. . Lintuharrastajan päiväkirja Birders diary . .

On Friday I left towards south and made the first stop in Lappeenranta Kaislanen where I twitched a Pink-footed Goose that was with 500 Tundra Bean Geese and 18 White-fronted Geese. Then I continued straight until Helsinki where I picked up Pirkka from the airport. Then we drove straight to Turku where we had some 20 minutes to visit Ruissalo and we managed to find a flock of 62 Barnacle Geese that was a March-tick and an ace (species seen in every month in Finland) for me. Then about at 6 p.m. we picked up Mikko Ala-Kojola and Antti Peuna from the railway-station and went shopping. Soon we were heading to the harbour where we still saw 4 Tufted Ducks and a Pochard and finally at 20:10 p.m. huge Viking Grace ferry left towards Åland.

On the ferry we spent most of the time in puffet where we ate once again too much. Then in the end of the trip we planned a little bit the next day’s Åland bird-race. At 1 a.m. we finally arrived at Lumparland Långnäs and then we still had a long drive to Maarianhamina Solhem to sleep.

On the 29th of March after a couple of hours sleep we woke up to have breakfast at 4:45 a.m. After 5 a.m. we were driving towards Eckerö but at 5:30 when the race started we were still in Hammarland. So the first birds were ticked there: a Robin, a Dunnock and a Wren and some more common species of course. I also saw a Woodcock flying over us but nobody else saw it. In Eckerö Storby we heard a Song Thrush, Cranes and Goldcrests and saw the first Greylag Geese. On a road to Styrsingsudden we heard a Coal Tit and some Siskins and finally we were walking to the southernmost tip of the island to Styrsingsudden. There were already a couple of teams seawatching and soon we started to see Eiders, Long-tailed Ducks, Black Guillemots and Razorbills migrating. Some other common species were seen too but nothing better! A couple of Ringed Plovers were on the shore, 3 Common Scoters were migrating and 2 White-tailed Eagles were flying over the islands, but I had expected to see at least 5 better species more. Finally we had to leave but luckily right then Mikko found a flock of about 50 Purple Sandpipers landing to an island very far, but we all managed to see them after some waiting. Along the way we heard a Willow Tit and some Treecreepers.

In Skeppsvik we found the first Shelducks, Greater Spotted Woodpeckers, Teals and a White Wagtail and in Stormossa a Jay crossed the road. In Torp we saw both sparrows and a nice Haw Finch. In Västerfjärden we found 3 Great Crested Grebes (another ace – and new March-ticks were coming all the time). In Degersand we didn’t see anything new but in Storby we saw 2 Rock and 2 Stock Doves. In Böle we tried to see a Moorhen that had been reported there but we couldn’t find it.

In Hammarland we twitched a Slavonian Grebe in Marsund where also a Raven, 2 Common Buzzards and 2 Grey Herons were seen. In Lillbolstad fields we had nothing else than a Linnet, Canada Geese, 2 Sparrowhawks and Golden Plovers. In Bodafjärden we saw Meadow Pipits, a male Pochard, a flock of Scaups, 3 Smews and 7 Great Crested Grebes. Then we headed to Jomala Hammarudda where we had a Grey-headed Woodpecker and an Oystercatcher.

Maarianhamina harbour had only a Coot and 2 more Oystercatchers. In Lemland Nåtö we had nothing but on the way back towards Maarianhamina a flock of Waxwings crossed the road. In Jomala Gällaräng fields we had only ordinary Cranes, geese and Golden Plovers -nothing new. So then we decided to drive to Salvik Haga fields. In Haga we found immediately a big flock of geese where were 3 Pink-footed and 12 White-fronted Geese. But waders and raptors were still missing like many other common birds too. Luckily we found 4 Pheasants and on Satviksfjärden we saw 20 Teals, 2 Pochards, 10 Scaups, 2 Great Crested Grebes and 2 Coots but not even a Wigeon that was missing. Finally Pirkka found our last species a Great Grey Shrike. But we knew we hadn’t done well. The day had been really nice – lots of birds and very nice weather but we had missed too many common species still and not found enough goo ones.

We still twitched a Chiffchaff in Lemland Nåtö before we drove to Solhem where we had dinner and then the results were given. It wasn’t a surprise that we were only 11th in 14 teams race. We lost even 22 species to the winner-team 88/103. Soon we were ready to go to sleep.

On the 30th of March we had breakfast at 6 (at night had been a change to summer-time) and soon we were driving towards Eckerö again. We tried to twitch an Eagle Owls in Björnhuvud but heard only a Black Grouse. In Böle we saw the Moorhen easily and soon we were in Styrsingsudden again where were already some other birders. Razorbills and Black Guillemots were migrating again and soon we found the first Common Guillemot. Somehow we hadn’t seen any on the race. But now we saw altogether 10 Common Guillemots, 390 Razorbills, 140 Black Guillemots, 120 Bean Geese, 2 Wigeons, 22 Common Scoters, 5 Velvet Scoters, 2 Shelducks, a Black-throated and a Red-throated Dives, 3 Rooks, a Common Crossbill and a Rock Pipit. So the morning was much better than on the race!

At 10 a.m. we headed to Degersand where we twitched a Red-necked Grebe and soon we saw also several Mistle Thrushes. In Jomala Ramsholmen we twitched a Nuthatch that we also had missed on the race. Then we headed to Saltvik Haga again and there we saw pretty much all the same birds than on the race. Still we couldn’t find any Bearded Reedlings but we saw again a flock of Waxwings. Finally we left back towards Maarianhamina and made a couple of stops in Finström and we heard a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker there.

In the evening we had pizza and sauna and finally went to sleep after 11 p.m.

On the 31st of March we were the only birders left from the race as everyone else had left on the previous afternoon. After the breakfast we headed to Styrs again. Surprisingly there were 4 twitchers that had twitched the Slavonian Grebe as a March-tick. Again we counted 188 Black Guillemots, 132 Razorbills, 7 Velvet Scoters, 26 Common Scoters, 2 Shelducks, 10 Oystercatchers and then had the best bird of the morning a dark Arctic Skua! One of the twitchers made the record of species seen in on March ever and soon he made the number even bigger with a Red-necked Grebe and the only Common Guillemot of the day. Also a male Goshawk, a Redpoll, a Black Grouse and a Snow Bunting were seen so the morning was pretty good again.

After 10 a.m. we continued and saw the Moorhen again ans also a Scaup in Böle. In Hammarland Lillbolstad we had nothing new but Bodafjärden was good again and a Green Sandpiper and 3 Snipes were both new March-ticks. All other birds were also still there and we heard also a Black Woodpecker. In Finström we had another Black Woodpecker but still no Bearded Reedlings, just some more Snipes. The weather turned worse and it was even hailing and snowing. Anyway a couple of Gold Finches were heard singing. In Jomala Gällaräng we saw nothing new, but in Ytterbyviken we had 2 more Snipes again. Then we headed to Gottby where we found 2 Pink-footed and 2 White-fronted Geese in a flock of Taiga Bean Geese. In Hammaruddan we heard a Grey-headed Woodpecker again and saw 6 Shelducks, 20 Wigeons, 7 Oystercatchers and a Red-throated Diver. On the way back to Solhem we stopped in Torpfjärden where we had 210 Mallards, 70 Teals, 6 Shelducks, 16 Grey Herons, 12 Pochards and 5 White-tailed Eagles but nothing better really.

In the evening we had great burgers in local rock-restaurant, had sauna and went to sleep after 11 p.m. again.

The first of April we headed to Styrs again but the migration was not very good. We counted 360 Eiders, 160 Long-tailed Ducks, 2 Red-throated Divers, 20 Razorbills, 50 Black Guillemots and again a dark Arctic Skua. After 10 we headed back towards Maarianhamina and twitched a Slavoanian Gebe again in Marsund. Then we decided to go to Lemland Herröskatan. On the way we had a Pheasant in Flakan and from the tower we had only 5 Oystercatchers. In Storviken we counted 850 Tufted Ducks and finally it was time to go back to Solhem to pack everything. Soon we had to drive to the Maarianhamina harbour.

Grace left at 2:30 p.m. and the first 30 minutes we were seawatching from the deck but saw only some Shelducks and Oystercatchers and a Lesser Black-backed Gull. Unfortunately no Steller’s Eiders were seen, so soon we went to have puffet again. When we were close to Turku we climbed to the deck again and saw some more Lesser Black-backed Gulls and the same Barnacale Geese in Ruissalo. In Turku we dropped Mikko and Antti to railway-station and soon continued towards Helsinki. There I dropped Pirkka to hotel Pilotti and I still had a long drive to Parikkala where I finally was after 2 a.m.

Altogether we saw 106 species in Åland, 11 of them were new March-ticks and 107th species and 12th month-tick was a Barnacle Goose in Turku. Altogether I got 27 year-ticks and for example Pirkka got about 3 times more year-ticks than he had before the trip! We could have seen more species but we didn’t really try, we had concentrated finding good species. But anyway we had once again had a very nice trip to Åland!

J.A.

On the 21st of March I was in Siikalahti on my lunch-hour and saw 20 Lapwings, 8 Wood Pigeons, 4 Starlings, a Skylark and a Great Grey Shrike and a White-backed Woodpecker.

On the 22nd day I was early and stayed 9 hours in Siikalahti. The weather was really nice so I even managed to burn my face! I had at least 320 Lapwings and 90 Wood Pigeons, 26 Blackbirds, 4 Tundra Bean Geese, a Canada Goose, 2 Goosanders, a Black Grouse, a White-tailed Eagle, 12 Common Buzzards, 4 Stock Doves, a Grey-headed and a White-backed Woodpecker, 8 Skylarks, a Mistle Thrush, a Great Grey Shrike, 4 Rooks, 23 Starlings, a Chaffinch, 2 Reed Buntings and the best bird was the earliest Crane ever in South-Karelia!

On the 23rd day the weather turned worse as there was a rain coming from south. In 3 hours I saw 4 Goldeneyes, 2 Black-headed Gulls and a Meadow Pipit and not so many other migrants. When it started to rain I drove to Simpele where I twitched a Black Redstart in Konkamäki – it was also the earliest ever. In the afternoon I drove around Saari area but heard only a Grey-headed Woodpecker in Kanavalampi.

On the 24th March I was in Siikalahti during my lunch-hour and then after work again. I saw 3 Tundra Bean Geese, 1 Taiga Bean Goose, a couple of Teals, a Sparrowhawk, 2 Kestrels, a Crane, a Rook, 10 Chaffinches and 16 migrating Common Buzzards. On the next morning I woke up early and drove to twitch a Pheasant in Tyrjä, where 2 birds were heard easily. In Siikalahti I saw 30 Chaffinches, 9 Snow Buntings and a Mistle Thrush. Even though the weather was pretty nice it was pretty quiet so on my lunch-hour I didn’t see anything else than a couple of Black-headed Gulls and some woodpeckers and a Great Grey Shrike.

On the 26th day I saw a White Wagtail, a Kestrel and 10 Waxwings. On the 27th day I saw more than 50 Tundra Bean Geese, 4 White-fronted Geese, a White-tailed Eagle, a couple of Goshawks, a Black-headed Gull, a Stock Dove, a Redwing, a Fieldfare and a Mistle Thrush and some flocks of Redpolls. The best bird of the day was a Golden Plover which I had never seen on March before. The saw Wagtail was there too. On the 28th day I visited Siikalahti only very briefly and saw the same Golden Plover. Then I started driving South – I was going to Åland.

J.A.

On the 1st of March it was a little bit colder again, about 0 degrees, so I didn’t expect to see any new migrants. Anyway I did a short visit to Siikalahti where I found out that there was a tiny open water area where 2 Whooper Swans were already swimming. Also 2 Long-tailed Tits and a flock of 9 noisy Ravens were seen.

Next day I did a short field-trip and saw a familiar Whooper Swan family in Lahdensuo, a Hawk Owl that I had seen only once in autumn in Kullinsuo and a Great Grey Shrike in Moskuunniemi. Later I still saw a Starling in our own garden and heard Herring Gulls from the lake. They had arrived to get some fish from the ice-fishers. At night I did a owl-trip to Tyrjä and heard a Long-eared Owl, 3 Ural Owls and a Tengmalm’s Owl.

On the 4th day I did a winter-bird count. It was a tough 18 kilometers walk to a patient like me, but I took it very easy. And luckily there was almost no snow at all, so it was easier to walk than ever. I saw altogether 2 Whooper Swans, 2 Black Grouses, 3 Herring Gulls, 2 Hawk Owls, 2 Rock Pigeons, 2 Grey-headed Woodpeckers (and again no other woodpeckers), a Goldcrest, 33 Blue Tits, 179 Great Tits, 2 Crested Tits, 4 Long-tailed Tits, a Treecreeper, a Great Grey Shrike, 11 Jays, 23 Magpies, 37 Jackdaws, 21 Hooded Crows, a Starling, 4 House Sparrows, 17 Tree Sparrows, 34 Green Finches, 8 Bull Finches and 2 Yellowhammers.

Next a couple of days weren’t that good. I didn’t see any new migrants except an adult White-tailed Eagle that probably was a breeder nearby behind the border. On the same 6th day I saw also 2 Grey-headed Woodpeckers and a couple of Common Crossbills in Siikalahti. Otherwise I saw only same swan, Starling and so on.

On the 9th of March we were some hours in Siikalahti and saw a Grey-headed Woodpecker, a White-backed Woodpecker, a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and a Black Woodpecker, a Starling, a Great Grey Shrike, a female Goshawk, altogether 45 Whooper Swans, 2 White-tailed Eagles, 4 migrating Common Buzzards and 4 Lapwings and 3 Stock Doves that were heading towards south.

Then the weather cooled a bit but still some birds were coming and on the 10th day I saw 3 Lapwings, on the 11th day 11 Lapwings and a couple of Goldeneyes.

On the 13th day the weather was really good again, but the wind too western. Anyway 22 Lapwings, 4 Skylarks and a younger Golden Eagle were seen. The best observation was maybe a Brimstone butterfly. Then on the 14th day the wind was north-western but still 4 Lapwings and a White-tailed Eagle were seen. And then on the 15th day the weather turned really bad, it was snowing and windy.

So the next 5 days were pretty boring: Only a White-tailed Eagle, last Lapwings for several days, Whooper Swans, Mallards, only 1 Common Buzzard, a Sparrowhawk, some Blackbirds on feeders and the same noisy Grey-headed Woodpecker. But then finally the spring came…

J.A.

On the 21st of February I had been resting more than 24 hours after an inner-ear surgery. So I was ready to do some easy birding. I drove to Kirkkonummi Saltfjärden where I saw a Hawk Owl and the first real migrant – a Stock Dove. It was quite chilly so I continued soon to Sunds bird-tower but there I saw only frozen sea, the only open water was too far. I still had a couple of hours before olympic ice-hockey quarter-final Finland-Russia so I decided to go to Helsinki Viikki to twitch a Hen Harrier. Once I got there I soon found out that there were some birders on the other side of the field watching to a reed-bed. I walked there carefully and soon heard that the bird had landed to the reeds an hour earlier. After 30 minutes it finally flew again and I got a nice February-tick. Actually it was a new species to my list of birds that I have seen every month in Finland “ace”. Soon I was back at my parents enjoying a great ice-hockey match.

On the 22nd day I drove to Hanko where I found out that there was so foggy that I couldn’t see the sea at all from Högholmen. But soon I got a message that a Kittiwake had been seen from Gåsörsbukten, so I drove there. And finally the fog cleared and after 30 minutes I saw the Kittiwake flying towards south. Also Herring, Common and Great Black-backed Gulls, Mallards, Goosanders, Goldeneyes, Mute Swans and a couple of Cormorants were seen.

I continued to western harbour where I saw a couple of Black-headed Gulls, another “ace”. In Tallholmarna I saw 350 Long-tailed Ducks, 9 Red-breasted Mergansers and 2 White-tailed Eagles. Then I decided to drive back to Kirkkonummi to take easy.

On the 23rd day I mostly just relaxed. I saw a Sparrowhawk through the window and in 2 short visits to Saltfjärden I saw the same Hawk Owl, 2 Canada Geese and a White-tailed Eagle and in a couple of other places nearby I saw a family of Whooper Swans and a Common Buzzard.

Next day the forecast was good so I decided to go to Hanko again. On the way I saw a Great Grey Shrike and a migrating Wood Pigeon. I drove straight to Varisniemi where a sea-watched for a couple of hours. Siskins were singing and I saw 3 Velvet Scoters, 2 Common Scoters, a White-tailed Eagle, 3 Red-breasted Mergansers, 3 Wood Pieons and 4 female Scaups.

Then I continued to a rubbish tip where I saw 3 Skylarks, my 100th “ace”. In Täktom I saw 4 more Skylarks and then I decided to drive to Siuntio Myrans to twitch a Lapwing which was another February-tick. Luckily 1 Lapwing was still there and I also saw 2 Fieldfares.

On the 25th of February I went to Espoo Ämmässuo rubbish tip where I watched through the fences at least 4000 Herring Gulls soaring high up in the air and they never landed. So it was impossible to find anything better. In Saltfjärden I saw 3 Starlings, 2 Stock Doves, a Whooper Swan and the same Hawk Owl. Late in the evening I did a short owl-trip and heard a Tawny Owl in Junkars.

On the 26th day I visited Saltfjärden again and saw 3 Whooper Swans, 5 Stock Doves, 4 Wood Pigeons, 2 Skylarks and 3 Lapwings. Then in the afternoon I started driving to South Karelia. In Helsinki Maununneva I stopped for a second and twitched a Haw Finch. In Porvoo I saw a Common Buzzard and In the evening I twitched an Eagle Owl in Lappeenranta.

Next morning I had a meeting with a doctor, but soon I was in Joutseno Konnunsuo where I saw 2 Hawk Owls, a long-stayer Rough-legged Buzzard and a Great Grey Shrike. In Imatra Vuoksi I saw a Cormorant and in Simpele Kokkolanjoki a Dipper. In the evening we did an owl-trip with Hanna and heard a Ural Owl in Kolmikannankangas.

On the 28th of February we were a couple of hours in Siikalahti and managed to see a Rook and a Stock Dove which are amazing records in Parikkala in February. We also saw 2 Whooper Swans, a Great Grey Shrike, a Sparrowhawk, 2 White-backed Woodpeckers and a Grey-headed Woodpecker. At night we did a longer owl trip with Hanna and Harri Partanen and heard a Long-eared Owl, a Tengmalm’s Owl and 2 Eagle Owls in Malkoniemi forests.

J.A.

After the beginning of January it was really boring birding in Parikkala area. Only nice birds around were Hawk Owls and Great Grey Shrikes – finally there were mice and voles around.

On the 7th of January I saw my 4th Hawk Owl of the year in Argusjärvi, in Kirkonkylä feeders I saw a couple of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers, a Treecreeper and a flock of Long-tailed Tits. On the 9th day I saw a Hawk Owl in Joukio and Lake Simpele was again mostly open and there were a couple of flocks of Goosanders, some Whooper Swans and a couple of Herring Gulls.

A Whooper Swan was also still in Joukio and now the forecasts promised much colder weather so I took a lot of food for this bird and hoped that it could move somewhere safe. But still on the 10th day it was there like one family on the Glossy Ibis fields too. But during the afternoon the field froze and the family moved to Kokkolanjoki.

On the 11th day I twitched a couple of Rock Doves in Satumäki. I hope these only Rock Doves in Parikkala would manage to breed soon.

On the 14th day it had been almost -30 degrees and Joukio was completely frozen, but the Whooper Swan was still there on the ice. So I called firemen to rescue it and later in the afternoon it was already on its way to Pyhtää bird-house.

On the 16th day I was playing rink-bandy in Imatra and late in the evening I went to check how Mallards were surviving on the river Vuoksi in keskusliikenneasema. Surprisingly there were also a flock of 60 Goldeneyes with them. Abd one week later when it was even colder there were even 160 Goldeneyes and a male Smew with the Mallards.

On the 25th day it was finally warmer again but I had to start early in the morning driving towards Kouvola where we had a meeting weekend with twitcher’s organization Bongariliitto decicion-makers. On the way I stopped in Kokkolanjoki where O saw a family of Whooper Swans and 2 Dippers, In Vuoksi I saw 2 Cormorants and in Lappeenranta I twitched 2 Europaean Nuthatches in Pappilanniemi and a Rook in Asemakylä. The weekend was very good and on Sunday I drove back home.

On the 29th day I saw the same Whooper Swans in Kokkolanjoki but there was also a male Goosander. And in Imatra keskusliikenneasema I saw a Canada Goose that had been missing for some time.

On the 1st of February we visited Siberian Jay forests with Hanna. Siberian Jays were missing but we saw a Black Grouse, 2 Goldcrests, a Crested Tit and a Treecreeper and heard a Goshawk calling. On the next day I had a tournament in Savonlinna where I saw a Goshawk.

The same Hawk Owls were still around but they were really difficult to see. On the 7th day I saw a flock of 5 Long-tailed Tits in Mustiinpohja and in the evening I ran around Siikalahti and saw my first Bullfinches of the year in Parikkala, a Great Grey Shrike, a flock of 28 Black Grouses and a Grey-headed Woodpecker. On the 9th day i biked around Siikalahti and saw a Black Woodpecker.

On the 10th day I saw a White-backed Woodpecker in Siikalahti and a Hawk Owl in Tiviä first time this year and in Kolmikanta I saw a Great Grey Shrike. On the 13th day I saw a shrike in Joukio and an owl in Koitsanlahdenkangas – it was already my 7th Hawk Owl in Parikkala this year, but they were all familiar birds from the beginning of winter.

In mid February it was very warm again and the same Whooper Swan family was again seen in Joukio that was partly open, but only other birds I saw were the same Hawk Owls.

On the 19th of February I got a phone-call that I could have already the 3rd inner-ear surgery in last 14 months. But as my right ear was deaf now I really wanted to go even though the schedule was extremely tight! So after all I had the surgery on the next morning and so I will be on sick-leave for the next 2 weeks. But I will take it very easy as I really wan’t to get my ear work.

J.A.

On the 2nd of January I was at work but I spent my lunch-hour in a forest. There was no snow at all so even the smallest roads were in pretty good shape so I managed to visit Siberian Jay forests in an hour. On the way I saw a Hazel Hen and 4 Siberian Jays were found easily. On the way back I still saw some Tree Sparrows, a family of 4 Whooper Swans, the first Fieldfare since October and a Jay.

On the 3rd day I spent my lunch-hour visiting Pistoniemi Hawk Owl, Joukionsalmi Whooper Swan and Simpele Kokkolanjoki Dippers. As I have shorter day on Fridays, I still went birding after work. In Kangaskylä I saw a Rock Pigeon which I hadn’t seen at all in 2013 in Parikkala! In Siikalahti I saw a flock of 3 Black Grouses, a White-backed Woodpecker and a Willow Tit and in Tetrisuo I saw a Hawk Owl and a Goldcrest.

On the 4th day we had Imatra winte-bird counts again. The whole city of Imatra was walked by 9 teams that had different areas to check. We were counting in Tuulikallio-Karhukallio-Korvenkanta area which was really bad area! We saw 52 Rock Doves, 6 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, a Goldcrest, 2 Willow Tits, 74 Blue Tits, 287 Great Tits, a Treecreeper, 8 Jays, 48 Magpies, 32 Jackdaws, 45 Hooded Crows, 73 Tree Sparrows, 170 Green Finches, 17 Bull Finches and 9 Yellowhammers. So absolutely not a single better bird was seen! Waterbirds were not counted, but we saw Mallards, Goldeneyes, Goosanders, a Canada Goose and more than 10 Cormorants. Before the results were given we went to twitch a Great White Egret that was again in Kupari.

It was not a surprise that we had least species and birds. Altogether teams had seen even 42 species + those waterbirds – 10945 birds. The most interesting numbers were 3899 Great Tits, 1311 Blue Tits, 1708 Green Finches, 985 Tree Sparrows, 158 Jays and 41 Treecreepers. ALso Long-tailed Tit and Goldcrest were more numerous than ever. 128 Rock Doves and 90 House Sparrows were less than ever before and they are really not doing well nowadays. Only 1 Fieldfare was seen and no Waxwings at all, but 16 Blackbirds were seen. Only 84 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 107 Redpolls, 23 Siskins, 136 Bull Finches and 5 Common Crossbills were counted. Olso Yellowhammers were still on the open fields and only 412 were counted.
4 Herring Gulls, 2 Hawk Owls, a Pygmy Owl, 4 Sparrowhawks, not a single Goshawk, 2 Black Woodpeckers, 3 White-backed Woodpeckers, a Grey-headed, a Three-toed and a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker were seen. 7 Nuthatch was also a good number. Other better birds were 2 Haw Finches, 7 Chaffinches, a Brambling, a Goldfinch and 5 Arctic Redpolls.

The rest of the evening after the results had been given was nice as there were lots of friends together.

On the 5th of January I woke up late but then went to check Lake Simpele that was still open from Härskiinmutka and saw 4 Whooper Swans and 24 Goosanders. Then I decided to continue to forests again where I saw 3 Siberian Jays, a Three-toed Woodpecker, a Crested Tit and 2 male Capercaillies.

On the 6th of January I saw some House Sparrows with a flock of 15 Tree Sparrows in our own garden. In the afternoon I went to run around Siikalahti and saw a flock of 14 Redpolls and a single Arctic Redpoll. On the next day I spent my lunch-hour in Kirkonkylä where I found 2 Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers, 6 Long-tailed Tits and a Treecreeper on one good feeder. A Hawk Owl was still present in Argusjärvi. On the 8th day I saw only Hawk Owl in Argusjärvi and same Whooper Swan in Joukionsalmi.

J.A.