. . Lintuharrastajan päiväkirja Birders diary . .

June and no time to sleep

On the 1st of June we were again doing night-singer counts in Siikalahti. 15 Thrush Nightingales, 5 Reed Warblers, 4 Blyth’s Reed Warblers, 2 Golden Orioles, 8 Bitterns, 3 Corn Crakes, 13 Water Rails, 11 Spotted Crakes and after many years a female Little Crake! White-backed Woodpeckers were drumming, adults were teaching the youngsters.

On the 2nd of June we had again counts in marshes and bushes that were full of Reed and Willow Warblers. Only better birds in my area were a Reed Warbler, 2 Great Reed Warblers and 3 Hawfinches that flew over.

On the 3rd of June after work I drove to Kirkkonummi. I twitched a Booted Warbler, a European Serin and a Red-breasted Goose on the way. On the 4th of June I left to Iceland with Kalle and Johanna Larsson. The full trip-report can be read here: Iceland 4th to 9th of June 2010 (for example Harlequin Ducks, Barrow’s Goldeneyes, Blue-winged Teal, Gyr Falcon, Great Northern Divers and amazing places.)

After the Iceland-trip I was a little bit sick and also extremely tired and busy so I didn’t do much birding. On the 10th of June we saw 2 Ringed Plovers on the beach next to our house.

On the 14th day I had counts again but only a Blackcap, a Wren and a Great Reed Warbler were seen. Also a flock of Barnacle Geese were found on the field next to the bay and there were 2 different kinds of hybrid geese too. One was a hybrid between Canada and Barnacle and another some grey goose and Barnacle Goose. At night I heard a Grasshopper Warbler in Sammallampi.

On the 15th of June we ringed our only owl-nestling of the season. A Ural Owl mother was again extremely angry and attacking continuously but we managed to ring the youngster safely in a car.
At night I went to twitch a Baillion’s Crake in Ruokolahti Kotilampi. I met many local birders there as this was the first Baillion’s Crake of the area after the one we found in 2003.

Another lifer

On the 16th of June after work I drove to Varkaus Lehtoniemi where I had to wait for more than 3 hours that a female Black-headed Bunting arrived at one local birders feeder. Together with Harry Nyström we also twitched a Mandarin Duck in Könönpelto.

On the 18th of June at night we counted the night-singers again and found a Long-eared Owl, 4 Reed Warblers, a Great Reed Warbler, 6 Thrush Nightingales, 2 Corn Crakes, 2 Blyth’s Reed Warblers, 5 Golden Orioles, 8 Water Rails, 15 Spotted Crakes and now both male and female Little Crakes that I managed to record very well from the rowing boat.

To south South Karelia

On the 19th day I did a traditional night-trip to southern parts of South Karelia. First I drove to Joutseno where I found Corn Crakes, Blyth’s Reed Warblers and a River Warbler before I arrived at a traditional Turtle Dove place. I tried to find the doves for some hours but couldn’t find any. Only a Tawny Owl was seen. Then I continued to twitch a Booted Warbler that was singing very actively and I could get some good videos and photographs of it. I continued to Luumäki where I twitched a Corn Bunting in Heimala. The bird wasn’t very active so I didn’t get good pictures. Also an Ortolan Bunting was singing on the fields. In Huopainen I twitched the first Greenish Warbler as a year-tick even though the species was more common than ever. I just haven’t got time to go to forests. The rest of the day was spent together with Pekka Punnonen in Luumäki, Savitaipale and Lemi where we visited several places where I hadn’t been before. Nothing very good was found but we had fun. We still twitched a Brent Goose in Lappeenranta Askola before I drove back home.

On the 20th of June we had planned to go to forests but it started to rain too hard. Only good birds were a Reed Warbler in Kukonkanta and 2 Hawfinches in Muttelinmäki.

On the 21st of June at night I did a bike-trip around Siikalahti with some other birders that wanted to twitch Little Crakes. Both crakes were heard very well and also a Long-eared Owl and altogether 7 Blyth’s Reed Warblers were found.

Mid-summer trip

On the 24th day I finally managed to see 2 Nuthatches in Likolampi where they had stayed whole spring and summer again. It seems that these birds are trying to breed but it is possible that they could be different races and maybe that’s why there haven’t been any young birds in these 2 years they have stayed on the area?
After work we started a long way to north to Syöte where we were going to celebrate the mid-summer holiday together with my closest relatives. My brother Riku has a cottage there and we had rent another cottage too next to it so also Pirkka and his family and also my parents were there. But we of course decided to drive up there via Lumijoki where the 1st ever twitchable Gull-billed Tern had been seen during the week.
At 8 p.m. we were in Liminka-bay but because of there wasn’t any message about the tern for more than 10 hours we decided to drive to Liminka Virkkula and start birding there. We were just on the parking place when I got a message that the tern had been seen in Lumijoki Karvonlahti and it had flew towards a pasture where it had been seen on the day before.
After 10 minutes we were walking towards the pasture where were promisingly many Black-headed Gulls catching insects from the air. The air was full of insect and unfortunately they seemed to be the biting ones! After 10 minutes I found a Gull-billed Tern that flew towards us and then it was feeding insects for some 5 minutes over the pasture before it disappeared behind the forest and continued towards Sannanlahti. It was my 350th lifer in Finland! We were extremely lucky to see this bird this easily! There were several twitchers that had been trying to see it for more than 10 hours and some were there already on their third try!
We still waited the bird to come back for a half an hour but mainly because of the insects we soon continued first to Sannanlahti and then to Virkkula. We still saw some Black-tailed Godwits, a White-tailed Eagle, 2 Arctic Skuas, a Spotted Redshank, a Hen Harrier, 260 Greylag Geese and heard 2 Spotted Crakes before we continued out way to north just before the midnight. We were in Syöte at 2 a.m.

The next days were spent in Syöte together with altogether 14 Aalto. The weather was a bit rainy but we did some birding on the early mornings. The best birds were a family of Waxwings that were just o the garden of Riku’s cottage, Siberian Jay in Särkiperä, 3 Greenish Warbler in Vattukuru and 3 more in Aurinkomäki and 1 Red-flanked Bluetail in Maaselkä and 2 more in Taivalkoski Luokanvaara.

On Sunday the 27th of June we drove back south to Parikkala driving the eastern roads. We stopped in Ilomantsi Hattuvaara where a Nightingale started to sing at 11 p.m. This rare visitor was of course recorded – Nightingale – before we continued home to Parikkala where we were again at 2 a.m. On the way we saw a Tegnmalm’s Owl, a Short-eared Owl and a Ural Owl in North Karelia.

On the 29th day we had counts again. Cranes had 2 youngsters; a Wren, 2 Golden Orioles, a Reed Warbler and a White-backed Woodpecker were also observed. Even though there had been lots of migrating Common Crossbills in other parts of the country I had only my second flock in Parikkala.

On the last day of June we did night-singer counts and 6 Reed Warblers, a Great Reed Warbler, 4 Thrush Nightingales, 4 Water Rails and 13 Spotted Crakes were heard. Most of the birds seemed to be already quiet. Also Little Crakes had probably found each others and started to breed?

Busy May

On the 1st of May I started to check our owl nest-boxes. Around Siikalahti I heard several Willow Warblers and together with Jari Kiljunen we continued to Melkoniemi, on the way we checked that at least one Ural Owl was incubating in a familiar nest-box. While checking some Pygmy Owl nest-boxes we accidentally found a Siberian Jay that we were going to try to find at least a kilometre further in same forest. While “jassi” was giving some food for a Siberian Jay, I recorded a Hazel Hen that was singing. A couple of flock of Waxwings and a Common Sandpiper were also seen. I still did duck-counts in Siikalahti and saw 15 Swallows, a House Martin and a Common Tern. In the afternoon we still checked some nest-boxes with Hanna. In Härskiinmutka we saw a migrating Short-eared Owl and in Särkisalmi a migrating 2nd c-y female Pallid Harrier very well!

On my birthday on the 2nd of May I started at 4 a.m. with counts in Siikalahti. After several years we were again mapping all the bird in the protected area. Jari and Anniina Kontiokorpi were couting the southern side of the bay and me and Hanna had the northern part. A couple of Pied Flycatchers, a Wood Warbler, a Yellow Wagtail, 3 Wrens and so on were found. In the afternoon we still saw 11 Barnacle Geese, a White-tailed Eagle, 2 Rough-legged Buzzards, a Red-throated Diver, and 9 Ruffs. But it was quieter than we expected so in the evening we continued with nest-boxes again.

A couple of next days I was still checking the nest-boxes, but the winter had been awful for owls so there was nothing else to be found. Only year-tick was a Redstart.

On the 6th of May “potu” Suojarinne came to us to do birding for some days. In siikalahti we saw some Sand Martins and in Saari we saw some bigger flocks of Bean and White-fronted Geese, 16 Barnacle Geese, a Whimbrel, rare 2nd c-y Lesser Black-backed Gull, Redshank, Spotted Redshank, Little Ringed Plover and a couple of Cuckoos. At night we did a night-singer count and heard 4 Bitterns, 3 Spotted Crakes, 6 Water Rails and a Jack Snipe.

On the 7th day I heard a couple of Wrynecks in Satumäki and at lunch-hour I was trying to see a Citrine Wagtail that “potu” and Johannes Hänninen had seen in Siikalahti, but I found only a Gadwall and a Bluethroat. In the afternoon we still saw a couple of Swifts but then we had to go to rest because of on the next day we had a traditional bird-tower competition.

Bird-tower competition

At night it was raining all the time and hard and it still continued in the morning. Anyway I went by bike to Siikalahti while Hanna and “potu” came by car. The rest of the team Matti Lötjönen and Ilpo Kuusisalo came also early and at 5 a.m. we were ready to start. We had to be on the second level of the tower because of the rain and it was also freezing cold wind. Not many birds were seen in the beginning but at 6 a.m. the rain stopped for a couple of minutes and some of us climbed up. And right then I heard a familiar call of a Citrine Wagtail and we saw it flying over us! Unfortunately not all of us saw it and soon it started to rain again.
We were all really freezing and one of us had to give up because of he felt sick. Soon after that the wader migration started. Mostly Wood Sandpipers, Spotted Redshanks and Ruffs but also some big flocks of Golden Plovers were migrating. At 9:20 Hanna surprisingly found a Citrine Wagtail again. It was hiding in a tiny reedy island with some Yellow Wagtails. So now we were really in good mood even though the rain was still heavy. Altogether we saw 1250 Wood Sandpipers, 220 Spotted Sandpipers, 400 Ruffs and 300 Golden Plovers but nothing better waders, just 3 Common Sandpipers and a Green Sandipiper – a flock of 14 Whimbrels disappeared behind the horizon before anyone else than I saw them.
Finally at 11 a.m. the rain stopped and we could climb up again. Some better birds were found like a Black Grouse, 2 Red-throated Divers, 2 Cuckoos, 2 Redstarts, a Swift, a Hobby, a Water Rail, 2 Common Terns, 2 Sand Martins, 5 House Martins, a Short-eared Owl, a Tree Pipit, a Wheatear, a Pied Flycatcher, a Gadwall and so on. And altogether we saw 88 species in 8 hours and we were 20th best tower in whole country and finally the best tower inland!
But another really good bird for the day was still to be found. Hanna and “potu” had already driven back home when I came by bike. I was just stopping on our back-yard when I found a Black Redstart jumping on the road just in front of our door! I called to Hanna and all they had to do to see the bird was to open the door! The bird stayed in our back-yard at least for a couple of hours and several birders came to twitch it.

On the 9th day several Sedge Warblers had arrived, already 70 Little Gulls, migrating Short-eared Owl, 2 Temminck’s Stints and an early Spotted Flycatcher were seen in Siikalahti. In the evening I still heard a Lesser Whitethroat and a Grey-headed Woodpecker while jogging in Kirkonkylä. On the 10th day 100 Long-tailed Ducks, 4 Common Scoters and 2 Velvet Scoters were found in Lake Simpele, in Härskiinmutka I found also a Black Tern that was in a flock of Little Gulls. But still better bird was an amazing early River Warbler that Matti found in Kirkonkylä. I really couldn’t believe it before I heard it by myself! There was not green on the trees or bushes at all but a River Warbler was already singing!

On the next day new birds were a Common Whitethroat and a Pallid/Montagu’s Harrier that was migrating too far over Lake Simpele to be identified.

On the 13th of May my brother Pirkka came from Kemijärvi to do some real birding! He arrived at 3 a.m. and as a welcome a Thrush Nightingale was singing on our back-yard. Pirkka went to sleep but an hour later I had to go to do counts to Siikalahti. Several Thrush Nightingales, a couple of Blackcaps, a Common Rosefinch, a Garden Warbler, a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker were the best birds. Even though the forecast had promised awful weather the weather stayed good so I continued with duck-counts. A Gadwall was seen again, a couple of Long-tailed Tits were making their nest, a very early Mars Warbler was singing and moving slowly from bush to bush towards north and a nest of a White-backed Woodpecker was also found.
Pirkka also woke up after good sleep and during the day we still saw a Honey Buzzard, 60 Common Crossbills and a Whimbrel. It was getting really hot and also green! In the evening we got a message that a Red-breasted Goose had been found in Saari Pohjanranta, of course we went to twitch it! At night we did a short night-trip and 2 Nightjars, 6 Water Rails, 2 Spotted Crakes and a strange locustella warbler were heard. Probably it was just a Grasshopper Warbler but it was singing very low. Some flocks of Common Scoters were migrating and we could hear them from the sky.

Short trip to Virolahti

On the 14th of May I had to be at work but before that I managed to see 9 Scaups in Härskiinmutka. After my work we decided to pack tents and other equipments to my car and leave towards Virolahti with Pirkka. An Icterine Warbler was singing on our back-yard when we left. In Rautjärvi Lamminkylä we stopped because of a Wood Lark and in Joutseno Konnunsuo we counted 1134 White-fronted, 340 Barnacle, 100 Bean, 5 Pink-footed and a Greylag Goose. In Lappeenranta Rasala we twitched a 2nd c-y female Red-footed Falcon and then we still had a short stop in Ylämaa Väkevänjärvi where a Greater Spotted Eagle had been seen but without luck.
After some shopping in Virojoki we continued to Virolahti Lakakallio where we found also “potu”. We started to watch for arctic-migration but first a couple of hours were quiet, just some ridiculous year-ticks were seen like Eiders, Caspian Terns, Oystercatchers and Arctic Terns. But soon arctic ducks started to show up in big flocks! About 5000 Velvet Scoters, 3000 Long-tailed Ducks and 2000 Common Scoters, 47 Bewick’s Swans and 20 Scaups were seen. It must have been one of the best Velvet Scoter migrations ever, 1400 birds were counted in one flock! When sun set down the migration was still going on strong and we could hear the calls of the birds in the tent.

On the 15th of May we woke up at 3 a.m. because of some Black Grouses came to display just some metres from our tent! I managed to get a short but amazing Black Grouse recording before they left. At 4 a.m. I started to count migration again. The first hour was quiet but when the other birders came the migration was already pretty strong. At 5.45 a.m. we got an sms that in Hamina Vepsu a Great Northern Diver was coming towards us and at 5:54 “potu” found it flying agains a Kauholmi Iceland, much lower than other divers. Luckily we managed to see it well even though it was pretty far. Only a half an hour later we got an sms about a White-billed Diver and at 6:29 I found it flying similarly against Kauholmi! What a great comparison to Great Northern Diver! Even though only 136 Black-throated and 15 Red-throated Divers were seen during the morning, still one big diver was seen, but it flew against the sky so we couldn’t see anything else than it was huge! It was identified as a Great Northern in one place and as a White-billed Diver in a couple of places but later I saw pictures of this bird and it was another Great Northen Diver! Other migration wasn’t hat good but 175 Bewick’s Swans, 2 Arctic Skuas, a Little Ringed Plover, 508 Barnacle, 70 White-fronted, 23 Bean, 2 Greylag and 645 unidentified geese were counted.
During the day we visited Hurppu and Kurkela but nothing interesting were seen before we drove back to Parikkala.

Again to Laukaa

At home we just packed Pirkka’s car and continued a long drive to Laukaa where we were at 6 p.m. Luckily there were some local birders going to try to catch a Wilson’s Snipe and as it seemed that we were the most experienced ringers there, our help was welcome. We put up the mist-nets and soon the tape was playing. But soon we realized that nothing was going to happen and so we just started to wait that the snipe starts to display so we can locate it. We were waiting and waiting and finally I gave up and went to sleep. When I woke up several hours later at 11 p.m. there was still no observation of the snipe. Most of the locals had given up too and soon the ringer also packed everything and left. Not much after that I heard something calling on the other end of the lake than the snipe had always been found and I started to walk closer. Also other birders followed me and there it was calling! Soon Wilson’s Snipe jumped to the sky and it started to display and we could hear its weird Tengmalm’s Owl sound coming from its tail-feathers. After some minutes it landed again to the wrong end of the lake, called some series and stopped. We were happy to go to sleep to our cars and even though we woke up every hour we could hear the snipe displaying only one more time at 00.30 a.m. And after all it was the last time the bird was ever heard!

At 4 a.m. we continued to Lapinjärvi were we found a male Ring-necked Duck easily. Soon we started our long ways towards homes. When I finally arrived at Parikkala I twitched a White Stork in Rautalahti and managed to get some good pictures too. We still went to Siikalahti with Hanna where a Black Kite, an Icterine Warbler and some flocks of geese were seen before I felt too tired and had to get some sleep. In the evening I made a short trip to Saari where 4 Ortolan Buntings were found in Akanvaara Tetrisuo. With Hanna we still went to listen to displaying Great Snipes to Kullinsuo – at least 2 birds were heard! Common Scoters were calling from the sky all the time!

Rarities

On the 18th of May I got an interesting phone-call, Esa Sojamo and Esko Veijalainen had just seen a White-winged Black Tern flying over them towards Siikalahti bird-tower. I drove there as fast as I could and soon were in the tower where Esa was already. It didn’t look good as there were almost no birds at all flying, but soon Esa found the tern flying high against the sky and catching insects. I watched this rarity for some time and called if Hanna was already at home and she was. So I drove to pick her up and soon we were watching this bird together while a Golden Oriole was singing.

On the next night we did night-singer counts again. After a week or so extremely hot weather and eastern winds we expected to find something better and a female Little Crake was found! Other new birds for the year were a Corn Crake, a Blyth’s Reed Warbler.

On the next days I had to suffer at work as the Barnacle Geese were migrating in a beautiful weather. They migrated very high and in wide area but anyway… Even worse news came when the first Black Vulture for Finland was found and when it was seen again on the next day it seemed clear that it’d follow the southern coast towards east like many big raptors do, and I had to be at work until 6 p.m. On this second day the bird managed to fly until Loviisa, so I still had some hope as the next day was a Friday when I have shorter day.

Amazing twitch and arctica

On the Friday 21st of May I decided to take my overtime work hours and then I was able to end my day at 11 a.m. But the day was again extremely hot so the bird rose up to the sky already at 10.15 in Loviisa and it had only short way left to Russia! After all I managed to leave at 10.30 and started my way towards the south-easternmost place of Finland Virolahti Vaalimaa. I had planned to go there for the weekend anyway so it was really important to manage to get there early – I could never watch the other birders smiling faces whole weekend!
I was in Imatra when the bird was passing Pyhtää and in Lappeenranta when it was already passing Hamina! I almost gave up, but something made me to continue. I called to “potu” who had missed the bird in Ruotsinpyhtää and was also driving towards Vaalimaa and once he was there I called several times more… When I was in Ylämaa and the bird still wasn’t in Virolahti I started to worry if the bird had made a similar circle around Kotka than it had made around Helsinki and it was flying much more north now. Anyway I decided to continue to Vaalimaa because I knew there were plenty of birders and in Ylämaa there were maybe none! 20 more kilometres – no news, only 7 to go and still nothing… Finally I parked to Eastgate in Vaalimaa where about 60 birders were gathered, but only maybe 10 of them were really working and scanning the sky. After a couple of minutes we got wonderful news, the bird was still coming towards us but very high! We checked maps and knew that the bird would pass us from northern side and started to work as hard as we could! Soon some birders behind us seemed to have found something and I tried to find out what but couldn’t find anything. And right after that a birder in front of us found something and shouted that there was now something big extremely high on the sky. I ran next to him and checked the direction where he was looking with his binoculars and found immediately an eagle flying fast towards east. I ran back to my scope and found the bird right away and there it was – a Black Vulture! It was very high and many birders could find it only with binos but not with scope. So after I had watched it for some 20 seconds and it had passed us and was already flying away from us I gave many birders to look at the bird with my scope. The bird was visible about 15 minutes but still at least some never managed to find it before it was lost to Russian sky. Together with “potu” and “mape Lund we went to celebrate this amazing lifer and eat well to Rajahovi like any other birders.
After some hours sleep in cars in Lakakallio we started the evening migration watching. 2 Arctic Skuas, 36 Velvet Scoters, 60 Dunlins, 7 Brent Geese and at least 20 000 Common Scoter and 80 000 Long-tailed Ducks were seen. The migration was getting stronger towards the night and in last 30 minutes when we still had some light we counted 5000 Barnacle Geese, altogether 15 000 were seen. At night we still went to record a Moorhen that was calling desperately in Hurppu before we went to sleep while thousands of Long-tailed Ducks and Common Scoters were still migration over us.

On the 22nd of May I woke up early again and at 3:45 a.m. started to count migration. In next 5 hours 11 887 Barnacle, 1350 unidentified, 15 anser (grey), 2 Brent Geese, 458 Black-throated, 15 Red-throated and 205 unidentified divers were seen but then the migration suddenly stopped. I went to check Vilkkiläntura and Leerviikki and found a Red-breasted Flycatcher, a couple of Great Reed Warblers, a Ringed Plover and a Golden Oriole before we met with “potu” and “mape” in Hamina Kirkkojärvi where we tried to see raptors for some hours but saw only a pale “börringe” Common Buzzard. In Lupinlahti we heard a Reed Warbler and after a short sleep we were watching migration again in Lakakallio. 11 Grey Plovers, 246 Brent Geese, a Short-eared Owl, 3 Grey Herons, 15 000 Long-tailed Ducks and 20 000 Common Scoters were seen.

On the 23rd day we went to Hurppu to see arctic migration. I started already at 4:15 a.m. even though it was raining. But it was worthy because of some flocks of Scaups were seen already then. In 5 hours we counted altogether 729 Scaups and at least 200 similar looking birds were migrating too far to identify. Other birds were a couple of Gadwalls, 62 Brent Geese, 1804 Barnacle Geese, 5 Arctic Skuas and 3 Red-necked Phalaropes. During the day we waited for raptors in Kurkela but only 3 White-tailed Eagles, 2 Arctic Skuas and a Golden Oriole were seen. Pretty early I decided to drive back home. I slept a couple of hours and in the late evening we drove with Hanna north to Tohmajärvi Tammalahti where we recorded Baillion’s Crake. I got really good recordings where on the background are a Black-throated Diver, Bean Geese, Barnacle Geese, a Snipe, a Sedge Warbler and a Blyth’s Reed Warbler. We were back at home at 1:30 a.m.

To Oulu

On the 25th of May I drove to Oulu. On the way I saw a Nutcracker in Punkaharju but nothing else. Next a couple of days I was checking some places near Oulu as we were preparing to PPLY 25 hours bird-race. Only interesting birds were some Little Terns, Gadwalls, Caspian Terns, a couple of Scaups, Dunlins and then twitched Ictrine Warbler and cyanecula (white-spotted) Bluethroat. On the 2nd evening we checked some owl nest-boxes with Pentti Hukkanen and Franz Robiller and got 3 owl-species and also a Goshawk nest. On the 28th day we still checked a couple of places with Antti Vierimaa but couldn’t find anything better. In the evening we planned the routes and schedule with Antti and Harry Nyström and also Pirkka came early enough to check the plan. So everything was ready for the race!

On the 29th of May we started the race in Oulu Pateniemi where we saw good diver migration. About 200 divers, mostly Black-throated were counted but we started the race when a flock of 4 Broad-billed Sandpipers were passing us at 10:55 a.m. Then we looked at some local birds like a Red-necked Grebe, Common Scoter, Velvet Scoters, Long-tailed Ducks, a Lesser Black-backed Gull and heard a Pheasant. Also an Arctic Skua was seen before we continued to Taskila where we saw 2 Turnstones easily and then to Toppila where Black Redtstart was found after some searching. We drove through the city to Oritkari where we surprisingly found 2 Grey Partridges. In Kiviniemi bird-tower we saw a Cormorant, a Common Whitethroat, Little Terns, and a surprise Pink-footed Goose. In Oulunsalo Vihiluoto we saw a Gadwall and in Kempele Teppola heard a Corn Crake and saw Black-tailed Godwits, a Green Sandpiper and Stock Doves but Bluethroat was hiding too well.
In Iinatti we found a Little Ringed Plover and heard a Chiffchaff and in Turkansaari we had a Hen Harrier and a Hazel Hen but then it started to rain. So we decided to continue to check the nests and in next a couple of hours we saw adult or heard youngsters of Ural Owl, Tengmalms Owl, Pygmy Owl, Goshawk and also Treecreeper. But unfortunately no surprises were found even though we drove quite a lot, only some Ortolan Buntings and our only Mistle Thrush.
It was already late evening when we found a Collared Dove in Liminka and continued to Virkkula bird-tower where 2 White-tailed Eagles, a Short-eared Owl, Coots, Garganeys and a Woodcock were found. In Lumijoki Sannanlahti our only new species was a Barnacle Goose, also 2 Arctic Skuas were seen. In Siikajoki Alhonmäki we found Wood Larks easily but then a thick fog came and the visibility was less than 100 metres! We drove to Tauvo Munahieta anyway but the visibility was even much worse! So we walked a lot and couldn’t find anything else than some Broad-billed Sandpipers and only one new species a Shelduck.
So next we decided to drive back to Lumijoki to twitch a River Warbler before we continued to Raahe where we couldn’t find an Eagle Owl from the rubbish tip, but in Aittalahti we heard a Thrush Nightingale, a Spotted Crake and a Bittern. In Saloinen we heard another Corn Crake but otherwise we couldn’t find anything at all. In Pyhäjoki Heinikarinlahti and Hietakarinlahti we heard 3 more Spotted Crakes. Because of the thick fog we decided to give up with morning seawatching and drove to Siikajoki and tried to find some singers and waders. But even though we checked many places we couldn’t find anything new before in Karinkanta where 2 Starlings were seen. In Savilahti a flock of Smews and again 2 Arctic Skuas were found and in Lumijoki Varjakka we had a Sparrowhawk. But even though we really tried we couldn’t find any waders and the last hour we tried desperately to find any raptors in Siikajoki Alhonmäki without success.
After all we managed to see 139 species and we were in the middle positions of the race which is not normal for us. In the afternoon and evening I drove back home to Parikkala.

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.