The spring started - or not...

The temperature shot up quickly from the -25°C we had a couple of days ago to +2°C. I expected to see the first Herring Gulls of spring today, as usually happens with these kinds of weather shifts. I searched for them at both Rauttunselkä and Vanajanselkä, but didn't find a single one. Out on the open ice of the big lakes, there were only White-tailed Eagles, 24 in total, along with dozens of Hooded Crows and a few Ravens.

I started wondering why this year is different from previous winters, and the reason is likely the freezing of the Gulf of Finland and the Archipelago Sea; the gulls must be wintering somewhere further away. Well, spring will get here eventually, but it would certainly be nice to find some new species for the year. For instance, Bohemian Waxwings, Red Crossbills, or Parrot Crossbills seem impossible to find right now.

One wintering Rough-legged Buzzard was perched in a birch tree on the border of Kuurila and Linnanen, a good sighting, though it’s been a regular observation on almost every birding trip this winter. But that was all. I really hope that early spring arrives soon, I'm stuck at 63 species for this year now and got only two new species during February... 

Link to my yearlist: https://bubo.org/view-list.html?list_id=56580

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Author

Olli Haukkovaara

email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me

Valkeakoski, Finland

A megatick: Saker Falcon

 

Juvenile Saker Falcon in Pori, photo copyright Henry Lehto

Yesterday I received an alert, that there is a Saker Falcon (Falco cherrug) in Pori, only about 147 km drive to west coast. So, I jumped to car, picked Risto Vilpas and Ville Työppönen with me. We were all excited about this twitching trip, as Saker Falcon would be a new tick for our own Finnish tick lists. The species is not a lifer for any of us, we have all seen it earlier abroad - but in Finland it's a mega tick, this is a fifth record in our country.

So, I pushed the pedal, but soon slowed down, as there was ice on the road and I had still summer tyres in my car. In Friday morning there had been multiple collisions on many roads, so in Saturday all people drove carefully in places where there was still ice on the road. Drive to Pori took about 20-30 minutes more than usual, but we made it. 

The Saker Falcon was in the south side of Pori, in the fields of Pinomäki. Tens of twitchers were already there when we arrived - and more arrived all the time. It was great to see this species again, eight years has gone since I first time saw this species Hortobagy, Hungary.

Twitchers at Pinomäki, Pori

At the moment, there is speculation in social media whether this individual can be considered tickable, as it has a ring in it's other leg which refers to a hunting hawk. Oh well, I don't care about it. I don't think that ring matters, the bird is young, wild and free. I wonder why no one questions the sightings of Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus), and  Grey Partridges (Perdix perdix), even though Finnish hunters generally keep them and release them for hunting.

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Author

Olli Haukkovaara

email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me

Valkeakoski, Finland

Note! High Latitude Birder blog is under rebuilding

Rebuilding of the blog

Due to fact that I have had three Gmail accounts, and wrote blog articles with all of them, I must now rebuild the whole blog, because during autumn 2025, I'm going to get rid of cruzan @ gmail.com and ohaukkovaara @ gmail.com accounts. It means that I have to copy / paste all old articles to new ones, and assign my main Gmail account olli.haukkovaara @ gmail.com to author of all 149 articles. This means also that the statistics of this blog will be reset. 

In addition to above, this transformation means that I will also activate again in writing new blog articles during last quarter of 2025.

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Author

Olli Haukkovaara

email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me

Valkeakoski, Finland

Go to sea shore, if you wanna see lot's of birds now

  

Oldsquaws aka Long-tailed ducks were the most abundant waterfowl

In February, it's midwinter in Finland, most of the birds are somewhere far in south. Especially in inland, there's now a very limited number of species to see and during this winter, we don't have much Thrushes, nor Bohemian Waxwings, nor Crossbills or Pine Grosbeaks. Also Eurasian Siskins and Redpolls are very scarce this winter. So, if you wanna see lot's of birds, you should go to sea shore, to outermost peninsulas where is no ice yet.

Last Sunday me and my younger son Roni, drove south to Porkkala peninsula, which is located in Kirkkonummi, about 40 km southwest from our capitol Helsinki. The sea in front of Helsinki is already covered by ice, but in Porkkala there is still mostly open water.

Our trip was long, but it was worth it. When we drove south from Valkeakoski, there was first a thick fog from Hämeenlinna to Hyvinkää, after that a blizzard in Vantaa and Espoo, but soon after we arrived to Porkkala, the clouds moved away and sun started to shine! Woohoo! 

During drive, we saw four Black Grouse in Hyvinkää, the first new species during this trip to my 2021 yearlist. Nice! All the rest of new species were in Porkkala. Below is the list of our observations in Porkkala:

• Oldsquaw aka Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis) 1400
• Common Scoter (Melanitta nigra) 12
• Velvet Scoter (Melanitta fusca) 130
• Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) 50
• Smew (Mergus albellus) 2
• Goosander (Mergus merganser) 30
• Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator) 2
• Mallard  (Anas platyrhynchos) 30
• Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula)  3
• Mute Swan (Gygnus olor) 7
• Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) 1
• White-tailed Eagle (Haliaetus albicilla) 1
• Common Gull (Larus canus) 3
• European Herring Gull  (Larus argentatus) 5
• Great Black-backed Gull  (Larus marinus) 1
• Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)  2
• Raven (Corvus corax) 1
• Goldcrest (Regulus regulus) 3
• Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis)  1

Of the above 19 species, Oldsquaw, Common Scoter, Smew, Red-breasted Merganser and Snow Bunting were new to me this year. 

Flock of Common Goldeneyes

Half a day in Porkkala was perfect, lot's of birds compared to inland. Sun was shining and we felt the warmth of sun on our faces, even though the temperature was about -10 degrees Celcius. It really felt like an early spring, especially when the Snow Bunting flew over!

Grey Seal was also a nice surprise!

View to west

Roni watching birds with my scope

Got to make an other birding trip to sea shore within a month, when spring migration starts. It's nice to see Skylarks, Northern Lapwings, Stock Doves and other early arrivers weeks before they come to inland.

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Author

Olli Haukkovaara

email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me

Valkeakoski, Finland

Slaty-backed Gull, a MEGA rarity, great surprise in January 2021, thank you Sendari!

  

Four Herring Gulls on the left and Slaty-backed Gull on the right. Photo: Olli Haukkovaara

On January 23rd, Saturday afternoon, Elissa Soikkeli found a promising looking gull from River Kymijoki, in the downtown of Kuusankoski. Soon it was confirmed to be a 2nd ever Slaty-backed Gull (Larus schistisagus) in Finland, and the 9th observation in whole Western Palearctic area. A real MEGA rarity! While writing this, I'm not sure how many different birds have been seen in Westers Palearctic, perhaps 8 as the gulls in Lithuania and Latvia 2008 / 2009 were the same. This gull disappeared soon to south with Herring Gulls and was not found again before sunset.

I had agreed with my friends Risto Vilpas and Ville Työppönen, that we will still try to see the gull on Sunday morning, 24th of January, so we pushed the pedal at 6:00 a.m. and arrived at Kuusankoski at about 8:00 a.m., roughly an hour before sunrise.

We were the first birders there and we immediately spotted the Slaty-backed Gull on the opposite side of the river! Wooohoooo! Lifer for each of us! Thank you Sendari and Elissa! Next the message to Lintutiedotus i.e. the Finnish Rare Bird Alert system; The Slaty-backed Gull is still on the same place as yesterday!

Soon after that lot's of birders, men and women, of all ages, arrived to river bank, approximately about 50 of them. Cheerful yells and Corona-type "handshaking", many of the birders got the lifer even though many had seen the 1st Slaty-backed Gull 8 years ago, in Espoo, Finland.

Slaty-backed Gull on flight. Photo: Olli Haukkovaara

The Slaty-backed Gull was relatively easy to identify, it had broad white trailing edges in the wings, conspicious white "string of pearls" in outerwings, raspberry-pink legs, fine brown head-markings and slaty-colored back, not black.

I wonder what will be the next lifer, this Slaty-backed Gull was really a surpise! Last year I got two lifers, Collared Pratincole and Cackling Goose. This year, well, only Sendari knows....

Thank you Sendari, we will sacrifice to You! Photo: Ville Työppönen

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Author

Olli Haukkovaara

email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me

Valkeakoski, Finland

My nemesis bird, Collared Pratincole, is no longer a nemesis bird

 

Collared Pratincole in Pori. Photo by Jaakko Esama.

Simply put, a nemesis bird is a bird that has eluded a birder after months or years of attempts to see it. One of my nemesis birds is (or rather, was) the Collared Pratincole.

The history of this nemesis bird starts from year 1984, when it was found from Finland for the 1st time. I wasn't able to twitch it that time, as it was simply too far from home, in Kalajoki. During 1985 I visited Spain two times, in May and August. Collared Pratincole was one my target birds, but I did not find it, even though I was birding in their breeding areas. At that time it did not bother me too much, as I got lots of other lifers from Spain.

During August 1989, one Collared Pratincole was seen in southern Finland in four different locations and many birders managed to twitch it. But not me and I don't really remember what happened during that time, why did not I even try to twitch it.

The next Collared Pratincole came to Finland in 1992, when I was unemployed and unable to spend too much money on long drives. Oh well, there will be more of them in future, I thought and yes, in 1998 came the next bird but it stayed such a short time in place, that twitching was impossible.

Ok, I'll see it somewhere abroad then. In 2012 I travelled to Hungary where it should have been rather common in Hortobágy National Park. But... no Collared Pratincole there either, at least when I was there. Gosh.

Again, in 2013, one was found in Finland - but not twitchable.... This bird was really a nemesis bird for me.

And then I waited... and waited... and waited... until on 2nd of May 2020, rare bird alert told that in Pori there was an unidentified Pratincole, probably a Black-winged Pratincole. I did not pay much attention to the alert, until a bit later, a new alert came: the bird was a Collared Pratincole! But... it was too late in the evening, no chance to get Pori before sunset. So, off to bed, wake up at 02:25, picked up my birding friends Risto Vilpas and Ville Työppönen, and then I pushed the pedal and we were in Pori, in Leveäkari beach at 05:00.

But... the bird was not there. Next 10 hours we drove and stomped around the 20 km long Cape of Pori. We and about 100 other birders were looking for the bird from every potential place. Our feelings varied from hope to dillusionment and frustration. Finally, after 7 hours, we gave up and started to drive back to home. We were already at Kullaa, about 60 kilometers away from Pori, when the rare bird alert told that the bird had been rediscovered from the delta of River Kokemäenjoki. Fast U-turn, I pushed the pedal again and we arrived to delta after 35 minutes.

But... the bird was not there. It had disappeared to NW, towards the sea and end of the cape. What now? Will it turn around, should we stay in delta? Lots of doubts and uncertainty. Then we heard that there is a thick fog in point of cape, so the bird must turn around. And so it did, but it it had turned to other side of the cape and it was rediscovered from the original place, in Leveäkari. But... it was not there anymore, it had left Leveäkari soon and flew to east, back towards the delta.

At that time we were in Halssi, which is located northeast from Leveäkari. We had a debate, whether we should stay there, as we had a good visibility to southeast, or should we move to fields of Fleiviiki, which is located straight to east from Leveäkari i.e. to direction to where the Collared Pratincole had departed from Leveäkari. I was almost sure that the bird was there, but the others were not, so we stayed in Halssi. But not for long, as soon the rare bird alert told us that the bird is now in Fleiviiki!

We arrived to Fleiviiki about ten minutes later. Little panic, where's the bird, we were clearly in right location, as there were many cars already in parking lot. It must be closer to river, behind small forest, so we almost ran there and soon we saw birders standing in long line, watching to same direction. The Collared Pratincole had just landed to field, but it was hiding somewhere behind the grass.

Photo by Jaakko Esama.

I was so excited! Finally in right place in right time! And then the bird took off, it started hunting flying insects. It was so amazing and so beautiful, that I forgot everything else and cold shivers went through my body from toes to neck! After few minutes, it landed again for a moment, then it got scared by some fisherman on the other side of the field and it took off again, took more altitude and disappeared to the sun.

And it never came back. But it's no longer a nemesis bird for me!

Perfect twitching trip!

No high fives, due to corona, but a Swedish style "kryssa" to show we all got a lifer!

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Author

Olli Haukkovaara

email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me

Valkeakoski, Finland

1.1.2019 - great winter birding trip!

 

Vivacious Little Grebe is still in Putaanvirta stream 

On January 1, 2019, it was gray, foggy and calm before the approaching winter storm. I went birding with Risto Vilpas, looking for the first birds of the year and at the same time a bit of preparation for the forthcoming winter bird rally next Saturday. Risto and I are in different teams, but who cares? 😉

The mist soon turned to rainfall, but it didn't make it worse when we were properly equipped, or what do you think Risto? 😄. The only trouble was the moisture in the lenses of the binoculars whenever we took them from cold rain to warm car ...

At first we were looking for a White Wagtail in Antinniemi district in Valkeakoski, which was still there on 31st of December. But we didn't found it, and there wasn't either the sick Chaffinch that had been in feeding place a little earlier. So not a very successful start to the year 2019...

The Little Grebe who was wintering in the stream of Putaanvirta was still there, so he hadn't got scared of fireworks from the previous night. The bird was initially far away, but suddenly swam toward us, and eventually became "guided" right next to us until one photographer approached it again. A hint for beginner bird photographers: basically, never approach a bird, let the birds approach you, try to stay hidden. A diving waterfowl can be approached when it is in a dive, but the photographer must stop as soon as the bird comes to the surface.

From Putaanvirta we moved to the Apia Canal, where was on 30th of December the first Dipper of winter. But it wasn't there today, and nothing else. From Apia Canal, the journey continued to Alakanava stream, where an old female Goldeneye was found. From where it had popped there, it hadn't been seen for a long time in Valkeakoski? In Myllypirtti there was a nice flock of 23 Bullfinches, and from Sahanlahti Bay we could hear the calls of Whooper Swans.

The trip continued to strait of Lotilansalmi, where a Grey Heron, who was fishing at the mouth of the Tervasaari paper factory condensate pipeline, was found immediately. The Kalatonlahti ruderate was disappointing in its emptiness, and there were just basic birds in the local bird feeding place.

The open water area of Iso-Vuolle strait had expanded far towards Härkökivi islet, but there was no birds. From there we went to the Pastellinpuisto Park to take a peek at Markku Ranta-Eilola's bird feeding place, there were a lot of birds, but nothing else than the basic species. And at the same time came a message from Rare Bird Alert about Steller's Eider in Lempäälä! To there then!

Luckily we are close to Lempäälä and soon we were in the "playground". When we got out of the car, the birders in place told it just disappeared behind the tip of the headland, out of sight. We waited for a while if the bird were to appear again, but not. So we decided to go across the river if we could see the bird from there. After a minute of driving, Risto's phone rang - the Steller's Eider came back! U-turn and back. And just as we got out of the car, it was once again swiming behind cape - and no longer appeared.

So we left again across the river. And that's where it swim - no .... now we found a Common Scoter. And the Whooper Swan. But there is no Steller's Eider ...

While looking for Steller's Eider we found the Common Scoter...

...and the Whooper Swan

Since the Steller's Eider was not visible in the direction of Herralankoski rapids - where only some Goldeneyes and a Goosander swim, we concluded that it must be somewhere behind the Salonsaari island. So we headed to the only place where you can easily see, that is, again to the other side of the river, to the Sarvikas. And finally, toughness was rewarded, we found the Steller's Eider!

Twitching of the Steller's Eider, found by Jarmo Koivisto, succeeded finally!

The Lempäälä rapids are a miserable place to look for waterfowls, too many bends and blind spots. However, the positive side is a nice winter bird variety that is not usually found here in inland.

On January 1, 2019, we found no more than 27 species during our trip. Let's see if the approaching winter storm from the Atlantic still offers us some rarities. It would be great to find a new species in our local area, for example a Puffin or Brünnich's Guillemot. Well, a Little Auk or a Black-legged Kittiwake would be good. Sendari, be merciful!

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Author

Olli Haukkovaara

email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me

Valkeakoski, Finland

Winter bird census in Kärjenniemi

 

Spotted Nutcracker, new species in my route

Cloudy Saturday on 12th of November, mild and calm weather, temperature few degrees below 0° C, almost prefect weather for winter bird census. Sunny day would have been even better, but those are rare here in November.

My route is 7 km long and it goes through many biotopes so basically I have a chance to see a nice variety of bird species. But this year the winter came early and lake Kärjenniemenselkä was already covered by ice, so no waterfowls or gulls this autumn. Fortunately there were still some rowan berries left for thrushes and waxwings, also lot's of cones in spruces, so I was pretty confident that I will see many species.

Black Woodpecker

And so I did. 23 species and total 698 birds. Nice surprise were the 3 Spotted Nutcrackers, new species in my route and a new species to my year list! Small surprise was also 3 Black Woodpeckers, it's usually scarce i.e. I don't find it every time. On what comes to berry and cone eating birds, most thrushes and waxwings had already gone south, but I still found a flock 11 Bohemian Waxwings, total 12 Blackbirds, 8 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, two Red Crossbills but surprisingly no Fieldfares. Also the amount of Redpolls and Siskins, which were scarce last winter, was promising, we may get a nice winter on what comes to birding.  All results can be seen here, on the website of Finnish Museum of Natural History.

Next winter bird census will be after Christmas, looking forward to see what I will find from Kärjenniemi that time. Maybe Grey-Headed Woodpecker, or Three-Toed Woodpecker, both would be new in my route. Or some big owl... If you want to join, you're welcome, just contact me and come to do census in Kärjenniemi!

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Author

Olli Haukkovaara

email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me

Valkeakoski, Finland

Thousands of Waxwings and Thrushes

 

Bohemian Waxwing

On Sunday the 16th of October I did a few hours birding trip by bike to nearby hotspots. The landscape was full of Thrushes, Waxwings and Starlings. In southern downtown of Valkeakoski there was a flock of 1500 Bohemian Waxwings, one of the biggest I've ever seen here. Air was full of their pleasant ringing "sirrrr" sounds, as from 1500 small bells. In Lotilansalmi the soundscape was totally different; a mixture of furious chatter of 2500 Fieldfares, ringing sounds of Waxwings, rich repertoire of  Starlings and solitary calls of Redwings and Mistle Thrush.

Fieldfares

I continued to landfill areas of Kalatonlahti and Mahlianmaa, nice places for birders both. Found nine Meadow Pipits from Kalatonlahti and Lapland Bunting from Mahlianmaa, nice! Thirteen Grey Herons were flying around and a flock of 60 Brent Greese rushing southwest, nice to see both flocks. Actually I was looking for Siberian Accentor, but no luck. Maybe later this week, who knows, there seems to be lot's these rare sibes now all around Europe.

13 Grey Herons

Today Juhani Lokki ringed a Siberian Accentor in Anomaa, Hattula, it was a new species for the area of our local birding society, number #293! I wouldn't be surprised if we get #294 still during autumn, could be finally time for Pied Wheatear or Desert Wheatear, who knows
- well, only Sendari knows 😉

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Author

Olli Haukkovaara

email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me

Valkeakoski, Finland

Shrike! And a lifer! But what is the species? UPDATE: Red-tailed Shrike!

 

On 12th of October 2016 I received an alert of Isabelline Shrike (Lanius isabellinus) in Sastamala, some 70 kilometers away from my home. Wow! I started to arrange transportation - as I don't have currently a car, which suddenly turned out to be a big problem and I almost gave up. But fortunately Risto Vilpas called me and asked if I would like to come with him. Of course, thanks Riku! 

Time was already about 16:30 when we left Valkeakoski and we were bit worried whether we would arrive to observation site in time, sunset would be after two hours, in 18:30. But no worries, we were there well in time and got a chance to watch this beautiful shrike about 30 minutes! 

But is it Isabelline Shrike? Or Turkestan Shrike aka Red-tailed Shrike (Lanius phoenicuroides) ? Some birders had already paid attention to certain characters of this bird like whitish underparts and rusty crown. Or is this just an intermediate bird between Isabelline and Turkestan...?

See also the drawings of Worfolk.

Anyway, the debate continues and no matter what the species is, it's a lifer for me. Thank you Sendari and thanks to Vesa Korhonen for photos!

UPDATE: According to DNA tests, the species is Red-tailed Shrike (Lanius phoenicuroides). Some authorities keep it still as subspecies of Isabelline Shrike i.e. (Lanius isabellinus phoenicuroides).

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Author

Olli Haukkovaara

email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me

Valkeakoski, Finland

Tripreport: Midsummer birding in Tallinn, Estonia, 6.-10.7.2016

 

Male Common Linnet in Toompea hill, Old Town of Tallin

Abstract: My trip to Tallinn, Estonia, was not this time actually a birding trip, but a family vacation. Still, as an addicted birder, I keep my ears and eyes open all the time which is very rewarding every now and then. I hope this blog article will give you some hints and perhaps also ideas how to practice birding during urban holidays, this time in Tallinn.

Domestic Pigeon in Old Town

Day 1. Wednesday, the 6th of July 2016

City birding may sound dull. What could one see in the heart of the metropolis, where's no big Central Park like in New York or Mai Po marshes like in Hong Kong? Perhaps Domestic Pigeons, House Sparrows and some Herring Gulls? Well, yes, uhum... and much more!

Just do your home works before you travel; study the area, where are all the parks, even the small ones, is there a river or harbor, could there be perhaps even some nature reserve? Then plan your trip, where you want to visit in your destination and if you are with your family, could it be possible to combine shopping and/or museum visit with a walk in the park or shore?






Tallinn is actually a really nice birding site. Even without a car, you can move around the town and nearby areas easily by cheap public transportation. My sons wanted to see the Zoo of Tallinn so we left our luggage to harbor terminal at noon and jumped in to the bus and headed west. The Zoo is a park with various habitats; small wetlands, forests, open grasslands with big trees here and there. For me there were not so many interesting species, but for the birders with family from USA or Japan it could be a good place to start! There were species like European Goldfinches, European Greenfinches, Chaffinches, Barn Swallows, Common Ravens, Rooks, Tufted Ducks, Grey Heron, Pied and Spotted Flycatchers, Willow Warblers and many more.

One of the tens of Barn Swallows in Zoo

Tufted Duck chick in the ponds of Zoo

P.S. Before you return to the downtown, check the sea shore of Rocca Al Mare, you may see there shorebirds and during the migration period, you will undoubtedly see migrating woodland birds. Look out for raptors too!

Day 2. Thursday, the 7th of July 2016

Rainy day, not so nice to spend time outdoors... a visit to tower Kök in de Kiek and bastion tunnels (I really recommend to visit both sites), after that shopping many hours in colossal Ülemiste shopping hell, sorry, shopping center. Well, ok, I should not complain, I bought Timberland Gore-Tex hiking shoes by -50% bargain price, I was really happy at that because my old Salomon Gore-Tex hiking shoes are already leaking...

So, not much birds today, but still I saw one of the highlights of the whole trip when walking from tram to shopping center. I suddenly heard a high and silvery bouncing trill, `zir`r`r``rl` couple of times and saw a small yellow bird in a birch - an adult male European Serin, very nice indeed!

In addition to that, also a Hawfinch in a park near Kök in de Kiek was a pleasure to see. In the evening we walked around the Old Town where Black Redstarts and European Linnets were singing in the Toompea hill. Blackbirds were everywhere where is at least one tree and some grass. And for laridists, the viewpoints of Toompea Hill may be worth visiting ;)

Hyper tame Herring Gull at Patkuli viewing point at Toompea

 Day 3. Friday, the 8th of July 2016

Today it was my time to choose where we go. And I chose, of course, Paljassaare! It is the best birding place within 50 km radius from Tallinn center. Paljassaare hoiuala (special conservation area) is also a Natura 2000 area of  276 ha, 150 of it is the mainland, so be prepared to spend several hours there. We took the bus 59 from Balti Jaam and the driving time was about 20 minutes.

The day was windy, almost stormy, so I missed most of the warblers. Still, one Icterine Warbler was singing close to the trail when we approached to the wooden birdwatching tower and when I climbed to tower, Great Reed Warbler was singing somewhere close in the middle of the reedbed. I started counting the Black-headed Gulls, Mallards, Gadwalls, Coots, Great Crested and Red-necked Grebes. Suddenly I saw a small broad-winged bird flying over the reedbed. Turned my binos at it and WOW! A male Little Bittern! I watched it flying about 10 seconds, then it landed between reeds some 50 meters away from me. Thank you Sendari, I bless you!!! This was the most northern Little Bittern I've ever seen, last time I saw Little Bitterns in Hungary was few years ago and earlier in Netherlands and Spain. I sent a rare bird alert to Lintutiedotus, I hope it reached the Estonian twitchers too.

Shame that the observation time was only 10 seconds, could not get a photo of the bird. After that an Eurasian Bittern and several Grey Herons were flying around the area too.

Eurasian Bittern in Paljassaare
Photo by Roni Haukkovaara

From the wooden tower we turned to eastern cape, Väike-Paljassaare. Very nice cape, reminded me of the Saaremaa in western Estonia. And lot's of birds here too, the most interesting birds for me were the 6 Barred Warblers and Little Tern, both very rare in my regular birding area. There were also Common Eiders, couple of Little Ringed Plovers, Whimbrel, Red-backed Shrike, lot's of Starlings, Black-headed Gulls, Herring Gulls and Common Gulls, Common Terns and Arctic Terns. Also several Great Cormorants out in the sea.

Road to Väike-Paljassaare, you can see how strong the wind was

Time ran fast in Paljassaare and soon we had to turn back. Marsh Harrier was trying to find a prey in strong wind, big flock of Sand Martins were catching insects near Pikakari beach where I went to swim. Sea water was really refreshing!

Sand Martin in Pikakari beach
Photo Roni Haukkovaara

Strange that I did not see any House Martins in Tallinn, only Sand Martins in several locations and Barn Swallows.

Days 3./4. Saturday & Sunday, the 9th & 10th of July 2016

During last days I didn't have time for real birding, but here's some notes: Black Redstarts seem to breed in and around Toompea hill, there were at least three pairs with juveniles. European Linnets were also surprisingly common, saw them in several locations.

Black Redstart in Toompea
Photo Roni Haukkovaara

While traveling back to Finland I saw several Arctic Terns in the middle of the Gulf of Finland, heading straight to north. What is this midsummer "migration"? Also many Herring Gulls were flying directly either to north or south, from the dumping site of Helsinki to dumping site of Tallinn and back.

Lesser Black-backed Gull in the Helsinki harbor

Conspicuous fact is also that Lesser Black-backed Gulls exist during summer in Finnish coast, but not in Estonian coast. I've never seen them in the harbor of Tallinn or in the Gulf of Tallinn, but always in front of Helsinki.

More info about birding in Tallinn, please see the pages of Tallinna Linnuklubi.

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Author

Olli Haukkovaara

email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me

Valkeakoski, Finland

Midsummer is offspring time - but can you identify them?

 

Pair of Great Crested Grebes with their three offspring today

Lot's of nestlings and fledged offspring out there at the moment. Some are still tiny and bald, waiting for food in the nest, some are already full grown juveniles. They are all easy to identify when they are with their parents, but how about lonely young birds - can you identify them?

Just for example, what is the species below? I will tell it at the end of this text.

Waterfowl, gull, tern? And which species?

Fortunately, all the young birds are easy to learn when their parents are close to them. So take some time to study them now and next year it will be already much easier.

Hint: This old book from 1980 is still worth of gold if you manage to get a copy of it somewhere.

Or you can borrow it from me if you wish.



















At the same time, the variety of breeding bird species here is changing. Some decades ago we didn't have here White-tailed Eagles at all, Whooper Swans and Common Cranes were scarce. On the other hand some previously common species have now either turned scarce or disappeared totally. Golden Oriole is now rare as well is the  Rustic Bunting. And the Ortolan Bunting has disappeared totally from this region...

One of the newcomers is the Barnacle Goose. Three birds were today in Putaanvirta, right in the downtown Valkeakoski. My son Roni found them and called me while I was walking around the Riippusiltojen Lenkki (Suspension Bridge Trail). I'm not so sure if this is a good thing that these geese will settle down here... they are just too tame and tend to poop everywhere in parks and beaches..

Barnacle Goose to in Putaankari today

In the above mentioned trail, I saw also two Greenshanks, resting in small rocks in the middle of the lake. They took off soon and continued migration to south. Lot's of Mallards, Black-headed and Mew Gulls, some Herring Gulls too.

Dirty Black-headed Gull

Couple of Wood Warblers, Blackcaps and Spotted Flycatchers here and there, but no photos of them this time ,all hiding in forest canopy. Only the Chaffinch was a bit co-operative:

Chaffinch in Sointula

So, the mystery nestling? It's a Common Gull aka Mew Gull. Adult is a medium-sized gull which breeds in northern Asia, northern Europe and northwestern North America. The North American subspecies is commonly referred to as the Mew Gull, although that name is also used by some authorities for the whole species.

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Author

Olli Haukkovaara

email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me

Valkeakoski, Finland