I wish there was a spring already
After a couple of trips I wasn’t very motivated birding in snowy Parikkala. During the week I did short lunch-hour trips but without any special observations. Then at weekend on the 22nd of February it was time to make winter-bird count again. I saw a Goshawk, 11 Rock Doves, a Pygmy Owl, 2 Grey-headed, 5 Great Spotted and 1 White-backed Woodpecker, 8 Blackbirds,3 Goldcrests, 12 Long-tailed, 63 Blue, 81 Great, 1 Coal, 2 Crested and 8 Willow Tits, a Nuthatch, a Treecreeper, 2 Great Grey Shrikes (another one darker bird again), 8 Jays, 9 Magpies, 80 Jackdaws, 9 Hooded Crows, 2 Ravens, 13 Tree Sparrows, 3 Greenfinches, 63 Bullfinches and 21 Yellowhammers. In the evening I still saw a Hawk Owl in Kannas.
On the 23rd day after a couple of tries we managed to see Hawfinches in Siromäki. There were now 4 birds.
Om the last day of February there was a flock of 53 Black Grouses in Siikalahti and at night we did a proper owl-trip to Melkoniemi and heard 11 Tengmalm’s, 1 Ural and 1 Long-eared Owl.
On the 1st of March we saw the first Herring Gulls in Härskiinmutka and in a short trip around Siikalahti we saw even 8 Grey-headed Woodpeckers and a White-backed and a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. Alseo same Great Grey Shrikes were seen and there were now 2 Hawfinches in Siromäki and on the 2nd day there were also 2 Siskins.
On the 5th of March I stopped in Rautjärvi Simpele Kokkolanjoki where I saw 3 Whooper Swans. And on the 7th day 2 swans were already in Siikalahti where also a couple of White-tailed Eagles, a Goshawk, a Sparrowhawk, 4 Lapwings, 6 Herring Gulls, a Black and a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and a Great Grey Shrike were seen. Some Jäckdaws and Hooded Crows were also migrating. So it really felt like spring.
On the 8th day I saw already 14 Lapwings and a Rook. On a short forest-drive I saw a Pygmy Owl. On the 9th day I saw 3 White-tailed Eagles and a Starling and on the 13th day 3 Fieldfares in Satumäki.
Spring was coming slowly even though there was almost no snow at all anymore. On the 15th day I did a forest-trip again and saw a Capercaillie and a couple of Parrot Crossbills. During the day I was in Siikalahti and saw a Common Buzzard, 5 White-tailed Eagles, 4 Sparrowhawks and 12 Starlings. On the 18th day I saw a Rook in Lahdenkylä.
On the 20th of March only new arrival was a Canada Goose and on the 21st day I saw already 5 Common Buzzards but otherwise it was still very quiet. At weekend it would have been perfect weather for raptors but we took part BirdLife meetings in Kuopio. On Sunday evening we did a short owl-trip to Saari and heard a Tengmalm’s and a Long-eared Owl in Jyrkilä.
On the 24th day I got 3 year-ticks on my lunch-hour: a Kestrel, 2 Woodpigeons and 2 Mistle Thrushes. On the 25th day I finally saw the first flock of Redpolls of whole winter. And on the 26th day I saw 3 Taiga and 18 Tundra Bean, 15 White-fronted Geese and a Canada Goose, 3 Common Buzzards, 3 Kestrels, a Crane, 3 Stock Doves, 3 Woodpigeons and a pipit that was flying south. It could have been a Rock Pipit.
At weekend we were several hours in Siikalahti on both days. On the 29th day we saw 228 Tundra Bean, 36 White-fronted and 10 Canada Geese, 2 Tufted Ducks, 2 Goldeneyes, 2 Smews, 2 Common Mergansers, 3 White-tailed Eagles, 2 Hen Harriers, 5 Common Buzzards, 6 Kestrels, 4 Cranes, a Glden Ploves, 430 Lapwings, 2 Common Snipes, 7 Black-headed Gulls, 7 Stock Doves, 350 Woodpigeons, a Wood Lark, 68 Skylarks, 19 Mistle Thrushes, 14 Chaffinches, 2 Gold Finches, 6 Linnets, 50 Redpolls and 7 Red Crossbills. On Sunday it was a little bit quieter but still we saw 6 Barnacle Geese, 3 Common Teals, 90 Mallards, 2 Grey Herons, a Marsh Harrier, a Coot, 10 Common Snipes, 90 Black-headed Gulls, a Common Gull, 240 Woodpigeons, 53 Fieldfares, a Redwing, 2 Rooks, 92 Chaffinches, 6 Gold Finches, 9 Linnets and 4 Red Crossbills.
But during the week it was very quiet again. On the 31st day only new birds were a Wigeon and a Robin and also a Hen Harrier and a Merlin were seen. And finally on the 1st of April I saw a Golden Eagle. On the 2nd of April another Golden Eagle and a Greylag Goose were seen in Siikalahti and there was also an early Gadwall in Särkisalmi. On the 3rd day I heard the first Water Rail and saw a White Wagtail. And on the 4th day I saw a Bewick’s Swan in Lahdensuo and in Siikalahti there were already 16 Wigeons, 26 Common Teals, a Northern Pintail and a Brambling.
But then it started to get colder again. On the 5th day I visited Lappeenranta and on the way I stopped in Kokkolanjoki where I saw a Wren and a Dipper. On the 6th day we visited Capercaillies again but saw only one bird. Then we headed to Saari but soon had a flat tire. After a couple of hours we had changed summer tires and were back in Saari but there really weren’t many birds to see. In the evening we still visited Siikalahti where we saw already 35 Barnacle Geese.
On the 7th day I visited Siikalahti bird-tower and there was surprisingly much open water already. There was an early Garganey and also 48 Goldeneyes and so on. I visited the tower also on the next day but there was nothing better – just 900 Tundra Bean and White-fronted Geese.
Then the weather changed much colder and windy and it also was snowing. On the 10th day I visited the tower again and there were 3 noisy Water Rails which one I managed to photograph too. But on the next day the landscape looked like in winter and all birds were gone.
J.A.