MKinHK
Mike Kilburn
Another airport conference brought me to Helsinki at what should have been a prime time for spring migration, but a brief resurgence of winter had put everything on hold. Having never birded in Northern Europe I was excited to visit and then somewhat disappointed to learn that most of the specialities of the region are hard to find or entirely absent near Helsinki.
As usual I was keen to make the best of whatever time was available and early on Wednesday morning I caught the excellent Helsinki bus to Viikki, a wetland reserve thirty minutes NW from the main train station. Viikki is one of the many inlets into and around Helsinki, which is covered by extensive reedbeds, several islets, including one that holds a Grey Heron nesting colony and some stands of marshy birch forest.
Even before getting to the reserve proper I was distracted by my first common European birds – Wood Pigeon, Great Tit, Blue Tit, House Sparrow, a very tame European Blackbird and a wonderful Fieldfare – an impressively large thrush with a brown wings, grey head and tail and black-spotted flanks and breast. Best of the lot were a pair of Goosanders fishing in the turmoil of foamy water where a river flowed into the sea. I’ve never seen Goosander this close-to, so watching them initially from 30 metres and eventually within ten metres as they bobbed and dived was just terrific.
Other bits and pieces included Common and Herring Gulls and few Mallards on the edge of the water, but much more interesting was a meadow right by the car park that was carpeted with over 100 Redwings and 20-odd Fieldfares and a flock of 60 or so Siskins which dropped in and out of a flowering alder. All common birds for European birders, but definitely not for me as a Hong Kong based birder.
A chilly walk out through the reedbeds was beautiful, but did not deliver much until a European Robin popped up, a Hooded Crow was sat on a wooden viewing platform, and a pair of Northern Lapwings were displaying over a newly cut reedbed. Every so often a bitingly cold whisper of north wind would scythe through – not strong, but bladed with razor-sharp icicles that made my ears burn with cold. A viewing platform on the edge of an island with an old monastery and lots of wooden summer houses was even colder, but did give me views over the water, revealing the first of several Goldeneyes, a couple of distant pairs of Mute Swans, several Great Cormorants, an even more distant Greylag Goose – identifiable by its solidly orange bill, a few Tufted Ducks and a very chilly-looking Pied Wagtail.
Cheers
Mike
As usual I was keen to make the best of whatever time was available and early on Wednesday morning I caught the excellent Helsinki bus to Viikki, a wetland reserve thirty minutes NW from the main train station. Viikki is one of the many inlets into and around Helsinki, which is covered by extensive reedbeds, several islets, including one that holds a Grey Heron nesting colony and some stands of marshy birch forest.
Even before getting to the reserve proper I was distracted by my first common European birds – Wood Pigeon, Great Tit, Blue Tit, House Sparrow, a very tame European Blackbird and a wonderful Fieldfare – an impressively large thrush with a brown wings, grey head and tail and black-spotted flanks and breast. Best of the lot were a pair of Goosanders fishing in the turmoil of foamy water where a river flowed into the sea. I’ve never seen Goosander this close-to, so watching them initially from 30 metres and eventually within ten metres as they bobbed and dived was just terrific.
Other bits and pieces included Common and Herring Gulls and few Mallards on the edge of the water, but much more interesting was a meadow right by the car park that was carpeted with over 100 Redwings and 20-odd Fieldfares and a flock of 60 or so Siskins which dropped in and out of a flowering alder. All common birds for European birders, but definitely not for me as a Hong Kong based birder.
A chilly walk out through the reedbeds was beautiful, but did not deliver much until a European Robin popped up, a Hooded Crow was sat on a wooden viewing platform, and a pair of Northern Lapwings were displaying over a newly cut reedbed. Every so often a bitingly cold whisper of north wind would scythe through – not strong, but bladed with razor-sharp icicles that made my ears burn with cold. A viewing platform on the edge of an island with an old monastery and lots of wooden summer houses was even colder, but did give me views over the water, revealing the first of several Goldeneyes, a couple of distant pairs of Mute Swans, several Great Cormorants, an even more distant Greylag Goose – identifiable by its solidly orange bill, a few Tufted Ducks and a very chilly-looking Pied Wagtail.
Cheers
Mike
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