June 23, 2005
Juhannus
Starting tommorrow, Finland will pretty much shut down for the weekend. It's "Juhannus" -- the national holiday which celebrates Midsummer Eve or solstice. Towns and cities are almost vacated as everyone heads to their summer cottages for the weekend, and sales of beer and sausages ("makkara") skyrocket.
I will also be getting out of town this weekend --- heading NW to the Oulu region for some birding. This region, on the shores of Bothnian Bay and close to the Swedish border, hosts some of the best wetland areas in all of Finland and is home to some great bird species - including the rare Terek Sandpiper. I'll post a full trip report on Monday ...
In the meantime, I have managed to get out a little again this week. Monday morning, I joined a friend to look for Golden Oriole (Kuhankeittäjä). After an arduous trudge through some old birch woods with thick undergrowth, we finally heard one whistling -- but across the lake and out of sight. There were several Tree Pipits (Metsäkirvinen) singing, and I managed to find my first Greater Whitethroat (Pensaskerttu) singing on the edge of field. I spent Moday evening in Maaninka, where I missed my target species, but did have great looks at three Marsh Harriers (Ruskosuohaukka) and two Short-eared Owls (Suopöllö). Interesting to watch was a Curlew (Kuovi) leading around two fluffy young. Surprisingly, a flock of Starlings (Kottarainen) was only my second sighting since arriving in Finland 7 weeks ago!!
Tuesday evening I visited Haminalahti, where the highlights were one Grasshopper Warbler (Pensassirkkalintu) and my first Long-tailed Tits (Pyrstötiainen). Later, I joined my friend Hannu to ring several Blyth's Reed Warblers (Viitakerttunen) and get a close-up look at the subtle details which separate it from the very similar Marsh Warbler which I had helped band last week.
A Curlew (Kuovi) protests my presence from atop a light pole. (Click to enlarge)
Some playful House Martins (Räystäspääsky) scuffling over lunch. (Click to enlarge)
Birding in the eerie morning mist at Joinen last week. (Click to enlarge)
This is a Marsh Warbler (Luhtakerttunen) that we ringed one night last week. (Click to enlarge)