Still waiting for the spring-action
In the beginning of the week the cold weather continued and most birds I saw were gathered in open water areas in Särkisalmi and Lemmikonsalmi. On the 13th of April I counted 139 Mallards in Särkisalmi and 419 in Lemmikonsalmi where was even 470 on the next day. Other ducks were still almost missing and only some Teals, Wigeons and Pintails were seen. Siikalahti was mostly frozen but in a meadow with some open water there were even 58 Wigeons and in front of dam-road where was some open water, there were already 6 Pochards and even 240 Teals. In Kaukola I saw a Bewick’s Swan with whoopers.
On the 14th of April I saw a Song Thrush in our garden and in Siikalahti I counted 179 Cranes and saw another Bewick’s Swan and while driving to Lemmikonsalmi I saw a Kestrel. On the 15th day we did a trip to Saari. We saw a Hazel Hen on the way and in Akanvaara Tetrisuo we saw 2 Great Grey Shrikes, in Pohjanranta 650 grey geese (mostly Tundra Bean but also quite a few White-fronted Geese), in Suurenjärvenliete a Rough-legged Buzzard, in Jyrkilä 730 grey geese including 3 Pink-footed Geese, 333 Cranes and so on. On the 16th day we heard a couple of Water Rails in Siikalahti and saw a White-tailed Eagle in Kullinsuo.
On the 17th of April we went to twitch Bearded Reedlings to Savitaipale Lavikanlahti with Arttu Valonen. But we weren’t lucky even though the reedbed wasn’t very big. Only year-tick there was a Lapland Bunting. On the way back we went to Joutseno Konnunsuo where were amazing flocks of Chaffinches. We guessed that there were 90 000 birds flying around the fields. There were also lots of raptors chasing them and in an hour we saw 8 Hen Harriers, 3 or 4 Peregrines, a Merlin and a Kestrel.
On the next day days the wind was again northern but luckily on the 20th of April the wind turned to south for a while. So on my lunch-hour I saw a nice Black Kite, a Peregrine and a Redshank. In the evening we went to Saari with Arttu but saw almost nothing . the first couple of Tufted Ducks and a Hen Harrier. On the way back we saw a Cormorant in Särkisalmi.
On the 22nd of April I was in Siikalahti counting migration for 10 hours. Luckily there were several friends with me as the migration wasn’t too good. Best birds were a Grey Heron, a Greylag Goose, an Oystercatcher and a spotted eagle that never came close enough as it flew toward Lake Ladoga. Only other birds and numbers to mention were 9 Bewick’s Swans, 23 Barnacle Geese, 2 Black-throated Divers, 254 Wood Pigeons, 161 Fieldfares, 77 small thrushes and 628 Chaffinches. Some local birds were a Whimbrel, a Rook and quite a few woodpeckers. In the afternoon it started to snow…
On the 23rd of April I did a duck-count in Siikalahti. Big parts of the bay were still frozen but anyway I counted 400 Tundra Bean, 174 White-fronted, 2 Canada and 27 Barnacle Geese, 31 Whooper Swans, 104 Mallards, 135 Teals, 8 Wigeons, 2 Pochards, 5 Tufted Ducks, 37 Goldeneyes, 2 Goosanders, a Slavonian Grebe and 43 Coots. While counting I heard a Penduline Tit a couple of times but didn’t manage to see it at all. Grey-headed, White-backed and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers were seen or heard calling and a Black Woodpecker was drumming, a Wren and a Dunnock were heard singing. The day was nice but again in the afternoon it changed much colder.
On the 25th of April it was cold but the wind was southeastern, so there was a good migration going on while I was at work. On my lunch-hour I saw a Greenshank and a Whimbrel but in the afternoon it started to rain again and at night it was snowing. On the 26th only new birds were a couple of Common Scoters in Särkisalmi.
J.A.