Winter Bird Rally 2011

 

Whooper Swan

The 14th Winter Bird Race of Valkeakoski Birders was held on Saturday the 8th of January. Weather was not too bad, some -10° Celcius, overcast and not too windy. Our race team "Mega-Akaan Nuijamiehet" was the same that we have had for many years; Ville Työppönen, Heikki-Pekka Innala, Jonne Mäkelä and undersigned.
In this case "Nuijamiehet" refers not only to ancient Finnish Cudgel War, but also to men who dip out on many birds ;-)

The race time was 6:00 - 16:00, basically 10 hours. Sunrise was at 09.32 and sunset at 15:26, so the actual time for race was much shorter. Still, we started at 7:00 and headed to back country forests, in hope of the hooting owls. Forests were silent, only sounds we heard there were some barking dog, distant snow plough and the wind. So we turned back to town, to wait for the first birds to wake up and appear at feeders. But before that we got our first species, at 08:18, still at dark; Ural Owl (Strix uralensis) was sitting on the telephone/electric wires on the roadside of Haapasaari fields. Very good species in this race and in fact it was an ace for us!

Great Crested Grebe

The waterfowl were scarce again. Like last winter, the drainage of water in lakes has been minimal this winter and most of the open water locations were again covered with ice. Still we managed to find a Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus) from Viiala and Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) from Lempäälä. Not to forget Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), only common waterfowl in these latitudes during winter.

After 274 km drive and 9 hours we were tired but happy. Last year I promised that we will take the gold position back to us! And so we did, we won, with 35 species! In addition to Ural Owl, we got four other aces; a flock of 16 White-tailed Eagles (Haliaetus albicilla),  4 Long-tailed Tits (Aegithalos caudatus),  Grey-headed Woodpecker (Picus canus) and adult male Sparrow Hawk (Accipiter nisus).

Total number of all species observed by all teams was 41, just one less than last year but 15 less than two years ago. Looking forward for the next winter, will it be warm or cold?

White-tailed Eagles, Common Ravens and Hooded Crows

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Author

Olli Haukkovaara

email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me

Got mine today - Birds of Earth 2011 table top calendar

  

This calendar is one of the most beautiful bird calendars I've ever seen. It comes with display stand, so it's easy to place in any table or shelf. The price was not bad at all, only $15.99. It contains fourteen 4"x6" glossy photos from top bird photographers around the world. To put it short, I love this calendar!

If you're interested in this calendar, go to http://www.birds-of-earth.com/ (site does not exist anymore at 2025).

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Author

Olli Haukkovaara

email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me

Valkeakoski, Finland

Days are getting short, birds are getting scarce

 Days are getting short here in north, currently the sun rises 7:56 and sets 16:20. So the length of day is now 8h 24min. That is the situation in southern Finland, in Tampere. In addition to that it's often either foggy or rainy, or at least the sky is covered with thick clouds. As you may guess, most of us have now very limited time for birding. Except during weekends - and lunch hours.

Yesterday I skipped my lunch and made a short trip to nearby Viinikanlahti bay in Tampere. About an hour earlier I got an SMS from Lintutiedotus, the Finnish rare bird alert system, telling me that there is a Glaucous Gull (Larus hyperboreus). And so it was, standing in the pier. Juvenile bird, nice to see for a while. I met also couple of  local birders, so the social aspect of birding got also some attention.

       Glaucous Gull (Larus hyperboreus) in Viinikanlahti, Tampere 1.11.2010

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Author

Olli Haukkovaara

email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me

Valkeakoski, Finland

Where has High Latitude Birder been hiding?

Over 4 months since last blogging - what happened? Well, we bought a house, so I have not had too much time for blogging. The renovation continues still, but I will now write at least short stories every now and then. I hope you will enjoy reading them!

P.S. So far 53 species observed in our new backyard 😊

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Author

Olli Haukkovaara

email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me

Valkeakoski, Finland

A Ruddy Long Way to Fly

 

"Ruddy Turnstone is a small, highly-migratory wading bird with a large global range. It breeds in northern latitudes in open tundra habitat often close to water. Outside the breeding season it is found along coastlines, particularly on rocky or stony shores. It is the only species of turnstone in much of its range and is often called Turnstone.

"We have been amazed at the feats of Bar-tailed Godwit tracked by satellite from Australia and New Zealand to their breeding grounds in the high Arctic and back", said Dr Clive Minton from the Australasian Wader Studies Group. "Unfortunately the size of the satellite transmitters, and the batteries required to power them, precluded their use on smaller shorebirds like Ruddy Turnstone".

“… it was back in south-east Australia having completed a 27,000-km round trip” —Ken Gosbell, Chairman of the Australasian Wader Studies Group

The researchers therefore decided to use new 1 gram light-sensor geolocators - supplied by British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge, England - and fitted them to eight Ruddy Turnstone spending their non-breeding season in south-east Australia in April 2009. Four geolocators were eventually retrieved from birds between 20 October 2009 and 8 January 2010.

"All four birds flew 7,600 km non-stop to Taiwan in just over six days, with three apparently travelling together", said Dr Clive Minton. They then flew on to northern Siberia, following separate paths and stopping over at different sites. "By early August, two had moved to Korea and south-eastern Siberia, respectively, but another bird returned to Australia via the Central Pacific!"

The Pacific bird spent 26 July -15 October on the Aleutian Islands before flying 6,200 km across the Pacific in four days to Kiribati, and then it made another four-day, 5,000-km flight to eastern Australia. "Five days later it was back in south-east Australia having completed a 27,000-km round trip", added Ken Gosbell - Chairman of the Australasian Wader Studies Group."


Read the whole story at: A Ruddy Long Way to Fly

I just wonder how long flights our Ruddy Turnstones make...?

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Author

Olli Haukkovaara

email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me

Valkeakoski, Finland

Satellite Osprey Jukka is on the road to home!

Jukka is coming back, at the moment he is in Croatia. In summer 2009 the project, started in 2007 in collaboration between the Finnish Museum of Natural History, the Osprey Foundation and UPM, continued monitoring the life of a male Osprey with the help of the newest generation of GPS-Argos satellite transmitters.

See the whole story at: Satellite Osprey Jukka - Zoological Museum - FMNH

















Photo copyright Hannu Vainiopekka

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Author

Olli Haukkovaara

email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me

Valkeakoski, Finland

Birding in fog and rain by mountain bike

 

I don't really know which one is easier; birding in rain or birding in fog. During last days I have done both.

They both have downsides and advantages. In fog, the visibility is really poor and the tiny water particles cover all surfaces. But the birds are active and you can still find them relatively easy. In light rain, the visibility is usually better, but the on the other hand, the birds don't move a lot and all your gears and clothing get wet fast.

Still, with proper clothing and gears, birding in in fog or rain is not too difficult - on the contrary, it can be really enjoyable. Migratory birds that usually just fly over your area, may drop down and stay sedentary until weather gets better for migration. Many rarities have been also found during these "bad" weather conditions.

As our car broke down on Saturday, I have used my mountain bike for transportation while birding. It was cool to use bike for birding after long winter, and I will continue to use it also after the car is fixed, even though it diminishes the area that I can check during limited birding hours. While cycling, you will see and especially hear much more birds than while driving by car.

So, what I saw during these days? Lot's of European Robins (Erithacus rubecula), some Mistle Thrushes (Turdus viscivorus) and Song Thrushes (Turdus philomela), flocks of 50 and 30 Fieldfares (Turdus pilaris), 20 Bohemian Waxwings (Bombycilla garrulus), Eurasian Coot (Fulica atra), Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea), Common Cranes (Grus grus), Whooper Swans (Cygnus cygnus), Canada Goose (Branta canadensis), Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), hundreds of Chaffinches (Fringilla coelebes), Black-headed Gulls (Chroicocephalus ridibundus), Northern Lapwings (Vanellus vanellus), European Goldfinches (Carduelis carduelis) and many more.

Easter holiday is now over, back to work tomorrow... I hope the car will get fixed soon, as I'd love to make birding trips flood areas of Akaa and Kylmäkoski when the migration of Taiga Bean Geese start - and that will be soon!

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Author

Olli Haukkovaara

email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me

Valkeakoski, Finland