Still going well
The normal week started and I really needed to relax a little bit after a hard weekend. So on the 6th of May I saw only 50 Common Scoters and a Long-tailed Duck in Härskiinmutka. At night I did a quick round in Siikalahti and counted 10 Spotted Crakes, 5 Water Rails, heard a Garganey and some flocks of migrating Common Scoters.
On the 7th day I visited Siikalahti but only better thing I saw was that Sand Martins were coming back to their colony in Sounio. In the afternoon we went with Harri Partanen to check owl nest-boxes and had a really good trip even though only one breeding Tengmalm’s Owl was found. I of course ringed the bird. We saw also a Black Grouse, a couple of Hazel Hens, a male Capercaillie and heard a Cuckoo. On the 8th day I heard a Linnet in Siikalahti and in the evening we were watching ice-hockey and football with my friends. But after that I still went to Siikalahti and found a Savi’s Warbler!
Thursday was holiday so I was birding whole day. I somehow managed to wake up after only 4 hours sleeping and went to check Lake Simpele from a couple of points but saw nothing. Then in Liuharanta I found a big flock of geese where were already 155 Barnacle Geese with White-fronted and Bean Geese. I also heard a Thrush Nightingale and a Wryneck there. Then I continued to Siikalahti where Savi’s Warbler was still singing and I also saw a Smew and aheard another Thrush Nightingale and several Sedge Warblers before two buses full of people came there and I decided to go anywhere else.
I left to Saari again together with “Rolle” Mortensen and we checked every good place there but saw absolutely nothing! The floods were gone and so were the birds too. Only one bigger flock of geese and some flocks of Wood Sandpipers were seen in 4 hours tour.
When I got home I slept 1.5 hours and after that went to run with a couple of my friends. After that we left to check owl nest-boxes with Harri again. And again there were no owls but we saw something really amazing – a Willow Grouse! It was the first one in South Karelia for decades!!! It flushed next to our car and Harri saw it very well but I saw it only when it crossed the road and disappeared to the forest! We also saw a male Capercaillie lekking and a Roe Deer which I managed to digiscope well.
We were so happy that we checked many more nest-boxes than we had planned. We also heard a Siberian Jay calling on its territory but we never saw it. We were also very lucky not to get wet – always when we were driving it was raining but when we got out the rain stopped. It seems that my luck is just getting better! At night we still went to listen that Savi’s Warbler was still there.
And the next morning started well too. Jari Kontiokorpi called me that he had found 2 male Common Eiders. Of course I went to twich as an Eider was a South Karelia and of course also Parikkala tick for me! After my work I left to spend the weekend to Virolahti.
J.A.