. . Lintuharrastajan päiväkirja Birders diary . .

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.

The normal week started and I really needed to relax a little bit after a hard weekend. So on the 6th of May I saw only 50 Common Scoters and a Long-tailed Duck in Härskiinmutka. At night I did a quick round in Siikalahti and counted 10 Spotted Crakes, 5 Water Rails, heard a Garganey and some flocks of migrating Common Scoters.

On the 7th day I visited Siikalahti but only better thing I saw was that Sand Martins were coming back to their colony in Sounio. In the afternoon we went with Harri Partanen to check owl nest-boxes and had a really good trip even though only one breeding Tengmalm’s Owl was found. I of course ringed the bird. We saw also a Black Grouse, a couple of Hazel Hens, a male Capercaillie and heard a Cuckoo. On the 8th day I heard a Linnet in Siikalahti and in the evening we were watching ice-hockey and football with my friends. But after that I still went to Siikalahti and found a Savi’s Warbler!

Thursday was holiday so I was birding whole day. I somehow managed to wake up after only 4 hours sleeping and went to check Lake Simpele from a couple of points but saw nothing. Then in Liuharanta I found a big flock of geese where were already 155 Barnacle Geese with White-fronted and Bean Geese. I also heard a Thrush Nightingale and a Wryneck there. Then I continued to Siikalahti where Savi’s Warbler was still singing and I also saw a Smew and aheard another Thrush Nightingale and several Sedge Warblers before two buses full of people came there and I decided to go anywhere else.

I left to Saari again together with “Rolle” Mortensen and we checked every good place there but saw absolutely nothing! The floods were gone and so were the birds too. Only one bigger flock of geese and some flocks of Wood Sandpipers were seen in 4 hours tour.

When I got home I slept 1.5 hours and after that went to run with a couple of my friends. After that we left to check owl nest-boxes with Harri again. And again there were no owls but we saw something really amazing – a Willow Grouse! It was the first one in South Karelia for decades!!! It flushed next to our car and Harri saw it very well but I saw it only when it crossed the road and disappeared to the forest! We also saw a male Capercaillie lekking and a Roe Deer which I managed to digiscope well.
We were so happy that we checked many more nest-boxes than we had planned. We also heard a Siberian Jay calling on its territory but we never saw it. We were also very lucky not to get wet – always when we were driving it was raining but when we got out the rain stopped. It seems that my luck is just getting better! At night we still went to listen that Savi’s Warbler was still there.

And the next morning started well too. Jari Kontiokorpi called me that he had found 2 male Common Eiders. Of course I went to twich as an Eider was a South Karelia and of course also Parikkala tick for me! After my work I left to spend the weekend to Virolahti.

J.A.

On the 5th of May we slept long as the previous day had been so long. After 9 a.m. we left again to Saari with Pirkka and Allu. On the way we put one Ural Owl nest-box to a tree and then checked another nest-box where I had seen a female owl leaving earlier, but now there was nothing. Soon we were again in Kanavalampi and we tried to find a Marsh Sandpiper and of course also Cackling Goose, they had both been seen early in the morning there. There were several flocks of geese but the right one wasn’t with them. Only better bird we saw was a Black Woodpecker. We continued to Suurenjärvenliete where the floods had mostly dried. We met Jarmo Pirhonen there. There were still 500 geese and even 200 of them were White-fronted Geese. Most of the waders were gone too and the only better one was a Ringed Plover.

In Jyrkilä we saw only Black Grouses and soon we were again in Pohjanranta. Pirkka and Allu started to check a small flock of geese and I started to check waders. So it was again me who found the best bird. I saw a wader hiding behind some vegetation and said straight away that: “There is now a wader that has leg colour like a Terek Sandpiper. Soon the bird came visible and saw the black markings on its back and then it showed it – long up-curved bill! A Terek Sandpiper! It was my first self-found Terek Sandpiper outside Oulu-area. We put the news out and called to Jamppa who was there in a couple of minutes.

And again after a couple of minutes the Terek Sandpier flushed with 12 Wood Sandpipers and even though we saw 9 birds landing back behind some trees the Terek Sandpiper was never seen again.

We went still once more to check all the places where Cackling Goose had been seen but it had disappeared. On the way back to Parikkala we checked again the nest-box of our dearest Ural Owl but it must have passed away as there was still no sign of it. Then we still went to control the only breeding Ural Owl we have found this far and it was the same bird that had been breeding in the same nest-box 2 years ago.

It was already 5 p.m. when we were at home and Pirkka and Allu finally were ready to start their extremely long way back to north. But they had enjoyed their amazing weekend in Parikkala! Pirkka had got even 2 lifers and we had got really good Bird-tower competition too!

I was also very happy how amazing beginning of May had been. I had found myself a Cackling Goose, a Buff-bellies Sandpiper, a Lesser Spotted Eagle and a Terek Sandpiper. But I wasn’t full yet… In the evening I decided to go around the Lake Simpele by bike. I had only started when it started to rain and when I got to the other side of the lake where the sand-road started water and sand was flying all the time straight to my face! When I was biking one steep uphill I saw a big brown animal walking to the road and my first thought was that it was the ugliest do I had ever seen – but then I realized it was a Wild Boar! I even shouted I was so happy! I had never seen Wild Boars before in Finland. So the animal turned back to the forest but when I had climbed up to the hill I still managed to see it and 2 smaller Wild Boars running into the forest. There must have been a mom, last year’s child and then clearly one small pig. I was so happy that the rest of the trip went easily even though I was completely wet and extremely dirty once I got back home!

J.A.

Alarms woke us up before 4 a.m. and a half an hour later we were driving towards Siikalahti with Hanna and Potu. Allu and Pirkka were already waiting for us in the information centre and soon we continued towards the bird-tower. On the way we saw a White-backed Woodpecker and hoped to see it again later in during the bird-tower competition.

On the tower we took our positions and soon the rest of our team: Matti Lötjönen, Ilpo Kuusisalo and Boy Possen arrived too. We had the biggest team ever. We of course started to search for good species for the start but when it was 5 a.m. we hadn’t found anything better. So we had to just start listing common species. Canada Goose, Common Tern and Whimbrel were only better ones that really mattered. The rest of the species were those that we could see whole day.

We really had to wait for the first good species! Finally a big flock of Swallows came to fly over the bay and we managed to find one Sand Martin that was with them. The next hours were pretty similar, we got plenty of common species and some of them were of course very important ones like Pied Flycatcher, Robin, Song Thrush, Tree Pipit, Siskin, Green Finch and so on. These species can really be difficult, usually some of them are missing completely. The visibility was amazing good so we managed to get House and Tree Sparrows easily too.

The first Rough-legged Buzzards were seen surprisingly early but only other raptors we saw were the common ones. Only common waders were seen too, Spotted Redshank, Ruff and Wood Sandpiper were already numerous but finally we saw a Green Sandpiper too. After we had checked many migrating Black-throated Divers we finally saw the first Red-throated Diver. Other better species we got were Smew, Pintail, Water Rail, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Cuckoo, Whinchat, Mistle Thrush and Lapland Bunting. Finally we saw a Jay too and surprisingly there were more coming – 7 Jays were like migrating towards west. A Great Grey Shrike came to perch almost next to the tower and it was a new species to our bird-tower competition list ever. Hanna walked a long way to the western side of the bay and tried to find some species for us so we could see them from the tower too but there was nothing new there.

After 9 a.m. a long empty period started. When Hanna came back, Allu decided to go to walk to the eastern side of the bay. The rest of us were watching to the sky but there was nothing new! Only Yellow Wagtails were migrating. Finally after an hour big flocks of geese started to come from Tetrisuo fields and but only one of us managed to see 2 Barnacle Geese landing to the bay but behind the islands! And in this competition at least 2 team members have to see the species! So the next half an hour some of us were waiting the geese to swim visible and the rest kept watching to the sky. Finally the Barnacle Geese came visible and Pirkka said unforgettable words: “Now it begins to go well again”.

At 11:30 a.m. I found a big raptor soaring over the islands and said right away that: “There is a good looking raptor coming, must be a spotted eagle!” The bird came straight towards us soaring and getting higher all the time. So soon it was easy to identify as the better one, Lesser Spotted Eagle! Soon it started to glide and flew over the dam road and went behind the trees. We had called to Allu who was still walking but he didn’t manage to see it but of course we called to the team that was on dam-road tower and they managed to see it well.

After some hand shaking and celebrating we continued watching to the sky and soon Boy found 2 White Storks that were soaring on the southern sky. We all found the birds soon and then managed to call to Allu so he could find these birds too and got this lifer which he had hopes to get. We also called to the another team again.

And only some minutes later Potu found a Black Kite coming towards us and again Allu and another team were called. And again Potu found a Goshawk and then 2 Hobbies and I found a Red-breasted Merganser migrating with 2 Goosanders and then I found a flock of 6 Rooks and Boy found a very distant male Redstart. We had really had an amazing hour!

The last 45 minutes we tried to find anything new but it was quiet again. The last 5 minutes we tried to find a Yellowhammer which was the easiest missing species. Finally on the last minute I found one flying towards a farm building and luckily Ilpo managed to see it just when it flew inside the building!

After all we had got 93 species which was our new record! We were the best team in Parikkala, but both Tarassiinlahti and Pohjansuo had got only 1 species less. We were also the best team inland together with Outokumpu Sysmäjärvi and Tohmajärvi Värtsilä Uusikylä. I must say that we didn’t see any White-backed Woodpeckers.

After we had eaten something we planned to keep on birding but the weather changed windy. So after we had seen the first Merlin of the day we decided to leave. We still heard a Bluethroat singing shortly near the information centre. Then we deceded to go twitching to Lappeenranta.

We drove to Kaislanen and tried for a couple of hours to see the Ferroginous Duck but without luck. Only better birds we saw were 3 Gadwalls and a Chiffchaff. On the way back to Parikkala we saw a male Capercaillie flying over the road. We still decided to drive to Saari where the Cackling Goose had been seen again but it had disappeared again. We saw only a Bewick’s Swan. It was very late when we finally went to sleep.

J.A.

On the 2nd of May, on my birthday, “Potu Suojarinne came to Parikkala in the evening and straight away we drove to twitch the “Richardson’s” Cackling Goose as a lifer for him. But it was already late and it started to rain so that was all we managed to do.
On the next morning we heard a Wryneck on our back-yard, but I had to go to work while Potu went to windy Siikalahti. It was really too windy there so I didn’t miss much.
At 1 p.m. I ended my work-day and soon after that we met with Potu and my brother Pirkka and his friend Allan Hamari at Särkisalmi. Pirkka and “Allu” had been driving the whole morning but anyway we left straight to Saari again. First we stopped in Rautalahti where Pirkka and Allu already got plenty of year-ticks. Then in Akanvaara Tetrisuo we saw a Rough-legged Buzzard and a Hobby and after Pohjasuo we drove to Pohjanranta bird-tower. We had heard that Cackling Goose was missing so we weren’t in a hurry so we decided to check every place very carefully. After we had seen a couple of male Ruffs I noticed a female Ruff kind of bird with Greenshanks. It was facing away but there was something wrong with this bird. Finally it turned it’s head and I realized it looked like a Buff-breasted Sandpiper! Then it turned more and I could see every detail – It was a Buff-breasted Sandpiper! The wind was still strong and the view wasn’t perfect but we all could see this mega rarity well before it flushed with all other waders and we could see the underwing pattern too. Luckily it landed back and even a little bit closer now. The wind also dropped down a little so I managed to get some kind of pictures and video too.

Soon came the first couple of twitchers – Harri and “Rolle” and soon more and more. After we had seen a male Garganey and a female Hen Harrier and got a count of all waders, we decided to keep on birding.

We continued to Suurenjärvenliete where I had hoped to find the Cackling Goose but even though there were lots of Tundra Bean and White-fronted Geese only other geese were 14 Barnacle Geese. But there were also lots of waders and the best ones were 3 Little Ringed Plovers and 2 Black-tailed Godwits. We also saw a female White-backed Woodpecker which was really good bird for Pirkka and Allu. We also checked all ducks very carefully too but then we continued through Jyrkilä fields where we saw only 11 Black Grouses to Tarassiinlahti where only a Willow Warbler was seen.

In Kanavalampi we saw an adult White-tailed Eagle which was maybe the reason there were no geese. Then we still drove to Pohjanranta where the month-tick twitchers were just arriving from Helsinki. The Buff-breasted Sandpiper was still there and the weather was calming down so it was really showing well. But we really needed to go to eat something so we drove to Särkisalmi to eat. It wasn’t a surprise that soon a Marsh Sandpiper had landed to Pohjanranta. We still saw a Common Scoter in Härskiinmutka but the rest of the evening we were watching ice-hockey WC and relaxing. On the next morning we would have to wake up early – it was bird-tower competition day!

J.A.