. . Lintuharrastajan päiväkirja Birders diary . .

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.

October – Still on Foula

We started October in Foula, Shetland. The 1st of October was one of the best bird-days ever when a Buff-bellied Pipit and a Pechora Pipit were still seen and photographable and in the evening we found the rarest bird we have maybe ever found – a Veery! It was 8th for Britain. On the 2nd day we left Foula and went to main island where we birder for a couple of days. At 5th of October we flew back to Finland. The whole trip-story can be read here: Foula trip: 15th of September to 5th of October 2009 (For example Veery, Pechora Pipit, Buff-bellied Pipit, Taiga Flycatcher, Hornemann’s Arctic Redpolls, Short-toed Lark, Red Grouses and so on).

End of arctica

On the 6th of October I had still free from work. I was birding in Parikkala and checked all the best fields for arctic geese and managed to find more than 20000 Barnacle Geese. Also some Bean and White-fronted Geese were found and a real good one a Red-breasted Goose! Other birds found were some hundreds of Whooper Swans, a Bewick’s Swan, a Crane, a Goshawk, a Grey-headed Woodpecker and a Great Grey Shrike.

Only one twitcher managed to see the Red-breasted Goose before the flock of 4000 Barnacles with it was flew around and the bird disappeared. I tried to relocate the bird again as I had done once already when I first found it from Kontiolampi and then relocated it in Kullinsuo, but even though I hoped to find it from Siikalahti and get a new local path tick, only birds I found were 500 Barnacles, a White-tailed Eagle, 450 Wigeons, 70 Coots, a Scaup, 230 Whooper Swans and some other ducks.

On the 7th of October I had a funny year-tick when I found my first Brent Goose of the year. During the next days I was checking all the geese nearby and there were still some 10000 of them in Tyrjä-Kontiolampi-Kullinsuo –area. Still there were only 30 Bean and White-fronted Geese. In Tiviänlampi I saw a Common Scoter and in Härskiinmutka a Cormorant and a Grey-headed Woodpecker was calling in Likolampi. On the 10th of October we caught and ringed a Tengmalm’s Owl in Tarvaslampi.

On the 11th day we saw 3 Long-tailed Ducks in Härskiinmutka, a Parrot Crossbill and 1200 Barnacles in Särkisalmi, about 9000 Barnacles and 2 hybrids between Barnacle and maybe Red-breasted and a family of Bewick’s Swans where adults were ringed in Saari area. Still on the way back home we saw 3000 Barnacles in Liuharanta.

On the next days the geese left and only some small flocks were seen. Then it became very quiet! Normal birding trips around Siikalahti were pretty boring, just a couple of Black-throated Divers, some Smews, some Great Grey Shrikes and still some ducks and lots of Whooper Swans were seen.

On the 17th day we saw a couple of Nutcrackers in Punkaharju, as usual. And on the 18th day there was again some arctic migration in Siikalahti, I saw 1780 Long-tailed Ducks, 196 White-fronted Geese, 5 Scaups, 22 Velvet Scoters and heard once a clear call of Richard’s or Blyth’s Pipit, but I couldn’t see the bird at all. It probably landed somewhere in the middle of Siikalahti? Also 3 Goldfinches and 8 Long-tailed Tits were migrating and a Grey-headed and a White-backed Woodpecker were fighting.

Next days were all similar: only better birds were last flock of 76 Barnacle Geese, 2 White-tailed Eagles, 3 Scaups, 31 Long-tailed Ducks, a Goshawk, 3 Great Grey Shrikes, 3 Coal Tits and a Woodcock in Siikalahti, a Hazel Hen and 2 Common Scoters in Vartialahti and a flock of 30 White-fronted Geese in Härskiinmutka.

On the 23rd day I took a swine flu and normal flu injections and came sick! But still I had to go twitching! I drove to Kajaani where I tried to find a Hume’s Leaf Warbler, but found only a Garden Warbler and a Blackcap. I continued to Oulu to my brother Riku in the late evening.

On the 24th day I woke up early and drove to Hailuoto ferry. I met some groups of twitchers and also Tuomas Väyryen with whom we continued to Tömppä. There we walked some time around almost birdless big area before we found a flock of Snow Buntings, 2 Jack Snipes and then finally some waders. There were some Dunlins, a Knot and only one Grey Plover. Luckily then we got a call that there were more plovers visible from Riisinnokka and we rushed there along the shore and there it was a long-staying first ever for Finland American Golden Plover! Soon all the waders flew there to Isomatala and we counted 11 Dunlins, a Knot, 5 Grey Plovers plus a lifer. Other birds there were 2 Mute Swans and a migrating White Wagtail. After watching American Golden Plover for some time we decided to go birding with Tuomas. We walked a long was back to our car and then on the way we saw a Black Grouse, 2 Jays, a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and a flock of Long-tailed Tits – all good Hailuoto species. Then we drove to Mäntyniemi where we saw a flock of Parrot and Common Crossbills before we continued to Keskiniemi.
Keskiniemi was absolutely empty but when we had walked through the meadow we I surprisingly heard a familiar call, a Rock Pipit flew over us calling and we saw the bird pretty well too.
In Pöllä and Kuivasäikkä we saw only 8 Black Grouses and 3 White-tailed Eagles but Ojakylänlahti was once again full of birds! With a couple of thousands of Whooper Swans and a thousand of ducks there were 60 Smews, a Shoveler, 3 Scaups, a Greylag and a Bean Goose and a family of Mute Swans. Also a White-tailed Eagle, Black-headed Gulls and a Reed Bunting were seen before we had to hurry to the ferry.

On the 25th of October I woke up early again and headed to Kajaani again. In Vuottolahti I noticed a big dead bird on the middle of the road and stopped. Surprisingly it was a 2nd c-y Pomarine Skua! Once I made it to Kirjastonranta I heard the Hume’s Warbler had been seen already. I was walking around a small bushy area for hours with several other birders but we found only a Blackcap and a Dipper. Then at 12 o’clock we heard 5 clear calls of Hume’s Leaf Warbler very close but just couldn’t find it anywhere! After all I was there for more than 7 hours and never saw the bird! But the calls we heard were so clear that I could easily make a decision that I had got my 600th WP-tick!

On the 27th day there were still 156 Whooper Swans in Siikalahti and a Velvet Scoter and a Black-throated Diver in Härskiinmutka. And on the 28th 18 Starlings in Kangaskylä and on the 29th 120 Common Gulls, 4 Black-headed and 4 Herring Gulls in Saharanta. In Siikalahti there were 83 Swans, 110 Mallards, 35 Wigeons, a Pintail, a Teal, 5 Tufted Ducks, 4 Scaups, 2 Smews and 35 Goldeneyes. It had clearly become cold in the north!

And then it came cold here too! Siikalahti got frozen. On the 30th of October there were still 72 Whooper Swans, 14 Mallards, 4 Wigeons, 7 Tufted Ducks, 4 Goldeneyes and a Smew in small open water areas. I also went to see Siberian Jays that were found easily.

But when we did a winter bird count on the last day of October and walked 18 kilometres around Siikalahti, it was completely frozen. Whooper Swans were standing on the ice and a Wigeon was trying to find a place to land. Best birds we saw were 54 Swans, 7 Mallards, a Hazel Hen, 3 Black Grouses, 2 White-tailed Eagles, a Black and a White-backed Woodpecker, 7 Long-tailed Tits, a Great Grey Shrike, 4 Starlings and so on. Lake Simpele was still open of course and there were 100 Goosanders and 70 Common Gulls. Altogether 34 species and 876 birds were seen.

September

In the beginning of September I was birding almost every day in Siikalahti-Lahdensuo-Kullinsuo area. Almost every day I also checked Lake Simpele from Härskiinmutka. On the 3rd of September I found a Gadwall in Siikalahti and a Ringed Plover with 14 Golden Plovers in Lahdensuo. On the 5th day 2 Chiffchaffs were singing in our backyard, a Grey Heron was standing on a rock in the middle of the lake and a flock of 25 Canada Geese were also seen from Härskiinmutka and in Siikalahti I saw a Hazel Hen in parking place first time ever. In Lahdensuo I saw 2 Hen Harriers, a Red-backed Shrike and 2 Lesser Whitethroats and lots of different raptors were still seen in many places. In the evening we tried to catch owls in Tarvaslampi and 2 Tawny Owls came to call near but never came to the mist-net.

On the 6th of September I saw 2 Red-throated Pipits in Siikalahti and in Lahdensuo I saw a strange completely white dove in the middle of the forest. Was most probably a pet? On the 7th day a Water Rail was calling and a White-tailed Eagle chasing ducks in Siikalahti, Common Buzzards were migrating as I saw 12 in 15 minutes before I had to go back to work. Other birders saw much more. After the work I saw a Grey-headed Woodpecker in our backyard.

On the next days it seemed that most of the birds had gone. Last 3 Sand Martins were flying around in Siikalahti and 2 Common Terns were still on the Lake Simpele. On the 10th day in Lahdensuo I saw a Lapwing, 2 Hen Harriers, 3 Lapland Buntings and 3 Red-throated Pipits. In siikalahti I saw 2 Yellow Wagtails, Spotted Flycatcher and a Sedge Warbler and in Lappeenranta Joutseno Konnunsuo a Rough-legged Buzzard, a Rustic Bunting, a Red-backed Shrike, a Lapwing, a Whinchat, 20 Stonechats, in Kotasaari a Little Stint and in Kivisaari a Red-throated Pipit.

Hailuoto bird-race

On the 11th day we left once again to Hailuoto. This time I picked up ”potu” Suojarinne, ”jassi” Kiljunen and ”andy” Lindén from Juva and we drove almost straight to Oulu. On the way we saw only 3 Great Grey Shrikes and a Rough-legged Buzzard. In Oulu we tried to see a Black Kite in Rusko rubbish tip but it was gone. In Oulunsalo harbour we saw 30 Common Terns and an Arctic Tern and together with my brother Pirkka we drove the last 20 kilometres to Hailuoto Pöllä where Harry Nyström, Antti Vierimaa and Miko Ala-Kojola were already.
Harry had bought the biggest pizzas that we had ever seen, at least the biggest one was huge, so the rest of the evening we were eating, chatting and planning the next days rally. On the 12th of September we woke up early, packed the cars and together with Pirkka, andy and potu we went to start our rally from Kirkkosalmi and the another team headed to Riisinnokka. The rally started at 7 a.m. and we had a good start with Gadwall, Marsh Harrier, Coot, Bearded Reedling, Sedge Warbler, Rustic Bunting, Lapland Bunting and Greylag Goose. After 1.5 hours we were heading to Riisinnokka and saw 2 Black Grouses and a Coal Tit on the way. In Riisinnokka we saw Mute Swans, Red-throated Divers, a Common Buzzard, a Merlin, a Golden Plover, 6 Grey Plovers and a Little Gull. Then after seeing a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker we had another stop in Kirkkosalmi and saw a flock of Long-tailed Tits and a Spotted Flycatcher before we drove to Koivukylä where a Skylark, a Tree Sparrow and Starlings were found easily. Järventakusta fields were empty but in Pöllä we found a Grey Heron and a Long-tailed Duck.
After some driving along sandy roads we stopped in Mäntyniemi and luckily found 2 Two-barred Crossbills! In Keskiniemi we walked a lot but found a bigger flock of Dunlins with 8 Sanderlings, 2 Little Stints and a Curlew Sandpiper. Also a young Lesser Black-backed Gull, a Sand Martin, a House Martin, Mistle Thrushes and a Song Thrush were found before we were again on the main road. Ulkokarvo was once again good! We had a special moment when every member of our team had found a new different bird in same time! A Peregrine, a Lapwing, Ruffs and Smews weren’t the only new species but also a Common Tern and amazingly the first Grebe we found was a Red-necked Grebe even though there were also 200 Great Crested Grebes – and they were both new species! The last species was found in Potinlahti when we found a young Shelduck. After all we had seen 95 species and came 4th in the race. Our cottage-mates came 5th with one less species. After the results we drove back to Pöllä where we had sauna and chatted for long time.

On the 13th day We had just a short stop in Ulkokarvo were mostly the same birds were seen, but also a Spotted Redshank, Goshawk, Little Gulls and some Greylag Geese. Of course a Jay flew over the road before the harbour. Pirkka decided to drive back home but rest of us continued to Liminka-bay. In Liminka we saw 2 Collared Doves and a Nutcracker before we drove to Lumijoki Pitkänokka. There we walked for some time in a shore, but the water-level was too high. So we saw only 2 White-tailed Eagles, a Peregrine, a Merlin, a Little Stint, 2 Spotted Redshanks, Bean Geese and a leucistic Pintail. Soon we said goodbyes to our friends from Oulu and continued with jassi, potu and andy to Siikajoki Tauvo bird-station.

In Tauvo we talked for some time with Sami Timonen who the ringer there before we decided to go to walk around Ulkonokka. We counted all the birds there and best ones were 23 Mute Swans, 6 Sanderlings, 4 Bar-tailed Godwits, a Lapland Bunting and a Snow Bunting. We were back in the station when the sun was setting and a Pygmy Owl tape was already playing. At night we managed to catch 5 Tengmalm’s Owl.

On the 14th day morning we caught 2 Pygmy Owls, a Rustic Bunting, a Redstart, a Brambling, a Chaffinch, a Tree Pipit and some more common birds like thrushes and Red Buntings and saw a Peregrine, a Grey Heron, a Tree-toed Woodpecker, a Common Buzzard and a Marsh Harrier on migration. But the came a deep mist and birds stopped moving, only a Willow Warbler was still singing, some Black Grouses calling and a Crested Tit seen.
So soon we had to start our long way to south-east. We still had a short stop in Raahe Yrjänä but didn’t find anything better this time. In Juva potu and jassi continued to home and together with andy we drove until Helsinki from where I still continued to Kirkkonummi to my parents where I was finally at 10 p.m.

To Foula

The rest of the month was spent in Great Britain and mostly in Foula, a remote island in Shetland. There we were birding together with 4 British friends for 2 weeks. The whole trip-report can be read here: Foula trip: 15th of September to 5th of October 2009. (For example a Veery, a Buff-bellied Pipit, a Pechora Pipit, a Taiga Flycatcher, Arctic Redpolls, a Short-toed Lark, a King Eider and so on were seen.)

August

On the 1st of August I went to listen to young Long-eared Owls, a Water Rail and a Corn Crake that were still calling. In the morning we left to Lappeenranta to shopping but on the way we birded in Joutseno. In Perä-Ahola we saw a couple of honey Buzzards and Red-backed shrikes, in Kotasaari a young Black-tailed Godwit and some common waders and in Saikkola we twitched a 2nd c-y Pallid Harrier. In Askola we didn’t see anything special so the rest of the day we were shopping and went to movies. On the 2nd day we got a phone call from Rolf Mortensen that there was a young cuckoo in his summer cottage. So we drove right away to Kesälahti Ruokkee and photographed this bird for several hours. White Wagtails were carrying food for this hungry “baby” all the time. Other birds seen were a family of 3 Black Woodpeckers.
In next couple of days I visited Siikalahti but only 2 Dunlins and 15 Ruffs were seen.

On the 5th of August we had a couple of days holiday and we drove to Helsinki to Madonna concert which was on Thursday evening. On Friday Hanna had to travel back to Parikkala to work but I was able to do some birding. On the 7th day I visited in Laajalahti, Suomenoja and Saltfjärden and saw a Little Stint, a Garganey, 120 Gadwalls, 31 Moorhens and heard a Reed Warbler and so on. On the 8th day I woke up early and drove to Hanko where I spent the whole morning in Vedagrundet. It was very quiet but a Red-throated Diver, a Black Guillemot, 9 White-tailed Eagles, a couple of Velvet Scoter and an Arctic Skua were seen. With a couple of friends we continued to Långören where we managed to find a Pied Wagtail that had been around the whole summer. Then I still visited in Täktbukten, Högholmen and Svanvik but in the evening I drove to Siuntio where I managed to hear a Kingfisher in Sjundby. On the next day I drove back to Parikkala.

On the 10th day after work I drove to Kitee Hatunvaara to twitch a Short-toed Eagle. After several hours searching I managed to find it perched on a top of a dead tree about 2 kilometres away in the middle of the forest. Most of the other twitchers had given up already but they weren’t too far so they came back and also saw it.

On the 11th day I saw a White-tailed Eagle in Siikalahti and surprisingly 2 different Blyth’s Reed Warblers in Kirkonkylä. On the 13th I heard a Red-breasted Flycatcher in Siikalahti.

Estonian Open

On the 14th day we left to Estonia with Sampsa Cairenius, Erkki Valsta and Miika Suojarinne. This was the third year I was going to Estonian Open bird-race. We didn’t see anything interesting on the way but in Tallinn we drove to Paljassaare where we saw a Shelduck, Gadwalls, Red-breasted Mergansers, Bar-tailed Godwits, Grey Plovers, a Knot, a Slavonian Grebe and a Goshawk. In Stroomirand we still saw a couple of Whimbrels but then we had to continue to Paldiski B&B to sleep.

The race started at 3 a.m. but we started then with breakfast. Soon we headed to forests and managed to find a Pygmy Owl, a Tawny Owl, 2 Nightjars and a Woodcock. When the sun was rising we still had Redwings and on one field we saw 4 Wood Larks.
In Vihterpalu we saw an Osprey, a flock of migrating Shovelers, a Snipe, a flock of 9 migrating Barnacle Goose and a Turtle Dove. By the river we heard a Marsh Tit, a Black woodpecker and nearby in a bog-area we found a flock of Meadow Pipits, saw a Nutcracker and heard a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.

In Keiku we saw a Hen Harrier and on the sea a young Little Gull. On the bushes there were huge flock of passerines and all Sylvia warblers including a Barred Warbler, an Icterine Warbler, a couple of Wood Warblers, Coal Tits and a Common Rosefinch were found. Next we continued to Ristna for sea watching and Red-throated Divers, Black-throated Divers, 6 Pintails, Red-breasted Grebes and in next hour also 3 Greylag Geese, 150 Common Scoters, 280 Oystercatchers, some Velvet Scoters, a couple of Scaups, 25 Knots, 15 Bar-tailed Godwits, 55 Grey Plovers, a Little Stint, 3 Arctic Skuas and so on were seen. On the next shore we found a Long-tailed Duck, 2 Arctic Terns, Curlew Sandpipers and in Alliklepa we heard a Jay and found a Temminck’s Stint, first White-tailed Eagles and a Hazel Hen.

In Harju-Risti we saw another flock of Greylag Geese, 10 White-tailed Eagles, a Kestrel, a Hobby, a young Red-footed Falcon that had been found a couple of days earlier, 2 Black Redstarts and in Kömmaste we saw an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull on the field. In Vasalemma we headed to Padide sewage-water pools and found 2 Moorhen and 2 Slavonian Grebes. Sampsa saw a Black Stork and Erkki a Thrush Nightingale too but others missed them. But in Laoküla we luckily found a male Montagu’s Harrier. In Koogajarv we found Gadwalls, Pochards, Caspian Terns and Coots before we headed to Tallinn and to Paljassaare. We were almost out of time but still we managed to find 4 Shelducks, Red-breasted Mergansers, Starlings and still drive to the bird-tower and find a Golden Plover that was flying around and calling, a singing Sedge Warbler, several calling Water Rails and 2 minutes before the end of rally a couple of calling Bearded Reedlings.

After all we managed to find 145 species in 15 hours and we came 2nd. The winners had the same number of species but they had more that kind of species that none of other teams had found. Anyway we were very happy to our result!

On the 16th of August after the breakfast we headed to Loksa Nömmeveski. On the way we saw the first bird that we had missed in a race – a Fieldfare! By the river we tried to locate a Grey Wagtail that had been breeding there. Right away we found a Kingfisher and a little bit later a Wren. After an hour we finally found a Grey Wagtail too.
Then we continued back to the coast. In Kuuksalu Valkla we saw 5 Greylag Geese, but soon we parked in Kaberneeme. A Pied Flycatcher, Marsh Tits, Long-tailed Tits and many other passerines were found immediately. On the sea we saw 2 Little Terns and from the island nearby we found 2 Sanderlings.
Pretty soon we had to start our way towards Tallinn. In Maardujarv we twitched a Great White Egret and saw also a Goshawk. But pretty soon we had to drive to the ferry-harbour. After all we had seen 160 species in Estonia in a couple of days!

When we were back in Helsinki we dropped Erkki to his home and continued to Etu-Viikki to twitch a Red-breasted Goose that was there in a big flock of local Barnacle Geese. It was already getting dark but we managed to find the goose pretty easily. We were very tired but still we managed to drive back home.

During the week I visited Siikalahti every day but only better birds were found on the 21st day when I counted 160 Cranes, 410 Coots, and 250 Teals. In the evening I saw briefly a big dark eagle that I couldn’t identify. On the 23rd of August I went to birding by bike. In Ristimäki I found a huge flock of passerines where were a late Icterine Warbler and lots of Sylvia warblers. A White-backed Woodpecker was drumming and 4 Goldfinches flew over me. In Joukio I found a Red-backed Shrike and in Lahdensuo a Hen Harrier and a Common Rosefinch. In Siikalahti I was walking towards the tower when I saw a gorgeous Greater Spotted Eagle flying low towards the tower. It must have been the eagle I saw a day earlier. Also an adult White-tailed Eagle was seen, a young Water Rail was calling and on the way back home in Härskiinmutka I saw 2 Little Gulls and in our back-yard I saw a Pied Flycatcher. Altogether 86 species were seen in 6 hours!

On the 25th day Hanna was in Inkoo Galleria Karaija opening her own bird-art Gallery, but I was at work. During my lunch-hour I saw again the same Greater Spotted Eagle in Siikalahti. Also 2 young Hen Harriers were seen. In the afternoon I drove to Joutseno Konnunsuo to twitch a Siberian Stonechat. It was a good new South-Karelia tick!

On the last days of August I was still birding every day. In the 28th day I saw a Ringed Plover in Lahdensuo, a White-backed Woodpecker in Argusjärvi, 100 Yellow Wagtails in Tyrjä, 2 Red-throated Pipits (250th year-tick) and a young Wood Lark in Saari Pohjasuo and 2 young Little Gulls in Tarassiinlahti. In the evening we went to sauna to Tarvaslampi and tried to catch some owls too. We were lucky to catch a Pygmy Owl after 20 minutes trying!

On the 29th day I participated to a Decathlon with some friends of mine. Luckily I found a Nuthatch from while sporting. On the 31st day I still saw about 20 Canada Geese and 2 Barnacle Geese in Simpelejärvi. The weather was already very much like in autumn and on the next day it was already autumn…

July

In July I was birding almost every day, but as usually in mid summer mostly I had pretty boring trips. Mostly I was birding at night but almost every day I went to Siikalahti too. On the 1st of July we were birding together with Dani and Albert Burgas. First we had a short stop in Siikalahti where a Spotted Crake and a Water Rail were heard and a Short-eared Owl seen. Then went to listen and see Great Snipes to Kullinsuo. Of course Corn Crakes were nice too for Catalans. Also another Short-eared Owl was seen.
Then we headed to Poutala where my friend had seen an interesting bird a couple of nights before and there it was again – a Great Grey Owl was sitting on the border area. A great lifer to Albert! After some time we continued and heard some Blyth’s Reed Warblers and much more Corn Crakes. Also plenty of Woodcocks were seen, funniest bird was perched on the roof of a barn. A Nightjar was seen in Sounio and a Quail was heard in Koitsanlahti before we continued to Rautjärvi Lahnanen. After 2 hours searching we managed to see a booted Warbler very briefly. But Dani and Albert saw it well enough to get a lifer!

Still on the 4th of July I saw a Great Snipe, but it wasn’t calling anymore. We also went to count the nests of Sand Martins to Sounio, because of Sand Martin was BirdLife project species this year. On the 5th day I still heard a couple of new Blyth’s Reed Warbler sand saw my first Red-backed Shrikes of the year in Parikkala. What a bad summer this was for many species! With Pekka Punnonen we made a tour in Saari but only a Hen Harrier was seen and a couple of Golden Orioles heard. I also ringed a couple of young Lapwings.

On the 6th day I saw a Wryneck in our backyard and at night I headed to Sulkava to identify 2 different strange locustella warblers. Another one was just a normal River Warbler but even though the second one was also a River Warbler, it was singing all wrong! Strange River Warbler -recording While I was driving back I saw a couple of Elks, a Black Grouse and a couple of Nightjars.

On the 9th day I saw a couple of Grey Herons in Siikalahti and a Hen Harrier in Kullinsuo. I laso ringed a couple of more Lapwings and in Lahdensuo I saw a couple of Whimbrels. On the 11th day we had a short night-trip to Koitsanlahti where a Quail was still calling and a Red-backed Shrike was making a couple of Thrush Nightingales angry.

On the 12th day I started to visit Siikalahti at least a couple of times during the day because of it was the best time to see adult waders. On my best visits I saw 102 Lapwings, 30 Wood Sandpipers, 17 Ruffs, 3 Dunlins, 3 Temminck’s Stints. 2 Whimbrels, 10 Greenshanks, 2 Green Sandpipers and 2 Spotted Redshanks. But of course most of the visits were really boring. After the mid July I also made several night-trips because of I hadn’t really done any during that time of year before – and it was really easy to realize why I haven’t. A Nightjar was still singing for a couple of days but then it went silent. A River Warbler was singing in 16th and a Grasshopper Warbler from 17th to 19th day and there were several families of Long-eared owls around Siikalahti, but nothing better was found. Otherwise only a Garganey, a Goldfinch and just some normal bird for the season were seen.

On Friday 24th of July I drove through the whole country west to Kristiinankaupunki. I parked to Kiili harbour where after some waiting a boat with driver and 2 happy twitchers arrived at the jetty. We just changed places and soon were on the way to small island of Domarkobban. Toni Vilkki was driving the boat and a Black Guillemot was seen on the way. Soon we were on the rocky shore of Domarkobban and after just some seconds I found the bird that we were twitching – a Lesser Sand Plover! This 1st ever Lesser Sand Plover for Finland had been found a day before and there had been lots of twitchers all the time coming and thanks to local birders they had made it possible for every single birder to visit the island and see the bird! Good for the on Sunday the bird had disappeared.
In the evening it started to rain very hard but I decided to go to visit all bird towers of Kristiinankaupunki. In Siipyy I saw a couple of Arctic Skuas and huge numbers of Cormorants and I am pretty sure I managed to see the Lesser Sand Plover standing on a rock on the shore of Domarkobban – for sure it could have been identifies in better weather in that place.
At night I drove to Rauma to my friend Juha Honkanen. And on the next day we were in Sonisphere festivals where for example Linkin Park and Metallica were playing!

On Sunday I was birding in Pori. Already on the way to Yyteri I saw 2 Collared Doves and a Nutcracker. From the parking place I found a Pygmy Owl. And from the tower could just see that the water was too high to see anything. So I decided to go to walk and try to find where the waders were. And I managed to found a Ruddy Shelduck that had been there for some time but was claimed to disappear just a day before, 8 Curlew Sandpipers, 2 Grey Plovers, a Bar-tailed Godwit, 33 Grey Herons, 35 Dunlins, altogether 88 Shelducks and some other nice birds.
During the day I still visited Kirrinsanta where I saw a flock of 36 Caspian Terns, walked a bit in Yyteri sand-beaches and checked Kaarluoto bird-tower before I had start a long way back home.