in Pyhtää I tried to twitch Red-crested Pochards without luck. I did see 30 Smews and 24 Coots there.

J.A.

After we had come back from Icelandwe drove back to Parikkala via Hollola where we twitched a Pied Wheatear. We also saw a Pink-footed Goose there.

On the 26th of Octotber there were still 1600 Barnacle Geese in Siikalahti, also 6 Long-tailed Ducks, a Teal and 3 White-tailed Eagles were seen.

On the next days the geese left quickly and only a couple of flocks were seen. A family of 4 White-tailed Eagles were seen on several days and on the 27th day I still saw a Black-throated and a Red-throated Diver too. The next night was very cold and Siikalahti got frozen. In Tiviänlampi I still saw 10 Smews.

The last 2 days of Ocotber I saw only 3 Canada Geese in Härskiinmutka, a couple of Goshawks and White-tailed Eagles in Siikalahti, 3 Siberian Jays in the forests and 2 Red-breasted Merganser, a Great Crested Grebe and a Black-headed Gull in Lake Simpele.

In November we had once again a bird-competition, so I was birding every day in the beginning of the month. Of course on my work-day I could only do a short trip during my lunch-hour.

On the 1st of November I did a winter-bird count and saw 34 species. Siikalahti was open again but I saw almost only Whooper Swans there. In Lake Simpele I saw 5 Red-breasted Mergansers, a Great Crested Grebe, a Black-headed Gull and on the long walk also 3 Black Grouses, a White-tailed Eagle, a Woodcock, a Black Woodpecker, a Blackbird, 5 Fieldfares, a Goldcrest, 2 Long-tailed Tits, a Great Grey Shrike and a Redpoll.

On the 2nd day I saw 10 Wigeons and Tufted Ducks and a Grey-headed Woodpecker in Siikalahti. In Joukio I saw a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, in Moskuunniemi a Chaffinch and in Kangaskylä 4 Waxwings.

On the 3rd day I saw 3 Black-headed Gulls in Särkisalmi, a Goshawk in Tähtiniemi, 2 Common Scoters and a Siskin in Koitsanlahti and a Red-throated Diver and a Crested Tit in Oravaniemi. On the 4th day my only new species was a Scaup in Siikalahti.

On the 5th day I saw a Nutcracker and finally 2 House Sparrows in Kangaskylä. On the 6th day a Black Woodpecker and a flock of 25 Long-tailed Tits were in Oravaniemi. Then I drove to Saari where I checked many places but saw only a flock of 14 Fieldfares in Pohjasuo and Wigeon in Kanavalampi. I was already very bored of birding in November but I decided to drive back to Parikkala along the Russian border. There I saw in the late afternoon 2 Black Grouses, a Hazel Grouse, a Dipper, a Pygmy Owl and even a Great Grey Owl!

On the 7th of October I was playing floorball in Simpele but on the way there I saw a flock of 4 Velvet Scoters in Pistoniemi. On the 8th day we did a short visit to the forests but it started to rain too soon. Anyway we saw the familiar 3 Siberian Jays and 2 Coal Tits. In Muikkulahti we saw the same 3 Canada Geese. The 9th day was the first day without new species. I did visit several places but only better birds were a White-tailed Eagle and a Great Crested Grebe in Oravaniemi and 8 Wigeons, 45 Mallards, 7 Goldeneyes and 240 Whooper Swans in Siikalahti. On the next days it was raining, so I wasn’t birding much.

Next better birds were a Three-toed Woodpecker in Oravaniemi and a flock of 7 Barnacle Geese in Kangaskylä on the 12th of November. On the 13th day there were 2 Starlings in Kangaskylä, in Moskuunniemi I saw a Black-headed Gull, in Rautalahti a Velvet Scoter and 6 Smews in Saari Lahdenpohja.

During the weekend I was in Lappeenranta. On the way I twitched a Dipper in Rautjärvi, Simpele, Kokkolanjoki and in Lappeenranta I twitched a Black-throated Diver in Mustolanlampi and a Pochard in Kaislanen. On Sunday I twitched a Nuthatch in Pappilanniemi.

Then it really started to get quiet. It was dark, rainy and boring. I did do birding on my lunch-hours but saw only same birds as earlier. On the 16th of November I still saw a Great Crested Grebe in Oravaniemi and on the 17th day now only 6 Barnacle Geese in Kangaskylä. The next new bird for the November race was a Long-tailed Duck in Siikalahti on the 20th day.

J.A.