Year changes
During the last 2 weeks of 2015 I did some birding outside the winterbird count. On the 14th of December I saw a couple of male Grey-headed Woodpecker in a same tree and still 94 Whooper Swans in Siikalahti, on the 18th day 15 Canada Geese were in Härskiinmutka and on the next day there was 320 Goosanders and a Black-headed Gull which I still saw on the next day too.
On Boxing day we went to twitch a Bewick’s Swan to Saari Pohjanranta with Miika Soikkeli. There were also 70 Whooper Swans, 20 Canada Geese and 50 Mallards.
On the 27th day I drove to Lappeenranta to play and on the way I found a White Wagtail in Simpele! In Imatra the Lake Immala was still open and I saw 7 Whooper Swans, 2 Tufted Ducks, 3 Scaups, 2 Velvet Scoters and 2 Herring Gulls. In Lappeenranta I managed to get nice pictures of ice near Luukkaansalmi.
Then it got cold! On the 28th day Lake Simpele was freezing and I saw 110 Whooper Swans from Härskiinmutka. A lonely Common Gull was also seen too but on the next day almost whole lake was frozen and only 4 Whooper Swans and a Herring Gull were seen. It was good to stay in for the next couple of day and wait for the New Year.
The first of January in Helsinki
The traditional first of January trip started early. The first stop was made in Imatra Kymälahti where we hoped to see a Ural Owl, but saw surprisingly even better owl, a Long-eared Owl – at 4:30 a.m.
In Lappeenranta we tried to see an Eagle Owl without luck. Then we continued a long way to Heinola where we found a Shoveler in a flock of 250 Mallards very easily even though it was still pretty dark. Then we headed towards Helsinki and saw only a Blackbird on the way in Kerava.
We parked to Fastholma and walked towards the shore with many other birders. A Hooded Crow was heard before we got close to the feeder where soon a White-backed Woodpecker was found. With Hanna we walked next to the reed-bed because there were too many twitchers watching the feeder. It wasn’t a surprise that soon we were the first ones to see the Azure Tit coming from the reed with a flock of Blue Tits.
While other birders where chasing the Azure Tit we managed to see many Blackbirds, hear a Wren and find another White-backed Woodpecker. Also Bullfinches were heard and Great Tits, Magpies and a lonely young Whooper Swan seen. A little bit later a Great Spotted Woodpecker was found and then a Pygmy Owl came to see the feeder. While we were walking back to our car we still found a flock of 13 Gold Finches.
We continued to Töölönlahti but couldn’t even find the right place to find a Wigeon. On the way we saw Rock Pigeons, Jackdaws and Herring Gulls. Next we twitched a Moorhen in Tali which was very easy. Then we continued to Lauttasaari and now saw a flock of Canada Geese, Goosanders and Great Black-backed Gulls on the way. In Lauttasaari we found the right feeder and there were Green Finches, Tree Sparrows, a Coal Tit and the a Blackcap we were hoping to see. On a windy sea we saw only some Goldeneyes and Mute Swans.
Next we headed to Espoo Kaitalahdenranta where we found a Reed Bunting and saw a White-tailed Eagle. Soon we continued to the other side of the bay to bird-tower where we saw 7 Reed Buntings, another White-tailed Eagle and finally heard a couple of Bearded Reedlings. A Treecreeper was found on the way back to the car.
We had heard that the Wigeon was still in Töölönlahti and we got instructions to find the right place but once we got there the Wigeon was gone. A flock of House Sparrows and 2 Barnacle Geese were seen.
Then we started to drive back towards home. In Lapinjärvi we tried to twitch a Hen Harrier that had been seen an hour earlier but soon continued towards Kouvola where we had planned to end the days birding. On the way we still saw a flock of Waxwings and finally got to Tolkkila just before the sunset.
There were already many twitchers that had been waiting for owls to show up. It was freezing cold and in hard wind it really wasn’t comfortable! Anyway we waited and waited until it came dark. Most of the twitchers gave up but we decided to stay as long as it was still possible to see anything. But soon it was too dark. Anyway we decided to try to see if there were any owls in flight and possible to see while driving along the field-road. We drove only a couple of hundreds of meters when a Short-eared Owl flushed on our head-lights. We alarmed a couple of local birders there but before they came, we saw a flock of 3 owls which at least 2 of them were Long-eared Owls. Once Teo Ylätalo and Antti Vänskä got there we turned our head-light towards the field and managed to find a Short-eared Owl perched and 3 Long-eared Owls in flight. We could watch the Short-eared Owl for maybe 10 minutes but before the other twitchers came back, the bird flushed an disappeared to the dark.
We were absolutely freezing with Hanna so we started to drive towards Parikkala. In Rautjärvi Simpele we still tried to twitch 2 Bewick’s Swans in Lahnanen and it was a worthy try as it would have been possible to see the birds as there had been snowing a little and Lahnanen was mostly frozen and the open water area was quite small. But we couldn’t see or hear any swans there or a couple of other places we still visited nearby.
During the day I had got 8 new first of January ticks which 4 of them were also new January ticks and Moorhen even a winter-tick.
On the 2nd of January we birded with Miika. First year-ticks came in Tarvaslampi where a Grey-headed Woodpecker and a Jay were seen. In Särkisalmi we saw another Grey-headed Woodpecker and in Moskuunniemi 2 Siskins, a Willow Tit and 2 White-backed Woodpeckers.
Then we headed to Simpele and saw a on the way a couple of Ravens in Joukio and a Black Woodpecker in Koitsanlahdenkangas. In Kivijärvi school-yard we saw already the 3rd Grey-headed Woodpecker of the day and in Kokkolanjoki Uudensillankoski a flock of 3 Black Woodpeckers and 3 Dippers.
Then we heard that the Bewick’s Swans hadn’t been seen in Lahnanen, so we decided to drive around Lake Simpele back to Tarvaslampi. I hoped to find some grouses and other forest-birds. But it was absolutely quiet until I decided to turn to Peruspohja where we found a Dipper on the river.
Somehow we ended up to take a shortcut along a tiny forest-road which ebded up well when we found a flock of 4 Pine Grosbeaks!
We still continued to see Siberian Jays and were happy to find the 3 familiar birds. Also a couple of Crested Tits were seen.
Then I dropped Miika to Tarvaslampi and still continued to Siikalahti where I found a couple of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers and a flock of 10 Yellowhammers. Then I got news that the Bewick’s Swans were back in Lahnanen and decided to go twitching. Luckily I found these 2 adult swansa easily and got another January-tick again.
The 3rd of January started badly as my car didn’t work. Luckily I tried again after an hour and it worked fine again. I headed to Siikalahti where I saw a flock of 11 Black Grouses and in Kannas I saw a Coal Tit and a Blackbird. In Lahdensuo I saw 2 more Black Grouses and then in Kullinsuo I found 4 Mallards on a ditch that was still free from ice. Anyway it felt that there was nothing else to find as it was extremely cold – so it can take some time before I have something new to tell here…
J.A.