. . Lintuharrastajan päiväkirja Birders diary . .

Warming climate has changed our fauna and change has been fastest in butterflies and moths. Childhood butterfly books had images of potential new for Finland butterfly species in their last pagers. Nowadays those species are already quite common. Our newest butterfly species were not even mentioned in those 1980 butterfly books.

Our goal is to see these new interesting species. So far we have often been away or done less birding during best butterfly time and that’s why we haven’t seen most of them.

We decided to make butterfly trip to the best butterfly area in Finland; Joutseno. On the way we saw Pine Marten jumping over the road. When we arrived to best butterfly locations, we found out that we were again a bit late. Lesser Purple Emperors were all worn already. Fortunately autumn season butterflies were all fresh.

Butterfly trip to eastern border of Parikkala next day, did not produce new lifers, but one more Lesser Purple Emperor was seen.

Here is collection of pictures taken. Click image to see it larger

This Board-bodied Chaser was seen in Patsaspuisto art garden where we were searching for more butterflies.

H.A.

After birding 8 days in Eastern Finland with my British friends I was absolutely tired. On the 13th of June I visited Espoo Laajalahti where I saw a Barnacle Goose hybrid and some common waders and in Suomenoja where I saw a Moorhen which was a new year-tick. I had planned to go birding Oulu-area but my car was still not ok. So I had to drive it back to service. Luckily I got it back after one day and I didn’t need to pay anything more.

But anyway I managed to relax an extra day in Kirkkonummi before on the Friday evening I left to Helsinki-Vantaa airport to pick up Hanna who came back from England where she had been on 4 days painting course. Together we drove to Ähtäri where Hanna went to celebrate 40th birthday of the zoo, where a new main building was opened and there was Hanna’s paintings. After night in Hotel Mesikämmen, I continued towards Oulu.

In the afternoon I stopped in Kärsämäki where I managed to twitch a Marsh Warbler as a North Bothnia tick. Then I drove to Liminka Virkkula where I saw a Curlew Sandpiper flying in a flock of Ruffs. I also visited Temmesjokisuu bird-tower but saw nothing. In the evening I drove to Oulu Hietasaari where my parents arrived too and they had rented a cottage. We also met my brother Pirkka’s family and together we walked a little in Nallikari beach and saw a Little Tern and 2 Shelducks.

On Sunday we celebrated my brother Riku’s son Eetu’s confirmation parties. It was late afternoon when I had to start a long way back to Parikkala.

After my holiday I went biking every day. On the 18th day I heard a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker in Punkaharju Laakkii and in the evening we went to ring Pygmy Owl nestling together with Hanna, Harri Partanen and Antti Peuna who had come to birding for one day and night to Parikkala. There were only 3 nestlings anymore.

In the evening we left birding with Hanna and Antti. First we twitched Great Snipes, then heard several Nightjars and even saw one of them really well. In Kontiolampi we heard a Grasshopper Warbler and in Kukonkanta 2 Marsh Warblers. Blyth’s Reed Warblers and Corn Crakes were still everywhere. Then we left to Siikalahti to count its birds, we found 3 Bitterns, 8 Water Rails, 2 Spotted Crakes, 2 Thrush Nightingales, a Reed Warbler and Great Reed Warbler. Antti had got even 5 lifers during the night! He hadn’t been birding much in South-Eastern Finland before. He still got his 6th early next morning when he saw a couple of White-backed Woodpeckers.

In Siikalahti we saw a rare red rainbow which forms from red light that curves sharper in atmosphere than other light when the sun is still behind the horizon. The light bent in small drops so that also inside the rainbow was red.

The next days biking trips weren’t productive. In Midsummer festival day we visited Siikalahti where we saw 2 White-fronted Geese, some Bitterns and Slavonian Grebes. Also the first Poplar Admirals were seen.

On the night of 23rd of June I heard 2 Grasshopper Warblers in Tetrisuo and the first time ever a well calling Short-eared Owl. On the next day I saw 2 Badgers on my biking trip. Altogether I biked 380 kilometers in 9 days but that was it then. On the 26th day I drove to Helsinki to surgery. In December I had been in same inner ear surgery but it hadn’t been successful, now it was time for the second try. I hope this time everything goes fine! When I was driving to Helsinki I twitched a Lanceolated Warbler in Ruokolahti. In the evening I had the surgery and the next day I was in the bed.

During my sick-leave I did a couple of trips to Northern Finland
And Hanna was leading a trip to Georgia

J.A. (& H.A.)

After the North Bothnia bird-race (which was 25th and 26th of May) I returned back to Parikkala very tired. On the 27th day I saw 2 White-fronted Geese and a Tundra Bean Goose in Siikalahti and in the afternoon I went to twitch a lifer. I drove to Lappeenranta where we continued with Petri Salakka and Pekka Punnonen to Virolahti Lintulahti where we were 15 minutes too late – a Whiskered Tern was gone. We waited and waited and finally I saw a black tern with my scope but unfortunately it was a Black Tern! I have never been so disappointed finding a Black Tern. Later we still saw a nice flock of 38 Bar-tailed Godwits before we gave up.

During the next days I saw a couple of flocks of migrating geese, a Hazel Hen, a Red-backed Shrike, a golden Oriole and heard a Red-breasted Flycatcher. On the 30th day I made a bike trip to forests near Siikalahti and heard a Greenish Warbler, a Red-breasted Flycatcher, a River Warbler, a Marsh Warbler, an Icterine Warbler and many Blyth’s Reed Warblers. On the next day I still saw a couple of Barnacle Geese, a Grey-headed Woodpecker, a Long-tailed Tit and finally my first Long-eared Owl of the year.

On the 1st of June I drove to Lappeenranta, where we tried to find a long-stayed Ferruginous Duck in Kaislanen, but only Tufted Ducks, Pochards, a Scaup, 2 Long-tailed Ducks and 7 Brent Geese were seen. In Toikansuo we heard 2 Marsh Warblers but Askola was almost empty. In Kukkuroinmäki we saw 3 Garganeys and in kotasaari 4 Slavonian Grebes. In Kivisaari we heard a River Warbler and in Konnunsuo we managed to twitch a 2nd calendar year Red-breasted Goose that had stayed a couple of days with a flock of Barnacle Geese. On the fields we twitched a couple of Booted Warblers that Pekka and Petri had found earlier. They were quiet but we saw them well. Also a couple of Ortolan Buntings were heard. Together with Pekka we still continued to Vainikkala where we managed to see a Black Redstart very briefly. In Haapajärvi we counted 249 Whooper Swans and saw a male Gadwall. Then I had to continue with my not well working car back to Parikkala

In the afternoon we still went to Saari with Hanna. We tried to find a nest of a Great Grey Owl but didn’t see any owls in the forest we knew some other birders had seen them. Then in Kanavalampi we found a nest of White-backed Woodpecker which the local woodpecker specialists already knew. In Uukuniemi Suurenjärvenliete we heard an Ortolan Bunting and several Blyth’s Reed Warblers and a couple of flocks of Barnacle Geese were also found.

On the 2nd day we did a long night-trip mostly to Siikalahti where we heard a Savi’s Warbler, 5 Bitterns, 4 Water Rails, a Spotted Crake, 3 Thrush Nightingales, 9 Blyth’s Reed Warblers, 3 Golden Orioles and so on. In other places we heard mostly same species, but in Kullinsuo we heard also a Stock Dove. On the next night I went to twitch a Grasshopper Warbler in Kontiolampi and a Quail in Haukkavaara as a year-tick. And on the next night we went to twitch Great Snipes that had been found again from their usual field. They were very far but we could hear and see them displaying. But there were already too many mosquitoes to enjoy birding anymore!

On the 4th day we left towards Helsinki and on the way we checked a nest of a Grey-headed Woodpecker in Simpele that Jari Kontiokorpi had told to us. Then we drove to Helsinki-Vantaa airport where we met our old friend Paul French and his friend Tim Sykes – we were going to do birding together in Eastern Finland for the next 8 days – but it is a different story which can be found here:

J.A.

On Friday the 24th of May I left at work to drive towards Oulu. I stopped only once very shortly so I was in Oulu already at 5:30 p.m. We met in Antti Vierimaa’s where Antti Peuna has also stayed as these craze guys had been birding almost around the clock on the previous day and they had just awaken. The fourth member of our team Harry Nyström came there too. During the next couple of hours we talked a lot but also managed to make some kind of plan and schedule for the 24 hour bird-race.

On the 25th day I woke up at 7 a.m. and together with my brother Riku we drove my car to Tupos so it was closer to Liminka where the bird-race results would be given. Then Riku dropped me to Vierimaa’s place and soon Harry came too and we packed our gear to Harry’s Qashqai. We drove to Hietasaari where we had planned to begin. It was Oulu-marathon day so we had planned to begin so that we could leave Hietasaari before it is too crowded. We checked Möljänpää and saw 4 Little Terns, some flocks of Velvet Scoters and Long-tailed Ducks, 2 Scaups and 2 Black-throated divers and heard a Thrush Nightingale but about at 10 a.m. we moved to inland to listen to song birds. Blackcaps, a Chiffchaff and many other birds were singing but when we found 3 Haw Finches we needed to make a decision to start or not. We followed the finches for 15 minutes and waited for some other good bird to show up and when a flock of Redpolls flew over us we started. Blackcaps and a Chiffchaff were still singing and many other species were listed soon. Then I saw a Long-tailed Tit crossing the road and luckily the rest of us heard it too. Other birds seen or heard in a small area were 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, a Wood Warbler, a Stock Dove, Common Rosefinches and so on. Then we drove to Möljänpää but there was now a bad haze. 2 Thrush Nightingales and Little Terns were still there and a couple of Velvet Scoters were seen and the Vierimaa found a very distant Black Tern! We stayed there still some time and saw a Red-necked Grebe. Then we had to continue to Oritkari.

On the way we saw some common species and the best ones were a Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Starling – they both are surprisingly difficult sometimes. In Oritkari we saw some waders with different bill-shape. Then we continued to Kiviniemi where we heard a Common Whitethroat and saw a couple of Shelducks. In Vihiluoto we saw a couple of Garganeys and Gadwalls, 2 Smews, a Black-throated Diver, a Black-tailed Godwit and nearby also 2 Pheasants. Akionlahti was a waste of time, only Coots and Cranes but on the forest nearby we heard a Willow Tit and a Goldcrest. In Kempele Teppola we had luck as we saw 2 Gold Finches, a Linnet and a migrating Rough-legged Buzzard.

Then we stopped in Iinatti where we tried to see raptors but only a White-tailed Eagle and some Sparrowhawks were seen. Then we went to see a nesting Ural Owl that Antti had found and also a Goshawk that was breeding nearby. On the way towards Liminka we still saw a Hen Harrier. Collared Dove was seen easily in Liminka and soon we were climbing to a bird-tower in Virkkula. It was amazingly quiet in Liminka-bay; our only new ticks were a Ruff and a Wood Warbler. Also a White-tailed Eagle, a Hen Harrier and 16 Black-tailed Godwits were seen.

On the field on the border of Liminka and Lumijoki we heard a distant Ortolan Bunting and then we went to tick a Tengmalm’s Owl from the nest-box. We heard the nestlings calling which was enough. Then we continued to Sannalahti bird-tower and there we saw 2 Arctic Skuas and I found a strange looking very distant wader that started to sleep behind some vegetation. Luckily it woke up and Harry found it again and after some watching we realized it was a Terek Sandpiper! So we found a Terek Sandpiper from Sannalahti in a second bird-race in a raw.

Around the cross to Varjakka Harry saw something standing on the field and he stopped and we returned to the place where he thought he had seen it, but nothing was found. When we started to drive again we saw a Grey Partridge just 100 meters from the place next to the road. Maybe we had returned too far or then the bird had moved? Soon we saw the first Short-eared Owl of the day and in Alhonmäki we walked for some time before we finally heard a Wood Lark. Soon we turned to Tauvo road and saw a Bean Goose flying over us; 2 more Short-eared Owls were seen too. In Tauvo we walked a long way as the water-level was very low. There were almost no waders – usually there always are some. But anyway we heard a Bittern, saw some Common Scoters and flocks of Long-tailed Ducks, a couple of Caspian Terns, heard a Corn Crake, saw 4 Red-backed Shrikes (but no Lesser Grey Shrike that another team had seen) and a Hobby so we really had a good time there anyway. But it was again a long way back to our car so we walked really fast to save some time. Then we continued to Säikänlahti where Pochards were seen easily. There were also 20 Smews and then we saw a flock of 6 geese and one of them was really small! The shape was clear: tiny bill, high forehead, long and narrow wings – a Lesser White-fronted Goose! The light was really bad so we didn’t see any colors and that’s why we couldn’t identify the other birds at all – they were smallish too, maybe White-fronted or Pink-footed Geese.

It was almost midnight when we continued to forest-places. On the first stop we heard several Jack Snipes and then we walked quite a lot in the forest before we flushed a couple of Willow Grouses. Then we still heard a Ural Owl that was calling very close to us – really amazing!

Next we ticked a Slavonian Grebe on a small secret lake and continued to Raahe Aittalahti where we surprisigly saw 2 more Slavonian Grebes. I also saw a crake flying shortly but the rest of the team didn’t see this bird that must have been a Spotted Crake. In Lapaluoto we saw first Mute Swans but nothing else. Along the way to Pyhäjoki we saw 2 more Short-eared Owls and finally the first Woodcock. The weather had changed windy so Woodcocks weren’t flying at all. In Heinikarinlampi we heard a strange weak Spotted Crake and in Hietakarinlahti another one with a normal call. Then we made a big decision and turned to Takaranta to check if there were any waders. We had planned to go there in the morning but we were so close that we decided to try. On the walk towards the shore we flushed a Green Sandpiper and then on the shore we saw there were some waders, but it was still too dark and they were too far to identify. We walked closer and saw 4 Broad-billed Sandpipers flying up and leave. Then we saw a Red Knot and 2 Little Stints so we had really made a good decision! But where were all Dunlins and Red-necked Phalaropes? The morning was coming so we really needed to rush to listen to some nightsingers.

We stopped briefly in Parhalahti but didn’t see anything new. But on the way we stopped in a spruce-forest and saw a Bullfinch and first flocks of Common Crossbills. In Penkkatie we didn’t find the Blyth’s Reed Warbler that Anttis had heard there earlier but another Thrush Nightingale, some Blackcaps and a drumming Black Woodpecker. Somewhere on the way we heard another Corn Crake too. Then we turned to a forest where Anttis had heard some forest species but it was very quiet. Maybe the reason was an Eagle Owl that we flushed from a tree? We saw it really well when it flew in front of us to the forest.

Then we had to hurry to do sea-watching. We drove to Elävisluoto and again it was a good choice! Right away we saw 2 migrating Common Eiders and after some time I heard a calling pipit and said I heard something like a Rock Pipit and right then the bird flew over us calling! Rock Pipit is a really rare bird around here! We spent only a half of an hour in Elävisluoto as we needed to hurry to forests. There were too many forest-species missing on our list! Along the road we saw a flock of 7 Parrot Crossbills.

In Raahe Kaijanaro we twitched a River Warbler that another team had found – it was a lifer to Peuna! Then we tried to twitch one Red-breasted Flycatcher but it wasn’t found. Somewhere on the way we saw again a couple of Short-eared Owls and a Black Woodpecker but we continued to forests that Vierimaa had been birding a lot. And it started to go really well: first we heard a Wryneck, then Bramblings, saw 2 male Capercaillies and finally a Crested Tit too. Then we continued to a secret place which we had found a year before and where we had seen 2 male Montagu’s Harriers. We started to scan the open area and found right away a male Montagu’s Harrier – amazing! Then we managed to find Whimbrels and finally a Golden Plover too!

We continued to Siikajoki to try to find some waders but couldn’t find anything new in Sääri or Savilahti. The haze was really bad and water-level very low. Then we had only less than an hour to go and we continued to Alhonmäki. In a few minutes we saw a Honey Buzzard and a couple of Common Buzzards but the last 30 minutes went without new species. Ou rally ended 24 hours from the first species at 10:34 a.m.

When I counted our species I first made a mistake and got 154 species. We were really happy to this result too but then I realized there was a little mistake, one number was wrong and it wasn’t the last number! We got even 10 more – 164 species! We were pretty sure that we had got the winning result as the day hadn’t been so good birding day – there hadn’t been waders at all and many raptors and migrants were already gone. Anyway the most important thing for us wasn’t the result or situation but the feeling that we had done very well once again!

Harry dropped me to Tupos I started my long way back to Parikkala. The results were given from 1 p.m. so I was already in Siilinjärvi and I had been sleeping a little by more than an hour when Harry called me that we had really won! The second team had got 7; and third team even 17 species less than us! But altogether there had been 211 species in the race! So with a little bit more luck we might have beaten our record 165 species which we made a year before. Maybe one year we can beat the all-time record which is 172 species?

J.A.

After a trip to south-east I took it easier for a couple of days. I did a couple of long bike-trips and of course visited Siikalahti a couple pf times. On the 14th of May I saw a Little Ringed Plover, 2 Golden Orioles and heard a 3rd one and also heard a Garden Warbler. I also checked lots of owl nest-boxes but found only one breeding Pygmy Owl that had 9 eggs! Otherwise the week wasn’t very good.

On thursday Hanna’s and 2 other artist’s expedition opened in Savonlinna Riihisaari. There were lots of people in the opening ceremony.

On the 17th day I drove again to south. On the way I checked nest-boxes in Rautjärvi and saw a Wood Lark in Laikko. Then I drove straight to Virolahti Leerviikki where I met “Potu” who had been in Virolahti already for 2 days. The weather was poor – the wind was from east and it was raining a little. So we left to check some fields. We twitched a Collared Dove on the way but didn’t find anything better from the fields in rain. The rain stopped but there was no migration in the evening so we could go to sleep early in Lakakallio.

On the 18th of May I woke up at 4:30 a.m. when a couple of noisy birders climbed to the rock. So I decided to get out of my car too. There was almost nothing migrating until 6 a.m. some Black-throated Divers started to move. We continued until 11 a.m. and counted 277 of them. Only other better bird was a Common Rosefinch.

During the day we tried to see raptors on Elokallio but saw only some Honey Buzzards and a couple of White-tailed Eagles. In the evening we joined an arctica boat-trip which took 4 hours. The weather was great but birds were missing. We saw 2 Arctic Skuas and finally on the way back some flocks of Long-tailed Ducks and 55 Velvet Scoters. We still watched Long-tailed Ducks migrating over Lakakallio and they kept on going until late night.

On the 19th day I woke up before 4 a.m. and climbed to the rock. Pretty soon I saw the first Black-throated Divers and soon Potu and a couple of other birders came there too and then we started to see flocks of Scaups. At 6:30 a.m. I spotted a falcon migrating over the sea and realized it was a male Red-footed Falcon! The migration stopped about 8 a.m. but we continued still one more hour. During the morning we had counted 737 Black-throated divers, 20 Red-throated Divers, 617 Scaups, 25 Tufted Ducks, 2 Arctic Skuas, 4 Brent Geese, about 500 grey geese and Barnacle Geese, 35 Velvet Scoters, thousands of Long-tailed ducks, 5 Grey Herons and so on.

Then we drove to Hamina. On the way we heard an Icterine Warbler, but soon we parked to Kirkkojärvi where we heard another Icterine Warbler on the parking place. There were already about 100 twitchers waiting for a Booted Eagle to come. It had been seen on several places on the previous evening and it was coming towards Hamina. It was very hot and sunny so when there was almost nothing happening it was pretty boring. Geese were migrating but too far. A Penduline Tit was heard and once we heard a call like a European Serin but nobody saw it. Finally Hoey Buzzards and Common Buzzards started to move and during the long day we saw 18 Honey Buzzards. At 2:43 p.m. we finally saw the first eagle and it was already the third Lesser Spotted Eagle for me this spring! But the Booted Eagle was missing. It was 4 p.m. when we decided to give up. Many twitchers still stayed there but we were just too tired – we had started so early. We started to drive back to our home. And of course the bird was seen 45 minutes later! So I decided to turn back and try to see the eagle in Virolahti. I managed to get there pretty fast and the bird had still been seen in Hamina. It really looked promising that I could still see it. There were again almost 100 birders waiting for it in EastGate. Then after a long wait the bird was seen only 5 kilometres from us and coming towards us. But it newer came! We did see a Black Kite but nothing else! At 7 p.m. I had to start driving back home – and I was pretty pissed off!

On the 20th day I heard a couple of Blyth’s Reed Warbler on my way to work. Then after my work day I decided to go to a very long bike-trip. Maybe I just wanted to do something really hard to get something else to think than a missed Booted Eagle. So I drove 82.7 kilometres around the whole Lake Simpele! I heard a Red-breasted Flycatcher, 4 Blyth’s Reed Warblers, 2 Wood Warblers and a Chiffchaff and I can say that after that I felt very happy again!

On the next evening we went to check the last owl nest-boxes that are in Punkaharju. They were empty too so we have only 3 breeding owls this year – luckily they are all different. We have 1 Ural, 1 Tengmalm’s and 1 Pygmy Owl – hopefully they breed successfully! During the evening we heard 2 Red-breasted Flycatchers, a Corn Crake, 2 Blyth’s Reed Warblers, a Blackcap and saw 2 Hazel Hens.

On the next night I woke up at 2 a.m. and went to listen to nightsingers to Siikalahti. In 2 hours I heard a Corn Crake, a Blyth’s Reed Warbler, a Great Reed Warbler, an Icterine Warbler, 2 Golden Orioles and the same Savi’s Warbler again. I also saw a Short-eared Owl migrating and one Short- or Long-eared Owl hunting in Tetrisuo.

In the afternoon I went to bike with “Masa” Valkeapää and we biked to his cottage where we did a short tour to Lake Simpele by motor-boat. Then we biked back. On the lake we saw that Barnacle Geese had arrived to their breeding island where were also 2 pairs of Lesser Black-backed Gulls. On one rock in the middle of the lake we saw a Cormorant. Then while biking I heard some Blyth’s Reed Warblers and one Marsh Warbler.

On the23rd of May I got a message that there was a possible Southern Grey Shrike in Kotka. After my work I drove there with Henrik Salomaa. Unfortunately the bird was clearly a Great Grey Shrike of race homeyeri. Anyway I had never seen this subspecies so I took some pictures and video of it.

We also went to twitch a Short-toed Lark that had been seen on the previous day in Hovinsaari. Luckily we found it easily and after some chasing I managed to get really good pictures and videos of it. nothing else was found and because of the weather was really cold, windy and rainy, we left back to home. I dropped Henrik to Lappeenranta and in Parikkala I still checked that Savi’s Warbler was still singing in Siikalahti.

J.A.

On the 10th of May I left from work at 1 p.m. and while packing my car I heard a Lesser Whitethroat and a Wryneck. Soon I continued to Imatra where I stopped in Immolanjärvi and heard a Dreat Reed Warbler. In Joutseno I picked up Sampsa Cairenius and we decided to check some places there before continuing to south. We heard a Wood Warbler and a Wood Lark and in Pätilä we heard an Ortolan Bunting and saw a male Red-backed Shrike. In Konnunsuo we saw a Short-eared Owl and counted 2400 grey geese and 320 Barnacle Geese. In Kotasaari and Kukkuroinmäki we checked some really good looking pools but there weren’t many waders. A flock of 47 Ringed Plovers and 2 Oystercatchers were good. But there were amazing numbers of geese: we counted at least 14000 grey geese (half of them Bean and half White-fronted) and 1600 Barnacle Geese. Also 2 Pink-footed Geese were found.

Then we continued straight to Virolahti and Lakakallio where evening migration started soon. We saw 7000 Common Scoters, some Long-tailed Ducks and Velvet Scoters too. A flock of 13 Bewick’s Swans was nice. At night we visited Lintulahti but it was surprisingly quiet there. 2 Nightjars were seen on the way. It was almost midnight when we went to sleep.

On Saturday 11th of May we woke up at 4 a.m. but the sea was completely foggy. So we drove to Lintulahti where we saw 3 Temminck’s Stints and heard already several Common Whitethroats. We decided to drive to Hamina and on the way we saw one Rook. In Lupinlahti we heard 3 Great Reed Warblers and saw a Spotted Flycatcher. At 8 a.m. we were walking to Kirkkojärvi bird-tower. Then we heard a Penduline Tit calling and soon we also saw it building a nest!

We climbed to the tower and soon Tero Ilomäki and Hannu Kettunen and soon after them also “Jamppa” Pirhonen came there. Jamppa was still under the tower when he shouted that a Citrine Wagtail was coming over us. The bird was calling and I managed to get it to my scope and see it was a male. It landed into the reeds and was never seen again. During the morning we saw 2 Red-backed Shrikes, 30 Swifts, a Blackcap and heard a Reed Warbler and 2 Great Reed Warblers.

Jamppa, Tero and Hannu left to do raptor-watching to Hevossaari but we decided to stay. Soon Kari Haataja, Pertti Uusivuori and Kim Vinari came to the tower. And soo we started to see raptors. Quite a few 2 c-y Common Buzzards were seen but also some Sparrowhawks and a couple of Marsh Harriers. After midday we got a message that a Lesser Spotted Eagle was coming from Kotka and soon it was seen in Hevossaari. 25 minutes later Kari found it coming towards us and it was really showing well when it continued towards east. Soon after that we saw a Black Kite too. Other afternoon birds were 2 Arctic Skuas, 7 Bewick’s Swans, a Rough-legged Buzzard, a couple of flocks of big waders (probably Bar-tailed Godwits) and when all other had left already we still saw another Black Kite migrating at 3:50 p.m. We finally left Kirkkojärvi at 4:30 p.m.

After we had eaten we continued to Lakakallio where evening migration was quite strong. We saw 35000 Common Scoters, 500 Long-tailed Ducks, 35 Velvet Scoters, 7 Whimbrels and so on. The funniest and best observation was a crazy one! We heard a loud voice like something big was dropping down from the sky – like an aeroplane, or at least parts of one – but it was a flock of ducks! Sampsa managed to find them still very high and then we both managed to get them to our scopes and they were 19 Steller’s Eiders!

On the 12th day we woke up at 4 a.m. and the weather looked perfect. Anyway it was still very quiet. At 5 a.m. geese and divers started to migrate. We watched the migration until 10 a.m. and counted 413 Black-throated, 28 Red-throated and 259 diver sp:s, 5100 Barnacle Geese and 2324 grey geese. Also a Shelduck, 3 Short-eared Owls, 2 Haw Finches, a flock of 38 Bar-tailed Godwits, and some flocks of Bewick’s Swans – altogether 38 – were seen.

It was quiet in Vilkkiläntura and Lintulahti and the weather seemed to be too good for raptor migration so we decided to start driving back to South Karelia. We stopped briefly in Väkevänjärvi but soon continued to Kaislanen. A Penduline Tit was found easily and soon I left Sampsa to check the ducks as he was going soon back to Virolahti to watch evening migration together with Juha Koli. I drove straight to Parikkala and went to sleep.

In the evening I drove around Siikalahti by bike and heard Savi’s Warbler still singing and twitched a Tengmalm’s Owl that had been in Tiviänlampi. It started to sing at 11:23 p.m. and it was my Siikalahti-tick number 239! I also heard a Nightjar in Sounio. I had got 152 species to 100 hours competition – and I really hadn’t tried – I had just been birding hard.

J.A.