. . Lintuharrastajan päiväkirja Birders diary . .

In the end of July it was very boring times for a birder. So all I saw in many days were some Nutcrackers and a family of Gold Finches in the village, some Grey Herons and quite a few Red-backed Shrikes. Only better birds were 2 Cormorants in Härskiinmutka and a Redshank and a Reed Warbler in Kirkkoranta on the 23rd day.

On the 25th of July we were in Siikalahti for the whole morning but saw almost nothing. Of course a Great White Egret arrived o the next morning when I was still sleeping. I managed to twitch it but I still need the species to my self-found list.

On the last days of July there were still some Blyth’s Reed Warblers, Thrush Nightingales and so on on the bushes but even though I saw managed to twitch a Great White Egret that I again didn’t find and saw a very early young Hen Harrier I was so bored birding in Parikkala that I decided to go to Southern Finland for a weekend again. On the way I stopped in Lappeenranta Askola where I saw 11 Dunlins, 2 Curlew Sands, 2 Little Stints, 2 Temminck Stints, 2 Redshanks, 2 Little Ringed Plovers, a Ringed Plover and a Caspian Tern. Then I continued straight to Hanko where I was again in Vedagrundet in the evening. But the sea was very empty comparing what it was 2 weeks earlier.

On the 1st of August I seawatched for 10 hours but saw only 1 Black Guillemot, 2 Arctic Skuas, 4 Caspian Terns and not many other terns either so no Sandwich Terns either. 5 Sparrowhawks were migrating, 2 Golden Plovers, 10 Dunlins and a Broad-billed Sandpiper were only other goodies.

On the 2nd day I seawatched for 5 hours and saw 2 Pintails, a Velvet Scoter, 2 Curlew Sandpipers, 35 Dunlins and a Whimbrel. On the way back I stopped again in Suomenoja and saw all the regular birds plus a Marsh Warbler.

The Great White Egret stayed in Siikalahti for the next week but showed only in flight in the northern end of the bay. A White-tailed Eagle, a Thrush Nightingale, a couple of Blyth’s Reed Warblers, White-backed Woodpeckers, Bitterns, Grey Herons, a Cuckoo and Red-backed Shrikes were other species I saw there. In Moskuunniemi I still saw an Icterine Warbler and in the village I still saw one Nutcracker.

On the 8th day I walked around Siikalahti again with Hanna’s brother Miika but the rainy weather wasn’t good and we saw nothing special. On the next day I saw a Merlin there and a Nuthatch near Lahdenkylä. during the next days I saw the first Yellow Wagtails for the autumn, twitched a Moorhen in Imatra while I was visiting Russia for gasoline once again and on the 12th day I saw the Great White Egret for the last time.

On the 13th day I found a Wryneck in Siikalahti and it stayed there for several days. On the 15th day we saw 3 Siberian Jays, a Capercaillie and heard a Goshawk, a Hazel Hen and a Two-barred Crossbill in the forests. In the afternoon we continued to Saari with Miika and saw a Merlin, a flock of 140 House Martins and a Wryneck but nothing else really. The next days produced a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and a Spotted Redshank in Siikalahti, a one more Wryneck in Lahdensuo, a Temminck Stint and a Great Grey Shrike in Akanvaara Tetrisuo and still on the 23rd day I saw a Blyth’s Reed Warbler in Siikalahti and on the 25th I saw a flock of 25 Common Scoters in Härskiinmutka.

On the 27th day I saw a Black Grouse in Kontiolampi and 8 Canada Geese in Härskiinmutka. On the 28th day I twitched a Turnstone in Imatra Immalanjärvi.

J.A.

On Friday the 17th of July I started driving south and stopped in Lappeenranta Askola where I saw a Little Ringed Plover, 5 Dunlins, 2 Temminck Stints and a Caspian Tern that had been there already on the previous day. I picked up Pekka Punnonen and soon we continued towards Hanko. We had planned to go to seawatch for the weekend and hoped to see a Sandwich Tern as a Finnish-tick as there had been a couple of them on last 2 days and 1 also in this day.

But it was a long drive and we were in Hanko after 7 p.m. and first we drove to Tallholmarna but saw nothing special, just Cormorants, Mute Swans and Eiders which of course were special birds for us inland-birders.

Then we drove to Vedagrundet and started seawatching. We checked every tern and also scanned the sea and all the islands, islets and rocks. 3 Caspian Terns were fishing nearby and a Little Ringed Plover and a couple of Dunlins were found before I noticed a reddish wafer 1 kilometer away on a small rock. It had pale head and strange white streak on its side. I immediately thought it was a Red Phalarope but I needed to check the book as I didn’t remember any streak on its plumage. But it had exactly similar stripe on the book so I sent the news out. Pretty soon there were the first twitchers and even though the bird was pretty mobile and times to times went to the other side of the rocks we managed to keep it visible until 11 p.m. when the last twitchers arrived from Helsinki!

On the 18th of July we tried to sleep in my car but we woke up a couple of times as there were new twitchers coming and we heard a Spotted Crake and saw a Nightjar in a parking place. At 4 a.m. we walked to the shore and soon the Red Phalarope was found again but this time it was much closer, about 250 meters from us. It soon flew to another small island and stayed pretty much on the other side of the island but anyway every twitcher managed to see it even though it took even 4 hours for a couple of them as they were moving to Högholmen when someone saw it from there and again back when we saw it and they were always in wrong place.

We of course tried to seawatch and checked all the terns and every single place that was visible and saw 2 Broad-billed Sandpipers, 6 Arctic Skuas, 6 Caspian Terns, 2 Whimbrels, 8 Dunlins, 15 Black Guillemots, heard 4 young Wrynecks and a singing Greenish Warbler and saw a Parrot Crossbill. I also saw a flock of 5 Razorbills. But we didn’t see any Sandwich Terns even though one group of birders told later that they had seen one! And we were only 30 meters from them!

In the afternoon it started to rain and we went to eat to the city. We managed to get the last room from Silverstrand camping and went to sleep soon.

On the 19th we were out again at 4 a.m. and after visiting Långören, we were soon in Vedagrundet again. There were no other birders as the last twitchers of the previous evening hadn’t seen the Red Phalarope anymore. But after an hour we found the bird again from the ordinary rock 1 kilometer away. It was windier and the bird stayed long times behind the rock, but soon there were more and more twitchers again and everyone saw the bird.

Other birds we saw until 1:30 p.m. were 4 Pintails, 2 Long-tailed Ducks, 2 Velvet Scoters, a Red-throated and a Black-throated Diver, 6 Grey Plovers, 1+26 Bar-tailed Godwits, 8 Whimbrels, 8 Arctic Skuas, 4 Caspian Terns, 10 Black Guillemots and 4 young Wrynecks were still calling around us. I also saw a Turnstone and a Razorbill and there was a Knot and a Little Stint on the beach. But we didn’t see any Sandwich Terns. Together with Andreas Lindén we still stopped in Svanvik and then in Kirkkonummi Saltfjärden where we saw 600 Swifts and 2 Spotted Redshanks. Then with Pekka we still stopped in Espoo Finno where we saw 6 Moorhens and 80 Gadwalls. On the way towards Lappeenranta, we still stopped in Pyhtää Lökören, where we twitched 2 male and a female Red-crested Pochards. We still stopped in Lappeenranta Askola where we saw 4 Curlew Sandpipers, a Grey Heron and so on. After I had dropped Pekka, I still had a tired drive to Parikkala where I still saw the 25th wader-species of the trip – a Woodcock.

J.A.

After coming back from Urals I had to go twitching even though the bird was one I had seen and heard many during the last 10 days – the first real Oriental Cuckoo for Finland had been found in Sotkamo! I slept a couple of hours at home after a long travelling from Ekaterinburg and Helsinki and then started a long drive to Sotkamo. I was there in Teerijärvi at 7 p.m. and there were already some twitchers but they hadn’t heard anything in a couple of hours.

At 8:15 I heard a on series of Oriental Cuckoo calling but it stopped immediately. After 5 minutes it started to cal and called for 2 minutes and I even managed to get some recording. But then the next series was heard at 9:50 and right then one car was leaving the place and nobody else heard it and there were quite a few who had arrived after the first calls. And after that I didn’t hear anything even though I stayed there until 4:15 a.m.

On the way back home I stopped in Saari Pohjanranta and saw a Marsh Sandpiper with Greenshanks and Wood Sandpipers. Then I still went by bike to listen to a Reed Warbler in Kirkkoranta. Then I was ready for a long sleep.

In the evening we went to twitch a Great Snipe but it was calling very badly. We counted 188 Curlews and 1 Whimbrel from the field.

On Friday I was in Lappeenranta and Pyhtää celebrating my friend’s bachelor parties. On the way back I went to twitch a Quail in Lappeenranta Hanhijärvi Rantala. On Sunday I participated to Parikkala bike competition and biked 90 kilometers. I was extremely tired and hardly managed to finish. On the way I heard a Great Reed Warbler in Siikalahti and some Chiffchaffs, Icterine Warblers and Wrens. Next a couple of nights I heard a couple of Nightjars and 2 Great Snipes.

On the 1st of July I went early to Soininmäki where the Red-flanked Bluetail was still singing. I also drove to Saari and in Akanvaara Tetrisuo I saw a Black Grouse and in Pohjanranta I heard a Marsh and an Icterine Warbler. During the day I saw a White-tailed Eagle and a Bittern and heard the Great Reed Warbler in Siikalahti. In the evening we saw 5 Great Snipes in, but they weren’t really calling, just flying around. On the next day I saw 12 Hobbies, 2 Gadwalls and heard an Icterine Warbler in Siikalahti.

During the 3rd to 5th day I was biking around Lake Saimaa again with my friends. We drove altogether 250 kilometers as one had to drive a car while 4 were biking. We really were lucky as the weather was better than in whole summer. On the way back home I twitched a Kingfisher in Lappeenranta Haapajärvi and counted 84 Barnacle Geese in Parikkala Joukionsalmi.

On the 6th and 7th day I saw a Nutcracker in Kangaskylä and on the 8th day we visited Saari with Harri Partanen but saw only an Ortolan Bunting in Tetrisuo and a Short-eared Owl in Pohjasuo.

On the 10th of July Jari Kontiokorpi found a Curlew Sandpiper in Kirkkoranta which I of course twitches. There were also 2 Dunlins and 56 Lapwings.

On the 11th day we counted July count around Siikalahti with Hanna and saw a flock of 240 Common Scoters, a Spotted Redshank and a Red-backed Shrike and heard a Corn Crake, 6 Wrens, 2 River Warblers, 6 Blyth’s Reed Warblers, a Great Reed Warbler and 3 Golden Orioles and so on.

On the 12th day we visited Soinimäki and heard 2 Hazel Hens but the Red-flanked Bluetail was already quiet. We also went to see a breeding pair of Red-throated Divers to Savo side of the border and found them with 2 youngsters.

Next day I saw a Green Sandpiper in Kirkkoranta and on the 15th day saw 2 Gold Finches in Kangaskylä and a Garganey in Siikalahti. On the 16th day I saw 5 Long-tailed tits in a short forest-trip and in Joukiosalmi I counted amazing 147 Barnacle Geese which about half of them were youngsters!

J.A.

On the 1st of June we started early with Hanna, her brother Miika and mother Helka. We went to twitch a Red-flanked Bluetail that I had found on the previous morning. We found it right away when we got out and this time we managed to see and photograph this young male bird much easier. A Greenish Warbler was singing shortly and we also heard a Three-toed Woodpecker calling and I also heard a Parrot Crossbill.

We continued soon to another forest place where we soon found a family of Siberian Jays. Old couple had still managed to get one young which was very good news! A Black Woodpecker also came to make noise close to us.

Then we continued to see the Great Grey Owl again and we found it easily. It was very tired so we took just some pictures and let it enjoy the morning sun. We also flushed a female Capercaillie that flew very beautifully in front of us.

In the evening we did a short trip to Saari with Hanna. In Akanvaara Tetrisuo it was very windy, but after some waiting we saw the 2nd year Montagu’s Harrier again. 10 Black Grouses were lekking even though it was quite stormy.

In Pohjanrata we saw a Marsh Sandpiper, 4 Greenshanks, a Redshank, a Dunlin and a Ringed Plover. 13 Barnacle Geese were sleeping on the field.

On the 2nd of June we did the bird count with Miika. We walked 17 kilometers around Siikalahti starting from our home. It was good to Miika to practice all the common song-birds, but of course we had some better birds too like a Canada Goose, 2 Garganeys, 5 Red-breasted Mergansers, a Black Grouse, 6 Slavonian Grebes, 2 Honey Buzzards, 3 Hobbies, 3 Water Rails, a Little Crake, a family of 4 Cranes that were swimming cross Siikalahti, a Green Sandpiper, 55 Little Gulls, a Long-eared Owl, a Grey-headed and a White-backed Woodpecker, a Wryneck, 3 Wrens, 7 Blackcaps, a Grasshopper Warbler, 2 Marsh and 9 Blyth’s Reed Warblers, 2 Wood Warblers, a Long-tailed Tit, a Treecreeper, 3 Golden Orioles, a House Sparrow and a strange Brambling that was singing close to the village.

On the 3rd of June I had to go to work to Imatra. I left so early that I could try to twitch Great Snipes in Rautjärvi but they were already silent. It was raining pretty hard when I got to Joutseno Konnunsuo but luckily it stopped soon and I managed to hear a Booted Warbler singing.

In the afternoon I visited Pohjanranta again and saw a couple of Marsh Sandpipers, a Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Broad-billed Sandpipers and a Temminck Stint. Now there were only 7 Barnacle Geese but also a Brent Goose.

On the 4th of June I woke up very early as I felt asleep too early in the previous evening. So I was birding again before 6 a.m. and soon I was listening to the Red-flanked Bluetail again. It really had chosen a territory in a forest in Parikkala! I continued driving around Lake Simpele and soon saw a small Brown Bear on the road! It rose to stand on two feet but soon continued to he forest but stopped there and started to watch what I was doing. I talked and whistled to it and it always looked at me. Unfortunately I had no other camera than my mobile. After some minutes it started to climb to the hill inside the forest and I continued birding. All I found were a couple of River Warblers, so pretty soon I was back at home.

During the day we went to check all the owls we had and two Pygmy Owls had 7 chicks that were big enough to ring. Tengmalm’s Owl chicks and one Pygmy owl chicks were still too small. The last Pygmy Owl had even 2 dead chicks in the nest so there wasn’t enough food in the forest.

In the afternoon we did a short trip to Saari with Harri. In Tetrisuo we found a Short-eared Owl and in Pohjanranta we saw 11 Barnacle Geese, a Brent Goose, a Garganey, 2 Little Ringed and 1 Ringed Plover and still 2 Marsh Sandpipers and a River Warbler was singing.

On the night of 5th of June I still went to listen that Little Crake was sill in Siikalahti. In the afternoon we left to a longer trip to Urals!

J.A.

On the 25th of May I saw the first Honey Buzzards and a Spotted Flycatcher in Siikalahti, also a Wryneck was calling. In on nest in Parikkala White-backed Woodpeckers were soon leaving. I also did a short night-trip and heard a few Corn Crakes, 2 Nightjars, a Grasshopper Warbler and a couple of Blyth’s Reed Warblers. A Little Crake was calling in Siikalahti again, nobody had heard it for a couple of weeks.

On the 26th day I saw a Black Kite in Siikalahti and in the afternoon I went by bike to check Pygmy Owl and Tengmalm’s Owl nests. I also saw a Capercaillie.

On the 28th day I drove to Luumäki for a short work-visit. In the afternoon I did birding in Joutseno but saw nothing special. But then in the evening we drove to Saari with Hanna and it really was good. In Akanvaara Tetrisuo we heard an Ortolan Bunting and in Pohjanranta we saw 2 Marsh Sandpipers, 3 Broad-billed Sandpieprs, a Temminck’s Stint, a Dunlin, 2 Redshanks and so on. In suurenjärvenliete we still saw 3 Temminck’s Stints, a Little Ringed Plover and 2 Ruffs. At night we biked around Siikalahti and some other places with Harri Partanen and heard a Grasshopper Warbler, a River Warbler, a Marsh Warbler, some Corn Crakes and the same Little Crake and saw 2 Long-eared Owls and so on.

On the 29th of May we went to Saari with Hanna’s brother Miika. In Akanvaara Tetrisuo we found a strane looking harrier that after some difficulties I managed to identify as a Montagu’s Harrier. We also heard an Ortolan Bunting and in Pohjanranta almost all waders were still present, 2 Ringed Plovers were new.

On the 30th day I was in Siikalahti for some hours and the weather was too good. I felt too tired but a White-tailed Eagle, a Yellow Wagtail, a Golden Oriole and a Marsh Warbler were keeping me there for longer. During the day we slept long…

On the 31st of May at midnight we headed to night-trip with Hanna and Miika. We started with a River Warbler, a Grasshopper Warbler, Corn Crakes, Blyth’s Reed Warblers and 2 Nightjars and then in Kolmikannankangas we heard a Ural Owl. Then we went to Siikalahti to make a count with a rowing boat and counted 6 Bitterns, 5 Water Rails, 4 Spotted Crakes, the same Little Crake, 2 Golden Orioles and a Great Reed Warbler.

After that I biked to Moskuunniemi and heard 4 Icterine Warblers and together with Harri a River Warbler too. Then we continued to Melkoniemi forests and soon found a Greenish Warbler. We listened it for some time and then I suddenly heard a familiar song behind us. It sounded a little bit too long and there were some extra tunes, but after some songs it continued as it should be – it was a Red-flanked Bluetail! I climbed after it and managed to find it after some searching and it was a nice 2nd year male – the first ever Bluetail for Parikkala and the first singing bird ever in South Karelia! When Harri had climbed up with his camera the bird moved further and then we decided that I will try to get a picture of the bird. I took Harri’s camera and followed the bird but it always moved further when it saw me. It took a long time before I finally saw it again and this time on the South Savo side of the border. But I missed it again before I got a picture. Anyway I still decided to try once more and finally I was successful! I got some pictures and left the bird to sing. When I had walked back to our bikes, the bird returned to sing to the place we had found it – it seemed to have a territory there!

We still biked for some time and saw quite a few Common Crossbills, heard a few Parrot Crossbills and a Two-barred Crossbill and a Black Woodpecker. After 50 kilometers biking and 2 more rowing, I was back at home and ready to go to sleep.

In the evening we still went to see a Great Grey Owl that was found nearby. We also put a nest for it to a tree so hopefully it will stay there longer…

J.A.

On the 22nd of May we drove to Oulu with Jari Kiljunen. There we met Mikko Ala-Kojola and did a short trip to a forest nearby and checked a Ural Owl nest, but this old Goshawk nest had collapsed and there was a broken egg and a dead juvenile under the tree. This was out only preparation for the next day’s bird-race.
In the evening also my brother Pirkka arrived, we had sauna, ate well and planned the 24 hour’s race.

On the 23rd of May we woke up before 7 a.m. and started to prepare for the race. After a couple of hours we drove north where we had planned to start. The weather forecast told that the first half of the race the weather would be extremely poor, so we had chosen to begin with owls. At 11 a.m. we were checking that a Hawk Owl with a youngster were easily found on their breeding site and moved to check a Ural Owl nearby. After we had found a youngster, we waited until 12 o´clock and started the race. Soon we had seen also the young Hawk Owl and continued our way. A female Black Grouse was seen and soon after that a female Capercaillie which was a nice surprise.

We continued and got only common species to our list and soon turned to a small road again and soon had got a Pygmy Owl too. And after some more driving we had seen also a young Tengmalm’ Owl looking out from it’s nest-box. And we continued towards Oulu and saw a Reindeer and a Rowe Deer on the way.

In Oulu we went to Taskila reservoir and there we realized how horrible the wind really was! Only a couple of Oystercatchers were seen and soon after we had continued again, we saw 2 Stock Doves. In Pyykösjätvi we saw only a Coot and Ravens and some even more common species. After we had seen a couple of Slavonian Grebes in Lintulampi we didn’t have luck in Oritkari, but a Starling was seen in Äimärautio. In Vihiluoto we saw Gadwalls, Mute Swans, a Shelduck, a Smew and heard a Pheasant. We missed the Garganey that only I saw briefly in flight. A couple of Little Terns were seen from the Oulunsalo side of the border. The wind was so hard it was really difficult to use a scope. In Teppola fields we saw a Black-tailed Godwit and soon continued towards Liminka.

In Liminka we found only Rock Doves – no Collared Doves at all! In Virkkula we saw 3 Garganeys, White-tailed Eagles, a Red-throated Diver and a couple of Broad-billed Sandpipers. It started to rain hard and then we saw a flock of 16 Knots flying in front of us. In Lumijoki Sannanlahti the rain had stopped but the water had risen very high and it was difficult to get in to the tower. A Sedge Warbler was singing, a Bittern calling, a Long-tailed Duck, a Caspian Tern and an Arctic Skua and 2 flocks of Barnacle Geese seen.

In Siikajoki we stopped first in Karinkanta, but the first birds were found in Sääri. Dunlins, Broad-billed Sandpipers, 3 Turnstones, and a Bar-tailed Godwit were seen, but the last one disappeared before 3 of us saw it. In Karinkanta fields we found a White-fronted Goose and then we hurried to Merikylänlahti to twitch a nice flock of 4 male Red-crested Pochards! In Kaasa we didn’t get out from the car at all as the wind was far too strong so soon we headed to Tauvo Ulkonokka.

Ulkonokka was under water so it didn’t take too long to check it. 3 Red-necked Phalaropes were the best one as all other birds were already on our list – Bittern, Turnstone, Caspian Tern, Little Tern… On the way back we saw a Hobby.

Then we headed inland to our traditional night-trip. But no Willow Grouses or Jack Snipes were found, but a Great Grey Owl was in her nest. The weather was finally getting better so even though at least some of us felt extremely tired the mood was high.

In Raahe Aittalahti we saw a male Pochard and in Kaijanaro we heard a Corn Crake. Soon we were in Pyhäjoki where Heinikarinlampi and Hietakarinlahti were disappointments. Luckily a Green Sandpiper was found nearby and first Wrens were heard. Along the river we heard some Blackcaps, Common Rosefinches and another Corn Crake and along road towards Harmi flocks of Redpolls and Common Crossbills were seen. Then it was time to continue to Elävisluoto for seawatching. Along the road I found a female harrier that turned out to be a Pallid Harrier. And when I gound 2 Grey Herons from the sky it felt we had finally some luck. On the sea we saw right away lots of Red-throated Divers and finally one Black-throated too, Velvet Scoters, Long-tailed Ducks, Common Scoters, a couple of Red-necked Phalaropes, 3 Knots, a Turnstone and finally a Razorbill too. As we thought that we had too many species missing, we stopped earlier as we had planned and continued. And soon we saw a Willow Grouse standing next to the road!

In Alhonmäki we weren’t in the right place when we already saw a Wood Lark and soon we twitched a Quail in Piikkikari. In Karinkanta we saw a Bluethroat and soon another one too. In Sääri there weren’t new wader species but a Rustic Bunting flew right over us and a Brambling and a Wood Warbler were singing along the road.

Then we made the bad choice and continued to see the breeding Goshawk and Three-toed Woodpeckers. Unfortunately we couldn’t find the nest of the woodpecker and the Goshawk nest was empty! We lost too much time! Only species we got was a Great Spotted Woodpecker. And in Virkkula other teams had 2 Red-rumped Swallows, a Gull-billed Tern and a Montagu’s Harrier – 2 of them were lifers for half of our team. Anyway we still needed to make a stop in Alhonmäki where we saw an Osprey, a Common Buzzard and a Hen Harrier in 15 minutes.

We still had 40 minutes to go when we arrived at Virkkula. The wind was still strong but the visibility was really good. But only new species we had was a Grey Plover.

After all we had got 143 species and we came 5th in 13 teams race. We had made some mistakes and this time we had done no preparations at all, so we were almost happy.

With “Jassi” we started our long way back to home right away and I was in Parikkala pretty early in the evening. 12 hours sleep later I was back at work.

J.A.