Weekend twitchers go Rauma
On the 8th of July, Friday morning I started to change my mind and think about twitching trip to Rauma. There had been a Rufous Bush Chat in Kylmäpihlaja island since Monday and still this morning. We had come back from a long and hard trip to Polar Ural In Sunday and I had been thinking that I couldn’t drive long distances for a long time after all that travelling by train. But I had seen too many pictures from Kylmäpihlaja and not only the bird but the island too looked beautiful.
So I sent a few SMS and asked my friends opinions about the twitch and luckily “Potu” Suojarinne replied and was interested. Also Hanna was easy talk to join us so after my lunch-hour I was already buying morning tickets to the boat to Kylmäpihlaja. An hour before we were leaving, Sampsa Cairenius called and also he joined us. So we were 4 participants.
We picked up Sampsa in Joutseno and Potu in Lahti and continued a long way to Rauma where we finally were in the evening. There we camped in Poroholma camping which was the place where the boat was leaving next morning.
On the 9th of July we woke up at 7 a.m. and after some shopping we were back in Poroholma where were already many other twitchers too. The boat left at 9:30 a.m. and it was full – there were 60 people and most of them were birders.
On the way we saw some Grreat Black-backed Gulls, Arctic Terns, Common Eiders, Greylag Geese, an Arctic Skua and so on and after 50 minutes we were in Kylmäpihlaja. On the harbor we saw Black Guillemots breeding and heard a Rock Pipit singing.
We were hardly out of the boat, when someone already shouted that the bird had been found. So soon we also saw a Rufous Bush Chat hiding on the ground behind some vegetation. And of course soon it was flying because of too many people going too close.
There were many photographers and some of them were going too close to the bird, so after some time, we decided to go to see other birds and of course see the island. We found soon a Rock Pipit, some Linnets, Common Whitethroats and of course terns and Black-headed Gulls were all around the island. A colony of Sand Martins were breeding in an odd place under a dock in harbor and Black Guillemots were flying to the rocky breakwater.
On the sea we saw some flocks of moving Velvet Scoters, a couple of Common Scoters, another Arctic Skua and on the shore we found a Turnstone and a Dunlin. Little Gull had 2 fledlings and we saw also a Lesser Black-backed Gull with badly broken wing. We also saw some Grass Snakes.
We were walking around the island for an hour and then when the second boat of the day arrived, went to see the Rufous Bush Chat again, and of course met some familiar birders again. This time the group of birders was acting more careful and I managed to get a short video of the bird. Then we still climbed to the lighthouse to take some pictures of the island.
Finally at 2:30 p.m. we left back towards Poroholma. And there we left straight towards home. It was a long drive but after dropping Potu and Sampsa, we were in Parikkala before midnight. We still visited Siikalahti and Kullinsuo but saw only a Grey Heron and heard some Water Rails and Corncrakes and in two places 2 fledlings of Long-eared Owl.
On the next morning, the 10th of July I managed to twitch a Great White Egret in Siikalahti. One bird had been there for some days, but on Saturday there had been 2 birds together. The birds/bird stayed once again in the middle of the reedbed on the northern side of the bay and at least one bird was seen on the next days too.
J.A.