Bad Finnish Birdwatcher

Saturday, March 24, 2007 - After the fog

I can't say I have any traditions when it comes to birding. However, in the spring I MUST get to Porkkala. Every spring. I'm not quite sure, but I think I've missed only one spring in about 15 years or so. Why? you ask, what is this place? Good questions.

Porkkala is a cape west of Helsinki that points south into the Gulf of Finland. It is a great place for watching migration, birds crossing the gulf on their northbound journey head there and the migration at the sea can also be seen from there. [In a nutshell - you could write a book on the subject.] So - finnish birdwatchers go to Porkkala to wait for the first arriving spring migrants. Plus the scenery is great too.

Another "tradition" is the fog in Porkkala in the spring-mornings. This tradition is public property. Everyone gets to enjoy it... This time we anticipated it. So - we arrived late. Still, we had to wait for it to clear for about an hour. Drinking coffee, talking bullshit... Often when the fog finally clears, the migration "rips." That's the word we use for it anyway. And today it ripped.

No rarities or anything extra special, but we got what we came for. For example: Bean Geese, Smews, Red-breasted Mergansers, Mistle Thrushes, Lapland Longspurs, Snow Buntings and Reed Buntings. Stock Doves, Lapwings and Skylarks were of course also on the move. And the Common Eiders. The spring Eiders deserve their own story really, I'll try to provide it later in the spring. Maybe the nicest thing was the amount of Wood Larks, we counted 12 of them, which is quite good in spring.

This is what it looks like, but it's actually more fun than it seems

In the afternoon, when we headed home, we checked some fields inland. And yes, the results of the good migration were there to be seen. There was a flock of about 400 Lapwings on one field.

Me - Timo Janhonen

Fabulous birding adventures on the south coast of Finland.

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