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A Frenchman in Finland (1 Viewer)

Eiwar

Mr. Technology
Hello,
I'm Samuel, a French birder and photographer freshly settled in Helsinki.
I write a blog called Eiwawar, where I show my pictures and tell about my adventures, but I felt like I needed a more "day-to-day" diary.

April 15: I was near Hämeenlinna, one hour north of Helsinki, for Black grouses. A friend of mine had given me a good spot for them, so I camped in the vicinity to be ready at dawn. I'll spare you the tale of that freezing night, to tell you that I saw the grouses display in the swamp (lifer 1), that I was too far for pictures, and that I spent only one night there x)
I cycled around during the day, and despite the temperature (and the snow falling down, also), I was sure that spring had come: Whooper swans, cranes, lapwings, Song thrushes, Chaffinches crowded the bare fields along the road. My friend directed me to a place where I could see geese on a migration halt: Greater white-fronted geese but also Bean geese (lifer 2) were there, and it felt great. In the evening, I slept in my bed, which felt great as well :p

April 16: I didn't move much, but I shot Fieldfares in my street (Facebook link to a picture).

April 17: a cold day again, but I paid a visit to Suomenoja, a protected pond in Espoo. The Black-headed gulls were not nesting yet, but I saw plenty of Great crested grebes, goldeneyes, Gadwalls and shovelers, and also one of my favourite: the Horned grebe :D

April 18: a sunny, warm (for Finnish standards) day, I went to Suomenlinna after work. I saw my first oystercatchers and Barnacles geese of the year, but the highlight was the eagle owl. A man approached me and asked me: "Are you also going to take pictures of the owl?
- An owl? What owl? Where?"
That big badass was perched on a wall, looking over the harbour... chill (lifer!).

April 19: I went to Suomenoja for sunrise, for some pictures. Goldeneyes, coots and shovelers were my main subjects, though I also saw a Goshawk cross the area.

Recap: spring has come, and birds are all over the place. It's awesome :D
Stay tuned ;)
 
Thank you very much!

April 24: I visited Viikki, a large protected wetland to the east of the city, before going to work. Wake-up call at 4 to be on stage at sunrise, at 6; that's the good life!
There was a lot of activity in the woods, with Robins, Blackbirds and Fieldfares quite ubiquitous. At a bird tower, I asked a woman where I could find the Penduline tits - I asked in Finnish, so she answered in Finnish, and somehow, surprisingly, I understood her indications :eek!: OK, I knew the area, and this helped a lot, but still, I felt really proud after that. I didn't find those birds though, but still connected with the first Wigeon and Reed buntings of the year. On the edge of the reedbed, I also had a glimpse at a pair of Bearded tits, and in the forest, I saw both male and female Lesser spotted woodpecker drumming on birch trees.

This week-end, I'm headed to Texel, in The Netherlands. I hope they have birds there too ;)

New on the blog: Båtsfjord, with kittiwakes and Purple sandpipers
 
Hi hummingbird, no need to apologize. Thank you for the compliments, I'm glad you like my pictures :)
This bird is a Common starling, one of our most common birds on this side of the pond ;)
Here is the story behind this picture, and a few others: https://eiwawar.wordpress.com/2016/07/20/insects-for-lunch/

New on the blog: Advanced course in eiderology, the photo-tale of 6 hours spent in a box, shooting 3 species of eiders in Arctic Norway :)
Soon, a short recap of my week-end in the Netherlands (no time right now)!
 
Ah, as I expected I kinda forgot about this thread... but let's revive it!

I was in the Netherlands on the week-end of the 1st of May, in Texel to be precise. Good birding there, it was sunny all the time, with tulips in the fields, and geese also. The highlights for me were the two species of godwits (birds I have never seen regularly), the spoonbills, and all the warblers, as none had arrived to Finland yet at that time :)

Then I went to Hungary for ten days. I visited my best friend there, and only spent 3 days on birdwatching, but what days! We were first in the south, in the puszta (the Hungarian steppe), then to Hortobágy, in the east. Red-footed falcons and Squacco herons were my favourite there, but I also ticked the Imperial eagle and three other species. Purple heron, Ferrugineous duck, Corn bunting, White-tailed eagle, stilts, all those I really enjoyed. In a nest box, I could see two baby owls resting... then after a few minutes, I realized that, in the willow tree nearby, there was the adult, a Long-eared owl, standing guard almost in plain sight. Incredible! I also got a picture of a Yellow wagtail ssp thundbergi, which was a novelty for me.

Finally, this week-end I was lucky to take pictures of an Ural owl that's nesting in a friend's garden in Hämeenlinna, 100km north of Helsinki. Ding, lifer! First picture here: link to Facebook.

Stay tuned :D
 
A little walk in Roihuvuori and Herttoniemi (Helsinki) this afternoon.
I missed the blossoming cherry trees by a week, but I saw a few Common terns fishing, two Thrush nightingales singing 3 meters apart from each other (one on each side of the path, what a cacophony), two adorable chicks of Common goldeneye, with the mom nearby, and a female Goosander walk in the lawn (I had never seen that before, they are clearly not made for that), perch in a tree, then fly in circles around the trees. I was puzzled...

New on the blog: a drive along Varangerfjord, in Arctic Norway.
 
Recently, I traveled to Kuusamo, on the edge of Lapland, to spot the elusive Red-flanked bluetail. While I saw one bird, it was only far away on top of a tree, at 1 in the morning on a rather cloudy night. It left without giving me the opportunity to have a good look at it, and I didn't see any other later... that said, a few hours later I saw a Black grouse lekking on the side of the road! In France, a mystical species only found in remote places, here a road-side singer *only in the north*

However, I found the highlight of these last few weeks in Helsinki. I know a good spot for eagle-owls, which I had visited twice already. I went again to spend the night there, hoping for some baby gull pictures at dawn. Before that, I went to the owl spot. First I saw an adult in flight, chased by gulls. Then, after some scrutiny, I found one, then a second, then a third owlet hanging on a ship, on the ropes or on the deck. Suddenly, one adult glided in and gave a prey to a chick, which quickly took it and tried to swallow it. Those big, orange eyes looking straight to me... thrilling! After half an hour, I retreated and left them in peace for the rest of the night. I love this place <3

New on the blog: 100,000 birds on a cliff :)
 
A fantastic visit to Kylmäpihlaja! That's a small island out of Rauma, on the western coast. Our ship scared away a dozen of Black guillemots when we entered the harbour, then the whole place teemed with nesting birds, essentially Arctic terns and gulls, with a few Barnacle geese and also some sand martins, a species I had yet to see in Finland.
Spectacular, I regretted staying only 2 hours because I think there are really good opportunities for bird photography there :)
 
Not much birding since last time... apart from this week of sailing in the Turku Archipelago, in the south-west. The first White-tailed eagle appeared on the fourth day only, but after that, what a festival! One passing just in front of the boat, the other one soaring above us, then one sitting on a navigation sign, and one following us for several minutes on the last day.
At least 15 sightings in 6 days, what a blast !
We also had some Ospreys, including one nest on a low lighthouse in the middle of a channel, with one bird flying there, a fish in the claws. That was good as well !
Apart from those raptors, we had geese, sea ducks and Black guillemots, and many White wagtails, a bird I can't get tired of watching <3

New on the blog: birds in the morning light, in Texel. Welcome :)
 
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I've just come back from a week in Finnish Lapland, and I wanted to share the thrill of seeing spectacular northern species at a very close range: grosbeak, waxwing, siberian jay, siberian tit, we got them all! Almost every accommodation had a feeder, and I was able to sit down and work on my photography there. Very relaxed but very exciting, and the northern lights didn't spoil anything. I can't wait to edit the pictures!

New on the blog: bearded reedlings in a reedbed near Helsinki. When the sea is frozen, it's easy to walk inside the reedbed to get close to those lovely fluffy birds <3
 
It's starting to smell of spring! It's true that temperature barely climb above 0 during the day, but the ice doesn't encase all the islands anymore ;)
On Friday, I saw Mute swans display against a gorgeous wind-less sunset, then heard a blackbird sing in the forest.
Later during this weekend, I saw great and blue tits everywhere, singing and chasing each other, and also a stunning Greenfinch singing on top of a shrub in Suomenlinna. Oh, and there was a lark flying high in the sky as well!
I'm looking forward to the coming weeks :)
 
That's all the dog shit dust...TMP is full of it too!

McM

What is TMP?

Anyway, I've just come back from Brittany, and it was awesome. Lots of birds everywhere, including the graceful Black-winged stilt, the elegant Avocet and the noisy House sparrows that lived near our house, in Lorient. I dipped both the Dartford warbler and the Bluethroat, unfortunately, but for a vacation that was not 100% dedicated to birding, it was still excellent :)

Now I'm in Helsinki, wondering where all the ice and snow have gone... it's incredible how things can change in 10 days! I'm looking forward to the coming weeks, before my trip to Lapland and Varanger in June.

New on the blog: all the birds I observed at the feeders in Lapland last month. Siberian tit, Grosbeak... you name it (lots of pictures included) ;)
 
Hi again!
Helsinki is great at the moment :D

I've seen the first wagtails and robins of the year last week, and on a ride home I saw both a goshawk and a sparrowhawk!

In addition, this morning I went to Suomenoja: I woke up before many go to sleep (especially on a Friday evening), took the last bus of the night... and didn't see the sunrise I hoped for because it was foggy :D
Suomenoja is a place I visited a few times in the past, there's a huge colony of Black-headed gulls, there are shovelers and gadwalls, but even better, there are Horned grebes! I saw at least 5 pairs when I walked around the pond today :)
Then I spent 2 hours lying on the shore with my camera, in a spot favored by a pair of grebes. I got great views, but I was not very happy with the light, it was dark, therefore I had to use high ISO. It was good practice though!
I'm planning to go back on a sunny evening ;)

I've attached a picture, you can click on it I believe
 

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Early morning walk in Viikki this morning... I dipped on the Citrine wagtail, but sunrise was amazing and Common rosefinches sung all around me (first of year). I also saw two Lesser spotted woodpeckers drumming on birches, in the woods :)

Belated news: I've worked a lot on duck and grebe photography in Suomenoja (I'm planning to compile some pics on my blog later), and I also went on an excursion to Nuuksio National Park to shoot Red-throated divers :)

Life is good!
 
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