Terek Sandpiper and Wild Boars
On the 5th of May we slept long as the previous day had been so long. After 9 a.m. we left again to Saari with Pirkka and Allu. On the way we put one Ural Owl nest-box to a tree and then checked another nest-box where I had seen a female owl leaving earlier, but now there was nothing. Soon we were again in Kanavalampi and we tried to find a Marsh Sandpiper and of course also Cackling Goose, they had both been seen early in the morning there. There were several flocks of geese but the right one wasn’t with them. Only better bird we saw was a Black Woodpecker. We continued to Suurenjärvenliete where the floods had mostly dried. We met Jarmo Pirhonen there. There were still 500 geese and even 200 of them were White-fronted Geese. Most of the waders were gone too and the only better one was a Ringed Plover.
In Jyrkilä we saw only Black Grouses and soon we were again in Pohjanranta. Pirkka and Allu started to check a small flock of geese and I started to check waders. So it was again me who found the best bird. I saw a wader hiding behind some vegetation and said straight away that: “There is now a wader that has leg colour like a Terek Sandpiper. Soon the bird came visible and saw the black markings on its back and then it showed it – long up-curved bill! A Terek Sandpiper! It was my first self-found Terek Sandpiper outside Oulu-area. We put the news out and called to Jamppa who was there in a couple of minutes.
And again after a couple of minutes the Terek Sandpier flushed with 12 Wood Sandpipers and even though we saw 9 birds landing back behind some trees the Terek Sandpiper was never seen again.
We went still once more to check all the places where Cackling Goose had been seen but it had disappeared. On the way back to Parikkala we checked again the nest-box of our dearest Ural Owl but it must have passed away as there was still no sign of it. Then we still went to control the only breeding Ural Owl we have found this far and it was the same bird that had been breeding in the same nest-box 2 years ago.
It was already 5 p.m. when we were at home and Pirkka and Allu finally were ready to start their extremely long way back to north. But they had enjoyed their amazing weekend in Parikkala! Pirkka had got even 2 lifers and we had got really good Bird-tower competition too!
I was also very happy how amazing beginning of May had been. I had found myself a Cackling Goose, a Buff-bellies Sandpiper, a Lesser Spotted Eagle and a Terek Sandpiper. But I wasn’t full yet… In the evening I decided to go around the Lake Simpele by bike. I had only started when it started to rain and when I got to the other side of the lake where the sand-road started water and sand was flying all the time straight to my face! When I was biking one steep uphill I saw a big brown animal walking to the road and my first thought was that it was the ugliest do I had ever seen – but then I realized it was a Wild Boar! I even shouted I was so happy! I had never seen Wild Boars before in Finland. So the animal turned back to the forest but when I had climbed up to the hill I still managed to see it and 2 smaller Wild Boars running into the forest. There must have been a mom, last year’s child and then clearly one small pig. I was so happy that the rest of the trip went easily even though I was completely wet and extremely dirty once I got back home!
J.A.