. . Lintuharrastajan päiväkirja Birders diary . .

At night between 10th and 11th of May I did a short trip to Siikalahti where the Little Crake was now calling very actively near the hide. 7 Spotted Crakes were also heard but not much else except lots of frogs. During the day I saw a Cormorant and heard a Bluethroat there.

On the 13th day I found a Black Tern that was with a flock of 150 Common Terns in Härskiinmutka. In the afternoon we did a short visit to Saari where we saw 13000 Barnacle Geese, a couples of Gadwall and Pintail and 2 male and a female Garganeys.

On the 14th of May was a holiday so I walked around Siikalahti again. I got some year ticks like 3 Lesser Whitethroats, 4 Common Whitethroats, a Garden Warbler and 2 Swifts but didn’t see many other better birds. Some to mention were a couple of Gadwalls, a Jack Snipe, a Black Woodpecker, a White-backed Woodpecker, a Little Ringed Plover, 190 Common Terns, 3 Thrush Nightingales, a Long-tailed Tit and 2536 Barnacle Geese.

On the 15th day 30 Long-tailed Ducks, 7 Common Scoters and 2 Velvet Scoters were seen from Härskiinmutka. In the afternoon we started to drive towards Vironlahti and arctic migration. We stopped in Lappeenranta Kaislanen to twitch a Savi’s Warbler and heard also a Blackcap. In Ylämaa Väkevänjärvi we managed to see a couple of Greater Spotted Eagles but only shortly as they dropped to their nest-site that is on the Russian side of the border. In virolahti we stopped in Hanski but couldn’t find a King Eider that had been seen there, but saw some Arctic Terns as usual. In Lakakallio we had missed most of the evening migration but saw some flocks of Long-tailed Ducks and Common Scoters, some Caspian Terns, a Ringed Plover and saw a stunning Emperor Moth!

On the 16th of May I climbed to the rock of Lakakallio already after 4 a.m. but there was almost no migration. Until 9 a.m. we had seen only 78 Barnacle Geese, 36 Black-throated and 1 Red-throated Diver. A Parrot Crossbill had been the only year-tick. During the day we drove to Hamina Kirkkojärvi to watch raptors. 2 Great Reed Warblers were singing, a Honey Buzzard, 6 White-tailed Eagles and 7 Hobbies seen and Carn Crake was calling a couple of times, but it was really not we had hoped. In the evening we were in Lakakallio again but saw only one migrating flock that had 9 Whimbrels and a Bar-tailed Godwit.

On the 17th day I was on the rock already very early. During the morning Barnacle Geese started to move and until 11 a.m. we had counted 30000 geese. We had also seen 480 Brent Geese, 16 White-fronted Geese, 65 Black-throated Divers, 2 Red-throated Divers, a Honey Buzzard, 4 Whimbrels, 4 Spotted Redshanks, a Gold Finch, 2 Parrot Crossbills and in one of the closest flocks of geese a nice surprise a Bar-headed Goose!

During the day we met a Swedish group that I had promised to give some tips as they were going also to Parikkala. While we were talking in Leerviikki, we saw 8 migrating Arctic Skuas. On the way back home we stopped only in Lintulahti where we saw 2 couples of Gadwall. Then it started to rain so we stopped only in Joutseno Konnunsuo Myllärinen where a Siberian Stonechat had been just found. We had to search for it for some time but finally Hanna found it from the field. We checked that it was the normal sub-species, got some pictures and heard also 4 Ortolan Buntings and a Grey-headed Woodpecker before continued towards Parikkala.

On the 18th of May we visited Saari again in the evening. We counted 28000 Barnacle Geese and saw also 5 Brent Geese. The best birds were some waders we saw: altogether 14 Ringed Plovers, 5 Dunlins and 3 Temminck Stints, we also heard a Pheasant.

On the 19th day I had to go to Lappeenranta to listen to some lectures. I left so early that I managed to stop in Imatra Rautio to twitch a Great Reed Warbler and then I tried to twitch a White-spotted Bluethroat in Joutseno Kotasaari but the weather was against me. Anyway I saw 29 local and 50 migrating Dunlins. After the lectures I stopped in Askola where I saw only an Oystercatcher and then went back to Kotasaari where I now found the Bluethroat. 5 Grey Plovers left to migrate and also a Slavonian Grebe, a couple of Garganeys, a Little Ringed Plover, a couple of Linnets and a Goshawk were seen. In Konnunsuo a Peregrine was making more than 10000 Barnacle Geese to fly around which was pretty nice to watch. When I was back in Parikkala I still stopped in Kullinsuo where were only 800 Barnacle Geese but then a Common Shelduck perched lonely in the middle of the field!

On the 21st of May I woke up early and drove to Siikalahti and after some time heard a familiar call and soon saw a Penduline Tit flying over me. While it was flying I heard also another bird calling from the reeds! Harri Partanen had seen one bird on the previous day, but I hope there is a couple! I also heard a Grey-headed Woodpecker, saw and heard a Common Rosefinch and saw a Temminck Stint. Couples of Gadwall and Garganey were active. In Raikantie I heard a couple of Blackcaps and a Wren and on the southern side of the bay I heard another Common Rosefinch and a couple of Garden Warblers. Then I continued to Moskuunniemi where I heard a Golden Oriole and saw a male Scaup in a flock of Long-tailed Ducks and Common Scoters. On our own back-yard there was a Blyth’s Reed Warbler singing. During my lunch-hour it was raining very hard so I drove to Saari Akanvaara Tetrisuo and saw exactly what I had hoped – a flock of 5 Dotterels! A Red-backed Shrike was seen in Pohjansuo and 2 male Pintails and only 500 Barnacle Geese anymore in Pohjanranta.

In the evening we went to see how all the breeding owls were doing. Only one of the three Pygmy Owls had already some of the eggs laid and 3 tiny nestlings under it. Tengmalm’s Owl had now 4 eggs, so it seems it will still take a couple of weeks before we can ring the nestlings.

J.A.

On Friday the 8th of May I visited Härskiinmutka several times as there were quite a few ducks on Lake Simpele. I counted 170 Tufted Ducks, 35 Scaups, 100 Common Scoters, 100 Long-tailed Ducks and 2 Vilvet Scoters. I also saw 3 Cormorants and an Oystercatcher. After my workday I had to find out if one rare bird in Rautjärvi was twitchable without going into a forbidden factory area but it wasn’t, so it was kept as a secret. My brother Pirkka and Antti Peuna arrived in the evening and after we had eaten well, we visited Siikalahti where we heard Spotted Crakes, Bitterns (2 of them were seen and also heard calling flight-calls) and a Jack Snipe.

On the 9th of May was the bird-tower competition! We woke up before 4 a.m. and soon we were biking towards Siikalahti with Matti Lötjönen. Pirkka, Hanna and Antti came by car. We heard a Cuckoo, thrushes, Dunnocks, Goldcrests and a Coal Tit on the way and soon we were all walking towards the bird-tower. We were there at 4:50 a.m. and wore all or clothes as it was very cold and quite windy. Soon we realized it was 5 a.m. and the race started.

We had a good start as a couple of Gadwalls, a male Pintail, a migrating Bewick’s Swan, a flock of Common Scoters, a Little Ringed Plover and a couple of Bullfinches were seen and a Bluethroat was heard. And then Hanna heard a Little Crake calling next to the tower. It was calling only one tone calls but we all managed to hear it even though not all of us knew the calls of this species as well as we did with Hanna. It was a lifer for Antti!

The wind got harder and harder and we were almost freezing but after a couple of hours sun started to warm up the weather. Then a Sedge Warbler started to sing and after a long quietness the Little Crake called a couple of series of calls which confirmed that it was a male bird. Migration was pretty poor but at time to time we got some new species to our list.

Some other good bird were seen: a couple of flocks of Cormorants, a Red-throated Diver, a Hen Harrier, the a Black Kite that was seen 3 times, a couple of flocks of Common Crossbills which was a new species for us for 15 years tower competition history. A Stock Dove, a White-backed woodpecker and a small flock of Waxwings were also good ones to get. Then another team that was on dam-road tower saw a Citrine Wagtail landing somewhere east from our tower and after some time I managed to find it. But it was very mobile and Pirkka managed to see it too, but it was enough to get this rarity to our list.

Soon Antti found a Greylag Goose and then also an Oystercatcher which was already the third new species for our all time list which is now 152 species long! And soon after that I found another rarity as a White Stork was flying towards us. It continued towards south after it had decided not to land to any of the fields it gad checked.

We had only 1 minute to go at 12:59 p.m. when I finally found a couple of Northern Wheatears which was our species number 97 which was our new record by 1 species! Once again we were the best tower inland and 10th best tower in whole country!

After a short break we continued to Saari. Rautalahti was quiet but in Akonpohja we found again a big flock of geese. And there it was – the same adult male Red-breasted Goose again. Antti got a lifer again! In Akanvaara Tetrisuo we saw 160 Golden Plovers and 54 Cranes, Pohjasuo was empty but in Pohjanranta we saw a Gadwall and 2 Black-tailed Godwits. Suurenjärvenliete and Jyrkilä were quiet and windy too but then in Kanavalampi we first saw a Black Kite in Karinmäki and then heard and soon found a Marsh Sandpiper! One more very good bird for this amazing day! Maybe the same Greylag Goose that we had seen in Siikalahti was there too.

Finland scoring and a self-found Marsh Sandpiper

On the 10th of May we slept until 6 a.m. and soon headed to Siikalahti again. A Great White Egret had been seen there but it was already gone. Some Whimbrels and a Cuckoo would have been good on the previous day. Near the information center we heard a Grey-headed Woodpecker and a Wood Warbler and along Raikanniemi we heard a Wren, 2 drumming Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers and saw a White-backed Woodpecker. The day was really getting warm when we decided to go to eat. After that Pirkka and Antti started a long drive back to north, but I drove back to Siikalahti. It was very quiet there – only a Thrush Nightingale and a Bluethroat were heard but almost nothing was migrating.

I slept in the afternoon and in the evening I went again to Siikalahti where I heard the same male Little Crake already from the dam-road. I heard it much better from the tower and hide and sound-recorded it there. Also the same Thrush Nightingale, some Water Rails and 7 Spotted Crakes were heard.

J.A.

On the 28th of April my lunch-hour visit to Siikalahti produced Little Gulls, 3 Wood Sandpiper, a Goshawk and 2 Grey Herons. In the afternoon I continued checking the nest-boxes and found a Pygmy Owl with 9 eggs. Other birds seen were a Capercaillie and a male Merlin.

On the 30th day I walked around Siikalahti again as it was the last possibility to do my monthly count. I saw altogether 75 species even though I was walking in the afternoon. The best ones were an Oystercatcher, a Common Sandpiper, a Redstart, a couple of Hazel Hens, a Northern Wheatear, 2 Pied Flycatchers, and 2 Long-tailed Tits. In the evening we still visited Saari but found only some flocks of lekking male Black Grouses and the same Red-breasted Goose that was now in Pohjasuo.

On the 1st of May we were in Siikalahti from 7 a.m. until 2 p.m. The best birds were a Pink-footed Goose, 3 Garganeys, 12 Ruffs, a Black-tailed Godwit, a Redshank, a Heuglin’s Gull, a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, 25 Waxwings, already 25 Swallows, 4 House Martins, 8 Yellow Wagtails, a Wood Warbler, a Linnet and 3 Lapland Buntings. There were already 700 Barnacle Geese and not so many grey geese anymore. While we were already cycling back I noticed a flock of birds landing to a field – 7 Shore Larks! They stayed there luckily long enough so several other birders managed to see them too.

In the late evening we visited Siikalahti again and heard 4 Spotted Crakes, 8 Water Rails and 2 Jack Snipes.

On the 2nd of May which is my birthday we were mostly checking more nest-boxes in a rain. Luckily we found a Tengmalm’s and a Pygmy Owl. We also saw a Little Ringed Plover in Lahdensuo, heard a Cuckoo and saw a Hen Harrier in Tarvaslampi, heard some Willow Warblers, Wrens, a Hazel Hen and found a Crested Tit breeding in one of hour Tengmalm’s Owl nest-box.

On the 3rd day we did a proper tour in Saari and found 3 Chiffchaffs in Rautalahti, a Merlin in Akanvaara Tetrisuo, 5 Whimbrels and a Whinchat in Pohjasuo, 2 Pink-footed Geese, a White-tailed Eagle and a Stock Dove in Pohjanranta, a Canada Goose in Uukuniemi Suurenjärvenliete, the same Red-breasted Goose now in Karinmäki, a Linnet in Kanavalampi and a Lapland Bunting in Ala-Ollukka. In the evening I still visited Siikalahti but saw almost nothing else than a couple of Smews.

On the 4th day we checked nest-boxes in Punkaharju and found one more Pygmy Owl. We also saw 2 female Capercaillies. On the 5th day I saw 2 Spotted Redshanks, a Black-tailed Godwit and a Hen Harrier in Siikalahti and in the evening I checked all the rest nest-boxes around Rautjärvi, Simpele and a couple of last ones in Parikkala. I saw 2 Wood Larks and a Pheasant in Rautjärvi but no owls. So the result was poor – only 3 breeding Pygmy and 1 Tengmalm’s Owl.

On the 6th of May I heard a Wryneck and a Linnet in Särkisalmi. During my lunch-hour I went to Siikalahti and there I heard that a Penduline Tit had just been found there. After some searching I first heard it and then saw it soon. It was a male and acting similarly as on the previous year. Also a White-tailed Eagle was seen. In the afternoon I drove by bike to Siikalahti and even though wind was very strong I found the Penduline Tit again. In a short visit I saw also a Peregrine and a migrating Golden Eagle, so it was really worthy! Also Sand Martin was seen and it was my 180th species of the year.

On the next day the only better birds were a couple of Scaups seen from Härskiinmutka

J.A.

On Monday the 27th of April I saw 4 Common Scoter in Lake Simpele before I went to work. On my lunch-hour I visited Siikalahti where I saw 2 male Bitterns chasing a smaller and much paler female over the reed-bed. A Common Gull was calling somewhere near the bird-tower and a White-backed Woodpecker was calling.

After my work I drove to Saari to twitch a Red-breasted Goose that had been found during the weekend. When I got to Pohjanranta where it had been still 15 minutes before I found only 1 goose – a Canada Goose. Next I checked Pohjasuo fields but found only some Tundra Bean and White-fronted Geese. In Akanvaara Tetrisuo I found some hundreds of Geese but couldn’t find the Red-breasted. My friend Jari Kiljunen came there too and together we kept on checking the geese as some of them where in pretty high vegetation. After some searching all the geese flushed and then we found it – a nice adult Red-breasted Goose flew over us but then continued towards Pohjanranta.

But the goose wasn’t in Pohjanranta either but in an hour we saw 2 Barn Swallows, a Common Tern and a Bewick’s Swan. Then we decided to go to check some other places but found nothing interesting before in Kanavalampi where we found a Black-tailed Godwit and saw a migrating flock of 22 Common Scoters. When “Jassi” had left home, I still went to check Tetrisuo and no found about 1000 geese there. The Red-breasted Goose was now showing well, so I took some pictures and video of it before I continued back home too.

J.A.

On Friday 24th of April after my work I drove to Oulu. On a long drive I saw a Red-necked Grebe in Punkaharju, a Black Grouse, a Black Woodpecker and a Common Crossbill somewhere, 4 Red-necked Divers in Pyhäntä and Smews in Piippola Kortteinen. I was in Tyrnävä when I noticed that a Demoiselle Crane that had been missing for some days was back! I was only 14 kilometers from it, so I drove there immediately! I finally found the bird from the second big flock of Cranes that I was scanning and luckily it was the closest bird in the flock! But unfortunately my camera-battery died after a couple of photos. I met my friend Petri Lampila and while we were discussing, I tried to warm the battery and luckily I managed to get my camera working so I could get a couple of more pictures in a better light.

I continued to Oulu where I stayed with my brother Riku’s family. We spent the evening following national ice-hockey finals and the result was that legendary game 7 was needed between Tappara from Tampere and our team Kärpät from Oulu.

On the 25th of April I visited Oulunsalo Kempeleenlahti in the morning. I found 4 Shelducks, 2 Redshanks and then when I was already walking bock to my car I saw a male Pallid Harrier flying over me. Then we did some shopping and in the evening I had a meeting with my old high-school fiends that most of them I hadn’t seen for 19 years! It was really fun evening and it came even better when Kärpät won the Championship! Anyway I had to leave the parties already at midnight.

On the 26th day we left birding together with Antti Peuna who was also visiting in Oulu. We headed first to Liminka Hirvineva where we found a Green-winged Teal that Petri Lampila had found on the previous day. It wasn’t the best looking bird I’ve seen but hopefully pure anyway. Unfortunately it was extremely shy so I couldn’t get any better pictures.

We continued to Virkkula where we met our good friends Mikko Ala-Kojola and Harry Nyström. Many other friends were met too as there were Liminka Bird-photo festivals. Anyway we walked to the bird-tower pretty soon and found 2 Grey Herons, 2 Mute Swans, Pink-footed and Great White-fronted Geese, Redshanks, 8 Black-tailed Godwits, a Peregrine, 5 White-tailed Eagles and a migrating flock of 25 Lapland Buntings. There were absolutely too many people, so we left Harry to guide them and continued to Lumijoki Sannanlahti where we found 4 Mute Swans, 4 Bewick’s Swans, a Gadwall and a White-tailed Eagle. Then we still went to twitch a Demoiselle Crane again as it was now in Liminka Ala-Temmes. In the afternoon I still went to play ice-hockey with my brother and it was the first time ever that we played ice-hockey together even though we have both played in team Kärpät. I am much younger which was a big deal then but not anymore In the evening I drove a long way to Parikkala where I did s a stop in Siikalahti where I heard 3 Spotted Crakes calling.

J.A.

On the 16th of April it was a migration-watching day. The weather forecast was bad – it was going to be a heavy northern wind. So we chose to go to the main tower in Siikalahti where you get some shelter from the wind. We were in the tower already at 5 a.m. and almost the whole 10 hours there were 6 of us counting birds. Unfortunately there weren’t that many birds to count but during the morning some Chaffinches, thrushes, Wood Pigeons and Curlews were migrating. But the wind got very strong during the day and it was very quiet then. But a Black Kite that we saw in the afternoon was a nice present to us all! Other birds that we saw were: 3 Canada Geese, 2 Red-breasted Mergansers, 6 Black-throated Divers, 12 Sparrowhawks, 8 Common Buzzards, 16 Rough-legged Buzzards, 9 Golden Plovers, 58 Lapwings, a Whimbrel, 30 Curlews, 6 Green Sandpipers, 160 Black-headed Gulls, 52 Common Gulls, 301 Wood Pigeons, 10 Waxwings, a Dunnock, 210 Fieldfares, 95 small thrushes, 4 Jays, 795 Chaffinches, 14 Bramblings, a Gold Finch, 107 Siskins and 200 unidentified passerines.

It was almost dark when I noticed that someone had seen a Great White Egret in Siikalahti! There was nothing told about the observation, but anyway I drove there to try to see it. But all white birds I could see were Whooper Swans.

On the 19th of April I headed to Siikalahti to try to find the egret again and surprisingly I found it already from the first tower! I took a couple of pictures of it but soon it was flying towards the bay. I walked after it to the main tower and from there I could watch it fishing. Almost all local birders came to see this 2nd ever Great White Egret for Parikkala and the first had been more than 30 years ago. It was also a new species to Siikalahti! I also saw 4 migrating Bewick’s Swans, heard 2 Grey-headed Woodpeckers and a White-backed Woodpecker drumming.

Later I visited Siikalahti 2 more times, also with Hanna, and saw the egret but it was snowing pretty much, so I couldn’t get any more pictures. Later in the evening my friend Pertti Hotta saw the bird leaving towards north.

On the 20th of April I didn’t see much on my lunch-hour but in the evening we twitched a 2nd c-y Pallid Harrier in Saari Pohjanranta with Harri Partanen.

The next days it was very hard winds again so I didn’t do much birding. A Slavonian Grebe was seen in Härskiinmutka.

J.A.