. . Lintuharrastajan päiväkirja Birders diary . .

On the 9th of October my holiday started. I left towards south first and managed to twitch a young Dotterel in Lappeenranta Joutseno Konnunsuo. The bird was very late and my first ever in October. I also saw a Rough-legged Buzzard, a Merlin, a Kestrel and a Great Grey Shrike before I continued to Lahti.

In Lahti I tried to find a Pectoral Sandpiper that had been a couple of days in Kujala rubbish tip but it had either left or already gone to sleep as it was already getting late. Then I still drove a long way to west to Pori where I finally parked in Reposaari Lontoo and made my car ready and started to sleep.

On the 10th day I woke up early at 7 a.m. and soon I was walking around the bushes. The first birds started to wake up and I heard Robins, a Wren and then a familiar call of a Sardinian Warbler! It was still too dark to see it but I heard it well. Soon a couple of other twitchers arrived and together we tried to find the warbler again but even though we tried until early afternoon it wasn’t found again. While searching we saw some migration: 4000 Jackdaws, 1200 Cranes, 120 Long-tailed Tits and also a Nuthatch and a late Tree Pipit. Finally I left towards north and of course after a half an hour the Sardinian Warbler had showed briefly but well.
On the way I saw a couple of Hawk Owls and stopped in Vaasa and tried to twitch a Richard’s Pipit but the bird wasn’t found. I was finally in Oulu after 9 p.m. and about at midnight I picked up Pirkka from the railway-station and then we finally got to sleep to Riku’s upstairs.

On the 11th of October we woke up early and at 6:30 we picked up Antti Vierimaa and soon were on Hailuoto ferry. Soon the sun rose and once we got to Hailuoto we started birding. Soon I noticed a big owl just next to the road and stopped but then Pirkka said that: “Don’t reverse, there is another one in front of us!”. And there were 2 stunning Great Grey Owls only 20 meters from each others. Unfortunately the birds were very active and I managed to get only a couple of pictures before the flew into the forest.

Soon we were walking around Pökönnokka where we found a Jack Snipe, a Bar-tailed Godwit, 28 Dunlins and 5 Velvet Scoters. In Ojakylänlahti we saw 1100 Tufted Ducks, 63 Smews, a flying Bean Goose and a hunting Goshawk. In Ulkokarvo crossing I saw a black crow landing to a field but soon it flew over us and we could see that it was not a Rook – it was an moulting adult Carrion Crow! Unfortunately we couldn’t compare it to Carrion Crows nor take any pictures so we decided to try it again on the next day. We still checked some places but saw only Long-tailed Tits that were absolutely everywhere! Also a Pheasant was seen but we were sure it wasn’t a rally-species because there had never been Pheasants before. Around 6 p.m. we drove to Santonen where we met Harry Nyström, Mikko Ala-Kojola, Jari Kiljunen and Jani Varis. We ate a lot again and had fun until late night but after all we managed to go to sleep early enough.

On the 12th of October we had Hailuoto rally. With Pirkka and Antti we left to start to Riisinnokka as did our another team too. On the way we saw a Hawk Owl but soon we parked to Rautaletto parking place. We walked towards the sea and we were almost there when the rally started at 8 a.m. One of the first birds we got was a Three-toed Woodpecker and soon we were on the shore. While seawatching we got a Lapland Bunting, a Reed Bunting, 2 Merlins, Dunlins, Grey Plovers, 3 Golden Plovers, a Bar-tailed Godwit, Scaups, a Shoveler, a Gadwall and 2 Wood Pigeons but from the sea we got only 6 Cormorants – there was no migration at all.
While walking back to our car we got some passerines and also a Woodcock. Then while driving towards Kirkkosalmi we saw the same Hawk Owl, a Coal Tit and a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, but then we started to be unlucky. When we parked to Kirkkosalmi a huge bus parked there too. Soon the tower was full of students and it was shaking a lot. Anyway Kirkkosalmi was almost empty too but we really lost time there. Only new species were a Redwing and a Jackdaw. Then we drove a long round in forests but got only a Common Crossbill. Huikku had only the second Wagtail of the trip and in Pökönnokka there were 2 huge dogs running free, so we had to really work hard to fins a single Snipe there. Luckily Ojakylänlahti was better: we got a very late Spotted Redshank and 3 Snow Buntings and in Karvonlahti we saw the same Carrion Crow with Hooded Crows. Now we could make the identification sure – but of course it wasn’t a rally-species – just a sub-species.

Pöllä was empty but in Kuivasäikkä we had 2 Barnacle Geese. But then it started to get late and we headed to forest-roads again but managed to see only some Black Grouses before the rally ended at 5 p.m. We hadn’t seen a Robin, a Mistle Thrush or a Song Thrush during the day! So it wasn’t a surprise that we didn’t win, but our second team did. Luckily we managed to win the 3rd best team by 1 species – maybe it was a Pheasant which we had seen a flock of 5 birds and surprisingly it was counted as a rally-species.

In the evening we had fun again, ate a lot and had sauna and so on. During the night the weather changed radically – the wind was stormy. So we decided to leave Hailuoto right away. We went to Liminga where we checked the information center and together with Pirkka we continued to the bird-tower. We counted the ducks and found a Gadwall but almost nothing else. So after we had eaten in Liminka and seen a Collared Dove there, we continued to Tauvo ringing station.

Once we got to Tauvo, Matti Tynjälä had just got a Waxwing and the first 2 Pine Grosbeaks of the season from the mist-nets. There was still time so we decided to go to check Ulkonokka where we saw 3 Dunlins, 3 Jack Snipes, 3 Scaups and so on. In the evening we talked with Matti and played Tengmalm’s Owl tape and got 3 owls to ring.

On the 14th of October we were watching migration from the tower almost whole morning but only better birds were a Two-barred Crossbill, 17 Parrot Crossbills and some Arctic Redpolls. Also a Grey Plover was seen. We walked around Ulkonokka again but it was almost empty. In the afternoon we still saw a Peregrine from the tower. It was really getting quiet but anyway it was once again very nice to be in Tauvo!

On the 15th of October I dropped Pirkka to Raahe bus-station and the drove back to Tauvo. Near Tauvo I saw a Hawk Owl and a Ural Owl. It was a busier day on the mist-nets as there were lots of Long-tailed Tits now. Other good species were a Coal Tit, some Waxwings and an adult male Pine Grosbeak. In the afternoon I slept a little bit but Matti came to wake me up when there was a Grey-headed Woodpecker in the back-yard. Unfortunately it didn’t hit to mist-nets even though we played the tape for it. Soon I was walking to my car and saw a Willow Grouse on the way. Then I started a long drive towards south. I saw again a Hawk Owl in Vöyri and finally I parked to Kristiinankaupunki Siipyy bird-tower where I started to sleep in a car.

On the 16th day I woke up before the sun and climbed up to the hight Siipyy bird-tower. Soon I started to see lots of Goldeneyes and other common ducks. There was almost no migration at the sea, just a couple of flocks of Razorbills. From the rocky islets I found altogether 5 Purple Sandpipers and 41 Scaups and a Red-necked Grebe were found from the sea. Lots of Long-tailed Tits were seen again and also a Three-toed Woodpecker passed the tower. After some hours I decided to continue to Pori again. Soon I was in Reposaari again and I had decided to stay there for an hour and a half. Together with one other twitcher we watched to the bushes for almost whole time, but the last 10 minutes I decided to spend watching to sea-buckthorn bush. It was worthy as soon I saw a warbler flying towards me and luckily it stopped to the top of the bush and I managed to see the Sardinian Warbler well. It was only the 4th ever in Finland! So soon I was driving towards south again.

I drove straight to Espoo Laajalahti where I met “Potu” Suojarinne. We spent an hour in the tower and saw a Little Grebe, 114 Gadwalls, 5 Grey Herons, 9 Lapwings, 8 Ruffs and so on. Then we went to eat and then continued to Kirkkonummi to my parents. On the next day we were leaving to Azores!

J.A.