Bird-tower competition weekend
On Friday the 8th of May I visited Härskiinmutka several times as there were quite a few ducks on Lake Simpele. I counted 170 Tufted Ducks, 35 Scaups, 100 Common Scoters, 100 Long-tailed Ducks and 2 Vilvet Scoters. I also saw 3 Cormorants and an Oystercatcher. After my workday I had to find out if one rare bird in Rautjärvi was twitchable without going into a forbidden factory area but it wasn’t, so it was kept as a secret. My brother Pirkka and Antti Peuna arrived in the evening and after we had eaten well, we visited Siikalahti where we heard Spotted Crakes, Bitterns (2 of them were seen and also heard calling flight-calls) and a Jack Snipe.
On the 9th of May was the bird-tower competition! We woke up before 4 a.m. and soon we were biking towards Siikalahti with Matti Lötjönen. Pirkka, Hanna and Antti came by car. We heard a Cuckoo, thrushes, Dunnocks, Goldcrests and a Coal Tit on the way and soon we were all walking towards the bird-tower. We were there at 4:50 a.m. and wore all or clothes as it was very cold and quite windy. Soon we realized it was 5 a.m. and the race started.
We had a good start as a couple of Gadwalls, a male Pintail, a migrating Bewick’s Swan, a flock of Common Scoters, a Little Ringed Plover and a couple of Bullfinches were seen and a Bluethroat was heard. And then Hanna heard a Little Crake calling next to the tower. It was calling only one tone calls but we all managed to hear it even though not all of us knew the calls of this species as well as we did with Hanna. It was a lifer for Antti!
The wind got harder and harder and we were almost freezing but after a couple of hours sun started to warm up the weather. Then a Sedge Warbler started to sing and after a long quietness the Little Crake called a couple of series of calls which confirmed that it was a male bird. Migration was pretty poor but at time to time we got some new species to our list.
Some other good bird were seen: a couple of flocks of Cormorants, a Red-throated Diver, a Hen Harrier, the a Black Kite that was seen 3 times, a couple of flocks of Common Crossbills which was a new species for us for 15 years tower competition history. A Stock Dove, a White-backed woodpecker and a small flock of Waxwings were also good ones to get. Then another team that was on dam-road tower saw a Citrine Wagtail landing somewhere east from our tower and after some time I managed to find it. But it was very mobile and Pirkka managed to see it too, but it was enough to get this rarity to our list.
Soon Antti found a Greylag Goose and then also an Oystercatcher which was already the third new species for our all time list which is now 152 species long! And soon after that I found another rarity as a White Stork was flying towards us. It continued towards south after it had decided not to land to any of the fields it gad checked.
We had only 1 minute to go at 12:59 p.m. when I finally found a couple of Northern Wheatears which was our species number 97 which was our new record by 1 species! Once again we were the best tower inland and 10th best tower in whole country!
After a short break we continued to Saari. Rautalahti was quiet but in Akonpohja we found again a big flock of geese. And there it was – the same adult male Red-breasted Goose again. Antti got a lifer again! In Akanvaara Tetrisuo we saw 160 Golden Plovers and 54 Cranes, Pohjasuo was empty but in Pohjanranta we saw a Gadwall and 2 Black-tailed Godwits. Suurenjärvenliete and Jyrkilä were quiet and windy too but then in Kanavalampi we first saw a Black Kite in Karinmäki and then heard and soon found a Marsh Sandpiper! One more very good bird for this amazing day! Maybe the same Greylag Goose that we had seen in Siikalahti was there too.
Finland scoring and a self-found Marsh Sandpiper
On the 10th of May we slept until 6 a.m. and soon headed to Siikalahti again. A Great White Egret had been seen there but it was already gone. Some Whimbrels and a Cuckoo would have been good on the previous day. Near the information center we heard a Grey-headed Woodpecker and a Wood Warbler and along Raikanniemi we heard a Wren, 2 drumming Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers and saw a White-backed Woodpecker. The day was really getting warm when we decided to go to eat. After that Pirkka and Antti started a long drive back to north, but I drove back to Siikalahti. It was very quiet there – only a Thrush Nightingale and a Bluethroat were heard but almost nothing was migrating.
I slept in the afternoon and in the evening I went again to Siikalahti where I heard the same male Little Crake already from the dam-road. I heard it much better from the tower and hide and sound-recorded it there. Also the same Thrush Nightingale, some Water Rails and 7 Spotted Crakes were heard.
J.A.