. . Lintuharrastajan päiväkirja Birders diary . .

On Friday the 24th of May I left at work to drive towards Oulu. I stopped only once very shortly so I was in Oulu already at 5:30 p.m. We met in Antti Vierimaa’s where Antti Peuna has also stayed as these craze guys had been birding almost around the clock on the previous day and they had just awaken. The fourth member of our team Harry Nyström came there too. During the next couple of hours we talked a lot but also managed to make some kind of plan and schedule for the 24 hour bird-race.

On the 25th day I woke up at 7 a.m. and together with my brother Riku we drove my car to Tupos so it was closer to Liminka where the bird-race results would be given. Then Riku dropped me to Vierimaa’s place and soon Harry came too and we packed our gear to Harry’s Qashqai. We drove to Hietasaari where we had planned to begin. It was Oulu-marathon day so we had planned to begin so that we could leave Hietasaari before it is too crowded. We checked Möljänpää and saw 4 Little Terns, some flocks of Velvet Scoters and Long-tailed Ducks, 2 Scaups and 2 Black-throated divers and heard a Thrush Nightingale but about at 10 a.m. we moved to inland to listen to song birds. Blackcaps, a Chiffchaff and many other birds were singing but when we found 3 Haw Finches we needed to make a decision to start or not. We followed the finches for 15 minutes and waited for some other good bird to show up and when a flock of Redpolls flew over us we started. Blackcaps and a Chiffchaff were still singing and many other species were listed soon. Then I saw a Long-tailed Tit crossing the road and luckily the rest of us heard it too. Other birds seen or heard in a small area were 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, a Wood Warbler, a Stock Dove, Common Rosefinches and so on. Then we drove to Möljänpää but there was now a bad haze. 2 Thrush Nightingales and Little Terns were still there and a couple of Velvet Scoters were seen and the Vierimaa found a very distant Black Tern! We stayed there still some time and saw a Red-necked Grebe. Then we had to continue to Oritkari.

On the way we saw some common species and the best ones were a Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Starling – they both are surprisingly difficult sometimes. In Oritkari we saw some waders with different bill-shape. Then we continued to Kiviniemi where we heard a Common Whitethroat and saw a couple of Shelducks. In Vihiluoto we saw a couple of Garganeys and Gadwalls, 2 Smews, a Black-throated Diver, a Black-tailed Godwit and nearby also 2 Pheasants. Akionlahti was a waste of time, only Coots and Cranes but on the forest nearby we heard a Willow Tit and a Goldcrest. In Kempele Teppola we had luck as we saw 2 Gold Finches, a Linnet and a migrating Rough-legged Buzzard.

Then we stopped in Iinatti where we tried to see raptors but only a White-tailed Eagle and some Sparrowhawks were seen. Then we went to see a nesting Ural Owl that Antti had found and also a Goshawk that was breeding nearby. On the way towards Liminka we still saw a Hen Harrier. Collared Dove was seen easily in Liminka and soon we were climbing to a bird-tower in Virkkula. It was amazingly quiet in Liminka-bay; our only new ticks were a Ruff and a Wood Warbler. Also a White-tailed Eagle, a Hen Harrier and 16 Black-tailed Godwits were seen.

On the field on the border of Liminka and Lumijoki we heard a distant Ortolan Bunting and then we went to tick a Tengmalm’s Owl from the nest-box. We heard the nestlings calling which was enough. Then we continued to Sannalahti bird-tower and there we saw 2 Arctic Skuas and I found a strange looking very distant wader that started to sleep behind some vegetation. Luckily it woke up and Harry found it again and after some watching we realized it was a Terek Sandpiper! So we found a Terek Sandpiper from Sannalahti in a second bird-race in a raw.

Around the cross to Varjakka Harry saw something standing on the field and he stopped and we returned to the place where he thought he had seen it, but nothing was found. When we started to drive again we saw a Grey Partridge just 100 meters from the place next to the road. Maybe we had returned too far or then the bird had moved? Soon we saw the first Short-eared Owl of the day and in Alhonmäki we walked for some time before we finally heard a Wood Lark. Soon we turned to Tauvo road and saw a Bean Goose flying over us; 2 more Short-eared Owls were seen too. In Tauvo we walked a long way as the water-level was very low. There were almost no waders – usually there always are some. But anyway we heard a Bittern, saw some Common Scoters and flocks of Long-tailed Ducks, a couple of Caspian Terns, heard a Corn Crake, saw 4 Red-backed Shrikes (but no Lesser Grey Shrike that another team had seen) and a Hobby so we really had a good time there anyway. But it was again a long way back to our car so we walked really fast to save some time. Then we continued to Säikänlahti where Pochards were seen easily. There were also 20 Smews and then we saw a flock of 6 geese and one of them was really small! The shape was clear: tiny bill, high forehead, long and narrow wings – a Lesser White-fronted Goose! The light was really bad so we didn’t see any colors and that’s why we couldn’t identify the other birds at all – they were smallish too, maybe White-fronted or Pink-footed Geese.

It was almost midnight when we continued to forest-places. On the first stop we heard several Jack Snipes and then we walked quite a lot in the forest before we flushed a couple of Willow Grouses. Then we still heard a Ural Owl that was calling very close to us – really amazing!

Next we ticked a Slavonian Grebe on a small secret lake and continued to Raahe Aittalahti where we surprisigly saw 2 more Slavonian Grebes. I also saw a crake flying shortly but the rest of the team didn’t see this bird that must have been a Spotted Crake. In Lapaluoto we saw first Mute Swans but nothing else. Along the way to Pyhäjoki we saw 2 more Short-eared Owls and finally the first Woodcock. The weather had changed windy so Woodcocks weren’t flying at all. In Heinikarinlampi we heard a strange weak Spotted Crake and in Hietakarinlahti another one with a normal call. Then we made a big decision and turned to Takaranta to check if there were any waders. We had planned to go there in the morning but we were so close that we decided to try. On the walk towards the shore we flushed a Green Sandpiper and then on the shore we saw there were some waders, but it was still too dark and they were too far to identify. We walked closer and saw 4 Broad-billed Sandpipers flying up and leave. Then we saw a Red Knot and 2 Little Stints so we had really made a good decision! But where were all Dunlins and Red-necked Phalaropes? The morning was coming so we really needed to rush to listen to some nightsingers.

We stopped briefly in Parhalahti but didn’t see anything new. But on the way we stopped in a spruce-forest and saw a Bullfinch and first flocks of Common Crossbills. In Penkkatie we didn’t find the Blyth’s Reed Warbler that Anttis had heard there earlier but another Thrush Nightingale, some Blackcaps and a drumming Black Woodpecker. Somewhere on the way we heard another Corn Crake too. Then we turned to a forest where Anttis had heard some forest species but it was very quiet. Maybe the reason was an Eagle Owl that we flushed from a tree? We saw it really well when it flew in front of us to the forest.

Then we had to hurry to do sea-watching. We drove to Elävisluoto and again it was a good choice! Right away we saw 2 migrating Common Eiders and after some time I heard a calling pipit and said I heard something like a Rock Pipit and right then the bird flew over us calling! Rock Pipit is a really rare bird around here! We spent only a half of an hour in Elävisluoto as we needed to hurry to forests. There were too many forest-species missing on our list! Along the road we saw a flock of 7 Parrot Crossbills.

In Raahe Kaijanaro we twitched a River Warbler that another team had found – it was a lifer to Peuna! Then we tried to twitch one Red-breasted Flycatcher but it wasn’t found. Somewhere on the way we saw again a couple of Short-eared Owls and a Black Woodpecker but we continued to forests that Vierimaa had been birding a lot. And it started to go really well: first we heard a Wryneck, then Bramblings, saw 2 male Capercaillies and finally a Crested Tit too. Then we continued to a secret place which we had found a year before and where we had seen 2 male Montagu’s Harriers. We started to scan the open area and found right away a male Montagu’s Harrier – amazing! Then we managed to find Whimbrels and finally a Golden Plover too!

We continued to Siikajoki to try to find some waders but couldn’t find anything new in Sääri or Savilahti. The haze was really bad and water-level very low. Then we had only less than an hour to go and we continued to Alhonmäki. In a few minutes we saw a Honey Buzzard and a couple of Common Buzzards but the last 30 minutes went without new species. Ou rally ended 24 hours from the first species at 10:34 a.m.

When I counted our species I first made a mistake and got 154 species. We were really happy to this result too but then I realized there was a little mistake, one number was wrong and it wasn’t the last number! We got even 10 more – 164 species! We were pretty sure that we had got the winning result as the day hadn’t been so good birding day – there hadn’t been waders at all and many raptors and migrants were already gone. Anyway the most important thing for us wasn’t the result or situation but the feeling that we had done very well once again!

Harry dropped me to Tupos I started my long way back to Parikkala. The results were given from 1 p.m. so I was already in Siilinjärvi and I had been sleeping a little by more than an hour when Harry called me that we had really won! The second team had got 7; and third team even 17 species less than us! But altogether there had been 211 species in the race! So with a little bit more luck we might have beaten our record 165 species which we made a year before. Maybe one year we can beat the all-time record which is 172 species?

J.A.