. . Lintuharrastajan päiväkirja Birders diary . .

After a couple of long twitches I was very tired. So on the 10th of May I didn’t do much birding so only Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Wren, Wryneck and White-backed Woodpecker were observed. On the 11th day I saw a Black Kite in Siikalahti and the first bigger flock of Swallows, Sand Martins and House Martins in Tiviänlampi. In the afternoon we visited Saari where we heard 2 Ortolan Buntings in Akanvaara Tetrisuo and saw 2 Gadwalls, 2 Ringed Plovers, 100 Ruffs, 54 Spotted Redshanks, 130 Wood Sandpipers and so on. On the 12th day a Rough-legged Buzzard was still migrating, a Red-backed Shrike was a new year-tick and already 10 Swifts were seen in Siikalahti. A short visit to Saari was a disappointment.

On the 13th of May I twitched a Red-breasted Flycatcher in Tyrjä and in Härskiinmutka I saw a flock of 15 Scaups already before I got to work. In the afternoon we headed to Virolahti with Hanna and Miika. We reached Lakakallio at 7 p.m. when there was already a good duck-migration going. Common Scoters and Long-tailed ducks were seen about 70 000 altogether with 50 Velvet Scoters and a single Red-necked Grebe.

On the 14th of May I woke up before 4 a.m. and climbed to the top of the rock. Black-throated Divers started to migrate soon and after all I counted 1718 of them. Only 64 Red-throated Divers were identified. Only a couple of thousands of geese were seen and only interesting bird was a too distant female ring-tail harrier. After 8 a.m. we headed to Vilkkiläntura Kolsinpohja where we had a Red-breasted Flycatcher, 2 Long-tailed Tits, a couple of Temminck Stints and in Kellohiekantie we saw a Honey Buzzard and heard a Wood Lark. In Leerviikki we saw 2 Common Shelducks and in Lintulahti we saw some Caspian Terns and heard a Garden Warbler. In the evening we were again in Lakakallio but there was no migration at all. Only a too distant eagle was seen. It looked like a Greater Spotted Eagle but it was too far.

On the 15th of May we woke up at 3.m. and headed towards South Karelia. On the way we stopped in Lintulahti where a Corn Crake was calling. In Ylämaa we saw a Nightjar flying over the road and finally we stopped in Hanhijärvi where a Savi’s Warbler started to sing soon. Then we headed to Haapajärvi but we didn’t hear a Little Crake that had been there for a couple of days. We heard only a Water Rail and a distant Pheasant. From the tower we saw 3 Gadwalls, and then we headed to Joutseno Kotasaari where we soon found a male hybrid between Citrine and Yellow Wagtail. Luckily after a short wait also a pure male Citrine Wagtail was seen and other birds seen were 5 Temminck Stints, 4 Little Ringed and 1 Ringed Plover, a Merlin and a Linnet. In Konnunsuo we saw and heard several Ortolan Buntings but soon we had to head back home to sleep.

In the evening we still visited Saari and counted 120 Whooper Swans and saw a Hen Harrier in Akanvaara Tetrisuo but Pohjanranta was almost empty, all Barnacle Geese had left. At night I visited Siikalahti and heard a Ural Owl calling.

On the 16th of May I did a short morning trip and had a Spotted Flycatcher in Siikalahti, an Icterine Warbler and a Golden Oriole in Moskuunniemi, some Common Rosefinches and then twitched a Greenish Warbler in Liuharanta where also a flock of 12 Parrot Crossbills were seen. Garden Warblers were already here and there. In the afternoon Barnacle Geese started to migrate and I counted 15 000 of them in a few hours. Also 270 Long-tailed Ducks, 78 Black-throated Divers and a Honey Buzzard was seen.

On the 17th of May I twitched a River Warbler in Tyrjä and heard a Corn Crake in Suursuo, saw and heard Nightjars and heard a Blyths Reed Warbler in Argusjärvi. A Cormorant was seen in Härskiinmutka and in Siikalahti I still saw 4 migrating Waxwings.

On the 18th day a Scaup was seen in Härskiinmutka and once I got to work I could see through window that Barnacle Goose migration had really started. My window points towards west which is wrong direction but I still saw thousands of geese including 10 Brent Geese while working. On my lunch-hour I saw 7000 Barnacle Geese but most of the flocks were missed as the same Greater Spotted Eagle was displaying over the bay! In the evening we went to ring the 3 chicks of our only owl – a Ural Owl.

On the 19th day on a short visit to Saari Pohjanranta I saw 2 Temminck Stints and a Black-tailed Godwit and on a night-trip to Siikalahti I heard a Grasshopper Warbler and a Marsh Warbler. On the 20th day the same Greater Spotted Eagle was again in Siikalahti and I also heard a Ringed Plover and a Golden Oriole. In the afternoon I headed to Virolahti again and on the way I saw a White-tailed Eagle in Imatra Immalanjärvi. At 6 p.m. I was in Lakakallio again and in 3 hours I saw only a flock of 100 Dunlins with 1 Bar-tailed Godwit. While we were sitting by the fire and making sausage, a Nightjar started to sing.

On the 21st of May I was on the rock already at 4 a.m. again and saw a flock of 23 Knots and a flock of 26 Dunlins. Then it started to rain and I headed to Vilkkiläntura where I saw 11 Temminck Stints, 8 Ringed Plovers, 2 Little Ringed Plovers, a Garganey, 3 White-tailed Eagles and heard a Red-breasted Flycatcher and a Reed Warbler. In Kellohiekantie I sound-recorded the singing Wood Lark and then headed back to Lakakallio where in a couple of hours I saw a flock of 60 Grey Plover and 6 Bar-tailed Godwits, 3 Ringed Plovers and altogether I had seen only 62 Black-throated Divers and 1 Red-throated Divers and no geese at all.

Once I had planned to go to sleep, I got a message that there was a Red-footed Falcon in Kattilainen and so I went to twitch it. It was a nice female but it stayed too far on the field and also disappeared soon, so I decided to continue to Hamina Kirkkojärvi where I got a Great Reed Warbler as a year-tic.

After the good day-sleep I climbed to Lakakallio again and while listening to Finland beating Russia in ice-hockey I finally saw some flocks of Brent Geese. Anyway I saw only 3410 Brent Geese, 1390 too distant geese and 900 Barnacle Geese. I probably missed many flocks as I found a Lesser Spotted Eagle that was visible for more than 30 minutes and while watching it suddenly another Lesser Spotted Eagle was flying to the same picture! This another bird continued straight towards east but the first bird stayed still visible for a long time. Other nice birds were an Arctic Skua and a Short-eared Owl.

On the 22nd of May the morning was extremely foggy. I had planned to stay in Harvajanniemi but after a short walk in the forests where we heard a Hazel Hen and a Chiffchaff, I decided to drive back to South Karelia. In Joutseno I picked up Sampsa Cairenius and soon we were in Hyvättilä fields. There we managed to twitch a Collared Dove and soon saw also a male Montagu’s Harrier nearby. Several Ortolan Buntings were heard and a couple of Honey Buzzards were seen. We also saw a White-backed Woodpecker in a new place and heard a Wryneck. In Konnunsuo we heard an Icterine Warbler and a Stock Dove and saw a Bean Goose, a Bewick’s Swan and a Hen Harrier. In Kotasaari we saw 19 Ringed Plovers, 4 Temminck Stints and so on. In Karhusjärvi we heard a couple of calls of a Great Reed Warbler. Then we headed back to Konnunsuo where we found a Quail! But then I started to feel too tired and I had start driving towards home.

On the 23rd of May I was still tired but anyway I did a couple of short trips. At night we did a longer night-trip with Miika but heard mostly the same birds as before. 6 Spotted Crakes, 4 Water Rails, 4 Bitterns, 7 Corn Crakes, 3 Nightjars, a Marsh Warbler, a Blyth’s Reed Warbler and 2 Ural Owls were heard.

On the 24th day I visited Saari Pohjanranta and saw a flock of 3 migrating Caspian Terns! It was only my 2nd observation of the species in Parikkala! On the 25th day we visited Siberian Jay forests but saw nothing interesting.

On the 26th of May I did a morning visit to Saari Pohjanranta and again it was worthy when I saw a Red-necked Phalarope. On my lunch-hour I saw 102 Black-throated Divers migrating and there were about 100 Swifts on the sy. While I was talking with Pertti Koskimies, we saw three times Swifts copulating! I had never seen that before! A Sparrowhawk was also acting strange as it was walking in the middle of the road and then finally walked to the reedbed!

J.A.