. . Lintuharrastajan päiväkirja Birders diary . .

June  – Still busy

June was also busy. I was working 26 hours as a radiotherapist and then I had all the counts and some guiding too. So I was working everyday and almost around the clock. A couple of first days of June were pretty good in Siikalahti: Red-crested Pochard was still present, a Greenish Warbler was heard, a Grey Heron and a flock of 15 Grey Plovers were seen.

On the 3rd of June I had a free day, but for some reason I never got a message about a Collared Flycatcher in Joensuu. When I finally noticed the observation in internet, we started our way to twitch it with Harry.

When we left it was already 7 p.m. so on the way we were thinking are Flycatchers still active after 9 p.m. After a long drive we made it to Joensuu at 9.20 p.m. directly when we got out of the car we heard an unfamiliar high sing, but then it stopped. We were in hurry because I had to be back in Siikalahti 11.40 p.m. because I had to lead a night singer trip. After a half an hour wait we finally heard the sing again and found a beautiful 2nd year male Collared Flycatcher! It was already too dark to digiscope but we had got a lifer! Then we had to hurry!

We arrived at Parikkala border when I had only 20 minutes to the beginning of the night singer trip. At home I had 6 minutes left and 2 minutes before I thought that I will make it in time. I had only 2 km to go. Then I saw something walking towards me on the road… I stopped and thought that let’s have a look to a Red Fox by binos. No it wasn’t a Fox, it was a Lynx! It walked directly next to my car and we watched at each others from 4 metres for 30 seconds. Then it jumped to a 2 meters high rock and stayed there for a while before it continued to a deep forest! So after all I was a couple of minutes late from my trip, but at least I had a good reason and good story for the group!

Also the night singer trip was good, we found a Tawny Owl, Spotted Crakes, Water Rails, Blyth’s Reed and Reed Warblers, a Corn Crake and a Grasshopper Warbler. I still continued with family Suorsa from Oulu and found a Great Reed, Marsh and Icterine Warbler and Golden Orioles.

During the next day I was pretty tired but I had to be as a guide. Only better observation was a Grey Plover that Hanna found with her course. At night we did some ringing with the course: we tried to catch a River Warbler but we caught only 2 Blyth’s Reed Warblers.

During a couple of next days I found in Siikalahti a Greenish Warbler, a Wryneck, a couple of Canada Goose and the first Whooper Swan family had got chicks.

A waited Siikalahti bird rally was getting close so my team, Mikko Ala-Kojola and Suojarinne Miika arrives at Parikkala a couple of days before the rally. I had also a couple of free days so we could do some bird watching. We never found anything interesting before the rally but searched which places we should visit in the rally. We did saw a Grey-headed Woodpecker in Siikalahti, heard 2 Greenish Warblers, and found out that there were still Waxwings at Oronmylly. In Saari we saw at least 8 Short-eared Owls. I also managed to twitch a Collared Dove in Koitsanlahti. We decided that we would start our rally in Siikalahti. The beginning of the rally was from 8 to 10 p.m. So we thought that we could start with a Red-crested Pochard.

In the evening of 9th day we practiced the beginning of the rally in Siikalahti. It was very promising; we saw a Red-crested Pochard and a couple of male Smews in same picture. So we could go to sleep after we had ringed a Grasshopper Warbler on the way.

Finally it was a rally day! We relaxed and left to Siikalahti so that we climbed to the tower exactly 8 p.m. Then we just had to find a good starting species!

Siikalahti -rally 2005

Our team was me. Mikko Ala-Kojola (Oulu) and Miika Suojarinne = potu (Mikkeli). We had been birding for a couple of days together in Parikkala but I can’t say that we had found anything special for the rally. All the species we had found were found spontanously in rally too.

18 hours Siikalahti rally 2005 in South Karelia

Our team was me, Mikko Ala-Kojola (Oulu) and Miika Suojarinne = potu (Mikkeli). We had been birding for a couple of days together in Parikkala but I can’t say that we could have been found anything special for the rally. All the species we had found were found spontaneously in rally too.

We started in Siikalahti, and we had planned to start when we can see a Red-crested Pochard that had stayed in Siikalahti already for 3,5 weeks and Smews in same time. We did saw Smews, but the Red-crested Pochard had left! When we realized we have to start we couldn’t find the Smews either! So we had to start with Garganeys. Then we just ticked all the common species including a Reed Warbler and a Long-eared Owl and almost ran to the parking place! So the Siikalahti bird tower had been visited and only a half an hour was spent, but we had missed a couple of important species.

The first round around the Siikalahti gave us a Hen Harrier, a Sparrowhawk, a Long-eared Owl, a Red-backed Shrike, Wheatears, Ospreys and so on.

Then it was time to begin with night singers. Thrush Nightingales, a Marsh Warbler, Blyth’s Reed Warblers, a River Warbler, Grasshopper Warblers, Nightjars and Spotted Crakes were found quickly before the midnight.

Then a Water Rail was more difficult, finally we found it and because we had no plans we almost decided to go South towards Lappeenranta. Luckily we realized that a couple of important species which we didn’t know where to find them made us decide to continue north to more familiar places.

On the way to Saari and in Saari we found a Green Sandpiper, Golden Orioles, Black Grouses, an Icterine Warbler, a Greenshank, Cranes, Yellow Wagtails, a Jay, and Ortolan Buntings. Again we saw plenty of Short-eared Owls, more Grasshopper and Marsh Warblers were also found.

When we had checked the usual places the sun started to rise. We continued to Tyrjänkoski where we found Common Crossbills, a Wren, Bullfinches, Treecreepers, a Hazel Hen and Willow Tits.

Soon we were again in Siikalahti and found a Blackcap and nice surprises a Grey-headed Woodpecker and Long-tailed Tits. Finally we found also a Wood Warbler and a Pheasant which tried to run under our car.

Then we headed to forests! We knew we can hear at least a Greenish Warbler, but now we found also Mistle Thrushes, Ravens, Chiffchaffs, a Black Woodpecker, a Coal Tit, a Redstart and extremely difficult Siberian Jays! Luckily I am a good friend with those birds.

In Oronmylly we found Waxwings and a Honey Buzzard, before we finally started our way to south. While driving we saw a Great Spotted Woodpecker in southern Parikkala which was our species number 119 from Parikkala, but the rest of the species we had to find somewhere else. (Well we would have wound a Rock Dove and a couple of raptors, but some species are easier in southern South Karelia.)

A Common Buzzard was found flying over the road in Rautjärvi. A Canada Goose, Little Ringed Plovers and Oystercatchers were found in Ruokolahti Laurniemi. We managed to see only a forehead of the goose when it was laying in an island, but it was enough.

In Imatra Immalanjärvi we tried to hear a Great Reed Warbler which we had missed already in a couple of places. Luckily we now heard a couple of tunes of its song. We also found a Long-tailed Duck and a Velvet Scoter swimming on a lake!

On the border of Imatra and Joutseno we twitched a Booted Warbler, which was a lifer to potu. We lost some time while searching for it but finally we saw it briefly. But we got also another as important species for the rally – a Rock Dove (as many ticks as a Booted Warbler).

In Joutseno Konnunsuo Mikko heard a possible warning-call of Red-breasted Flycatcher, but we couldn’t find it later. In Kivisaari we saw a Temminck’s Stink and in Kotasaari only a Hobby even if the pools were excellent. Well there were 6 Spotted Redshanks and 2 Little Ringed Plovers but we had seen these species already.

In Lappeenranta Karhusjärvi we saw 2 Arctic Terns with tens of Common Terns. In Kaislanen we finally saw a female Smew and in Askola a Goldfinch which was the last species to our rally list. We did stayed in Askola for an hour, but the only waders were a couple of Little Ringed Plovers and an Oystercatcher

The last 15 minutes we tried to find the only easy species we were still lacking – a Crested Tit – but we didn’t find it.

After all we had found 133 species and we had done well! We had also had a good time, even though we were pretty tired. Somehow I had a feeling that the only species that we really missed was a Crested Tit, otherwise we had had a perfect rally!

End of June

I hadn’t too much time to rest after the rally. We had to start with counts again. Day after the rally I saw 2 Gadwalls, Ruffs and Wood Sandpipers, all species that we didn’t see in the rally. Map-counts went well, but without surprises – as usual.

Duck-counts also started to get more difficult because ducks, and mostly Coots, started to have chicks. So the mid summer was full of work and no rarities at all – as usual.

I did some ringing, but I hadn’t too much time so I only managed to catch so Blyth’s, Grasshopper and Marsh Warblers.

Then on 22nd day konza did it – he saw an Eleonora’s Falcon – 3rd for Finland- in Akanvaara. I had to rush, but after 20 minutes driving I found just smiling konza. Later there were only Common and Honey Buzzards, Hobbies, Kestrels and a Black Kite.

The rest id June went at work. I did see only some White-backed Woodpeckers, a Greenish Warbler, a Barnacle Goose, Great Reed and Icterine Warblers…

May – Almost too much work

The beginning of May was full of working. We had counts even it was a back-winter and snow on the ground. On the 1st morning of May I saw on a half-frozen N-side of Siikalahti 8 Oystercatchers and a Canada Goose. During the day I saw Whimbrels, Wheatears, a wheatear, Wood Sandpiper and in Särkisalmi a Garganey. With Harry we did a duck counts and saw 18 species of water birds even 4 Gadwalls and 3 Long-tailed Ducks.

On my birthday I was working in Health Centre but in afternoon I managed to do some birding and to see a Short-eared Owl.

On the 3rd day best observations were a Common Scoter, Black Kite and a Rustic Bunting. Also 1st Little Gulls, Common Terns and Swallows arrived.

On the 4th day the new species during the morning were a Red-throated Diver and a House Martin but the best observation was a 5th c-y Greater Spotted Eagle we saw beautifully with Hanna.

During the next day I did some birding with my parents that had arrived to us. We visited several places in Saari area and managed to a Black-tailed Godwit, Rustic Bunting, Gadwall, Ruffs and lots of great views. In the evening we saw another Black-tailed Godwit in Siikalahti.

At night we did a night counts in Siikalahti, but the year seemed to stay bad for Crakes. We heard only a few Spotted Crakes and Water Rails. Only interesting observation was a call of Oystercatcher from the darkness.

On 6th day I was doing the water-counts again when I got a message that there was a Ferruginous Duck in Lappeenranta. Of course I had to get there. I always go if a lifer is not further than 100 km. surprisingly I got company because my friend Mikko Ala-Kojola was in Parikkala. So after an hour we had a new lifer!

On the next day we had a national bird tower competition. We managed to see 90 species from the tower in 8 hours. The very best observation was a Pomarine Skua, but also Pink-footed Goose, Gadwalls, Pheasant, Redshank, Waxwings, early Sand Martin and a Lapland Bunting were nice. We were again the 2nd best tower in inland – Parikkala Tarassiinlahti, our neighbour was the best with amazing 98 species.

The rest of the day was also good. On the way back to my car we saw a White-backed Woodpecker which was a good bird for Markus Keskitalo who had came to join our team. In the evening there was a flock of 19 Steller’s Eiders that was seen from our backyard.

On the 8th of May I saw from our backyard 750 migrating Bean Geese, but also some Barnacle and White-fronted Geese. Also one White-tailed Eagle was seen. A couple of day later I saw a migrating Short-eared Owl there.

Next few days were quiet but on 12th day in Siikalahti I saw 2300 Bean Geese and a flock of Cormorants, Lesser Whitethroats, a cuckoo, a Honey Buzzard, a couple of Hobbies and better ones were a Peregrine and a Montagu’s Harrier.

Next new species for the year were a Thrush Nightingale, Wood Warbler, Bluethroat and Swift and a flock of Bar-tailed Godwits. I also found a pair of Wool Larks.

On the 15th day the better observations were a White-tailed Eagle, a Black Tern and 2 early Red-necked Phalaropes.

On 17th day I did manage to se a Lesser Spotted Eagle from our backyard but anyway the day was miserable. Because of the work I missed a good Geese migration with amazing Red-breasted Geese. Luckily I managed to twitch Red-breasted Flycather as a Siikalahti tick, otherwise I would have been really sad.

On the 18th of May I finally had some good luck – first we found a male Red-crested Pochard (only one in whole country this year) in Siikalahti, and after the work I left to do some migration-watching for a couple of days to Virolahti. On the way I saw a male Red-footed Falcon in Ylämaa so everything was getting better. I also twitched a Dotterel in Miehikkälä and in Virolahti Hurppu we had some sea watching at Hurppu with Miika Suojarinne in the evening. We saw nothing special but Arctic Tern, Turnstone, Eider and so on were year-ticks.

Next day was pretty good! During the morning we saw a couple of hundreds Divers, a Pomerine Skua and then a good Barnacle Geese migration begun. During the morning we saw 35000 Barnacle Geese some thousands Brent Geese and one blue morph Snowy Goose. Anyway the weirdest observation of the day was a fully albino Oystercatcher that migrated over us with a flock of Barnacle Geese. Other birds seen were Arctic Skuas, a Grey Heron, 100 White-fronted Geese, a Red-necked Phalarope, a Short-eared Owl, a Dunlin, Ringed Plovers and a twitch of the day was a beautiful male King Eider.

During the day we watched for raptors in Kurkela, but we saw nothing else than a Black Kite. A nice twitch was also a nest of White-backed Woodpecker in Lintulahti. The female had been ringed as a nestling in Parikkala last summer!

After short sleep it was a morning again and we headed to Hurppu again. I managed to miss the only species for the day, a Lesser White-fronted Goose, when I was doing something important in deep forest. Only birds for me were a weird Canada Goose-like Barnacle Goose, a Shelduck, Black Guillemot and Short-eared Owl.

After potu (Miika) had left home I stayed at Kurkela and tried to anything. And we had lucky – first I found a female Pallid Harrier and later we saw a female Red-footed Falcon and a probable Lesser Spotted Eagle. Later in the evening I started my way home.

The Red-crested Pochard was still in Siikalahti and also the first Great Reed Warbler had arrived. Surprisingly potu arrived also there and with him we watched to the sky for the whole hot day. We did see 2 Pink-footed Geese, but the observation of the day was made almost in my backyard when we found a Barred Warbler.

During the next night we had a night-trip with Hanna’s bird watching course, but nothing interesting was found. Luckily first Corn Crake had arrived and of course Thrush Nightingales, Spotted Crakes and Water Rails were seen too.

On 22nd day we birded in Saari and found a Ringed Plover, Canada Geese, Great Reed Warblers, a Grey Heron and two couples of Scaups. Later in Siikalahti we saw 7000 Barnacle Geese and 550 Brent Geese. After the duck-counts we were ready to rest fo a file.

During the next days new year ticks were Blyth’s Reed Warbler, Icterine Warbler, Temminck’s Stint, Reed Warbler, Marsh Warbler, Nightjar, Grasshopper Warbler, Golden Oriole and Wryneck so it was a summer. I also twitched a Greenish Warbler that Hanna had found with her course group and Nutcrackers in Punkaharju so almost all easy year ticks were collected.

On the 27th of May it was my turn to lead a bird course to Lieksa. The course was a bog and forest bird course so we birded in beautiful bogs and old forests. On my drive I managed to find 2 flocks of Dotterels and a Bewick’s Swan but then I had a long dive to north.

At afternoon I arrived at Kitsi where the “students” were already. At six o’clock we started with lessons. After getting to know each others we started to get familiar with birds.

On 28th day at 5 a.m. we were on our way to Autiovaara forest. The weather was windy but we heard 2 Red-breasted Flycatchers, Wren and lots of common forest birds and I hope everybody learn some of the songs. We continued to Patvinsuo bog where we walked 8 kilometres and saw Whimbrels, Golden Plovers, Wood Sandpipers, Ruffs, Smews, Yellow Wagtails, Common Crossbills, Bramblings, Bean Geese and a Canada Goose. On the walk back we saw a Viper and a Hobby and then it was time to rest. In the evening the wind was horrible and we lost the electricity. It was a nightmare for me because we couldn’t do any birding and I couldn’t use data-projector. But we really had a good time and we studied with just my computer.

During the second course day we went to Hemminvaara but the wind was even worse than before. Anyway we managed to see a Greenish Warbler singing and some other forest birds we needed, so everyone was happy. At midday everything was done so I could start my way back home. On the way I saw again 4 Dotterels.

On the last day of May I saw a waited Little Ringed Plover and lots of common night singers and the first River Warbler. I also twitched a Booted Warbler from Imatra and then it was time to start almost as busy June.

April – Spring in Eastern Finland

In April I was still working in Heath Centre, but anyway I tried to do birding as much as possible.

Right away on the 1st day of April I had to hurry, because “konza” saw a glimpse of a possible Green Woodpecker. Unfortunately the bird was not relocated even there were several searchers for a couple of days. Only an early Snipe was seen. At Siikalahti I managed to twitch a migrating Golden Eagle which was new Siikalahti tick for me.

At next morning a flock of 6 Cormorants were migrating in Siikalahti, and in Tyrjä we saw a young Golden Eagle so beautiful we had never seen before. Also a pale “börringe” Buzzard was seen. We also saw a big falcon migrating fast, but unfortunately it was too far to identify. It was more likely Gyr than Peregrine.

On the 4th day a Greylag Goose and Great Black-backed Gulls were flying around in Siikalahti – both good species in Eastern Finland. During the next morning I watching migration again in Siikalahti and I got another Siikalahti tick when a Twite was seen and heard. Also White-tailed Eagle and the first Marsh Harrier of the yoar had arrived at Siikalahti. On the 6h day new species for the year were a Wren, a Dunnock, a Hen Harrier, a Merlin and a Song Thrush.

On the 7th day I had just left Siikalahti and continued to do birding to some fields when I had a call that a Greater Spotted Eagle was migrating over Siikalahti. Luckily I managed to drive that fast back there I could see the bird.

Next day was again good. We saw a nice 2nd year Golden Eagle migrating. Other year-ticks were a Green Sandpiper, a Curlew, a Crane and a couple of Teals – these made my year list up to 100 species.

On the 10th day we drove to Joutseno Konnunsuo fields. There was no water as much as we had hoped, but there were far more people. Luckily there were also some birds: 30 Bean Geese, 4 Greylag Geese, a White-fronted Goose, 2 Bewick’s Swans amongst lots of Whooper Swans, 2 Golden Plovers, a Redshank, a White-tailed Eagle, a Rough-legged Buzzard, a Stock Dove and a Mistle Thrush.

In the mid April also Siikalahti started to melt. That meant I had to begin with the duck-counts. Of course in the beginning there were only a few birds but the numbers rose quickly.

At Siikalahti I saw a Greylag Goose, a Moorhen and a Two-barred Crossbill. I also twitched a flock of 11 Shore Larks that ”konza” found at Akavaara Tetrisuo.

On the 16th I went to Konnunsuo again. Now there were lots more Geese. I saw more than 600 Bean Geese and 142 White-fronted Geese and even 5 Pink-Footed Geese.

The 23rd day of April was again a good bird-day. At Särkisalmi we found a couple of Gadwalls with Matti and in Siikalahti I saw a migrating Black Kite and a White-tailed Eagle. On the next day I was driving to Punkaharju to see Nutcrakers with Johannes, but I never found them but we saw a Shelduck and a Black-backed Gull.

On the 26th of April a couple of birders saw a migrating Imperial Eagle in Siikalahti. Unfortunately I couldn’t find it even I tried to drive to its way.

In the end of the month the back-winter came once again. 4 Gadwalls were found during the duck-counts and we also had to begin the map-counts. Harry Nyström came to work with us as a third guide and bird counter. He really had to learn to work fast because we had a lot to do.

When the month changed there was nice snow-layer on the ground.

March – Spring comes and the wildness rally

The March started mild again and the day was getting longer quickly. I birded quite a lot, but nothing much was found in the beginning of the month. The Blackcap was still in Savonlinna and another month-tick was a Jack Snipe. In Siikalahti I saw Grey-headed, White-backed and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers, Black Grouses and Long-tailed Tits. We went to look at the Siberian Jays again. They weren’t breeding yet, but last years birds weren’t anymore with their parents.

Finally the owls started to call. In Parikkala Melkoniemi we heard a couple of Tengmalm’s Owls and Tawny Owls. We had planned to listen to owls a lot but then started the only colder period in whole winter so we had to forget our plans.

On the 19th and 20th of March we went to Kuopio where was a one kind of bird weekend. It was nice to see lots of old friends.

After the Kuopio trip the spring finally started. First migrants were Herring Gulls which I saw in Imatra Vuoksi River. On 22nd of March there were already 104 gulls. On the 24th day we saw a Snow Finch and some Herring Gulls in Siikalahti. On 25th the first Whooper Swan, a couple of Rooks, a Buzzard and a couple of Starlings were seen in Siikalahti. In Vaaranmäki we saw also a migrating Sparrowhawk.

On 26th day we finally had a different kind of rally that Jari Kontiokorpi had planned. All six teams got their own areas where they had to find the birds. The areas were either in Ruokolahti or in Rautjärvi. The rally time was from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. All the species were worth of 1 point, but for example each White-backed Woodpecker was worth of 10 points, Grey-headed Woodpecker 6 points, Capercaillie 5 points, Pygmy Owl 4 points, Great Spotted Woodpecker 1 point and so on. The main reason for the rally was to find new White-backed Woodpeckers and that’s why the CD-player was aloud in this rally.

Our area was the SW-part of Ruokolahti. We started at 4 a.m. from Äitsaari. The place was great for the owls – we heard 4 Tengmalm’s Owls, 1 Ural Owl, 1 Eagle Owl and 4 Pygmy Owls in 2 hours. The morning came too early but we continued in Äitsaari, where we still found a Great Grey Shrike, Snow Finch, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and lots of Great Spotted Woodpeckers. Then we continued to the western side of main road 6, where were almost no birds at all. We found only another Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Buzzard and some Great Spotted Woodpeckers.

Finally we managed to find also a White-backed Woodpecker! The couple came to have a look who was calling when we had our CD on. That was about our 50th place where we had been playin the CD.

Because there were almost no birds in other places than Äitsaari we decided to drive back there to finish our rally. Of course we tried to find more White-backed Woodpeckers, but a Capercaillie, a Black Woodpecker and a Sparrowhawk were worth of some points too.

After the rally all teams got together in one cottage in Rautjärvi. All teams were happy to the rules of this new rally and even some teams had no possibility to win the rally because of the poor area everyone had seen new places and some better birds too.

In a whole rally total of 7 White-backed Woodpecker (3 new), 23 Grey-headed, 21 Black, 5 Lesser Spotted, 1 Three-toed and 157 Great Spotted Woodpeckers and 5 Capercaillies were seen. 10 Tengmalm’s Owls, 19 Pygmy, 2 Ural and 3 Eagle Owls were heard. A total of 51 species were found even there had been almost no migration at all. Esko Veijalainen and Jussi Valonen won clearly but the biggest surprise was a number of Grey-headed Woodpeckers that Juho and Jukka Könönen and Kari Kärkkäinen had seen – 12. We were 5th.

In Eastern I saw a White-tailed Eagle in Siikalahti. During the next night we went to Tyrjä to listen to owls. We heard 4 Tengmalm’s, an Ural and an Eagle Owl. In Siikalahti we saw 2 Ural Owls but then we got stuck with our car. Finally a tractor pulled us away from the snow at 1 a.m.

During the next day all other birders saw Eagles. We were some hours in Siikalahti but saw nothing. A calling Pheasant was our best observation.

At the end of month the spring was coming slowly. On the last day I saw again a White-tiled Eagle, some Buzzards, Skylarks, Starlings and a Kestrel. At Joutseno Konnunsuo I saw 11 Lapwings and a Canada Goose. At night on the way back to Parikkala I saw an Ural owl and a Tengmalm’s crossing the road.

February – Last winter bird rally month

In the beginning of February it was still warm. It seemed that there won’t be any freezing days in whole winter. So it was nice to do birding wearing so it was still possible to move.

On the 2nd day of February I saw a Grey-headed Woodpecker while going for shopping. In Siikalahti I saw also a female White-backed Woodpecker and a huge female Goshawk.

On the 5th day I twitched a wintering Blackcap in Savonlinna.

Next week my only bird trip was made for the Siberian Jays. They seemed to be alright. On the 12th of February I and Matti Lötjönen drove to Imatra. On the way we saw a Pygmy Owl.

We couldn’t find a Nuthatch in Ruokolahti but we surprisingly saw a Blackbird which was in the middle of a pine-forest. At Joutseno Kukkuroinmäki we saw a Chaffinch but Merlin wasn’t found.

While driving we saw a Black Woodpecker and we also checked if the wintering Jack Snipe was still alive. Surprisingly we found two Jack Snipes only 5 metres from each others and both were doing well. A Smew and a Tufted Duck were still on the Vuoksi River with also 2 adult and 1 2nd calendar-year Herring Gulls.

On the 18th day we started a long drive to Oulu. We were on our way to a bird-identification meeting to Hailuoto. On the way we stopped at Liperi Viinijärvi where we twitched a Black-throated Thrush. We found the bird easily but it escaped quickly because of the train that passed the feeding place. I managed to get only a couple of pictures.

On the next day we continued from Oulu to Hailuoto. On the way we saw a rare wintering bird – a Stock Dove passing us. In Hailuoto we twitched with Mikko Ala-Kojola a Great Grey Owl. But the bird was the most active Owl I have ever seen. So I managed to get only one picture before it moved on.

The meeting in Hailuoto was great! I told about birding in Cap Verde, and there were lots of good programs, but it was good to see old friends too.

At Sunday evening we drove back to Oulu and on the way we accidently found another Great Grey Owl at Oulunsalo. Later in the night there were three Owls seen on the very same field!

During the next day we planned to go to ring those Owls. I asked my friend Juha Heimovirta to join us and before we went to Oulunsalo we saw 14 Hawfinches in Hietasaari and photographed some Waxwings in Intiö. But finally in the evening we were trying to catch some Owl with Tuomo Jaakkonen and Pekka Suopajärvi. The Owls weren’t doing anything before the dusk, but then they started to hunt. We weren’t lucky. We had a couple of possibilities to catch some of the Owls but maybe partly because of the freezing weather we didn’t made it.

On 22nd day we photographed some skiing and other activities for my brothers coming books. We took some 1000 pictures in 5 hours. Just after we had finished we had a call that Mikko and Tuomo had caught an Great Grey Owl. After 10 minutes we where in Kempele and photographing thi Great Grey Owl on a hand.

On the next day we drove back to Parikkala. We did some birding in Tyrnävä and Liminka. We found a flock of 140 Snow Finches and some Collared Doves but no Grey Partridges, just footsteps. In Liperi we tried again to see the Black-throated Thrush but nobody had seen it anymore after our last observation and neither did we.

On 24th of February I had information about an Ural Owl in Mikkolanniemi and Great Grey Owl in Tyrjä. We still had South-Karelia winter bird rally going on, so I had to go for them. After my day at work, I drove to Mikkolanniemi but I saw only 2 Pygmy Owls. I wasn’t lucky either in Tyrjä where I was just disturbed by much too friendly 50 kilos dog.

On the next day I decided to try again. Now I found the Ural Owl directly sitting on a branch next to a feeding place. I took some pictures of the bird but it was looking to another direction all the time. It was also too close for digiscoping, but anyway I managed to get some better pictures. Later I found also the Great Grey Owl but not so easily. Finally I saw it after playing some it’s favourite music from a CD.

So I had my rally going well. That’s why I had to keep on going. On the next morning we went to see a Capercaillie that Jussi Valonen friendly told us. And we found the bird easily. So I had already 69 species – but I needed more! I had to drive to Vuoksi River and find a Common Scoter which had stayed there for a week. On the way I saw a family of Whooper Swans in Simpele but that was the last observation for me on that day. I never found the Scoter even I really tried. Maybe it had left more South because of the freezing weather.

On the 27th day I did the last winter bird count. I skied around the Siikalahti and the best observations were a couple of White-backed Woodpeckers and flocks of Black Grouses and Gold Finches.

After all I saw 69 species during the winter in South-Karelia. Paavo Rantanen (71) and Kari Kärkkäinen (70) had got more species. I was happy with the result because this was my first winter in South-Karelia ever.

January – New Year – new year ticks!

Even though we had been celebrating a New Year and also new bigger Parikkala (Saari and Uukuniemi joined in Parikkala), we started a traditional bird trip early on 1st of January.

I had planned that we would try to see as many species (new year-ticks) as possible but also to find as many 1st of January -ticks as possible. (Quite a few birders are collecting such ticks.) So we decided to do birding in same places as on Independence Day bird rally. On the way to Ruokolahti Utula we shortly stopped at Suomaankorpi and tried to see a Hawk Owl. Hawk Owl wasn’t there but we surprisingly heard a Long-eared Owl.

Utula was almost empty, so we just got some common year ticks. At Imatra we first saw a Black Woodpecker at Vuoksenniska and then continued to Vuoksi River where we found a pair of Tufted Ducks, Cormorants and a female Long-tailed Duck.

At Meltola we found Siskins, a Hawfinch and a Arctic Redpoll and a t Salo-Issakka we saw easily a female White-backed Woodpecker.

Next we twitched the same Jack Snipe I had seen before on December. We were happy to see this bird again without disturbing it at all.

At Simpele Lakkakuja we sae a Blackbird and a Brambling which were there on a feeding place. A Dipper was easily found at Kokkola River. Now the Hawk Owl was also found at Suomaankorpi so we could continue to Parikkala before the dusk.

We were parking our car in Kangaskylä when a Sparrow Hawk landed next to us to a tree. We were still watching a hawk from the car when a Grey-headed Woodpecker flight to the same tree and staretd to attack to the hawk. The Pheasant wasn’t found, but the last and 36th tick for the day was a lonely Waxwing.

On the 2nd of January we had to go to Savonlinna where we also twitched a Black-throated Diver which was overwintering there. We tried to see also Nutcrackers in Punkaharju but we saw also a flock of Parrot Crossbills. On the next morning I saw a Pheasant in Kangaskylä.

4th of January we drove to Mikkeli to see my grandmother. Pirkka’s family was also there. We couldn’t see any better birds but at least I did photograph a lot of my relatives.

Finally during the mid January I managed to get some bird pictures when I digiscoped a Dipper at Oronmylly. Even I birded a lot I couldn’t find anything better than some Great Grey Shrikes. Bigger surprise was another Pheasant which I got my 221st Siikalahti tick.

On the 15th of January we went to check everything was alright with the famous Siberian Jays. Birds were happy to het something different to eat than normally when we shared our box lunch. We also saw a nice male Three-toed Woodpecker there.

During the next day I birded again at Imatra. First I twitched a Nuthatch at Ruokolahti Huhtasenkylä and then at Vuoksi I saw a couple of new year ticks: a Smew and a Goldfinch. This time I saw a pair of White-backed Woodpeckers at Salo-Issakka, but Joutseno didn’t offer anything else than a Goshawk.

On the 17th we drove again to Helsinki. Hanna had lots of to do there and we both joined to my brother Riku’s book-publishing. I had taken some and Hanna had drawn some pictures to another of these conditioning books. I had also planned to do as much birding as possible, but the weather was awful all the time. Finally only better observations were Common Crossbills at Luumäki, Whooper Swans at Jaala and a Rough-legged Buzzard at Siuntio. On the way we tried to twitch a White-billed Diver at Sysmä and an Iceland Gull at Hämeenlinna but the diver had disappeared and the gull wasn’t seen because of a fog. Actually the gull was identified as a leucistic Herring Gull later.

During the last days of January the weather turned bad again. I did tried to listen for Owls at couple of nights and tried to find some grouses. I heard an Eagle Owl, saw a Tengmalm’s Owl and a Hazel Hen. Also a Grey-headed Woodpecker, Dippers, Sparrow Hawk, an Arctic Redpoll and a flocks of Long-tailed Tits were seen. Some more Owls and a Capercaillie are still missing from my winter-rally list. But I do have still February.

In the end of January I had 60 year-ticks. Usually the February is the worst month for birding, but let’s see!