. . Lintuharrastajan päiväkirja Birders diary . .

The autumn started to come quickly and so the birds that really make autumn here in Eastern Finland, geese started to arrive. On the 17th of September I saw 3 Taiga Bean Geese in Siikalahti and on the next day 2 Canada Geese in Sammallampi fields and a flock of 200 Brent Geese migrating over Lahdensuo fields. From the fields I found only 5 Snipes and a Red-throated Pipit. On the 19th day I saw already 400 Barnacle Geese in Siikalahti and on Lake Simpele I saw another small flock and also 157 Great Crested Grebes with a Red-necked and a Slavonian Grebe.

On the 20th of September I was a little bit sick but in the afternoon I made a trip to Saari where I saw a couple of thousands of Barnacle Geese, 57 Tundra Bean Geese, 6 White-fronted Geese and a Greylag Goose. Other observations were a Black Grouse, a Hazel Hen, 3 Hen Harriers, a Honey Buzzard, 3 Rough-legged Buzzards, an Osprey, 13 Golden Plovers, a Jack Snipe and a Dunlin.

On the 21st day I counted 186 Great Crested Grebes and Red-backed and Slavonian Grebes were still there. During the day I participated to Joutseno half-marathon. I was still a little bit sick so I took it pretty easy. I heard a Two-barred Crossbill while running. It took an hour and 53 minutes. After that I went to Konnunsuo where I saw altogether more than 10000 Barnacle Geese. Other geese were 70 Tundra Bean, 30 White-fronted, 2 Greylag and a Brent Goose. I also twitched a Red-breasted Goose that unfortunately had a tiny ring on it’s right leg. It was really difficult to see the ring but unfortunately it seemed to be an escape. Other birds there were 3 Hen Harriers and a Marsh Harrier, 2 Rough-legged buzzards, a Merlin, a Goshawk and a Grey Plover.

On the 22nd day I saw 3000 Barnacle Geese, a White-tailed Eagle, 5 Rough-legged Buzzards, 6 Common Buzzards, a Goshawk and a Honey Buzzard in Siikalahti but then the migration stopped. Other birds there were a White-backed Woodpecker, a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and a Great Grey Shrike. In the evening I got a message that Karri Kuitunen had found an Isabelline Wheatear in Ruokolahti. I left to twitch it as it was only 75 kilometers away. Once I got there the bird was on the scopes. The bird ran closer and closer and after all I managed to get some pretty good pictures of it. This bird was my year-tick number 268 which is equal with my record ever. Let’s see when I can break my record and what will be the species?

J.A.

After a weekend trip to Tauvo I was at work on Monday when I got a phone-call that there was a Little Bustard in Imatra. The birders had some problems with the land-owner but after all they told me to put the news out to beeper. I had to be at work until 3:30 p.m. and after that I had a massage. So I would have been free to go twitching after that but I had somehow managed to lost my car-keys and the second key wasn’t somehow working – I could open the doors but the lock and the first key had probably worn so much that this key just didn’t work. Luckily I got a message from a Dutch birder Boy Possen who is living in Punkaharju where he asked if there really was a Little Bustard in Imatra. I told that yes there was – can I get a ride…

So after the massage we were driving towards Imatra. Once we parked our car to Saunasuo we got the news that the bird had just moved a kilometer further to a long field. So soon with the finder Jorma Liesma and Boy we moved closer to the bird along one road while the rest of twitchers stayed on the place where they could see the whole field.

A Hen Harrier was flying around the fields but it didn’t flush the bustard. So after the bird had been missing for 2 hours, I started to plan a walk to the field. Soon I sent a message that after 30 minutes at 6:30 p.m. we would walk to the field and try to flush the bird. This was the way to make sure that everyone that was still on their way to Imatra could call me to wait if they couldn’t get there in time. Because of I didn’t get any calls at 6:30 we, 8 birders, were in our positions on the field and started to walk towards the place where the bird had been seen to land.

After some hundreds of meters walk the Little Bustard finally flushed and it flew a couple of rounds on the sky and then dropped down to a green field about 1 kilometer from us. Luckily everyone managed to see the bird well, we probably much better than the rest that were watching from the road.

We had a long walk back to our cars but soon we were checking the field where we had seen the bird landing. Then arrived the only twitcher that came too late. Unfortunately he hadn’t called – we could have waited this 15 minutes, but not more as it started to get dark. Soon the fog surrounded the fields and we decided to drive back to Parikkala.

So after all the day had ended well! The car-keys weren’t found but I the second key started to work after all. And I had got a really good South-Karelia tick!

J.A.

On Friday on the 13th of September I got an idea to go to Siikajoki Tauvo. My brother was going there to a ringing station and I really had nothing better to do. So a couple of hours later after I had finished my work-day I started driving 520 kilometers to north-west.

It was a long drive but at 8 p.m. I finally turned to a small road towards Tauvo. I visited a harbour but I didn’t see anything there. So soon I turned to Tauvolantie. In Tauvola I saw a Hawk Owl perched on an electric pole and of course I took some pictures. Soon I was walking with my gear towards the station.

In the station I met Mikko Ojanen who had came there to ring and his wife Liisa and a Belgian birder Sander Buylants that had came to Oulu University 2 weeks earlier. He hadn’t seen a Hawk Owl in wild, they had just caught one early in the morning so we decided to try if the bird was still in Tauvola. We weren’t lucky so soon we were back in the station where a Tengmalm’s Owl tape was already playing.

We started to catch Tengmalm’s Owls soon and when Pirkka and his children arrived they could right away see some owls. We played the tape until midnight and managed to catch 7 Tengmalm’s Owls. Then it was time to go to sleep – we had an early wake coming.

On the 14th day we woke up after 6 and found still a couple of Tengmalm’s Owls from the mist-nets. Then we climbed to the bird-tower to watch the scenery to Ulkonokka. At 6:30 we started to check every single bird as on the same day there was a Surnia bird-race in Siikajoki. We had decided to participate only from Tauvo. Soon we had some common birds like Yellowhammer, thrushes, Robin, Redpoll etc. on our list. Then Sander found a Hawk Owl perched on the top pf a pine-tree but soon the bird dropped down and straight to a mist-net. I hurried to get it away from the mist-net and I checked immediately that it was not ringed as it was a relief to Sander that it wasn’t the same bird that they had caught less than 24 hours earlier. He had talked about a 24 hours rule about the trapped birds. But the bird was new so finally Sander had got a pure lifer.

While I had been freeing the owl Pirkka and Sander had seen a crossbill flock where had been at least one Two-barred Crossbill calling.

Soon Mikko and others went to do the first round to the mist-nets and there were mostly just Robins. I also joined to the next round and there were now some Reed Buntings, tits, a Chiffchaff and then a nice surprise – a Yellow-browed Warbler!

We stayed on the tower with Sander almost whole morning and saw a Merlin, 2 Black Grouses, a Black-throated Diver, 2 White-tailed Eagles, a Marsh Harrier, a Sparrowhawk, about 200 Cranes, 4 Black Woodpeckers, still some Swallows, a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, a migrating Three-toed Woodpecker and heard a Hazel Hen calling. Jays were also on the move and we had an amazing flock of 78 Jays! Altogether we counted 98 Jays. at least 500 Fieldfares were seen and 45 Common, 5 Parrot, 5 Two-barred and 30 unidentified Crossbills.

Even the children were joining to the net-rounds and Veikka’s first round ever was great. He went of course first to the nets and we heard it even to the tower when he shouted that he had found a bird from the net – and he shouted that it was green! He had found the second Yellow-browed Warbler of the day!

When the fifth Black Woodpecker of the day was flying over the tower Mikko changed a Black Woodpecker tape to the player and soon we caught it! It’s amazingly powerful bird in hand!

At midday it started to get very quiet so we left to walk around Ulkonokka with Pirkka and Sander. It was very dry so I managed to survive with only walking boots. First we found only Ringed Plovers (altogether 33) but after a long walk we found also 25 Dunlins, 9 Sanderlings, 4 Little Stints, 3 Knots, 15 Ruffs, 17 Snipes, 10 Golden Plovers and a Grey Plover. Also a young Arctic Tern was seen.

After a sweaty hot round we relaxed a little bit but then climbed to the tower again. Mikko had changed a Redpoll tape to the player and caught 9 Redpolls and 2 young Arctic Redpolls. From the tower we saw a young Peregrine that tried to catch a young Black-headed Gull for more than 10 minutes but it didn’t manage. At 18:30 the bird-race ended and we counted that we had got 74 species.

In the evening we played first Pygmy Owl tape but soon changed Tengmalm’s Owl tape again. And before the midnight we had caught 13 more Tengmalm’s Owls.

On the 15th of September we woke up at 6:30 and soon climbed to the tower again. There were less birds now and the weather was also a little bit cooler. A Tengmalm’s Owl was found from the closest mist-net and the first round produced some thrushes. But later during the morning there were almost only Reed Buntings on the mist-nets. One of them was ringed in Italy! Only better mist-net birds during the morning were a Chiffchaff and a Lesser Whitethroat. We heard one Yellow-browed Warbler but didn’t manage to see it at all.

Pirkka was doing the ringing so we stayed in the tower together with Sander. The best birds we saw were 3 Mute Swans, a Three-toed Woodpecker, again all three crossbills and the best bird was a migrating Wood Lark which was maybe only the second ever in the station. Also 60 Jays were seen again.

At midday it was again very quiet so we packed most of our gear and then still decided to visit Ulkonokka very briefly. We walked to the place where most of the waders were and counted 20 Ringed Plovers, 40 Dunlins, 5 Sanderlings, 5 Little Stints, 12 Golden Plovers, 4 Grey Plovers and 4 Bar-tailed Godwits.

When we were back in the station Matti and Annikki Tynjälä had arrived. Matti was again going to stay there for a long period. Soon we had cleaned the building and packed everything and it was time to say goodbye to everyone. We walked to our cars where I said goodbye to Pirkka and his family and left towards Parikkala.

I was finally at home at 10:30 p.m. and I was absolutely tired. But anyway I had really had a great weekend – I had even got 3 new year-ticks!

J.A.

In the beginning of September the weather was still warm and calm. I checked Lake Simpele every day from Härskiinmutka and counted big numbers of Great Crested Grebes, the maximum was on the 2nd day with 145 birds. Then I saw also 4 Red-necked Grebes and a Slavonian Grebe. There were also quite a few gulls, a young Little Gull, 2 Grey Herons, 3 Canada Geese and a Barnacle Goose on those visits.

On the evening of the 2nd day we went to hammer some fields with Hanna and Harri Partanen. We started in Kullinsuo where we flushed 10 Snipes, 4 Skylarks, 35 Meadow Pipits and 3 Red-throated Pipits. In Kontiolampi we saw a flock of 115 Cranes and in Kolmikanta a young male Capercaillie was perched on the road. In Lahdensuo we saw a Black Grouse and a Hen Harrier and then we still walked in the middle of the fields where we finally flushed a young Great Snipe!

On the 3rd of September I saw a Nutcracker again in Kangaskylä and in Siikalahti I saw a Bluethroat and a White-backed Woodpecker. There weren’t many ducks even though normally when the hunting season starts Siikalahti gets full of them. Only some Tufted ducks, Pochards, a Red-necked Grebe and 2 young Slavonian Grebes were seen with some tens of Mallards, Wigeons and Coots. 6 Grey Herons were flying around.

On the 4th day evening we put up the mist-nets to Tarvaslampi and tried to catch migrating owls. Only a Pygmy Owl came to whistle back to our tape but never got caught.

On the next day I saw a Goshawk and heard a Water Rail in Siikalahti. In the evening I drove to Lappeenranta Joutseno Konnunsuo where I immediately found an interesting looking harrier. I identified it immediately as a female-plumaged Pallid Harrier but somehow it looked strange. It was something I had thought that a 2nd c-y female should look like but I couldn’t see any moulting. I saw the bird 3 times and also together with several other experienced birders and we just couldn’t see it well enough. After all the bird landed to the field so we hope someone would see it again on the next day. Anyway we did see also a young Pallid Harrier which was very easy to identify, 7 Hen Harriers, 5 Marsh Harriers, a Merlin, 2 Nutcrackers, 55 Stock Doves, Gold Finches, Linnets etc.

Then on the next day Totti Toiskallio managed to photograph our harrier and moulting could be seen. So I was sure it was a 2nd c-y Pallid but then a member of Finnish rarity-committee saw it had too long P6 and also the shape of that feather was wrong – he thought it was a hybrid. But then the final word was given by Dick Forsman who said the bird was indeed a Pallid Harrier. Very interesting case anyway!

On the 6th day I saw a Bluethroat and a White-backed Woodpecker again and on of the Slavonian Grebes was still in Siikalahti. The first Bramblings were found fronm the flocks of Chaffinches. It really started to feel like autumn. The next day we had Finnich cup inner-bandy tournament but on the 8th of September we went to hammer some fields with Hanna and Matti Lötjönen. We started in Saari Akanvaara Tetrisuo where we found a Hen Harrier, 35 Meadow Pipits, 2 Red-throated Pipits, 4 Lapland Buntings, a Rustic Bunting and so on. In Uukuniemi Suurenjärvenliete we saw 10 Ruffs, a Red-throated Pipit, a Yellow Wagtail, a Lapland Bunting and 2 Chiffchaffs. In Jyrkilä we counted 100 Cranes and in Tarassinlahti we saw 3 Grey Herons and in Kanavalampi we saw a White-tailed Eagle, Hen Harrier and 2 Golden Plovers. In the evening we tried to catch owls again but only a Tengmalm’s Owl was heard briefly.

On the 9th of September I went to hammer the fields in Kullinsuo and Lahdensuo again and saw 2 Hen Harriers, Skylarks, Meadow Pipits, a Red-throated Pipit, a Whinchat, 5 Snipes and the 2nd Great Snipe of the autumn.

On the 10th and 11th day I was in Helsinki and I visited Espoo Laajalahti a couple of times. There were again amazing numbers of birds, especially in the evening when thousands of barnacle Geese were present. I saw a White-fronted Goose, some Bluethroats, 3 Dunlins, a Little Stint, a Curlew, a Goshawk and even 164 Gadwalls.

J.A.

I wasn’t birding much in August. The weather was still nice and warm so it was nice to do long biking trips. Many birds disappeared early – early spring and good summer had made it possible to breed early and successfully start autumn migration earlier than normally.

Some better birds I saw or heard on the beginning of august were a calling Wryneck in the 2nd of August, altogether 4 Nutcrackers that stayed near railway-station and a family of Barnacle Geese that were feeding on the grass on the swimming-beach.

On the 9th day I drove to south and visited Espoo Laajalahti where I saw 11 Dunlins, 3 Temminck Stints, a Little Stint, 2 Curlew Sandpipers, some other common waders, lots of ducks and 25 Caspian Terns. 10th of August we went to watch Super-Match Manchester City vs. Arsenal with my friends. It was the last preparing match before the Premier League. The game was in Helsinki Olympic Stadium which was sold out – there were more than 41 000 people. Then on the 11th day I visited Laajalahti again and saw some of the same birds than a couple of days earlier, 6 Little Stints and also a White-fronted Goose.

On the 14th of August I saw 2 Little Stints and 2 Temminck Stints in Saari Pohjanranta – I hadn’t seen any stints in Parikkala for a couple of years. But even better were 3 Arctic Skuas that migrated over me there. Then on the next day I saw a Temminck Stint and a Ringed plover there.

On the 21st of August it started to feel more like autumn. I saw a flock 13 Golden Plovers migrating in Siikalahti and already 250 Cranes were in a flock in Joutseno Kivisaari. On the 23rd day we went to Saari with Harri Partanen but didn’t see anything special: 160 Cranes, 5 Hen Harriers, quite a few Whinchats, a Grey Heron and so on.

During the weekend Hanna participated to BirdLife Finland meeting in Helsinki and she managed to get a butterfly-lifer – a Yellow-legger Tortoiseshell.

On the 25th day I twitched 2 Nuthatches in Likolampi. There were again altogether 4 birds visiting the feeders. They hadn’t been seen almost for a year after visiting the feeders for several years all around the year. On the same day I saw a Goldfinch and 2 Long-tailed Tits on my biking trip and 9 Taiga Bean Geese and 2 Smews in Siikalahti, where I still saw 2 young Slavonian Grebes on the next day.

On the 27th day I went to walk to Kullinsuo fields where I saw a Hen Harrier, 5 Red-throated Pipits, a Lesser Whitethroat and so on but only 2 Snipes and no Great Snipes that I had hoped to find. I did the same walk in the 29th day but then I saw only 2 Curlews, a Red-throated Pipit and a Snipe.

On the 1st of September I participated to Tour de Helsinki -biking competition together with my friend Juha Honkanen. It took 4 and half hours to bike 140 kilometers. The first half it was raining very hard but luckily it stopped. It was really fun and we weren’t really tired at all after that.

J.A.

During the last weeks I hadn’t been birding much. The biggest reason had been me ear that had went worse than ever 3 weeks after the second surgery. I am almost half-deaf now which is quite depressing… Of course another big reason is that this time of the year is very quiet in Parikkala. Anyway I had been sporting very much.

On Saturday the 28th of July we left twitching to North Karelia. We drove straight to Kontiolahti Jukajärvi Kylmäsuo where a couple of days earlier had been a Pectoral Sandpiper. It hadn’t been found anymore on the previous day but the place is very good so we decided to check it anyway. The weather was very nice so it really wasn’t optimal for waders but anyway we managed to find this Pectoral Sandpiper with help of some local birders. It was quite distant but I managed to get some kind of video of it. Other birds there were a Little Stint and a Temminck Stint.

We also walked on the other side of the area and heard and saw a young Citrine Wagtail briefly in flight. We saw the Pectoral Sandpiper from the other side too and it was now hiding under some vegetation so it wasn’t visible from the place where all the new twitchers were. So we had to help them to see the bird which finally started to walk and came well visible. Only other birds were 3 more Temminck Stints.

Next we continued to Joensuu to eat and do some shopping. A couple of hours later we continued to Liperi Ahokylä fields where we immediately found a Lesser Grey Shrike that had been there for a long time. It wasn’t shy so we managed to get some good pictures and videos. There were also at least 5 Red-backed Shrikes.

Soon we were heading towards Polvijärvi Solanlampi. This was the tower we had been trying to find with my British friends in early June but we had probably missed the last wooden sign to the tower. we walked to the tower where we met Hannu Palojärvi whi had arrived a little bit earlier. First we saw just a family of Wigeons, a Slavonian Grebe and a young Pochard but then after some time I found the family of ducks we had been searching. The lake was extremely full of water-plants so the ducks weren’t easy to see and they were quite far too. But there were 6 ducks sleeping and 5 of them looked like Shovelers and one bird was a little bit smaller, greyer and differently marked. After some waiting they finally woke up and we could identify the mom of the family as a blue-winged Teal. The youngsters were hybrids between the mom and a Shoveler. I tried to get some pictures and videos but the birds were far. We waited for an hour but they never came closer before they swam behind the reeds. So we decided to leave.

On the way back home we stopped to check several bird-towers that we hadn’t visited before. Rääkkylä Vuoniemi, Kiesjärvi and Jouhtenus all looked good but the time of the year and the time of the day were wrong so we didn’t see anything. In Kitee we still checked Hovinlampi bird-tower which was in so bad shape that it wasn’t aloud to climb there anymore. Anyway I went to check the view but no birds were seen.

On Sunday I drove to Punkaharju where I finally saw Nutcrackers as a year-tick in Laukansaari. Then I was biking the longest trip ever around Puruvesi. In 3 hours and 40 minutes I biked 112 kilometers. And of course on Monday I saw a Nutcracker on my way to work. Then after one week I participated to Puruvesi tour. I managed to drive this 108 km track on 3h22min.

J.A.