Nice afternoon birding walk

 

                                                                Goldeneyes

Today I was birding for the first time since couple of weeks due to influenza and pneumonia. No hardcore birding, just a slow 8 km hike in and around downtown Valkeakoski, as I'm still convalescent and eating antibiotics. My younger son Roni was with me, we both enjoyed the walk in sunny and warm spring-winter afternoon. Warm indeed, as the temperature was +33°C higher than week ago; 0°C. No doubt, there was spring in the air!

                                                                    Bullfinch

Great Tits, Blue Tits and Green Finches were all singing, as well as Bullfinches and Hooded Crows. In the channel of Valkeakoski we saw 4 Goosanders and 4 Goldeneyes, the first ones arrived already two weeks ago.

Eurasian Jackdaws were playing in the sky and flock of 35 Bohemian Waxwings were eating last Chokeberries. So, nothing new for this year, but anyway a nice afternoon birding walk!

                                                           Eurasian Jackdaws

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Author

Olli Haukkovaara

email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me

Valkeakoski, Finland

The new Swarovision EL 50 series binoculars from Swarovski

  

 I've been looking for new binoculars for years. Excellent ones that I would use for next 30 years or even much more longer. And I think I found them finally; new Swarovision EL 50 12x50. The price is high, at the moment I have seen prices like 2200 - 2700 €. Yes, they will be very expensive bins and I have to save money to get them. But when you divide the price with 30 or more years, then it's not so expensive anymore. So, what makes these binoculars so special? Watch the video below, and read the reviews from the following links:

http://www.dickforsman.com/2011/02/24/the-new-swarovision-el-50-series-binoculars-from-swarovski-swarovision-10-x-50-swarovision-12-x-50/

http://10000birds.com/el50_swarovision_extremadura.htm

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Author

Olli Haukkovaara

email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me

Valkeakoski, Finland

Jack Snipe is a tough guy

This Jack Snipe was photographed during winter 2006.
Photo copyright Pekka Sarvela, thanks to him for allowing me to use it.

The Jack Snipe (Lymnocryptes minumus)  is a small stocky wader. It is the smallest snipe, and the only member of the genus Lymnocryptes. Their breeding habitat is marshes, bogs, tundra and wet meadows with short vegetation in northern Europe and northern Russia. Jack Snipes are migratory, spending the non-breeding period in Great Britain, Atlantic and Mediterranean coastal Europe, Africa, and India.

But... did you know that part of the Jack Snipe population spend winters up here in the north, up to 62nd latitude. They are able survive in very small ditches and brooks, open drains and industrial areas where warm condensation water is let out to nature. Naturally, the weather in the end of autumn affects directly to the number of overwintering snipes. During winter 2000/2001, after warm autumn, 116 Jack Snipes were found from southern Finland. The real number must be much bigger, because this bird is really difficult to find. Their survival strategy is interesting; they don't move at all during day time! When the sun sets down and the dusk arrives, Jack Snipes activate. They may even fly long times over the open water, land every now and then and continue flying. Probably they also move between open ditches and brooks. Often the only sign that birders see, are the small foot steps of Jack Snipe somewhere along the ditch.

Surprisingly big number of overwintering snipes also survive to the spring. Of course it depends on the winter; for example this winter has been very cold and fatal to snipes, because most of the ditches and brooks are now covered with ice. But probably some of the luckiest ones will survive to spring - Jack Snipe is a tough guy!

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Author

Olli Haukkovaara

email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me

Valkeakoski, Finland

Tšernobyl birds are small brained

 

Sad news: Birds living around the site of the Tšernobyl nuclear accident have 5% smaller brains, an effect directly linked to lingering background radiation. The finding comes from a study of 550 birds belonging to 48 different species living in the region, published in the journal PLoS One. Brain size was significantly smaller in yearlings compared to older birds. Smaller brain sizes are thought to be linked to reduced cognitive ability. The discovery was made by a team of researchers from Norway, France and the US led by Professor Timothy Mousseau from the University of South Carolina, US, and Dr Anders Moller from the University of Paris-Sud, France

Read the whole story at: BBC - Earth News - Chernobyl birds are small brained

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Author

Olli Haukkovaara

email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me

Valkeakoski, Finland

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