. . Lintuharrastajan päiväkirja Birders diary . .

June

On the 2nd of June I drove to Joensuu where we had a meeting with all the teams that participated to Ilomantsi birdrally. I met also my team, Markus Keskitalo and Pertti Tolvanen from Lieksa. Soon all the teams drove to Ilomantsi where we had 2 hours time to check some places before the rally started at midnight.

We checked the only bird lake we knew – Sonkajanrannanjärvi, which was a good decision: Slavonian Grebes, Marsh Harriers, Smews, Garganeys, Shovelers and so on wouldn’t be in many places.

A little bit before the midnight we decided to try to find some night singers so we could start the rally well. We managed to find Thrush Nightingales, Blyth’s Reed Warblers, Corn Crakes and then on time also several Grasshopper Warblers and a Long-eared Owl – so we had a good start!

Then we drove back to the lake but most of the ducks were gone to sleep. But we found a Spotted Crake so we were happy even though we knew we should come back later.

We continued to north by driving with open windows and heard an Icterine Warbler, saw a Common Buzzard and in Mekrijärvi we got a Red-necked Grebe, Red-throated Diver, Hazel Grouse, Red-backed Shrike, Ortolan Bunting and Pheasant.

Then we drove to Patvinsuo where we tried to twitch a Red-flanked Bluetail without success. We had a Dunnock and a Black Woodpecker on the way before we ended to Ertonniemi where we saw a Capercaillie, Red-breasted Flycatcher, Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Goosander, Hobbies, 3 migrating Jackdaws and a Cormorant!

The next stop was made to a bog nearby and again we were lucky – a Redpoll, Ruffs, Wood Sandpipers, a Kestrel, a Sparrowhawk and then 2 Barnacle Geese were migrating with one of the flock of Whooper Swans!

On the way to Ilomantsi village we got a message about another Red-flanked Bluetail in Katajikorpi. We were quite close so we decided to try. We had a Jay on the way and then 2 Honey Buzzards and a Greenish Warbler but no Bluetail.

We still got a Yellow Wagtail and Sand Martins before we stopped at Pikku-Aunus fields where we had a Little Ringed Plover, Skylarks and a flock of 30 Bean Geese.

At the village we had plenty of Starlings and Markus found Red-breasted and Great Crested Grebes from the lake. Then we had to hurry to Sonkajanrannanjärvi to get some ticks we knew are waiting.

Marsh Harrier was the only tick we got after all, so we had to continue to Kesonsuo bog to finish our rally.

After a long drive and long walk we ended up to the tower in Kesonsuo just 15 minutes before the end of the rally! But we managed to see Pintails and the best species of our rally only a minute before the end of the rally – a Grey Plover.

After all we got the Grey Plover too late because we had the same amount of species with one another team and they had had their last species 2 minutes before the end of the rally – so we came 2nd because of one single minute!!! Then we had sauna and slept in Patvinsuo with all other teams – which was very good idea.

On the next day we went to twitch some good species that were found in the rally with Ari Parviainen, Pentti Zetterberg and Jari Kontiokorpi but we weren’t lucky to see neither Bluetail nor Montagu’s Harrier. We did find a Red-breasted Flycatcher and then a strange pale eagle which was perched on a tree several kilometres away in the middle of a huge Koivuvuo bog! There had been a fulvescens Greater Spotted Eagle in Ilomantsi and in the beginning we were sure that was the bird, but when it finally flew to the forest there was something wrong with it! After all we weren’t sure what it was!

Finally we drove to Joensuu from where we continued south with Jari. On the way we saw a Long-eared Owl.

On the 5th of June we woke up 3 a.m. and noticed we had got a message from Esko Veijalainen – he had found a Little Crake from Sammallampi. We were in a hurry to go to do counts to Saari but we managed to find the crake even though it was on the opposite corner of the lake than where Esko had heard it. At the count the only better observation was a River Warbler.

At the afternoon we photographed the fledlings of White-backed Woodpeckers and saw a Grey-headed Woodpecker.

On the next day I did a quickly twitch to Pohjanranta where “konza” had found a Terek Sandpiper – very good Parikkala tick! At the evening we helped Kimmo Martiskainen to ring a nestlings of White-backed Woodpecker.

During the night of 8th and 9th we did a real night singer trip with Ilkka Jarva. At the evening we went to Särkisalmi where we heard Blyth’s Reed Warblers, Marsh Warblers and a River Warbler, then we saw a Long-eared Owl, Grasshopper Warbler and Corn Crakes in Eskola. In Siikalahti we heard more warblers but also Water Rail, Spotted Crakes and Nightjar. At Sammallampi the Little Crake was still calling and the Savi’s Warbler on the other side of Siikalahti was still singing but also alarming – it was probably breeding! At Ylä-Ollukka we twitched a Quail but soon we found another one more from Pohjasuo. Of course more warblers, Golden Orioles, Spotted Crakes, Corn Crakes, Bitterns and so on were seen and heard. At Tyrjänkoski we found a Greenish Warbler and a Wren, but then we had to hurry to Siikalahti where I had promised to be a guide for the weekend. After 7 hours we were really tired, but we had seen Icterine Warbler, Reed Warbler, 5 Honey Buzzards, 8 Hobbies, 6 Smews, a White-backed Woodpecker, a Ruff and so on.

On the next day I was guiding again but nothing interesting were seen, just a Great Reed Warbler, Hen Harrier and a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.

On 11th day we did the counts in Saari again, but nothing was found. In the evening I went with Matti Lötjönen to ring one nestling of a Tengmalm’s Owl to Punkaharju Kulennoinen to Ilpo Kuusisalo’s summer cottage.

On the 13th we did the nightsinger count in Siikalahti: 13 Thrush Nightingales, 10 Spotted Crakes, 3 Water Rails, 3 Bitterns, altogether 7 Grasshopper Warblers and 5 Blyth’s Reed Warblers, some Golden Orioles, a Savi’s Warbler were heard and a Grey Heron was seen. Most of the birds were already quiet.

On the 14th day I got a year tick when I visited Punkaharju Metla on the way to Savonlinna. The Nutcrackers were once again very easy to find. On the next day I heard a Grey-headed Woodpecker at Simpele.

On the 18th of June we had a bicycle bird rally! We biked some 60 kilometres with Hanna! We had altogether 98 species but nothing really interesting and some of the common species were not found. Of course there are not so many places where you can go by bike and listen to Blyth’s Reed Warblers, River Warblers, Grasshopper Warblers, Reed Warblers, Icterine Warblers and see Slavonian Grebes, Black Woodpeckers, Ruffs and so on. But both teams in Lappeenranta reached 100 species so next year we have to try harder…

On the 19th day my brother Pirkka and his family came to spend a week in Parikkala. They had a big and perfect cottage from Pistonniemi where we spent several evenings – ate well, had fun with children and of course watched soccer! 7 years old Tuukka did the best bird observation – he found a breeding pair of Barnacle Geese by Pirkka’s scope. The first ever breeding pair in South Karelia!

Of course we did several night singer trips but all other rarities but Quails had stopped singing. All the common ones (I mean Blyth’s, Marsh, River, Grasshopper, Icterine and so on warblers and Spotted and Corncrakes and so on) were of course found.

We celebrated the midsummer with Pirkka’s family and our parents and grandmother who also came to the cottage for a couple of days. Of course we visited Siikalahti too, but only 5 Gadwalls were seen.

After the last night singer trip with Pirkka I managed to sleep for 2 hours when my phone rang – Hanna who had gone to make a count to Saari had found a Lanceolated Warbler! After 30 minutes I found the bird and saw it well!

On the next morning we both did the counts in Saari and then ringed the Lanceolated Warbler. A funny bird – it went three times through the mist net before it got caught and this all happened in 30 seconds!

Only surprise at the next nights count in Siikalahti was that the Savi’s Warbler was singing on the different place than earlier. Maybe it was trying to find another female? Well we still have to try to see the first female…

On 29th of June I drove to Oulu to see my friends but also to have a meeting with my old class from 5th and 6th grade! On the way I couldn’t see anything before in Kärsämäki I went to check one bird tower I had never visited before. Surprisingly the place was really good: 8 Slavonian Grebes, a Red-necked Grebe, a Smew, Garganeys and so on.

At Liminka I year ticked a Collared Dove before I reached Oulu and went to my brother Riku. At the weekend we had really good parties with my friends but anyway I managed to see some birds too – but I saw them on July…

Again hard May

May is the best, but also the worst month for a birdwatcher. There is no time to sleep because of all the counts, guiding and other bird trips and I am still in “real” work too.

The first days of May I was again checking the owl nest boxes, but there were no owls at all. I had also several counts to do. Many year ticks were found: Pied Flycatcher, Ruff, Little Ringed Plover, Wryneck, Lesser Whitethroat, Whinchat and many more. Better observations were a couple of Ural Owls, Capercaillie and several Gadwalls.

On the 6th of May we had a traditional Bird tower Competition, and we were once again at Siikalahti. The day was pretty quiet but we had an amazing hour: first we saw a Grey Heron, then a Cormorant and a Greylag Goose, then a Hen Harrier and at 10 o’clock a 2nd calendar year Greater Spotted Eagle! Other better birds were a Merlin, Black-tailed Godwit, Gadwalls, 20 Barnacle Geese, Little Ringed Plover, Whimbrels, Waxwings, White-backed Woodpeckers and first Sedge Warblers and Cuckoos for the year. Finally we got 87 species in 8 hours, which wasn’t very good result.

On the next morning we started the mapping counts in Saari bird lakes. Hanna saw a Marsh Sandpiper but I and Jari Kontiokorpi saw just some Jack Snipes, Thrush Nightingales and early Whitethroat.

On the 7th to 8th night we did a night singer counts in Siikalahti and it was nice to find 20 Spotted Crakes – much more than in last 3 years. Also 9 Water Rails, a Jack Snipe, few Thrush Nightingales and 1st Nightjar were found.

On the 9th day we did a duck count in Siikalahti and we saw a Marsh Sandpiper.

On next day I had to go to Helsinki for a couple of days but I had some time for birding too. At Kirkkonummi Porkkala I got some easy year ticks but on Sunday we did a whole day bird trip with Andreas Lindén to Espoo, Helsinki, Vantaa and Sipoo bird places. We had an amazing start for the trip when we saw and heard a Black Redstart in the middle of Helsinki city!

Otherwise the trip wasn’t very successful but we really saw many new bird places for me. And of course some common year ticks were seen. In Helsinki Viikki which was the last place we went we saw 2 male Citrine Wagtails.

On Sunday morning I drove to Virolahti Harvajanniemi to watch arctic migration. More than 10 000 Barnacle Geese, 100 Brent Geese, 3 Arctic Skuas, 5 Scaups, 22 Velvet Scoters, a Caspian Tern and so on – so it wasn’t very good day. During the day I drove to Hamina Kirkkojärvi but only a White-tailed Eagle was seen and a Great Reed Warbler was heard.

Next a couple of days I was doing the duck counts again: some Gadwalls, a Canada Goose, a Greylag Goose, a White-fronted Goose and 2 Bean Geese and a Red-throated Pipit were seen.

On 17th day I went to twitch a lifer with Harry Nyström and Pekka Punnonen to Ilomantsi Patvinsuo Ritovaara. An Oriental Turtle Dove was surprisingly heard before seeing, but after a couple of hours waiting we managed to find the bird and digiscope it too. On the way we saw a Hazel Hen that almost crashed my car and a female Capercaillie that was standing on the road.

On the 18th day after the work I drove again to Virolahti, where I met Miika (Potu) Suojarinne and Markku (Mape) Lund just before the ice hockey quarterfinal. Well the game was worse than the even arctic migration would have been, even though Finland won.

On the 19th day the Harvajanniemi arctica was pretty good: 99 Divers including a White-billed Diver, 421 Brent Geese, 77 Scaups etc. After the morning migration we went to check some of the many good bird places of Virolahti and saw a White-backed Woodpecker, Red-backed Shrike and twitched a Black-tailed Godwit and a Savi’s Warbler. At 8 p.m. we were ready to go to sleep.

Next morning was very foggy so the migration was pretty bad: 25 Red-necked Phalaropes, 60 Golden Plovers, 2678 Long-tailed Ducks, 26 Oystercatchers, a Turnstone, 4 Honey Buzzards and an Arctic Skua were all better ones. In the evening Finland lost the semi-final. Once again mo gold!

Next morning was the worst ever in Virolahti. 9 hours we were waiting the fog to disappear but it didn’t. Then we had had enough and went to do birding to other places: Garden Warblers, Spotted Flycatchers and Common Rosefinches had arrived; we twitched a Red-breasted Flycatcher, heard 2 Corn Crakes, and again went twitchind – 3 Dotterels. In the afternoon the fog disappeared and then we saw 6600 Brent Geese, 2755 Barnacle Geese, 4664 geese sp, 16 White-fronted Geese, 510 Divers, 7310 Long-tailed Ducks, 810 Common Scoters, 44 Velvet Scotes, 4450 duck sp, 12 Red-necked Phalaropes, 3 Arctic Skuas, 6 Honey Buzzards, a couple of Gadwalls and the best one was a Ruddy Shellduck that migrated calling. Later in the evening the migration was something amazing – only bad thing was that I was on my way home…

At night we did a night singer count in Siikalahti and found a Savi’s Warbler! 21 Spotted Crakes, 12 Water Rails 16 Thrush Nightingales, 6 Bitters, 3 Grasshopper Warblers, 3 Ural Owls and a Corn Crake were found too.

The week had already been one of the hardest in my live but still we had to do a duck count (hundreds of ducks of course but also a Golden Oriole, Blackcaps, 200 Little Gulls and the first ever Arctic Tern for me in Siikalahti! And next morning, 23rd day, we did the map counts in Saari again: a Short-eared Owl, a couple of Corn Crakes and so on, a couple of thousand of Barnacle Geese were migrating too.

On the 24th day I drove to Tohmajärvi Akkala to twitch a strange goose that was first thought to be a Snow Goose then a Ross’s Goose and then hybrid between them. I have no idea why it would have been the hybrid – why not a Ross’s Goose, never Snow! Well on the way back I found 2 real Dotterels from Akanvaara Tetrisuo fields.

On 26th day we did a night singer counts in Saari but nothing special were found – a Long-eared Owl, Corn Crakes and Spotted Crakes. On next day a Marsh Warbler was singing next to our house and at the afternoon I drove again to SE-corner of Finland to 24 hours Kymenlaakso birdrally.

At Hamina I met my team: Andreas Lindén, Andreas Uppstu and Jaakko Aarniala. We ate well and then we had a couple of night hours before the rally started at midnight to prepare a little for the rally. And we managed to find a Long-eared Owl, a Tawny Owl and then 10 minutes before the rally a strange owl that stopped “calling” before the rally started – probably an Eagle Owl.

The first species included Bittern, Nightjar, Corn Crake, Spotted Crake and Water Rail. Finally we heard an Ural Owl and then the same Tawny Owl.

At early morning we drove to Hamina Kirkkojärvi where we got Great Reed and Reed Warblers, before we continued to Virolahti which was foggy again. Icterine Warbler, Red-necked Phalaropes, a Brent Goose, Greylag Geese, Marsh Warbler and Blyth’s Reed Warblers, Wood Lark and Garganeys were seen and the best species a White Stork and a Black Kite. At midday in Kurkela we saw a Sparrowhawk, a Honey Buzzard, a Common Buzzard and a White-tailed Eagle. Also the second Black Kite for the day was seen.

A Linnet, Pochards and a Gold Finch were ticked on the way to Kotka Hovinsaari where we couldn’t find anything else new than a couple of Gadwalls, Little Ringed Plovers and a Pheasant. Even worse place was Pyhtää Valkmusa bogs where we got only Golden Plover even though we had expected to get many new species.

In the afternoon we drove to Ruotsinpyhtää Busholmen where managed to get several good species like Black Guillemot, Turnstone, Velvet Scoter, Razorbill, Common Scoter and Red-throated Diver. Also a couple of Gadwalls, Brent Geese and Red-necked Phalaropes were seen.

On the way back to inland we got a Green Sandpiper and a Hazel Hen before we did the biggest mistake of our rally and went again to Valkmusa bogs where we couldn’t find any more waders or anything.

At Elimäki Raussila we couldn’t find a Turtle Dove but saw a Long-eared Owl sitting on athe top of an electric pole. We had to hurry to finish the rally to Ruotsinpyhtää Teutjärvi, where we heard a Grasshopper Warbler that was our last species.

After all we managed to get 145 species and came 3rd (lost only 4 species for the winners). Very well done, because none of our team knew very well the places in Kymenlaakso.

After the rally we drove to Pyhtää where Jaakko had a summer place on an island next to Husö. Next morning we had the results of the rally in Hamina and then boys started their way to Helsinki and I drove to Parikkala. On the way I twitched a Greenish Warbler at Luukkaansalmi.

On the next morning I did the duck counts in Siikalahti. I had never seen so small number of ducks in Siikalahti in spring! Blyth’s Reed Warblers were in many bushes. After the work I had to drive again to North Karelia to twitch – this time a White-winged Black Tern in Tohmajärvi Peijonniemenlahti. I also saw a female hybrid between a Smew and a Goldeneye.

On 30th we did again a night singer count in Siikalahti. We counted the record of Thrush Nightingales 22 singing birds in small area of Siikalahti protected area.

At next night we ringed the Savi’s Warbler and also a couple of Grasshopper Warblers. The last day of May was still amazing – I twitched a Roller in Rääkkylä. Very beautiful end for amazing month!

April

In the beginning of April I was just waiting for the spring to come. I wasn’t birding very much.

The first migrants I saw in Parikkala were Rooks, Herring Gulls, Snowfinches, a Kestrel, Starlings, Lapwings, Common Buzzard and a Wood Pigeon.

On the 7th day the spring came! After the work I went to Siikalahti and saw some nice species like a Golden Eagle, 2 White-tailed Eagles, a Greylag Goose, a Stock Dove, Rooks, Skylarks, Meadow Pipits, a White Wagtail and a Marsh Harrier.

At the weekend I drove to Lappeenranta where we did some birding together with Harry Nyström, Pekka Punnonen and Henrik Salomaa. We began from Joutseno Konnunsuu where we saw 56 Canada Geese, a couple of Merlins, a Hen Harrier and some other common migrants. But we had expected more… We continued to Lappeenranta Luukkaansalmi where only new species were Black-headed Gull. Toikansuo was better: Rooks, a Woodcock and a Reed Bunting. Then we quickly listened to Goldfinches sing in Tykki before we got a message that there was a Moorhen in Toikansuo. The bird was in a ditch which we had checked only a couple of hours before but it was hiding so well that it wasn’t a surprise we had missed it. Now we managed to see it well only when we were in a car.

On the next morning I went again to Konnunsuo and now it was worthy. There was a lot of migration going on. Right away I saw some Bean Geese but also a Pink-footed Goose, a Wheatear, Cranes, 6 Hen Harriers, Mistle Thrushes and later a Dunnock, 3 Rough-legged Buzzards, White-tailed Eagle, a Peregrine and a Hawfinch. There were also hundreds of Skylarks, Wood Pigeons and Lapwings but when Harry arrived, after he had finished a guided trip he had promised to lead, there was almost nothing in the air anymore. In the afternoon we saw some White-fronted Geese, a Linnet, a couple of Lapland Buntings and some Lesser Black-backed Gulls which one of them was a Heuglin’s.

Next few days I managed to do birding only on my lunch hours. Anyway I found 3 Wood Larks, a Wren and a Pheasant, that really tried to crash with cars.

Eastern trip to Sweden

On the 13th day we started our Eastern trip to Southern Sweden with Ilkka Jarva. We had again his parent’s caravan. First we drove to Turku from where we took a ferry to Stocholm. Then we drove south to Lund where we picked up Andreas Lindén who joined us for the time that we were in Skåne – 2 days. The best observations were many Red Kites, a Short-toed Treecreeper, a Firecrest, a Peregrine, many Avocets, some Grey Partridges and Marsh Tits, Nuthatches, an Arctic Skua and many more. We even visited the famous Falsterbo, but it isn’t very good place in spring. Then on the way back to Stockholm, we drove to Hornborgansjö Lake which is an amazing place with thousands of Cranes, Greylag Geese and ducks. There we saw also some Black-necked Grebes. Altogether we saw 125 species in Sweden. Then in Stockholm we took a ferry again and from the ferry we managed to see some Razorbills but also a male King Eider! Then on the early morning of 19th day we were back in Parikkala.

End of April

Once we were back at home we could see there wasn’t a lot of snow anymore on the ground. In Siikalahti I saw many Snipes, Curlews and ducks which meant I had to begin to do duck counts! Also 4 Greylag Geese, a Black-tailed Godwit and a Whimbrel were found.

Also Särkisalmi and Lemmikonsalmi were good for ducks but the better species were seen in Siikalahti: a Grey Heron (20th day) and an early Swallow (21th).

On the 22nd day in Siikalahti I saw a White-tailed Eagle, a Golden Eagle, Bitterns, a Shoveler, 21 Rough-legged Buzzards, 12 Sparrowhawks, 8 Ospreys, 68 Cranes, 3 White-fronted Geese and so on. Later in the day I drove to do duck counts to Saari where were much more ducks than we had expected! But only better observations were 5 Canada Geese, a Grey Heron and a couple of hundred of Bean Geese.

On 23rd day I drove again to Konnunsuo where we birded with Harry, Pekka and Jari Kiljunen. But this time it was really quiet in Konnunsuo – only 3 Pink-footed Geese, so we decided to go twitching! We drove 160km to Pukkila Kantelejärvi to twitch a Kentish Plover. It was a lifer number 333! And we got pretty good pictures too!

Kantelejärvi was a pretty good place, so we managed to see also a Caspian Tern, some Greylag Geese, White-fronted Geese, 2 Pink-footed Geese and a Bewick’s Swan that all were with a flock of Bean Geese.

Next few days I birded a lot in Siikalahti, Särkisalmi and Lemmikonsalmi. I also did counts in Siikalahti and Saari. New yearticks were Common Sandpiper, Slavonian Grebe, Gadwall, Garganey, Yellow Wagtail, Black-throated Diver, Chiffchaff and a Black Kite that migrated in Siikalahti in 26th day. Good observations were also a flock of 121 Great Crested Grebes in Särkisalmi, a family of Bewick’s Swans in Tarassiinlahti and first Water Rails and a Jack Snipe in Siikalahti.

Before the end of the month I still got a Red-necked Grebe, Willow Warbler, Little Gull, Wood Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank and Spotted Crake as a year tick. Also 2 Peregrines were seen.

The last 2 days of the April I was checking the owl nest boxes but there were nothing in them! We are the only area in Finland where is no voles or mice at all! But there are still half of the boxes to check! Only real observations were many Hazel Hens, a Capercaillie and 2 Ural Owls that were heard.

Very quiet March

The whole March was snowy and cold. It was minus degrees all the time, so even the end of the month was very quiet – almost no migrants. But the sun was already shining – the long winter was coming to its end.

I hadn’t able to do bird watching because I was working and in weekends I had rink bandy games. Our season was longer than ever!

So all birding I did on the way to play to Imatra. So Rautjärvi Simpele Kokkola River and Vuoksi River were the places.

On the 4th day I found a Goosander from Kokkolanjoki. It was the first outside Vuoksi for me – so some kind of migrant. The Marsh Tit was gone but there were still some Hawfinches on Korjontie feeder. On Vuoksi there was a Whooper Swan which had been wintering on Russian side of the river.

On the next day I did a winter bird count, which was quite easy this time because there were a good skiing route around the Siikalahti. But the only better observation was the first real migrant, a Snowfinch.

On the 11th day I found the first 2 Herring Gulls from Vuoksi. And n the 17th day we were skiing in forests with my parents that were staying in Parikkala for some days and we visited the familiar Siberian Jays.

On the 22nd of March I twitched a Ural Owl that was sitting only 3 metres from the main road 6 in Särkisalmi. The owl seemed to be really skinny, but otherwise in good shape.

On the next day there were already 330 Herring Gulls and a Great Black-backed Gull on Vuoksi. And on 24th day there were the first couple of Goldeneyes outside Vuoksi on Kokkola River. Also a White-backed Woodpecker was seen flying in Simpele. The first Common Buzzard was already in Siikalahti.

On the 24th of March we had a “traditional” (second) forest bird rally. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to join to the whole rally because I had a match in same day but I was rallying from 4 a.m. to 12 a.m. Others were continuing 4 more hours. All the teams had their own area where to do birding and the main target was to find forest birds. The most important species was a White-backed Woodpecker which gave 10 points to the team.

It was very quiet in the forests but I managed to hear a Tawny Owl and a Tengmalm’s Owl at night and then I found 3 Hazel Hens, 3 Common Crossbills, a Blackbird, 8 Long-tailed Tits and luckily 2 White-backed Woodpeckers!

On the 28th there was a Rook sitting on the closest tree of hour house. It is quite rare species here in eastern Finland. In the afternoon I was once again in Vuoksi where I had 4 Smews (only two had been wintering). Now there were 900 Herring Gulls!

So not many migrants arrived during the March but April will be much more interesting!

The most boring month begins

I started the February at Simpele Korjontie feeding place and managed to see a Marsh Tit before I had to drive back to Parikkala to work. Also a Coal Tit, Black Grouses, a Dipper and a Waxwing were seen.

The only Fieldfare that was still alive was found on 3rd day in Särkisalmi and on the next day we were birding with Matti Lötjönen to Simpele. The Marsh Tit wasn’t seen but a small thrush (probably a Redwing), 8 Hawfinches, a Sparrowhawk and a Blackbird were seen.

On the 5th day I saw a Treecreeper in Siikalahti and then I drove once again to Korjontie to see both the Marsh Tit and Mikko Ala-Kojola who was driving by.

The funniest mammal I saw in February was found in Tyrjä where an Otter was fishing on the river Joensuu.

I also did some birding in Imatra Vuoksi River where I saw a Whooper Swan, a couple of Smews and Cormorants. On the 12th day I was again skiing in the Siberian Jay forests but I couldn’t find them. But a Hazel Hen and a Capercaillie were found! A Black Woodpecker was flying over our house.

To Ahvenanmaa rally

The 24th of February was the day I’d been waiting for a long time. After the midday when I had finished my work we packed our car and started to drive across the country to Turku. We were going to Ahvenanmaa Island to bird rally!

Our first stop was made in Korjontie because we had Markus Keskitalo with us and we wanted to twitch the Marsh Tit. The tit wasn’t seen but 6 Hawfinches and a Tree-toed Woodpecker were seen. Our second stop was by the Vuoksi River in Imatra. The Whooper Swan, Smews and Cormorants were there again but then we found a surprise – an adult Glauscous Gull flew over us!

Our third stop was in Lappeenranta Luukkaansalmi where we twitched a Grey Heron and 3 Teals. It took only a couple of minutes even though some birders had spent several days to see these birds – we were lucky! But then we had to hurry, we had a long way to drive and it was getting late.

Finally we were in Turku harbour at 8.30 p.m. and we were the last car to drive to the ferry! There we found Mikko Ala-Kojola and Antti Pesola who was the other half of our rally-team. Markus was going to another team.

The 4 hours ferry trip went quickly, Finland beat Russia 4-0 in the Olympic semi-final ice hockey.

It was really late when we finally arrived at our hotel in Eckerö Torp. An Eagle Owl was calling outside our window when we started to sleep.

We couldn’t sleep enough because our alarms woke us up before 6 a.m. We had a breakfast and before 7 o’clock we were listening if the Eagle Owl was still calling. Even though there were several teams nobody could hear anything, so we decided to move on quickly. We were the first team to leave the hotel.

After 5 kilometres driving we stopped to listen and there the Eagle Owl was calling! We had started with a really good species!

Our next species were found while driving in Hammarland when the sun started to rise: Mute Swans, Whooper Swans, Goldeneyes, Jackdaws, Hooded Crows, a Black Woodpecker, Blackbirds, Blue Tits and Great Tits. We stopped a couple of times in Jomala Gottby and Common Crossbills, Bullfinches, Willow Tits, Magpies, Ravens, Yellowhammers, Tree Sparrows, House Sparrows, a Fieldfare, Greenfinches and the first of many White-tailed Eagles were seen. A flock of Waxwings was seen by only me and Mikko so it wasn’t countable yet.

Hammarudda was our first real bird place. We had planned to get there to watch “seabirds”, because we had guessed that most of the other teams would start from Eckerö Styrningsudden. And luckily we were there alone with a flock of Redpolls, Goosanders, a couple of Smews, Herring Gulls, Great Black-backed Gulls, Long-tailed Ducks, Black Guillemots, Mallards, Cormorants, Red-breasted Mergansers, Common Gulls, a couple of Common Scoters, a Red-throated Diver, 13 Razorbills and a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. So we had a perfect start! And even though we heard there had been a White-billed Diver in Styrningsudden and 5 teams had seen it, we were happy to be alone.

But then it continued worse. We had an hour without new ticks but finally in Torpfjärden we got a Goldcrest, a Sparrowhawk and a Coal Tit and at Svibyviken we saw the first Tufted Ducks.

At Maarianhamina city we tried to find Collared Doves without luck but we found a Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Chaffinch. The fish-harbour had a flock of 1500 Tufted Ducks with some Scaups and a female Steller’s Eider! Also Coots were seen.

Next 2 hours were really bad – we tried to find good feeding places, good forests or anything. Finally we decided we had to move on and we drove to Saltvik Haga fields to find raptors. We had hardly found the fields when I found a Golden Eagle soaring with a White-tailed Eagle far over the fields. And soon we found also a male Goshawk, but no buzzards or a Great Grey Shrike. We were really on a hurry because we had the best area Eckerö to go.

First we drove to twitch Little Grebes to Västerön, but we never found the right place. We just lost an hour and saw just a Smew – again. Then we drove to Degersand to try Purple Sandpipers and a couple of other still lacking species. On the parking place we heard a Crested Tit but the Purple Sandpipers had flewn just 10 minutes before to the other side of one small island. We waited for an hour but couldn’t see the sandpipers, but a Velvet Scoter was found as our last species. We also saw a big diver flying, but it was far too far to identify.

After all we got 51 species and we were on 8th position from 20 teams altogether. So we had done well! We won many experienced teams that had been in Ahvenanmaa many times!

During the next day we tried to twitch some of the species we hadn’t found in a rally. But first we drove to Styrningsudden (the place we hadn’t been) to watch to the sea. But there was no migration, just a flock of Common Scoters and some Black Guillemots. So we decided to leave even though many other teams were staying.

We decided to go to Degersand to try Purple Sandpipers again. And this time we were lucky! After 20 minutes we saw a flock of 40 sandpipers flying far over a small island.

The only Feral Doves of the whole Ahvenanmaa were found at Storby and then we twitched a Little Grebe that was hiding extremely well under the ice and reeds. On the way we found a Reed Bunting and a couple of Parrot Crossbills too.

At Storby we twitched two Steller’s Eiders which were closer than the bird we had found a day before. And when we were trying to find a Wren we found a better bird, a Water Rail!

At Hammarland Bosta we twitched a Dipper which we now found after some hundreds of meters walking. Then we had to drive to Maarianhamina harbour where we had a ferry 2.30 p.m.

From the harbour we saw now about 3000 Tufted Ducks and 10 Scaups. On a ferry we walked straight to the deck and scoped to the sea as long as the sea was open (not frozen). In an hour or so we saw 9 Eiders, 9 Smews, 8 Common Scoters, 2 Great Crested Grebes and 60 Steller’s Eiders! I think we had better time than everyone else in Finland, because in the same time Sweden beat Finland in olympic icehockey final.

In Turku we dropped Mikko and Antti to the railway station and then continued to Kirkkonummi where we were at my parents at 11 p.m.

On 27th of April we started our way home at 10 a.m. Our only good observation was made after a couple of minutes driving when we saw a Common Buzzard. Even though we drove around the south-eastern coast and along the eastern border to Parikkala we couldn’t find anything else.

After all, the trip to Ahvenanmaa had been successful – I had 4 new winter ticks and 16 new February ticks and many good year ticks! But even more important, we had had really good time!

New Year – new year ticks

In New Years day we woke up early. I had been too tired because of last day’s winter bird counts so we had been sleeping before other people started to clebrate the New Year. It was still dark when we were getting away all the ice and snow that was covering our car. Somewhere near were a Hooded Crow and a Redpoll calling, so they were the first yearticks.

We drove towards the south and a Magpie became the 3rd species and in Simpele on the Kokkola River there were the 4th species, Mallards. At Korjontie and its feeder was our first target and there we had Tits in unusual order: Coal, Willow, Marsh, Great and Blue. Bullfinches were also eating from the feeder.

At Lakkakuja it was pretty quiet but Yellowhammers, Green Finches and a couple of Bramblings were near the feeding place.

At Kokkola River we found no Dippers but a Jay was calling. When we continued towards Imatra we saw a flock of Waxwings and in Imatra Vuoksenniska we saw some common city birds – Rock (Feral) Pigeons and Jackdaws.

Then we checked the Vuoksi River very carefully and with Mallards, Goldeneyes and Goosanders there were 4 Smews, 3 Velvet Scoters, 3 Tufted Ducks and 13 Cormorants. A Goshawk flew over us and a Dipper was found at Mellonlahti. At Vellamonkatu a Great Spotted woodpecker was drumming and 5 Haw Finches were found from the flocks of Green Finches. Tree Sparrows, which are more common than House Sparrows here nowadays, were calling in the bushes. A surprise was a female Chaffinch that flew over us.

This time of year the day is really short here so soon it became dark. The first bird trip of the year and 29 species was found.

On the 3rd of January I walked to the closest feeder from our house and ticked the House Sparrows but the real observation of the day was made at night when I saw 2 Lynxes walking over the road when I was driving by car on the main road 6.

On the 6th day the ticks were a Raven and a Crested Tit and on the 8th day we heard a Goldcrest on our skiing trip, the Siberian Jays weren’t found.

On the 10th of January I saw a Great Grey Shrike in Siikalahti but the trip ended soon because I got a lot of muddy water inside my boots. It had been so warm winter that Siikalahti bay wasn’t fully frozen! A couple of days later I did a short trip to Siikalahti and saw a White-backed Woodpecker and 2 Hawfinches which is rare there and on the 15th day I found a male Mallard there – it really should be somewhere else! There was a small ditch which wasn’t fully frozen and this poor Mallard thought it could stay there for whole winter; unfortunately it was still coming cold! A flock of Black Grouses was also seen and in Melkoniemi I twitched a Grey-headed Woodpecker and a Pheasant as a year tick.

But then came the real winter! More than a week it was about -30 degrees! So there was no way to go out at all! Only bird which gets more common in the weather like that is a Dipper so it wasn’t a surprise I saw a Dipper on he Joensuu river mouth. This bird comes more south when it is too cold.

So after all I saw 38 species in January. If you compare the result to my friend Oriol’s close to 200 species in January in Catalonia it is really easy to guess do I like the winter here in Finland! Some beautiful day I will be living somewhere where only ice is in my drink.