Winter periods
Once I got back from Costa Rica on the Independence Day the 6th of December the very cold period that had visited Finland was over. So I still did some birding on my free time. On the 7th day we saw a Hazel Grouse, a Great Grey Shrike, a couple of flocks of Long-tailed Tits and a big flock of Siskins. It was already getting dark when we stopped in Härskiinmutka and surprisingly saw a flock of 5 Red-throated Divers leaving to migration. It was a new Parikkala winter-species for us.
On the 8th day I still saw some Common and Herring Gulls in Härskiinmutka but on a brief visit to completely open Siikalahti I saw only a lonely Redpoll. On the 10th day we saw a Black-throated Diver in Härskiinmutka and on the 11th day a Velvet Scorer and a White-tailed Eagle in Vartialahti.
On the 12th day I saw a Great Grey Shrike in Tetrisuo and 5 Whooper Swans, a Greater Scaup and a White-tailed Eagle in Vartialahti and the biggest surprise was a Rough-legged Buzzard in Tiviä – it was another new Parikkala winter-tick.
At weekend the weather started to get much colder but on the 13th day the Rough-legged Buzzard was still on Tiviä and we saw a Velvet Scoter flying around over freezing Vartialahti as a White-tailed Eagle had scared it. We also saw several Nuthatches and a Sparrowhawk too. On Sunday we found one more Nuthatch, a Great Grey Shrike, a Grey-headed Woodpecker, a Hazel Grouse, Black Grouses and then surprisingly saw a Capercaillie in Tetrisuo.
During the week I still saw a few Great Grey Shrikes and a flock of Redpolls. In the end of the week the weather changed warm again and there were even 13 Herring Gulls and a couple of White-tailed Eagles on the wet ice in Härskiinmutka. At weekend our long-awaited winter-holiday started and we headed to Uganda.
When we were back from Uganda on the 6th of January the first year-ticks were seen in Helsinki-Vantaa airport – a Jackdaw and a Hooded Crow. But soon sun set and nothing else was seen.
The winter had really arrived to Finland and In Parikkala there had been very cold! So there weren’t many birds around. On the 7th of January I visited Siikalahti and our feeders and saw a White-backed and a Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jays, Magpies, Blue, Great, Willow and Long-tailed Tits, a Nuthatch, Tree Sparrows, a Greenfinch and Yellowhammers. On the 8th day the only year-tick was a Black Grouse and on the 9th a Treecreeper.
On the 10th of January it was time to do winter-bird counting again. The weather forecast was completely wrong and it was very windy and snowing almost all the time and also -10 degrees. Anyway I walked and skied around Siikalahti and saw 4 Hazel Grouses, a Rock Dove, a Goshawk, 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 4 Jays, 5 Magpies, 13 Jackdaws, 3 Hooded Crows, a Raven, 31 Blue, 40 Great, a Crested, 6 Willow and 11 Long-tailed Tits, a Nuthatch, a Blackbird, a Fieldfare, 4 Tree Sparrows, 37 Greenfinches, 10 Redpolls, 28 Siskins and 5 Yellowhammers. There were fewer birds than ever on my route but also the weather was the worst ever.
On the 11th of January we twitched a wintering Robin in Siromäki and also saw Bullfinches and a Coal Tit there. In Särkisalmi we saw a Blackbird and in Tarvaslampi a Sparrowhawk and a couple of Coal Tits.
During the week there really wasn’t anything new. The only year-tick was a Great Grey Shrike in Tetrisuo. A Fieldfare was seen a couple of timed in Kangaskylä, a White-backed Woodpecker was visiting out feeder and I saw a flock of 15 Redpolls.
On the 17th of January we did a short walk in forest in Eskola Lähdekallio and managed to find a Three-toed Woodpecker couple. We also saw one Goldcrest which seems to be rare this winter. We also went to fill our feeders in Siikalahti and saw a Grey-headed Woodpecker, a Nuthatch, Long-tailed Tits, a Bohemian Waxwing and a few Siskins.
On Sunday the 18th we saw a White-backed Woodpecker in Särkisalmi and a Dipper in Tarvaslampi. Then we continued to search fore the probably last Siberian Jay but couldn’t find it. It was very quiet in the forest but again we found one Three-toed Woodpecker and also a couple of Red Crossbills. On the way back we stopped in Tarvaslampi again and saw 2 Coal Tits. In Kangaskylä we saw 3 Fieldfares and 2 Blackbirds.
During the wee only better bird I saw was a male White-backed Woodpecker on our feeder. On the 24th day we spent a couple of days photographing bird on our feeder. We got pictures if a White-backed and a Grey-headed Woodpecker and Long-tailed and Willow Tits. We also saw a male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. We also participated to Garden Twitch. On Sunday Hanna went to photograph to our another feeder but I decided to drive around in some forests. And it was worthy as I found a Ural Owl in Yrttitarha. In the afternoon we did Garden Twitch in Koitsanlahti where we saw a White-backed Woodpecker and a Nuthatch and so on.
The last week of January the weather was very cold so I didn’t really do much and saw nothing. On Saturday the 31st of January we surprisingly found a Three-toed Woodpecker in Siikalahti and then saw a Dipper again in Tarvaslampi. Then in the afternoon before a ice-hockey tournament in Rautjärvi Simpele I stopped in Kokkolanjoki and saw a male Common Goosander, 2 female Goldeneyes and a Dipper in a small open water area near the main road. In the evening we surprisingly heard a Long-eared Owl in Oronmylly.
J.A.