. . Lintuharrastajan päiväkirja Birders diary . .

Rare birds in April

On the 1st of April I saw some new birds for the year like Reed Bunting, Chaffinch, Meadow Pipit and Mistle Thrush, also 2 White-tailed Eagles and a Golden Eagle, 3 Hawfinches and 70 Snow Bunting were seen in Siikalahti.

On the 2nd day we had the wilderness bird race again. Now our area was really bad and also roads were in so bad shape that we almost gave up right away. Anyway we had some nice birds like Eagle Owl, Ural Owl, Capercaillie, Hazel Hens, Black Grouses, Black Woodpeckers, Grey-headed Woodpeckers, White-backed Woodpecker, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Dippers, Redwings, White Wagtails and a Dunnock. In the evening in Siikalahti we saw a White-tailed Eagle and a Marsh Harrier.

On the 3rd day we visited Lappeenranta Joutseno Konnunsuo with Ilkka Jarva and saw 10 Canada Geese, 4 Black-headed Gulls, 5 Kestrels, a Great Grey Shrike, a Merlin, 2 Cranes and a Stock Dove and so on. In Imatra I saw a Lesser Black-backed Gull and on the next day I twitched a White Stork there.

On the 5th of April we went to try to see a lek of Capercaillies. We did hear some calls but never saw the birds, but 2 Pygmy Owl, a Grey-headed Woodpecker and several Hazel Hens were calling. Also a Woodcock was seen. We continued by bike to Siikalahti where a Robin, a White-tailed Eagle, 2 Merlins, a Hen Harrier, a Crane, 140 Lapwings, a Lesser Black-backed, a Great Black-backed and a Common Gull, 320 Wood Pigeons, 2 Stock Doves, a Linnet, an Arctic Redpoll, 2 Hawfinches, 2 Common Crossbills, 1200 Chaffinches, a Lapland Bunting, thrushes and so one were seen. Even though there was still lot of snow on the ground it was really a spring!

Parikkala-tick

On the next day the bird of the day was a Green Sandpiper, but on the 7th there was something much better! Mikko Pöllänen found a southern Stonechat in Koitsanlahti and we managed to twitch it and get some pictures. It was our first of this race in Finland and my bird-species number 250 in Parikkala! I went to see the Stonechat also on the next morning and managed to get better pictures. In Siikalahti a White-tailed Eagle was migrating and in the evening I went once more to see the Stonechat together with “potu” Suojarinne and Harry Nyström. We continue also to Rautjärvi Änkilä where we managed to twitch a nice male Black Redstart that Jouko Poutanen had found.

On the 9th day the Stonechat wasn’t found anymore but I managed to see a Wood Lark and a Stock Dove and hear a Black and a Grey-headed Woodpecker competing which one had most powerful call – black won. In Siikalahti I saw 5 Bean Geese, heard a Canada Goose, 7 Coots were already swimming in small pen water area and Mallard were on the field that had quite a lot of water.

On the 10th a Lapland Bunting, a Song Thrush, 4 White-tailed Eagles, a Golden Plover, 3 Wigeons, 4 Common Snipes, 2 Ospreys and a Bittern were observed in Siikalahti. And on the 11th day 103 Bean Geese, 18 White-fronted Geese, a Smew, a Great Black-backed Gull, 4 White-tailed Eagles, 5 Marsh Harriers, a Curlew and a Brambling were seen. The snow had already melted and there was already a bigger open water area. On the next day only 3 Rooks were seen.

More ticks

On the 13th day “konza” Kontiokorpi found a Little Grebe in Siikalahti and it was a new tick for me not only to Siikalahti but also to Parikkala! In the afternoon we left to Helsinki with Sampsa Cairenius where we managed to twitch a crazy early Subalpine Warbler! A new lifer! Other birds seen in surprisingly frozen Viikki were 5 Grey Herons, 11 Great Crested Grebes, 33 Barnacle Geese, 2 Pheasants and 2 Black Redstarts which seems to be more common than ever!
I was back in Parikkala after midnight but I decided to visit Siikalahti where I saw an Eagle Owl perched on a bird-tower! Only new year-tick of the day was a Pintail.

On the 15th some Pochards had arrives, 2 more White-tailed Eagles were migrating like 3 Rough-legged Buzzards too, also a Rook, 100 Meadow Pipits and a good one – a Shore Lark were seen.

Eagles

On the 17th day I participated in an Eco-bird race. I drove by bike to Melkoniemi forest where I really worked hard to find a good place or bird to start and after 3 hours I decided to start with a Siberian Jay. Luckily right then a Capercaillie flew over me. Hazel Hens, Common Crossbills and a Parrot Crossbills were seen too. Then I biked to Kangaskylä where only a Pheasant was heard and then continued to Siikalahti where I spent almost the rest of the race – about 7 hours – and it was really worthy! A Wood Lark, 320 Bean Geese, 37 White-fronted Geese, a Greenshank, Green Sandpipers, a Bittern and an early Water Rail were observed soon. The first good raptor was a White-tailed Eagle, but soon a 2nd c-y Greater Spotted Eagle came from NE and landed to the ice in the middle of the bay. It took a fish from a gull and moved to the reed-bed to eat. Soon another eagle was found from the sky and surprisingly it was a sub-adult Golden Eagle. Altogether I saw 12 species of raptors: other good ones were a Hen Harrier, a Goshawk, a Merlin and 12 Rough-legged Buzzards. Other good birds were a Grey-headed Woodpecker, 2 Woodcocks and a Linnet. I still biked around the bay to Kangaskylä but nothing else was found. After all I won the race with 76 species.

On the 18th day I did a duck-count and better birds were 2 Canada Geese, 4 Tufted Ducks, 2 Great Crested Grebes, a Redshank and a Chiffchaff. There were much less duck than normally in Siikalahti. On the 19th day one more White-tailed Eagle and another Greater Spotted Eagle, this time a 3rd c-y bird were seen. Again the spotted eagle landed to the bay and we managed to see it very close but couldn’t get any really good pictures because of it soon flew to the other side of bay. In the afternoon we saw 2 Bewick’s Swans in Kontiolampi.

On the next morning a Greater Spotted Eagle was still in Siikalahti. Also an early Yellow Wagtail, 8 Canada Geese and a White-tailed Eagle were seen. I also found a couple of Long-tailed Tits building a nest – many of them didn’t survive from the cold winter.

First for Finland

On the 21st day I saw 2 Redshanks in Siikalahti and on the 22nd a Red-breasted Merganser in Särkisalmi and a Northern Wheatear in Härskiinmutka. But in the evening there was something weird happening in Laukaa! There had been a Snipe calling like a Tengmalm’s Owl for 2 summers already in Vihtasilta, but only now a real birder Tero Linjama heard it and took recordings. He took somograms from the voice and found out that it was similar than Wilson’s Snipes!
Still the snipe hadn’t been seen but in the evening of 23rd of April we drove to Mikkeli where we first twitched a Black Redstart and surprisingly found it had got a female, before continued with “potu” Suojarinne and “mape” Lund to Laukaa. We were there at 7.45 p.m. and when we got out from my car the bird was calling first time! There were some 30 twitchers and soon we found the bird flying on the ground and I immediately managed to get to my scope and even though it was flying fast it really looked good! Soon the snipe landed but luckily just in front of Petteri Mäkelä and some other twitchers that were in different part of a small bay that we were. Petteri ran to us and soon we were seeing this bird on the ground just some 20 metres from us! I managed to get some pictures and videos of the bird before it slowly walked in to the reed-bed and disappeared.
After an hour a snipe was found from the reed-bed and a bigger and bigger number of twitchers were looking at it but it wasn’t showing well, just a head or part of a back was visible. And later I found out that there were actually several snipes very close to each others so we really had no idea which one was the right bird. Luckily the bird or 2 birds started to call soon and we could hear some very different calls than Common Snipes. And at 9.45 p.m. the bird finally started to display again so everyone could hear it well!
Almost right away many of those maybe 200 twitchers started to leave and car-engines were running and doors slamming – and I really desperately wanted to get good recordings of the display! The bird soon landed to another reed-bed where I managed to get short recording of its call but only after 45 minutes wait it started to display again and luckily most of the twitchers had left so it was quiet enough to get some quality recordings! At 11 p.m. we were on our way back home.

At home we were at 3 a.m. on the 24th of April. And I had promised to send my pictures to media and I also put my pictures, video and recordings to my home-pages. So I had no time to sleep at all before we had to go to Siikalahti to start a local migration-watch day at 5 a.m. The weather was again horrible; it was cold, windy and even snowing a while. Anyway we saw a Black-tailed Godwit, 59 Curlews, 3 Whimbrels, a Great Grey Shrike, a Black-throated Diver and a Hobby before I had to stop at 12 a.m. and go to sleep. Altogether 65 species were seen from the Siikalahti bird-tower.

On the 25th of April I counted the ducks again. Only good bird was a Greylag Goose. Later we checked all the best places in N-Parikkala but only a Great Grey Shrike in Akanvaara Tetrisuo and 400 Teals, 280 Bean Geese and 50 White-fronted Geese in Suurenjärvenliete were seen.

Rubber-duck

On the 26th we did first a short night-trip with Ilkka Jarva and in early morning went to Siikalahti where 6 Slavonian Grebes and 5 migrating Cormorants were seen.
In the evening we went to twitch a Mandarin Duck in Ruokolahti Kuokkalampi with “jamppa” Pirhonen. After 1.5 hours waiting the bird finally showed up. We saw this stunning male in flight too. On the 27th the weather was windy but the wind was from SW so lots of new migrants were coming. New year-ticks were a Little Gull and a Wood Sandpiper.

On the next day the wind was again from north and very cold. During my lunch-hour I visited first Siikalahti where a Garganey was found and then continued to Särkisalmi. On the way I saw a raptor flying over main road and right away I realized this was something better – and when I managed to drive closer it was easy to identify as a Black Kite! I drove under it and parked to a bus-stop and managed to see it very well when it was soaring and getting higher before it continued to NNE.

On the 29th day there were already several Red-necked Grebes around Lake Simpele. In Siikalahti I saw the first Whinchat of the spring and a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker was calling but the bird of the day was a Feral Pigeon because of it’s very rarely seen in Siikalahti!

On the last day of May we drove to Lappeenranta to buy some clothes and other equipments for the counts that we begin in Siikalahti. On the way we found a Wood Lark in Rautjärvi and on the way back we stopped in Konnunsuo where more than 800 White-fronted Geese, only 30 Bean Geese and 30 Barnacle Geese were counted. Also 2 Tree Pipits were heard. In the evening I still made a short trip to Siikalahti by bike with Matti Lötjönen. A Jack Snipe was heard!

Very slowly towards the spring

In the beginning of the March it was still hard winter. It was snowing more and more and temperature was “minus too much” in many days. I wasn’t birding very much because of it was just impossible to find anything new. I had to drive to Lappeenranta for several times because of work so I saw some birds on the way.

On the 3rf of March a couple of White-backed Woodpeckers were drumming in Siikalahti and a Nuthatch was still visiting a feeder in Likolampi. In Kokkolanjoki I saw a Dipper and a Whooper Swan and in Toikansuo a Goshawk.

On the 5th day I saw a Great Grey Shrike in Moskuunniemi and a Fieldfare flying over our house. In Joukionsalmi 4 Feral Pigeons were drinking from the small open water area and somewhere in Rautjärvi I saw a Black Woodpecker.

On the 7th day a Three-toed Woodpecker was calling in Siikalahti but it disappeared surprisingly. A Black woodpecker was seen in Koitsanlahdenkangas. On the 8th day a Fieldfare was flying over Kokkolanjoki and a Twite was finally found in Toikansuo. It was singing with Greenfinches.

On the 9th day I saw a Mute Swan, a Canada Goose and a Cormorant in Vuoksi and a Smew with Goosanders in Lappeenranta Luukkaansalmi. In Kangaskylä I saw a surprise when a Tawny Owl flew in front of my car.

On the 10th day I saw a couple of White-backed Woodpeckers and a Treecreeper in Siikalahti and on the 12th day 2 Great Grey Shriker and the first clearly migrating Hooded Crow. On the 13th day I saw 3 Herring Gulls in Vuoksi and a Pygmy Owl in Mikkeli while I was in a bus to an ice-hockey game.

On the 15th day I saw a Goosander and a Goldeneye in Kokkolanjoki, a male Smew in Vuoksi and the same female with more Goosanders in Luukkaansalmi. Also a Goshawk was seen there. On the 20th day a Dipper was in Joukionsalmi and on the 21st a Mute Swan and now 266 Herring Gulls in Vuoksi.

On the 22nd of March I heard a Whooper Swan calling in Siikalahti but still nothing was seen migrating. On the 23rd day I found a nice surprise, a Great Grey Owl in Tiviä. It is always an amazing bird! Unfortunately I had only a couple of minutes before I had to get back to work so I took only a couple of pictures and a short video with my pocket-camera. Also 7 Black Grouses were seen. On the 24th day I saw a Goshawk and 25th a migrating adult White-tailed Eagle. After a work I went to see Siberian Jays and on the same forest I managed to find also Crested and Willow Tits, Jays, a Pygmy Owl and a Three-toed Woodpecker.

On the 26th of March it finally started to happen! In Siikalahti I saw a local adult White-tailed Eagle that left towards Ladoga and another migrating north. 5 Skylarks, 16 Lapwings, 5 Common Buzzards, 3 Herring Gulls, a Snow Bunting, a Kestrel, 5 Rooks and a Fieldfare were migrating too. Local birds were a Goshawk, Great Grey Shrike and a Starling. It seemed that the spring was coming! But on the 27th day we biked to Siikalahti and watched for migration for 8 hours in a perfect weather, but a Common Buzzard was flying South, both a Lapwing and a Snow Bunting were turning to South, 7 Herring Gulls were flying here and there. Only 2 Siskins and 2 Blackbirds were going north and 2 Common Crossbills north-east. Local birds were a Common Buzzard, 2 Starlings, 2 White-backed Woodpeckers, a Black Woodpecker, a Grey-headed Woodpecker and a Great Grey Shrike. In the evening 2 Whooper Swans were seen in Särkisalmi.

On the next days it was raining. The snow was melting fast but the migration was stopped. On the 29th day 11 Lapwings landed to Siikalahti. Also 2 local Common Buzzards and a migrating Blackbird were seen. A couple of Whooper Swans were calling in Kirkkoranta so we could hear them to our home.

On the last day of March I was birding in Siikalahti both on the lunch-our and after work. The migration was still quiet but 50 Lapwings, 2 Skylarks, a Blackbird, a Wood Pigeon, 60 Snow Buntings, a Goosander, some Common Buzzards and adult White-tailed and a younger Golden Eagle were seen. Local birds were a Rook, a Great Grey Shrike, a Goshawk and Black Grouses, White-backed and a Grey-headed Woodpecker were calling. But in the afternoon it started to rain and came very cold. So the migration hadn’t really started yet!

Snow, cold weather and more snow

On the 2nd of February I still saw 6 Hawfinches in Satumäki. On the 6th day we went skiing around Siikalahti and saw a White-backed Woodpecker, 6 Siskins and a Hawk Owl that flew in front of us. It was a new Siikalahti-tick for us!

On the 7th day I went to count the birds to river Vuoksi, but on the way I checked also river Kokkolanjoki where 3 Whooper Swans, 11 Mallards, a male Goosander, a Little Grebe and 2 Dippers were seen. On Vuoksi I saw 650 Mallards, 150 Goldeneyes, 11 Goosanders, 10 Cormorants, a Canada Goose and a Smew.

On the 12th day it was snowing like I’d never seen before. Anyway I saw a White-backed Woodpecker in Siikalahti and a Mallard in Tyrjä. On the 13th day I was again in Vuoksi but nothing new was found. On the 16th day I saw a Great Grey Shrike in Tönkinsuo and on the 18th a flock of Goldfinches flew over our house.

On the 19th day I saw a Little Grebe again in Kokkolanjoki and continued once again to Vuoksi where I twitched a Mute Swan near Niskalampi where also a Black Woodpecker was flying around. In Itä-Siitola a Goshawk flew over the river and a Smew was swimming with Goldeneyes. In Linnankoski a Canada Goose was swimming and it really looked bad. And soon an adult White-tailed Eagle came to soar over it. The eagle had been found a day earlier but after all it didn’t catch the goose but it was seen catching huge fishes from the river.

On the 23rd day I got a message that there was a Black Guillemot in Savonlinna Kyrönsalmi. I had nothing else to do after my work and days were already getting longer so I managed to see the bird pretty well. Black Guillemot is an extremely rare bird in inland and especially in winter!

On the 27th of February we had a bird-count walk in Parikkala and Rautjärvi. 8 pairs of birders were counting every single bird in every village. We were walking every street between our home and Ristimäki. In early morning we first went to Ristimäki by bike, later walked all the streets in Kangaskylä and in the evening drove around the whole area by car. The birds we saw included a Ural Owl, 2 White-backed Woodpeckers, a Black Woodpecker, a Grey-headed Woodpecker, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, 15 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 2 Fieldfares, a Nuthatch, 2 Treecreepers, 264 Great Tits, 83 Blue Tits, a Coal Tit, 3 Willow Tits, 13 Jays, 165 Tree Sparrows, 10 House Sparrows, 52 Greenfinches, 12 Bullfinches and 77 Yellowhammers and so on. Before the results were told in Simpele we had time to go to twitch a Tengmalm’s Owl that Pekka Punnonen and Seppo Korpela had found on their area in Änkilä.

On the 28th day I still did a winter-bird count and skied 18 kilometres around Siikalahti. The best birds were 17 Black Grouses, a Grey-headed Woodpecker, 2 White-backed Woodpeckers, a Fieldfare, 3 Long-tailed Tits, 109 Great Tits, 10 Willow Tits, a Great Grey Shrike, 51 Greenfinches, 16 Bullfinches and 96 Yellowhammers.

Winter with big W

The first of January in Hanko

We were in Kirkkonummi on the New Years eve with my parents and my brother Pirkkas family. On the 1st of January we went birding to Hanko with Hanna and Pirkka. It was still dark when we parked to Siuntio spa where Pirkkas family was staying. We had a surprisingly poor breakfast and continued towards south with Pirkkas car. It was still early when I got a message that my friends from “Takaveto” bird race team had already seen a Kingfisher in Raasepori Pohja Fiskars Ruukki. I checked a map and realized that the next cross was turning there. So after 15 minutes we were there and we still hadn’t seen a single bird on the way, so we really hoped to get a Kingfisher to the 1st year-tick.
Well then we saw some 300 Mallards, 2 Goldeneyes and a flock of Feral Doves before we heard a call of a Kingfisher and this gem of the rivers landed just 15 metres from us. It’s always a beautiful bird! We still walked some time along this beautiful river but saw only some Bullfinches. When we were leaving I found a small bird perched on the top of one tree and yes – it was a Pygmy Owl!

In Raasepori Karjaa we saw Hooded Crows, a Raven, a Jay and Great Tits, in Raasepori Tammisaari a Great spotted Woodpecker and Magpies before we arrived at Hanko –the southernmost tip of Finland. While we’re driving through the city we saw Blue Tits, Fieldfares, Herring Gulls, Blackbirds and Jackdaws before we found our way to Western Harbour. There with Mallards we saw Goosanders, 3 Black-headed Gulls, 37 Tufted Ducks, a Common Gull, a Coot, 8 Mute Swans and Waxwings. Then also “Takaveto” Andreas Lindén, Vesa Jouhki and Jaakko Aarniala arrived there and together we continued to Varisniemi where a local Peregrine had been seen in many days earlier.

The weather was very bad for sea watching, it was -12 degrees, windy and bad haze in the air. 3 White-tailed Eagles was flying here and there between the islands, a Common Buzzard flew over us, and a Great Black-backed Gull, a Cormorant and a Greenfinch were also seen. Soon we left the others to try to see the Peregrine which of course was the main target for many birders to see as a 1st of January –tick. We continued to search the open bays. In 4-tuulen tupa it started to snow very hard but anyway we managed to find 4 Long-tailed ducks and a Smew amongst 230 Goldeneyes. In Itälahti we found 4 Scaups and in Högholmen we heard a Goldcrest and counted 50 Whooper Swans before I found something perched on the top of a sea mark. The haze was really bad but the shape and also the darkest looking cap really made me think that it could be a Peregrine even though we were at least 15 kilometres from its usual places. Luckily soon a White-tailed Eagle planned to perch to the same sea mark and the thing that we weren’t sure at all if it was a bird at all rose up and flew up over the haze and we could immediately tell it really was a Peregrine! We send a message to a beeper and knew there’d be many birders coming soon. Luckily one birder had just arrived there and he promised to keep the bird in control so we could continue to other places.

In Tiilitehdas we still saw a couple of Smews before we drove back to Siuntio and later to Kirkkonummi.

Bad luck

On the 2nd of January Hanna went to Zoological Museum to finish her paintings in dioramas. I had planned to go birding but my car broke down. I managed to drive it to a service station but of course there was not repairman at work on Saturday. So I left the car there. On the next day we saw a Goshawk flying over Kirkkonummi centre and then even though it was horribly cold weather lend my fathers car and went to Espoo Kaitalahti. On the way we saw a Pygmy Owl and in Kaitalahti we saw 30 Siskins and heard some Bearded Reedlings before we came back to my parents where Pirkka’s family was also again. With Pirkka we walked a little bit around Pappilanmäki and saw House Sparrows and 2 Goldfinches. In the afternoon we took a train to Parikkala.

So I left my old car to Kirkkonummi where it was fixed. But anyway I decided to change to a newer car and managed to find a good similar 5 years old Berlingo that had only 28000 km driven. So next 3 weeks I was without a car and birding only some short biking trips in Parikkala. The weather was still horribly cold with -20 degrees or more all the time!

Eco-birding

On the 4th of January I managed to relocate the flock of 10 Pine Grosbeaks and also 8 Hawfinches in Satumäki. Other year ticks were Tree Sparrows, Redpolls and Yellowhammers. Also a flock of 7 Siskins was nice.

On the 5th day we twitched the Pine Grosbeaks and Hawfinhes with Pekka Punnonen and Jari Kiljunen but found also a Nuthatch and 2 Coal Tits in Satumäki. Also a Willow Tit was a year-tick. In Siikalahti we saw a nice Ural Owl and in Melkoniemi forests we saw a Treecreeper and some Crested Tits but Siberian Jays were hiding because of the freezing weather. In Rautjärvi Kokkolanjoki we still saw 3 Whooper Swans and 2 Dippers.

Imatra counting -weekend

On the 8th day Miika Suojarinne came to do some birding with me so after seeing all birds in Satumäki we saw amazing 3 Pygmy Owls (2 in Siikalahti and 1 in Koitsanlahti) and continued To Rautjärvi Kokkolanjoki where we now managed to twitch a Little Grebe. In the afternoon we still found a Grey-headed Woodpecker in Siikalahti.

On the 9th day we had a traditional bird-walk in Imatra. We walked around area between Jakola and Rajapatsas and the weather was still so cold that we really were more driving than walking. Anyway the start was great with a Great Grey Shrike in Kupari and a Sparrow Hawk, a Goshawk, a Fieldfare and a Coal Tit in Jakola. Unfortunately the rest of the day wasn’t that good, a Goldfinch, a Siskin, 2 more Goshawks, 34 Great- Spotted Woodpeckers, 81 Blue Tits, 296 Great Tits, 157 Tree Sparrows, 7 House Sparrows (it is really getting rare), 185 Greenfinches, 100 Bullfinches and 215 Yellowhammers and so on were seen. Before the results we still managed to witch a Canada Goose in Itä-Siitola and 2 Smews and a Little Grebe in Keskusliikenneasema. The evening was again fun with lots of pictures mostly from Canada.

On the 10th day we stopped again in Vuoksi -river and saw a Long-tailed Duck. A drive to Konnunsuo was boring; only 3 Black Grouses were seen. In Lappeenranta Toikansuo we saw 2 Teals, 2 Fieldfares, a Goshawk and in a flock of 9 Redpolls also an Arctic Redpoll. A Lesser Spotted Woodpecker was also seen. In Kourulanmäki we saw a Linnet in a flock of Greenfinches but another Linnet and 2 Twites that had also stayed there weren’t found. A Goldfinch still flew over us in Myllymäki but later we found out that this winter also Lappeenranta was very empty!

Too cold!

I was still biking in Satumäki and other parts nearby but I didn’t see anything new before on the 16th day when we saw a Herring Gull flying over us. I have no idea where it was going or coming? On the same day we had 250 Waxwings on our back-yard.

On the 22nd day I took a train to Kirkkonummi and on the next morning drove my old car to Hämeenlinna where I changed it to a better one and continued to Lappeenranta where we had a meeting with our bird-association government. It was late in the evening when I was back in Parikkala.

It was still amazing cold so I wasn’t birding almost at all. In the 26th day I still saw 2 Pine Grosbeaks in Satumäki and on the next day a Fieldfare in Kangaskylä. At night I got very sick and the next days I was just lying on the bed.

On the 30th day I wasn’t really ok yet but anyway I went to play an ice-hockey game to Savonlinna. On the way I twitched a Golden Eagle in Nousiala rubbish tip.

Garden twitch

On the last day of January the weather changed; it wasn’t that cold anymore but it was snowing A LOT! I managed somehow to drive to Tyrjä where I saw a Dipper. And luckily in the afternoon the snowing stopped for a half an hour so we could participate to the biggest birding event in Finland to a Garden Twitch. With some help of hissing we managed to see 60 Great Tits and 15 Blue Tits and a Fieldfare, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, 3 Feral Pigeons and some House Sparrows, Greenfinches and Hooded Crows. But after the Twitch I still managed to see a flock of 19 Waxwings and a Goldfinch that was singing. It maybe thought that the spring was coming because of it was only -8 degrees anymore.

December

On the 1st of December I was in Lappeenranta to study. After a long day I went to twitch a Pintail that was still in Pallonlahti. It was the first ever Pintail in South Karelia in winter. I also made a couple of short stops in Imatra Vuoksi and Immalanjärvi and saw a Canada Goose, a Cormorant, some Velvet Scoters, a Scaup and some Herring Gulls. In Parikkala Koitsanlahti I saw 42 Whooper Swans and in Joukio I still saw a Scaup and 2 Velvet Scoters. In the evening I had a nice surprise when I saw a Woodcock while I was running around Likolampi.

In the first half of December Lake Simpele was still open and I could see some Whooper Swans, Goosanders and Common Gulls from our back-yard. A small flock of Common Crossbills were also visiting our sembra-pine.

Rally

The traditional winter rally was on the 5th of December. With Hannas brother Miika we started at 7 a.m. and during the 1.5 hours that was still dark we tried 4 different species of owls but only bird we heard was an Eagle Owl in Tarvaslampi. Only bird we saw was a Mallard in Siikalahti. Soon the sun started to rise so we continued to Melkoniemi forests. Ravens were the first birds to wake up; a Hazel Hen flew over us and soon we found a Willow Tit and some Goldcrests before Siberian Jays came to have their breakfast in a traditional place.

Unfortunately nothing else was found in the forest. We checked a couple of feeders where some common birds like Hooded Crows, Magpies, Bullfinches, Great spotted Woodpecker, Greenfinches, Great and Blue Tits and Tree Sparrows were seen but also a Siskin was heard. After we had seen also a Yellowhammer we drove to Härskiinmutka where Whooper Swans, Goosanders and Common Gulls were seen easily. In Kangaskylä we really had to work to find House Sparrows and a Rock Dove before we drove to Siikalahti. Jackdaws, Black Grouses, Waxwings and a Great Grey Shrike were found but no woodpeckers at all. Luckily we did a short drive in Surumäki where Jay, Fieldfares and a Grey-headed Woodpecker were found.

In Rautjärvi we just twitched a Dipper in Simpele Kokkolanjoki and then continued to Imatra. Immalanjärvi was checked from 2 places and 2 Velvet Scoters, 2 Tufted Ducks and Herring Gulls were seen. In Vuoksi we had 3 short stops and a Canada Goose, Redpolls, 2 Smews, a Cormorant and a Scaup were found.

In Salo-Issakka we could find neither forest tits nor woodpeckers and also Konnunsuo seemed to be empty. In Kukkuroinmäki we found Starlings easily but no raptors were found even though corvids and Herring Gulls were panicking. In Luukkaansalmi we found 4 Grey Herons and a biggest surprise a Red-necked Grebe before we had to hurry to Pallonlahti where a Teal and a Pintail were found with hundreds of Mallards. In Toikansuo we spent less than a minute and saw a Goshawk that was our species number 45.

Even though we still would have more than an hour light and more than 2 hours of rally time we had to stop birding and drive to Suomenniemi where I had an ice-hockey match that started at 4 p.m. Anyway we won the rally with same number of species than another team.

At 8 p.m. we were driving through Lappeenranta again and we decided to try if an Eagle Owl was possible to find in Toikansuo. And it was; the king of owls was perched on a tree and we saw it really well! After I had dropped Miika to Tarvaslampi and had sauna there I was back at home after 10 p.m. It had been a long day!

Winter comes

On the Independent day, 6th of December I saw a Pygmy Owl and a male White-backed Woodpecker in Siikalahti. In Särkisalmi I saw a Fieldfare and a Sparrowhawk. On the 7th day I saw 5 Goldfinches in Kannas and on 9th a Great Grey Shrike and a lonely male Mallard in almost completely frozen Siikalahti.

On 11th day I saw the last Goosanders and a Common Gull in freezing Kirkkoselkä. In Siikalahti a female White-backed Woodpecker, a Grey-headed Woodepecker and Long-tailed Tits were seen. In Vartialahti I still saw 48 Whooper Swans and 2 Mallards.

On 12th day we did a long bike-trip to Melkoniemi with Matti Lötjönen and went to see Siberian Jays. Luckily we found also a flock of 20 Pine Grosbeaks! In Melkoniemi we saw amazing flock of 80 Ravens. In Särkisalmi we saw how the last family of Whooper Swans left towards south.

Then it became really cold! All Lake Simpele froze and it started to snow a lot! On the 15th of December I went to twitch a Little Grebe in Simpele Kokkolanjoki. It was my year-tick number 258. I also saw 2 Dippers, 16 Mallards and a big surprise a Merlin! I also went to see a Nuthatch which was again in Likolampi.

On the 16th day in Tyrjä I saw a Great Grey Shrike, a Pygmy Owl, 2 Dippers and 2 Mallards. On the next day there were 4 Mallards and nice flock of 23 Black Grouses that were taking sun on the tops of trees. It was really cold – about -20 degrees. On the 18th day I saw a Little Grebe again and also same White-backed and Grey-headed Woodpeckers. On the 19th day I went by bike to Tyrjä and saw a Dipper. It was absolutely too cold to bike!

On the 20th a Canada Goose and Cormorants were still in Vuoksi. In Lappeenranta I couldn’t find anything before I went to do Christmas-shopping.

On the Christmas-eve I went to see a new bird-tower that was built to Siikalahti. The tower was really good but the place was really stupid. I hope the Forest and Park Service will do something for the small area that is visible from the tower. Otherwise there won’t be too much use to that tower. I didn’t see a single bird in Siikalahti but on the way back I found 12 Hawfinches on the flock of Waxwings in Muttelinmäki.

On the Christmas-day I did a winterbird-count. It was very hard day as I was skiing 18.5 kilometres and most of it in deep snow. Luckily I saw a flock of 9 Pine Grosbeaks and A Pygmy Owl that were new species to this count. After all I saw 20 species and 399 birds. Only other better birds were 7 Fieldfare. Siikalahti itself was absolutely empty and boring!

The last days of the year I was working and sporting so the last observations were a Sparrowhawk in Muttelinmäki on the 26th of December and 15 Black Grouses in Siikalahti and a Dipper and 4 Mallards in Tyrjä on the 31st of December.

Dark November

In the end of November the weather was like in winter. There was even some snow on the ground. Almost all migrating birds had left to south. But in the mid November it came warm again and the end of the month was very rainy and warm – even Siikalahti opened completely even though it had been frozen for weeks already. Some birds came to open lakes.

In the first half of month I was birding mostly in Härskiinmutka, Siikalahti and Vartialahti and I really didn’t see anything special. From our own shore I saw 2 Velvet Scoters, a Common Scoter, a Great Crested Grebe, a couple of Black-headed Gulls and 2 Starlings. In Likolampi I saw a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, in Kannas a Redwing in a flock of Fieldfares, In Vartialahti a Black-throated Diver, 22 Canada Geese, a Wigeon, some Long-tailed Ducks and a Velvet Scoter and in Siikalahti a couple of adult White-tailed Eagles were still hanging around.

On the morning of 14th of November I birded with my brother Pirkka in Imatra. In Immalanjärvi we saw some Long-tailed ducks and Velvet Scoters, a Common Scoter, Great Crested Grebe, Tufted Duck and a couple of Scaups and in Vuoksi some more Velvet Scoters, Scaups, a Tufted Duck, a Canada Goose, 2 Smews, 26 Cormorants and 2 Goldfinches. In the afternoon and evening had our South Karelian bird associations 40th birthday parties. We had really good lectures about birds of wilderness and also tundra and of course a good dinner and great photos and other shows.
On the morning of 15th day we still had BirdLife Finland meeting.

On the next week it was raining almost constantly so nothing much was seen, but on the 20th of November I drove to Kirkkonummi and on the way I checked Immalanjärvi and Vuoksi again. It seemed there’d be almost the same wintering birds than on previous years on Vuoksi.

On the morning of 21st day I went to Medvastö where I managed to find a Gadwall in a huge flock of Tufted Ducks and Goldeneyes that were almost too far. In Suomenoja I saw 9 Gadwalls much closer and I also visited in Laajalahti where 10 Wigeons and 3 Smews were seen. The rest of the was spent in Twitchers association – Bongariliitto meeting where Dick Forsman showed beautiful pictured of mostly Eleonora’s Falcons and Alan Davies and Ruth Miller told about The Biggest Twitch – their year with new World record number of bird-species. In the evening we still went to a restaurant and had a good time. On the 22nd morning I still birded in Kirkkonummi where I saw a Pygmy Owl in Eestinkylä but nothing else really. I started to drive back home early because of the weather was again rainy and extremely dark.

The rest of the November was still warm. It was about +5 degrees all the time. In Simpelejärvi I still saw some 20 Common Gulls, some Herring Gulls and 3 Black-headed Gulls. In Joukio I found a Scaup and in Lahdenkylä a Pygmy Owl. Great Grey Shrikes were here and there so it seemed there must be some mice and voles for them. 2 White-tailed Eagles were eating fish in Siikalahti and big flocks of Whooper Swans were still on sheltered bays.
On the 29th day I again visited Imatra and in Immalanjärvi I saw 2 Scaups, 5 Tufted Ducks, 6 Velvet Scoters and 10 Herring Gulls and in Vuoksi a Smew, 2 Velvet Scoters, a Dipper and Cormorants. On the last day of November I still found 2 Velvet Scoters in Kukkaronlahti and a flock of 110 Waxwings came to Kangaskylä to empty the last rowans from the berries.