Very nice day! 11.5.2013

What a day i had. Lot´s of birds everywhere and good company.
I started from Vanhankaupunginlahti where i very quickly found Ichterine Warbler and Greater Whitethroat for my year list. What a nice start. Dozens of Thrush Nightingales were singing, but maybe number of the birds feel so huge because of their loud voice.
I walked to Keinumäki tower where the Penduline Tit nest is. Two birds where present and i did not go to disturb them. Same time i noticed lone Penduline tit very close to me, so i had to take some photos.

I hope people understand to leave these birds alone so they  can breed without disruption. 

Next place was hide where i visited also last time, but there was so much people inside so i decided to walk straight to Lammassaari.
In middle of the boardwalks there is little wooden stage where some people listened the reeds. I stopped there also but nothing special.. Great numbers of Sedge Warblers were singing and some Common Snipes had their displays.
In lammassaari i found moere Great Whitethroats, Lesse Whitethroats, Black Woodpecker, Little Spotted Woodpecker and so on.

Boardwalks to Lammassaari.

Greater Whitethroat

Sedge Warbler.

Thrush Nightingale. 

When i walked back from the island i saw three birds flying over the boardwalks. Bearded Tits!! What a super nice surprise!! I did not have any change to get any photos but wow, that was great!
I walked back to Keinumäki tower where i met Jari Nummelin and hes wife Anu Lindström. Jari told that there was Blue Throat sighting from the boardwalks and Great-reed Warbler from the area too.
First we tried to listen if Great-reed would like to sing, but no luck this time.
Next we went to boardwalks where we found Blue Throat quite easily. Nice bird!
Then we heard that in Lammassaari tower some people saw Red-backed Shrike and some Citrine Wagtails.
We went there but only one Wagtail was there.. Lots of people there!
Later we tried to hear Great-reed again and this time it was there! What a great feeling. Same time Great Bittern and Great-reed Warbler singing, that was great!
Soon Jari and Anu left and i met accidentally Jari. We had little walk there and Jari head the Great-reed also.
Alter that we had little food break in prisma and then we went to Viikki. Nothing special there... Jari went to see Lesser White-fronted Goose with hes friend and i went back home.

House Martins and Barn Swallow. 

Redwing in Viikki.

Later Afternoon i drove Sarina to Espoo where she had shes friends "hen party". Suomenoja was in same direction so i went there. I walked my normal route and my first stop was in eastern bird tower. After few minutes i saw two little birds flying quite low. Other was little bit closer and then i had this so called "internal lamp explosion" thing! Rustic Bunting! What a feeling! Same time i heard "tsit" or "tik" sound.
Super looking male! Head Pattern was so clear so i id it male bird.
There was some other guys in the tower and i yelled that there is Rustic Bunting! Other guy just growled something and other guy asked "what is Rustic Bunting"........ GREAT!
Sadly i was not sure about the other bird.. Same sound but i did not saw any features.. but i think it was same specie. What a great birds!
Then i left from the tower and i called to Jände to ask some things.
Later i just walked around the area and too some photos of same old ducks.

Tufted Ducks. 

Oh yeah, not just ducks.

Male Pied Flycatcher. 

What a ending for the day.
Thank you for company Jari, Anu and other Jari :)
Tomorrow i must rest and pack my bags. Monday we start our Israeli trip so next post is from there i hope.
Year ticks 203

Hear you soon.

-Tomppa-

Birding around. 4-8.5.2013

Quite much birding lately. Some twitching and some trips around my normal places.
4th of May i had nice walk in Suomenoja with many Ducks and other common birds. Surprisingly i found Jack Snipe from there. It took off just before i get my camera ready. Nice tick for me.
Later i had raptor watch in Haltiala but sadly there were no raptors.. Okay, one Common Buzzard and one Sparrow Hawk. Better birds were two White Storks wit i found about 5km distance. I even got one photo trough my telescope!

Female Pochard this time. 

Male Goldeneye.

Here is my great photo of White Stork.

Black dot in the middle is stork! 

Next birding was at 6th when i twitched Lesser White-fronted Goose from Hyvinkää. Not much fun and it was quick visit. I also had first Thrush Nightingale for the year.

On 7th i went twice in Maari bird tower where i had lot´s of Waders. First Temminck´s Stint for the year.
Lot´s of Spotted Redshanks, Ruffs, and other birds. Also Water Rail and Sedge Warbler there.

Spotted Redshank. 

Wood Warbler. 

Today i went firs to Lauttasaari where i twitched Collared Dove witch is very nice specie here. Only voice this time, but i maybe try to get some photos later.
After Dove i went to Vanhankaupunginlahti where i check Lammassaari bird tower. Massive invasion of Thrush Nightingales! At least 6 different birds were singing. Yesterdays Black Tern was gone (later somebody found it) but i heard some Spotted Crakes when i walked to the tower. Also Great Bittern blew into the bottle somewhere in the reeds.

Male Reed Bunting.

After tower i met Jari and we had nice visit to Pornaistenniemi hide where i saw Citrine Wagtail! Nice male bird. There was great light and perfectly calm water so we had some camera action there.

Inside of the hide. 

Common Tern. 

Double-headed Coot.

After Hide we checked Penduline Tits nest and it looks quite ready. Two birds collected nest materials around the area. I hope they managed to breed and get some cubs.

Nest. 

Penduline Tit

Later i quickly visited Maari bird tower again, but nothing new there.. Nice day anyway.
Now i had to be two days in work and weekend i try to visit Viikki and Vanhankaupunginlahti again.

Sorry about so many photos and hear you soon.

P.S.
Later afternoon fter i put my blogpost here, i went to Viikki again and i saw that Black Tern :)

-Tomppa-

Terek Sandpiper and others. 3.5.2013

Today i visited quickly in Vanhankaupunginlahti and Maari bird-watching tower. Later me and Jände twitched Tereks Sandpiper in Riihimäki witch is about 70km north of Helsinki.
In Vanhankaupunginlahti i had Penduline Tit male witch had much work with hes new bag. Hope he will find some company :) I also heard nice Wood Warbler witch was also a tick for me.
After those nice birds i went to Maari bird-tower where i had nice flock of nine Spotted Redshanks, four Ruffs, eleven Wood Sandpipers and other nice, but common stuff..
I was very lazy with my camera and only photos i took was Great-spotted Woodpecker pics..

Great-spotted Woodpecker. 

Later i called Jände who was interested about Terek Sandpiper witch was in Riihimäki. After an hour drive and after some problems with google maps, we found right place.
There was some people already so finding the bird was not so hard.
First the bird was quite close but hiding all the time. Later it jumped in the air and flew across the water area little bit farther.

Trough my telescope. 

And with my camera, too far... 

The place. Nice spot by the way. 

Anyway, nice new specie on my Finish list. and of course important year tick.
Thanks Jände for company.
Next few days i had to work, so let´s see when i have time to write here.

-Tomppa-

Different locations. 2.5.2013

Today i went around Espoo and later evening i met my friend Simo. We had nice walk in Seurasaari with evening lights.
I started from Suomenoja where i had nice walk around. Common Moorhen was new tick for the year.
Lot´s of Black-headed Gulls there. I believe about 4000 birds there and something alarmed the whole flock in the air! What a sight!
My 300mm lens was way too much to take whole flock in the photo! Also 6 Slavonian Grebes, many Common Pochards, lots of Gadwalls and other stuff.

Black-headed Gulls. 

Common Pochard. 

Slavonian Grebe. 

Gadwall and Mallard.

After Suomenoja i had to go to work for a meeting. On my way i stopped in gas station where i saw Peregrine Falcon flying over the station. Always nice specie! After work i quickly visited to Maari bird-tower. One Spotted Redshank, some Redshanks, Ringed Plovers, Little Ringed Plovers, Caspian Terns and so on.
Spotted Redshank was new tick for me. Also 2cy male Pied Flycather, Redwings and one Great-spotted Woodpecker.

Woodpecker.

Like i mentioned, i had nice evening walk with Simo. Oystercatchers and lots of other common stuff in the island.

Oystercatcher.

Mew Gulls.

Barnacle Goose. 

Nice day. Few New ticks. More tomorrow.

-Tomppa-