I spent last weekend -again - on Rönnskär. The same thing the weekend before that, and the weekend before that (that one I wrote about already - Yellow-browed Warbler, remember?). What this means is, that the upcoming weekend is the only weekend in September spent birding on the mainland.

So why bother with the bumpy boat-trip there and back, when - as on Saturday - it may happen that the sea is at-a-rage with all mankind, (O! Poor ye, who faceth the wrath of the Ocean without shelter!) whitecap waves galloping and water being thrown in the window of the only warm and dry place within miles, the bird observatory (Blessed are thee with yer fireplace!). The answer lies in hope, a birder lives in hope. The hope of being there when it all rips - the mass migration takes place, the mega-rarity appears or a fellow birder slips and falls on his arse. On a bird-station you are in the center of the action at all times, step out the door and you're birding. This increases the chance of being at the right place at the right moment. Often you end up being in the wrong place, but you really don't care because you're on an island and the things going on in the mainland and everyday life... well, you just don't care.

The winds had been south-western for a long time, all September practically. This trend has only started to change this week. There was a slight change in the weather on Sunday, and it got the birds on the move in their masses. There were too much Chaffinches in the air to count them all, some Bramblings calling from the flocks. Wood Pigeons started their season as well, we saw about 1300 of them. There were Sparrowhawks in the air all the time, anywhere you looked, the sum: 225. There was an extremely strong migration of Dunnocks in Porkkala (15000 ind.), just six and a half kilometers to the northeast ( I could see the guys there), but we heard very few calls from the sky, I guess they flew at a lot higher altitude over the sea.

Worth a mention also Peregrines (always worth a mention) on both Saturday and Sunday, the Red-breasted Flycatcher and two Honey Buzzards on Sunday.