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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? đ
The mist soon turned to rainfall, but it didn't make it worse when we were properly equipped, or what do you think Risto? đ. 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 HärkÜkivi 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 ...
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While looking for Steller's Eider we found the Common Scoter... |
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...and the Whooper Swan |
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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 BrĂźnnich's Guillemot. Well, a Little Auk or a Black-legged Kittiwake would be good. Sendari, be merciful!
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