Bad Finnish Birdwatcher

Friday, December 21, 2007 - Dump

A major part of the appeal of being a birder (albeit a bad one) is getting to see the finest that nature has to offer. I really get to spend time in some of the most beautiful and serene surroundings. And last Sunday was no exception. I got to go birding on a dump.

Yes, that's right, the largest pile of garbage in all of Finland. And man what a pile it is. A mountain really. And next to the mountain, a hole the size of - umm, dozens of football fields. And that hole is going to be filled with garbage and it's going to grow to be a mountain as well. So I'm talking 'bout a whole lot of garbage here. Now here's my message to you brothers and sisters: RECYCLE! I'm telling you, you got to do it. Otherwise your kids will drown in garbage. Seriously. Trust me. I have been to the mountain...

Now I'm no strager to birding on dumps. I've been on trips in the heat of July, and that's when the smell is real bad. So in December I have no problems, no smell at all, becuse it's cool man (the weather that is). In some parts of the world there are raptors on dumps, but we have it even better. We have gulls, thousands of them. Well, there were some raptors too, several Goshawks were trying to get a meal from the flocks of gulls and there were a few Eurasian Buzzards as well. The amount of gulls was pretty small this time, we estimated 2500 Herring Gulls and 30 Greater Black-backed Gulls. May sound like a lot, but there could easily be twice as much. There were also lots of Jackdaws (about 1000), hundreds of Crows and dozens of Ravens.

It really is a pretty nice winter birding destination. There grows plenty of just the right stuff for seed eating birds. Stuff that's called weeds in the outside world of neat parks. Cursed gardeners! It's a kind of wildness a birdwatcher can appreciate. And it can't really exist in the outside world. This is an area with fences around it and one needs a permit to go birdwatching there. Without the fences it would be ruined, there would surely be grass sown and park benches, and people walking their dogs and... but now, it's peaceful, no people, just the Jackdaws and the gulls shouting. Mind you, it was only peaceful because it was Sunday. On weekdays there are dozens and dozens of trucks emptying their loads of garbage.

But back to the birds. Tree Sparrows, Starlings, Chaffinches... Among the flocks of Common Redpolls there were Twites and also some Hoary Redpolls, which was actually a year-tick for me (better late than never). There was also a Wood Lark and a flock of three Horned Larks on the top of the mountain. Not bad for a day in December.

This is what it's all about.

Friday, January 4, 2008 - Valid

Posted by Anonymous

That is a very valid point Dude. We can make a difference just need to start yesterday.
I wish you a happy new year with lots of exciting birds :)
BR: Szimi

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Sunday, January 13, 2008 - Dump

Posted by Anonymous

Although, I am yet to bird in a dump in the scale described, I kind of like to check out the ones here whenever I can. They can be surprisingly rich in birds. Your write up gave me an idea to do a focused dump-bird evaluation!

Having said that I too 'urge the world' to really start to recycle, reuse, reduce and refuse.

Amila
Gallicissa.blogspot.com, Sri Lanka

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