The nest boxes are part of a trail, 2000 strong, that line the road to the northern frontier of Finland. Access to the interior of the forest is quite difficult, so the trail really makes a difference. Afaik, the boxes are monitored and maintained by Finnature and volunteers. Visiting birders get the benefit of these efforts, which concentrate the nest sites to accessible spots along the road. Admittedly, that makes for a more manicured birding experience, where the GPS is as important as the binoculars for locating the bird, but it does seem appropriate in those circumstances.
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Finland & Norway - May 2018 (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter foresttwitcher
- Start date
The nest boxes are part of a trail, 2000 strong, that line the road to the northern frontier of Finland. Access to the interior of the forest is quite difficult, so the trail really makes a difference. Afaik, the boxes are monitored and maintained by Finnature and volunteers. Visiting birders get the benefit of these efforts, which concentrate the nest sites to accessible spots along the road. Admittedly, that makes for a more manicured birding experience, where the GPS is as important as the binoculars for locating the bird, but it does seem appropriate in those circumstances.
Paul Chapman
Well-known member
Etudiant
No one is doubting the usefulness of what is done or the conservation value - which is excellent.
All the best
No one is doubting the usefulness of what is done or the conservation value - which is excellent.
All the best
foresttwitcher
Virtually unknown member
Indeed, my willingness to pay the cost was due to the company's conservation credentials.
KenM
Well-known member
I suppose an alternative to the "guided" tour might be 1-2 weeks accommodation at Oulu a hire car and probably more importantly a sat nav, a lot of patience and luck. Would certainly be challenging!...but hey! would that fleeting glimpse of a "probable" Great Grey Owl disappearing through the trees...or a distant perched up Hawk Owl suffice? If not...you could always return and try again.....or break the piggy bank and take the "tour", either way there's 5 great lifers up there for me....praps one day.
Cheers
Cheers
foresttwitcher
Virtually unknown member
Exactly, Ken, let me be clear I have no regrets about doing the guided thing (how could I have, given the outcome!) Anyway, back to the trip ...
Thursday 24th May:
Up at 02:00 this morning to head back south a bit to Kuusamo for the second guided day. Having 'bagged' the owls I was just hoping to be taken to some suitable sites for some of the other more difficult forest species, especially given that the pre-tour e-mail about the good owl year in Oulu had gone on to say that the situation could not have been more different in Kuusamo with deep late snow preventing the guides from finding territories and that no nest sites had been found.
So I met up with the guide (Mikko) and five other punters and we set off. The first site was a narrow forest track not too far away with a nesting Willow Grouse right by the side of the mini-bus. The next stop was at a lake near town with a small group of Red-necked Grebe but not much else. Then to another lake on the outskirts that Mikko thought was the best local wetland site for general birding but unfortunately it was very quiet that morning but there was a nice Black-throated Diver just off-shore.
Four of the other participants had missed out on a couple of owl species on an Oulu trip a few days previously and the fifth was doing just this one day so they asked that Mikko did his best to look for some owls. He first tried last years site for a Tengmalm's but there was no evidence that the nest box was in use. By this time he had received a message from a friend about a report of a Hawk Owl sighting so we set off to a regenerating clear-fell site and before the mini-bus had even come to a halt saw a Hawk Owl perched up on a retained dead tree. Although it moved around a bit all had good scope views. Whilst this was happening the advantages of a group with more eyes and ears became apparent with a calling Cuckoo plus Whinchat, Common Redstart, Redwing & Common Rosefinch seen & all in song. Black Grouse were also heard distantly.
From here we had a fair drive on gravel tracks, with a fine male Capercaille seen just before the destination in the forest edge strutting around and glaring at us. We set off through the forest diverting past an area taped off to prevent disturbance to a female Capercaille nesting right on the path. Heading up hill Mikko heard his target and after a bit of searching we had a young male Red-flanked Bluetail singing from the top of a spruce. A couple of the participants were having difficulties with the slope so we returned downhill picking up Brambling on the way and a Common Redpoll in birch by the river in the valley bottom. Just after leaving the site we saw the same (or another) male Capercaille close to the road.
We then went back through Kuusamo, improbably seeing a Whimbrel on a small front lawn in the suburbs, to a lake set in a dry pine forest with a platform looking out over the water. Mikko tried to tape in Rustic Bunting without success but whilst waiting we saw Greenshank and Green Sandpiper on the edge of the lake and a Wood Sandpiper calling while balancing on a spindly tree top; managing to look elegant and completely ridiculous at the same time. With persistence Mikko did manage to call in a feisty little Siberian Tit (the only one I saw all trip).
The last site was high up near the ski area where a short walk up a steep path was not particularly productive, apart from a fly-over Crossbill (probably Common) but heading back down we stopped by a large aspen with a nest hole and soon heard and saw a fine Black Woodpecker come in to swap nest duties with its partner. Backing off to avoid disturbance we headed off-piste into the forest and after a bit of play-back a small, chatty group of Siberian Jay came in and flew about above us in the canopy calling for a while. It was now time to return to the hotel car park meeting point - in fact Mikko had given us more then an hour longer than he was obliged to!
Left to my own devices I headed to the Lake Toranki area starting with a slow drive down the Old Torangintaival road but with little seen from the shore. So I backtracked to the bird tower at the south end of Lake Toranki with the highlight being large numbers of noisy Little Gull both overhead and on the water with a few Arctic Tern and Black-headed Gull mixed in. Back on the new road the skiddoo track suggested by Gosney was flooded by high water levels and the Anninnimentie track and scrub did not produce any buntings. The path to the bird tower at the north end of the lake in now non-existent.
So I headed south east to Iivaara - driving on the freshly graded gravel roads showing why so many Finns have dominated rally driving! On approach it became apparent that this was one of the sites we visited this morning! So I parked up and retraced the route but carrying on up the ridge this time, on the way hearing and seeing the Bluetail again and then finding another, this time a full adult male, higher up. Just before the top I saw movement to the side of the path ahead and out walked a female Hazel Grouse - she looked at me for a moment and then continued slowly up the path and round a corner; by the time I got there she had disappeared. Both guides had tried to call this species in unsuccessfully so I was particularly pleased with such a good sighting. I guess this demonstrates the advantage of not being in a group - no matter how good (or otherwise!) the field-craft, a single person will always make less noise. After some time at the summit I set off back down.
It was beginning to feel like a long day by now so I decided to call time. The journey was enlivened a bit by the fact that the indication of range remaining in the fuel tank of the car was almost exactly the same as the sat-navs predicted mileage to the nearest service station. I made it and all fueled-up and provisioned returned to my accommodation. A late evening walk around the site produced the same birds in the trees and on the lake as before.
Thursday 24th May:
Up at 02:00 this morning to head back south a bit to Kuusamo for the second guided day. Having 'bagged' the owls I was just hoping to be taken to some suitable sites for some of the other more difficult forest species, especially given that the pre-tour e-mail about the good owl year in Oulu had gone on to say that the situation could not have been more different in Kuusamo with deep late snow preventing the guides from finding territories and that no nest sites had been found.
So I met up with the guide (Mikko) and five other punters and we set off. The first site was a narrow forest track not too far away with a nesting Willow Grouse right by the side of the mini-bus. The next stop was at a lake near town with a small group of Red-necked Grebe but not much else. Then to another lake on the outskirts that Mikko thought was the best local wetland site for general birding but unfortunately it was very quiet that morning but there was a nice Black-throated Diver just off-shore.
Four of the other participants had missed out on a couple of owl species on an Oulu trip a few days previously and the fifth was doing just this one day so they asked that Mikko did his best to look for some owls. He first tried last years site for a Tengmalm's but there was no evidence that the nest box was in use. By this time he had received a message from a friend about a report of a Hawk Owl sighting so we set off to a regenerating clear-fell site and before the mini-bus had even come to a halt saw a Hawk Owl perched up on a retained dead tree. Although it moved around a bit all had good scope views. Whilst this was happening the advantages of a group with more eyes and ears became apparent with a calling Cuckoo plus Whinchat, Common Redstart, Redwing & Common Rosefinch seen & all in song. Black Grouse were also heard distantly.
From here we had a fair drive on gravel tracks, with a fine male Capercaille seen just before the destination in the forest edge strutting around and glaring at us. We set off through the forest diverting past an area taped off to prevent disturbance to a female Capercaille nesting right on the path. Heading up hill Mikko heard his target and after a bit of searching we had a young male Red-flanked Bluetail singing from the top of a spruce. A couple of the participants were having difficulties with the slope so we returned downhill picking up Brambling on the way and a Common Redpoll in birch by the river in the valley bottom. Just after leaving the site we saw the same (or another) male Capercaille close to the road.
We then went back through Kuusamo, improbably seeing a Whimbrel on a small front lawn in the suburbs, to a lake set in a dry pine forest with a platform looking out over the water. Mikko tried to tape in Rustic Bunting without success but whilst waiting we saw Greenshank and Green Sandpiper on the edge of the lake and a Wood Sandpiper calling while balancing on a spindly tree top; managing to look elegant and completely ridiculous at the same time. With persistence Mikko did manage to call in a feisty little Siberian Tit (the only one I saw all trip).
The last site was high up near the ski area where a short walk up a steep path was not particularly productive, apart from a fly-over Crossbill (probably Common) but heading back down we stopped by a large aspen with a nest hole and soon heard and saw a fine Black Woodpecker come in to swap nest duties with its partner. Backing off to avoid disturbance we headed off-piste into the forest and after a bit of play-back a small, chatty group of Siberian Jay came in and flew about above us in the canopy calling for a while. It was now time to return to the hotel car park meeting point - in fact Mikko had given us more then an hour longer than he was obliged to!
Left to my own devices I headed to the Lake Toranki area starting with a slow drive down the Old Torangintaival road but with little seen from the shore. So I backtracked to the bird tower at the south end of Lake Toranki with the highlight being large numbers of noisy Little Gull both overhead and on the water with a few Arctic Tern and Black-headed Gull mixed in. Back on the new road the skiddoo track suggested by Gosney was flooded by high water levels and the Anninnimentie track and scrub did not produce any buntings. The path to the bird tower at the north end of the lake in now non-existent.
So I headed south east to Iivaara - driving on the freshly graded gravel roads showing why so many Finns have dominated rally driving! On approach it became apparent that this was one of the sites we visited this morning! So I parked up and retraced the route but carrying on up the ridge this time, on the way hearing and seeing the Bluetail again and then finding another, this time a full adult male, higher up. Just before the top I saw movement to the side of the path ahead and out walked a female Hazel Grouse - she looked at me for a moment and then continued slowly up the path and round a corner; by the time I got there she had disappeared. Both guides had tried to call this species in unsuccessfully so I was particularly pleased with such a good sighting. I guess this demonstrates the advantage of not being in a group - no matter how good (or otherwise!) the field-craft, a single person will always make less noise. After some time at the summit I set off back down.
It was beginning to feel like a long day by now so I decided to call time. The journey was enlivened a bit by the fact that the indication of range remaining in the fuel tank of the car was almost exactly the same as the sat-navs predicted mileage to the nearest service station. I made it and all fueled-up and provisioned returned to my accommodation. A late evening walk around the site produced the same birds in the trees and on the lake as before.
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wolfbirder
Well-known member
Very successful - jealous of the male RF Bluetail and Hazel Grouse, also Siberian Tit and Jay never easy.
Andy Adcock
Worst person on Birdforum
I've always baulked at using Finnature due to the costs, regardless of their conservation contributions, this is a lot of money with zero guarantee of seeing anything and views can often be minimal to say the least.
I decided to pick up what I could in other, much cheaper places before I resort to their services e.g Ural Owl in Serbia, Great Grey and Hazel Hen in Belarus, I twitched the famous Hawk Owl in Sweden some years ago and you can get the Jay in some places without using a guide, same with the Tit.
If I ever use them, it will probably be just for Tengmalm's but even then, with the wife along, it will be getting on for a thousand pounds for the day if you include accommodation and car hire.
A
I decided to pick up what I could in other, much cheaper places before I resort to their services e.g Ural Owl in Serbia, Great Grey and Hazel Hen in Belarus, I twitched the famous Hawk Owl in Sweden some years ago and you can get the Jay in some places without using a guide, same with the Tit.
If I ever use them, it will probably be just for Tengmalm's but even then, with the wife along, it will be getting on for a thousand pounds for the day if you include accommodation and car hire.
A
wolfbirder
Well-known member
To be fair Andy I did a 24 hour twitch to Oulu from Manchester - via Helsinki with Finnair - flights cost me £250 and then there was the cost of the tour starting at 3am. I had crippling views of Great Grey Owl (one of my dream birds), Ural, Tengmalm's and Pygmy, and chose to do it again to see Great Grey again and also Hawk Owl. In a good year, like this year, you could see all 5 for about £400, which to be fair is probably less than what you would have to spend to find them independently with time, accommodation, car hire, and petrol cost thrown in.
Just providing some balance on cost.
But I do agree, birding and finding your own birds is certainly more enjoyable, but these tracts of forest are just immense and largely identical, you could drive and drive for weeks and not find them. Though, again, to provide balance, there are some favoured areas if you have the knowledge.
Just providing some balance on cost.
But I do agree, birding and finding your own birds is certainly more enjoyable, but these tracts of forest are just immense and largely identical, you could drive and drive for weeks and not find them. Though, again, to provide balance, there are some favoured areas if you have the knowledge.
Andy Adcock
Worst person on Birdforum
You don't need to tell me that Wofie, I live 200km from the Finnish border and all we've ever found is Short-eared and a dead Pygmy, never even heard any call.
We have Three-toed, Black and White-backed Woodpecker, all within 500m of home, Nutcracker too but cannot guarantee, ever seeing any of them.
We have forests for 1000km in almost all directions, it's a tree desert in many places!
A
wolfbirder
Well-known member
For me, as a UK-based WP birder, doing the Finnature owl tour was an absolute must, albeit a 'two-off' (was gonna say 'one-off' but I did it twice).
Great Grey Owl was one of those dream, mythical 'bird-beasts' they brought to reality for me.
I loved my days out with Finnature. Days I will remember all my life.
Great Grey Owl was one of those dream, mythical 'bird-beasts' they brought to reality for me.
I loved my days out with Finnature. Days I will remember all my life.
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McMadd
You should see the other bloke...
Not exclusively directed at Andy but I'll use his quote above to give a more local flavour...
Have you all ever considered the cost of living in Finland? I've no connection with Finnature but I know they're Finns living here in Finland so their incomings and outgoings will be based on what we pay for living here not what Brits consider normal in the UK or elsewhere...you, Andy, know what living in the big place to our east costs and I assume you know it isn't the same as here...
Of course if they're sensible their daily rate will be same as everyone else in the guiding game won't it?...I lost count of the moaning emails I received while living in Shanghai complaining that the Chinese guides were charging "the BirdQuest rate"...well, we can all look at the cost of any bird tour company's trips and divide by its length to get a ballpark daily figure...if the market supports it then who wouldn't charge it?
And all birding has zero guarantees doesn't it? They have wings, nearly all fly and can be "there on the day" or not...
And what do you base the "views can often be minimal to say the least." comment on? That's also true of self-guided or guided birding not something exclusive to guided birding...and in this case the effort in the off-season to maintain the next boxes/sites should surely be factored in to the costs as should the fact that the window of opportunity to take people out is necessarily limited by both the behaviour of the birds - nesting and so probably more reliable vs not nesting and roaming Wolfie's endless forests...if your opportunity to earn a years worth of salary is concentrated into 3-4 months then you will need to charge a rate that allows you to live the other 8-9...if you don't then you go bust and nobody gets to come see the birds next year...
McM
That's about what you will see with general birding. But there are ways to improve the chances of seeing and hearing owls. Night drives in February-April with frequent stops. If you hear an owl, and want to see it, you can try walking closer, or return later in the season. Night drives in May-July when the nights are lighter and you really can see something, and you can move inside forest when there are no snow. Listening for the calls of young during that time (a real chance of seeing a Tengmalm's or Pygmy, for example). Putting up nestboxes. Searching for the cause for alarms of tits and other passerines for almost year round. In late autumn, visit small islands close to sea shore and headlands and search through trees - there may be some owls stopping for a day in their autumn movements, of almost every species. Driving through forested tracks with small fields or clearings or other more open areas during dull winter days - Pygmy and Hawk the most excepted species then.
But of course, it is much easier to a book a trip with Finnature.
Andy Adcock
Worst person on Birdforum
Why do you think we always fill our car up in Russia and take spare fuel with us when we camp in Finland!
I read a report a few years ago where someone was trooped around a range of empty nest boxes, as I recall, they saw virtually nothing. The company, if they were monitoring these boxes as they should when charging so much, 'should' have been aware that they weren't occupied but they still took the money.
These trips are marketed as 'Owl' trips', not much of a trip if you don't see any!
As I wrote previously, I've enjoyed tremendous views of most of the Owls with the exception of Tengmalms so if I use Finnature it will be just for that and I hope to see more than the top of it's head given what we'd be spending on the basis of two people being on the trip, could get a week in the Canaries for the same price!
A couple of our Great Greys from Belarus where we saw two nests in a wonderful country at a much more reasonable cost. Albeit, doing it my way would probably cost more in the long run but the views are worth it.
A
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foresttwitcher
Virtually unknown member
Mike - thanks, yes a very successful trip so far and it was to continue.
Nick & McM - agree with you both.
jalid - I liked being in the Finnish forests so would love to have the time, money & birding skills to do it that way.
Friday 25th June:
No alarm this morning as that was the 'planned' part of the trip over but I was still up and about early to begin heading north at my own pace.
But first a local trip to Valtavaara which again turned out to be one of the sites I have been taken to yesterday morning. Firstly I headed slowly up to the top of Konttainen seeing the more common of the forest birds seen previously - I did think I heard a distant Bluetail but the only species I saw at the top of a tree singing was a Redstart. The forest at the top was impressive as were the views all round.
Heading back downhill about half way down another Hazel Grouse walked out onto the path and I had enough of a view to see it was a male before it wandered behind a scrubby patch. This had been one of my most wanted species before the trip but one I thought I would have little chance of seeing due to its furtive nature so I was well pleased to see such good views of a second. But it was to get better, I crept slowly down the path and he popped up onto a fallen tree about 20m away, walked along the stem a bit, posed nicely for excellent views and even gave a brief burst of song before taking flight and disappearing into the undergrowth.
I then headed over the other side of the road and up and along the Valtavaara ridge. Again some interesting forest but the only new species was a Raven calling as it flew over. I also thought I heard a Siberian Jay but it was brief and distant.
On returning to the road I headed down the skiddoo track along the 'birdwatchers trail' hearing and seeing the Black Woodpecker again as I passed the nest tree. On the way down-slope I heard the first Chiffchaff of the trip. Taking a break by the shore of Lake Konttaisjarvi I heard an evocative call and set up the scope to watch a pair of Black-throated Divers. A scan of the other side produced a small group of gulls - a few Herring Gull and a number of very black mantled / yellow-legged Lesser Black-backed (presumably) Baltic Gulls. The path then turned back up through nice forest and part-way round there is a pic-nic type bench and as I sat here I heard a soft tapping and glancing around in the direction of the sound picked up a bird flying in to land on a leaning dead stem - a fine female Three-toed Woodpecker that spent a short time foraging up the stem before flying off. For some reason I had pictured this as a smaller bird!
Well pleased I returned slowly to the car and headed up the Porontimantie track. The first lake Gosney describes is now a bit difficult to access and was a bit quiet. I then walked down the track to the next lake and once there flushed a Common Sandpiper and saw the expected ducks.
It was now time to begin heading north and in my site guide the nature trail at Pyhatunturi looked promising so I set off towards the Sodankyla area. However my Gosney is based on information from 2010 and this proved to be out of date as there has obviously been a lot of development of the ski resort and despite a good look around I could not find any sign of the trail at all so left a bit frustrated and set off to towards Kelujarvi. In Siurunmaa all the scrubby areas described by Gosney were quiet and the only Buntings seen were Reed. So northward again.
It was evening by the time I reached Ilmakkiaapa and I parked up and headed across the boardwalk. I think I had maybe expected too much of this site. Don't get me wrong, the walk across the bog is intriguing and there were a few birds around: a Curlew wandering the drier areas, Wood Sanpipers in the smaller pools, a lone Greenshank, a pair of Whooper Swans, Mallard, Wigeon, Pintial & Tufted Duck on Lake Ilmakkijarvi, a Crane on the other side, Wagtails flitting around - but it wasn't heaving with activity. I met an Australian birder at the tower who thought she had heard the target Sandpiper earlier that morning. To use a bit of time up I set off down the Petkula road to the Vajukoski dam for a bite to eat and saw a couple of Common Scoter fly in and land. Back towards the main road I walked the side road where it went through another bog area finding similar species plus Snipe drumming overhead and Ruff but still no target.
It was getting late by now so I continued north a bit to a lay-by. With the first part of this trip having been a bit costly this latter part was to be on more of a budget. Rather than book the smallest and cheapest car I could get, like I usually do, I had hired an estate car with the intention of having enough space to sleep in it - a Golf later confirmed to be a larger Octavia. At the desk in the airport I was told it was an Auris but was in the same class so I said OK, the chap then asked if an automatic was alright and I said no problem, his final question was did I mind it being a hybrid. I thought this may be a bit more economical so said fine. So having called a halt to the day I opened up the tailgate and pulled the lever to drop the rear seat backs - they went down but not flat. I thought this could be resolved by putting them back up and lifting the back seat cushions. I could not move them and suddenly remembered - where do they put the battery in a hybrid? So I was left with the option of sleeping in the boot space using the step in the dropped seat backs as a pillow. Not looking too comfortable and lucky I am not tall!
Nick & McM - agree with you both.
jalid - I liked being in the Finnish forests so would love to have the time, money & birding skills to do it that way.
Friday 25th June:
No alarm this morning as that was the 'planned' part of the trip over but I was still up and about early to begin heading north at my own pace.
But first a local trip to Valtavaara which again turned out to be one of the sites I have been taken to yesterday morning. Firstly I headed slowly up to the top of Konttainen seeing the more common of the forest birds seen previously - I did think I heard a distant Bluetail but the only species I saw at the top of a tree singing was a Redstart. The forest at the top was impressive as were the views all round.
Heading back downhill about half way down another Hazel Grouse walked out onto the path and I had enough of a view to see it was a male before it wandered behind a scrubby patch. This had been one of my most wanted species before the trip but one I thought I would have little chance of seeing due to its furtive nature so I was well pleased to see such good views of a second. But it was to get better, I crept slowly down the path and he popped up onto a fallen tree about 20m away, walked along the stem a bit, posed nicely for excellent views and even gave a brief burst of song before taking flight and disappearing into the undergrowth.
I then headed over the other side of the road and up and along the Valtavaara ridge. Again some interesting forest but the only new species was a Raven calling as it flew over. I also thought I heard a Siberian Jay but it was brief and distant.
On returning to the road I headed down the skiddoo track along the 'birdwatchers trail' hearing and seeing the Black Woodpecker again as I passed the nest tree. On the way down-slope I heard the first Chiffchaff of the trip. Taking a break by the shore of Lake Konttaisjarvi I heard an evocative call and set up the scope to watch a pair of Black-throated Divers. A scan of the other side produced a small group of gulls - a few Herring Gull and a number of very black mantled / yellow-legged Lesser Black-backed (presumably) Baltic Gulls. The path then turned back up through nice forest and part-way round there is a pic-nic type bench and as I sat here I heard a soft tapping and glancing around in the direction of the sound picked up a bird flying in to land on a leaning dead stem - a fine female Three-toed Woodpecker that spent a short time foraging up the stem before flying off. For some reason I had pictured this as a smaller bird!
Well pleased I returned slowly to the car and headed up the Porontimantie track. The first lake Gosney describes is now a bit difficult to access and was a bit quiet. I then walked down the track to the next lake and once there flushed a Common Sandpiper and saw the expected ducks.
It was now time to begin heading north and in my site guide the nature trail at Pyhatunturi looked promising so I set off towards the Sodankyla area. However my Gosney is based on information from 2010 and this proved to be out of date as there has obviously been a lot of development of the ski resort and despite a good look around I could not find any sign of the trail at all so left a bit frustrated and set off to towards Kelujarvi. In Siurunmaa all the scrubby areas described by Gosney were quiet and the only Buntings seen were Reed. So northward again.
It was evening by the time I reached Ilmakkiaapa and I parked up and headed across the boardwalk. I think I had maybe expected too much of this site. Don't get me wrong, the walk across the bog is intriguing and there were a few birds around: a Curlew wandering the drier areas, Wood Sanpipers in the smaller pools, a lone Greenshank, a pair of Whooper Swans, Mallard, Wigeon, Pintial & Tufted Duck on Lake Ilmakkijarvi, a Crane on the other side, Wagtails flitting around - but it wasn't heaving with activity. I met an Australian birder at the tower who thought she had heard the target Sandpiper earlier that morning. To use a bit of time up I set off down the Petkula road to the Vajukoski dam for a bite to eat and saw a couple of Common Scoter fly in and land. Back towards the main road I walked the side road where it went through another bog area finding similar species plus Snipe drumming overhead and Ruff but still no target.
It was getting late by now so I continued north a bit to a lay-by. With the first part of this trip having been a bit costly this latter part was to be on more of a budget. Rather than book the smallest and cheapest car I could get, like I usually do, I had hired an estate car with the intention of having enough space to sleep in it - a Golf later confirmed to be a larger Octavia. At the desk in the airport I was told it was an Auris but was in the same class so I said OK, the chap then asked if an automatic was alright and I said no problem, his final question was did I mind it being a hybrid. I thought this may be a bit more economical so said fine. So having called a halt to the day I opened up the tailgate and pulled the lever to drop the rear seat backs - they went down but not flat. I thought this could be resolved by putting them back up and lifting the back seat cushions. I could not move them and suddenly remembered - where do they put the battery in a hybrid? So I was left with the option of sleeping in the boot space using the step in the dropped seat backs as a pillow. Not looking too comfortable and lucky I am not tall!
foresttwitcher
Virtually unknown member
Saturday 26th June:
Despite the car seat issues & constant daylight I managed to sleep surprisingly well and was up and about early, walking back south along the road across the causeway between two parts of the lake. It was yet another warm, dry, sunny day but with a bit more of a breeze that was enough to create a bit of an updraft along the banks of the lake where a number of Swallows hawking for insects were joined by a single House Martin. Walking either side of the road where it crosses another bog produced yet more drumming snipe (a sight & sound I never tire of) plus a number of lekking Ruff. Of the ID guides I have owned, in my opinion none have done justice to a male breeding plumaged ruff, neither in terms of the range of colours and patterns nor the absurdity of their finery. Still no target sandpiper - I had planned to return to Ilmakkiaapa this morning as well but instead decided to carry on north.
Further up the Kitinen Valley the Kurittukoski & Porttipahta dam areas were also a bit quiet with only the common species seen daily observed. I decided to have a look for upland species so headed to Kiilopaa - the development that has occurred here seems to have been much more sympathetic and it appears to be a generally appropriate tourist / activity area. I took the trail to the summit and pretty soon heard the alarm call of a Golden Plover in it's fine summer plumage and there were also Wagtails and Meadow Pipits around on the walk up. I did a complete circuit of the summit but failed to locate any of the mountain specialists - the views were nice, however. So I set off back down on a longer route and was scanning back up slope when a Golden Eagle went over fairly low down over the fells. Following the valley down to lower altitude the usual woodland species began to appear as the tree-line was reached with the highlight being a brief Red-spotted Bluethroat. Back in the parking area I met the Aussie birder again who confirmed she had seen & heard Broad-billed Sandpiper both very late evening and early morning from the roadside at Ilmakkiaapa causing me to simultaneously regret my decision not to back-track this morning and promise myself to return at the end of the trip.
I tried again for the altitude birds at Kaunispaa where you can drive to the summit but the wind, that was already strong on the previous mountain, had really picked up so there was nothing much about. I carried on to Ivalo but once again only saw Reed Bunting at the potential Bunting spots east of town.
North of Inari I turned west towards Karigasniemi. I stopped in the bog area and walked both sides of the road but did not fancy the recommendation of crawling under the deer fences so only saw Redshank and more displaying Ruff. Further along the road I parked at the turn to the reindeer compound and walked back along the road to a couple of viewpoints over the long narrow roadside pool. There were a few Goldeneye, Teal and Tufted Duck on the water and Wood Sandpiper in the edge reeds. The wind was blowing right up the lake and there were more than 20 Red-necked Phalarope battling with the waves to feed at the sheltered end. I had planned to walk up the track to Erotusaitu &/or go up Mount Ailigas but the wind was still getting stronger so I did not think it was ideal conditions to go up high. Noticing I was low on fuel I returned to Inari to fill up and get provisions.
Continuing back north it was now time to call in at the renowned Neljan Tuulen Tupa. On arrival the window was completely occupied by photographers so there was obviously something to see on the feeders. I had a look around this eclectic and eccentric place in the hope that they would soon move on and sure enough the group's Finnish leader ushered them out to their next port of call. So I settled down by the window with a hot chocolate - there was a lot of activity with numerous Common Redpoll on all the feeders and the ground (a couple of smaller, darker ones looked like what we would call Lesser in the UK). These were constantly bullied off by a similar number of Brambling and a few Chaffinch then occasionally a couple of Greenfinch would come in and chase even them off. The activity was constant with all going up from time to time if a squirrel jumped onto a feeder or the wind gusted but was fascinating. Another two hot chocolates and a cheese & ham sandwich later a couple of non-adult Pine Grosbeaks materialised (it looked like one each of male and female given the patches of coloured feathers just beginning to show) and muscled all the other species off their chosen feeder. I knew these were big for finches but was surprised by just how large they were compared to the Greenfinch. A nice relaxed type of birdwatching!
Heading north again I stopped at one of the small plateau lakes that hosted a smart pair of Smew. It was getting late by now so a bit further north I pulled in to the car park for Kevo National Park and walked a couple of kilometers along the trail and back, hearing Mistle Thrush in addition to those woodland species previously seen, before settling down for another night in the car.
Despite the car seat issues & constant daylight I managed to sleep surprisingly well and was up and about early, walking back south along the road across the causeway between two parts of the lake. It was yet another warm, dry, sunny day but with a bit more of a breeze that was enough to create a bit of an updraft along the banks of the lake where a number of Swallows hawking for insects were joined by a single House Martin. Walking either side of the road where it crosses another bog produced yet more drumming snipe (a sight & sound I never tire of) plus a number of lekking Ruff. Of the ID guides I have owned, in my opinion none have done justice to a male breeding plumaged ruff, neither in terms of the range of colours and patterns nor the absurdity of their finery. Still no target sandpiper - I had planned to return to Ilmakkiaapa this morning as well but instead decided to carry on north.
Further up the Kitinen Valley the Kurittukoski & Porttipahta dam areas were also a bit quiet with only the common species seen daily observed. I decided to have a look for upland species so headed to Kiilopaa - the development that has occurred here seems to have been much more sympathetic and it appears to be a generally appropriate tourist / activity area. I took the trail to the summit and pretty soon heard the alarm call of a Golden Plover in it's fine summer plumage and there were also Wagtails and Meadow Pipits around on the walk up. I did a complete circuit of the summit but failed to locate any of the mountain specialists - the views were nice, however. So I set off back down on a longer route and was scanning back up slope when a Golden Eagle went over fairly low down over the fells. Following the valley down to lower altitude the usual woodland species began to appear as the tree-line was reached with the highlight being a brief Red-spotted Bluethroat. Back in the parking area I met the Aussie birder again who confirmed she had seen & heard Broad-billed Sandpiper both very late evening and early morning from the roadside at Ilmakkiaapa causing me to simultaneously regret my decision not to back-track this morning and promise myself to return at the end of the trip.
I tried again for the altitude birds at Kaunispaa where you can drive to the summit but the wind, that was already strong on the previous mountain, had really picked up so there was nothing much about. I carried on to Ivalo but once again only saw Reed Bunting at the potential Bunting spots east of town.
North of Inari I turned west towards Karigasniemi. I stopped in the bog area and walked both sides of the road but did not fancy the recommendation of crawling under the deer fences so only saw Redshank and more displaying Ruff. Further along the road I parked at the turn to the reindeer compound and walked back along the road to a couple of viewpoints over the long narrow roadside pool. There were a few Goldeneye, Teal and Tufted Duck on the water and Wood Sandpiper in the edge reeds. The wind was blowing right up the lake and there were more than 20 Red-necked Phalarope battling with the waves to feed at the sheltered end. I had planned to walk up the track to Erotusaitu &/or go up Mount Ailigas but the wind was still getting stronger so I did not think it was ideal conditions to go up high. Noticing I was low on fuel I returned to Inari to fill up and get provisions.
Continuing back north it was now time to call in at the renowned Neljan Tuulen Tupa. On arrival the window was completely occupied by photographers so there was obviously something to see on the feeders. I had a look around this eclectic and eccentric place in the hope that they would soon move on and sure enough the group's Finnish leader ushered them out to their next port of call. So I settled down by the window with a hot chocolate - there was a lot of activity with numerous Common Redpoll on all the feeders and the ground (a couple of smaller, darker ones looked like what we would call Lesser in the UK). These were constantly bullied off by a similar number of Brambling and a few Chaffinch then occasionally a couple of Greenfinch would come in and chase even them off. The activity was constant with all going up from time to time if a squirrel jumped onto a feeder or the wind gusted but was fascinating. Another two hot chocolates and a cheese & ham sandwich later a couple of non-adult Pine Grosbeaks materialised (it looked like one each of male and female given the patches of coloured feathers just beginning to show) and muscled all the other species off their chosen feeder. I knew these were big for finches but was surprised by just how large they were compared to the Greenfinch. A nice relaxed type of birdwatching!
Heading north again I stopped at one of the small plateau lakes that hosted a smart pair of Smew. It was getting late by now so a bit further north I pulled in to the car park for Kevo National Park and walked a couple of kilometers along the trail and back, hearing Mistle Thrush in addition to those woodland species previously seen, before settling down for another night in the car.
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foresttwitcher
Virtually unknown member
Thanks again Mike & Chris for reading.
Sunday 27th May:
Woke up to another nice day and set off again up the main road. Early in the journey I saw a bird perched on the barrier that made me slam on the brakes - dark back, black & white head pattern, white underside with brick red flank streaks. I turned round as soon as I could and drove back past the site but could see nothing so turned round again, parked up and walked down the road looking in to the adjacent young broad-leaved trees. Only a 70kph glimpse but that frozen in time picture in my mind meant that it could not have been anything but a Rustic Bunting. Better views would have been great but I have had a lot of luck so far on this trip so will have to take what I can get.
At Utsjoki I took to the minor road on the Finnish side of the border and parked up to walk the track up (the other) Mount Ailigas. The Taiga forest on the way up was full of singing Redwing, Fiedlfare, Willow Warbler and Bluethroat with Wagtails & Meadow Pipit above the tree-line. At the end of the track by the masts I continued up a path to the small observatory; plenty of Golden Plover about and a movement altered me to the presence of a pair of Dotterel trotting around the rocks. Carrying on past the summit I scanned the bleak moorland but could not find any Grouse although there is plenty of habitat for them to hide in. As I walked back to the observatory shed a bright splash of white resolved, when seen through the bins, into a lovely male Lapland Bunting - distant but a definite plumage upgrade on an immature I saw in the dunes at Minsmere. On the return back down the hill I had a very confiding Redpoll close to the track, the first Rough-legged Buzzard of the trip hanging in the wind and shortly afterwards happened to glance upward as three Long-tailed Skua sailed overhead.
Continuing along the road that ran beside the river forming the national border a couple each of Buzzard and White-tailed Eagle were using the updrafts from the bluff above the river. At one point the course of the river takes an almost right angled turn and large blocks of ice were piled up on the shore against the outside bank where the melt-water had pushed it - a reminder, given how good the weather had been so far, of just how far north I was.
Slipping almost unnoticed by me across the very relaxed border I went back a time zone - as if 24 hour daylight was not enough to addle the brain of a Brit, today was going to be a day of 25 hours of daylight! I stopped in a small village for a break at a pic-nic site and to start off my Norwegian trip list and then continued along the south coast of Varangerfjord to the tip of the Bugoynes peninsula. From here Cormorant were seen offshore plus Oystercatcher on the rocks.
I slowly worked my way back west along the coast, stopping at Karlebotn, and finally ended up at Varangerbotn parking in the museum car park and walking to the hides. This proved to be a very productive little spot with the tide out enough to expose some good feeding opportunities on the mud-flats for waders and ducks. The list seen included: Crane, Greylag Goose, Shelduck, Mallard, Wigeon, Teal, Tufted Duck, Common Ringed Plover, Turnstone, Dunlin, Common Sandpiper, Redshank and Curlew but the highlight for me was a group of half a dozen Temminck's Stint close to the hide.
Heading now along the northern shore I stopped at Nesseby for a good scan. Another nice spot with Common Eider, Goosander and Red-breasted Merganser just off-shore, a large flock of colourful Bar-tailed Godwit on the beech and rocks, both Arctic Tern and Arctic Skua overhead and a Wheatear on the stone wall.
Having decided that sleeping the rest of the holiday in the car may not be the best idea I had used the last of my lap-top battery yesterday to book a cabin a bit further along the coast. So I headed towards Vestre Jakobselv stopping at an inlet on the way where there was a large flock of loafing Gulls - both Common & Herring plus Lesser Black-backed and Great Black-backed Gull added to the trip list. Arriving at my accommodation there was nobody in the reception so I left a message on the contact telephone number and went to Vadso to get something to eat. On the way back east I had a call from the cabin's owner to let me know it was OK to check in so I settled in for the next three nights. A late evening return to Nesseby added nothing new and it was now getting very cold. As I left and drove across the crofting-type farmland I stopped for some time to watch a Short-eared Owl quartering the fields.
Sunday 27th May:
Woke up to another nice day and set off again up the main road. Early in the journey I saw a bird perched on the barrier that made me slam on the brakes - dark back, black & white head pattern, white underside with brick red flank streaks. I turned round as soon as I could and drove back past the site but could see nothing so turned round again, parked up and walked down the road looking in to the adjacent young broad-leaved trees. Only a 70kph glimpse but that frozen in time picture in my mind meant that it could not have been anything but a Rustic Bunting. Better views would have been great but I have had a lot of luck so far on this trip so will have to take what I can get.
At Utsjoki I took to the minor road on the Finnish side of the border and parked up to walk the track up (the other) Mount Ailigas. The Taiga forest on the way up was full of singing Redwing, Fiedlfare, Willow Warbler and Bluethroat with Wagtails & Meadow Pipit above the tree-line. At the end of the track by the masts I continued up a path to the small observatory; plenty of Golden Plover about and a movement altered me to the presence of a pair of Dotterel trotting around the rocks. Carrying on past the summit I scanned the bleak moorland but could not find any Grouse although there is plenty of habitat for them to hide in. As I walked back to the observatory shed a bright splash of white resolved, when seen through the bins, into a lovely male Lapland Bunting - distant but a definite plumage upgrade on an immature I saw in the dunes at Minsmere. On the return back down the hill I had a very confiding Redpoll close to the track, the first Rough-legged Buzzard of the trip hanging in the wind and shortly afterwards happened to glance upward as three Long-tailed Skua sailed overhead.
Continuing along the road that ran beside the river forming the national border a couple each of Buzzard and White-tailed Eagle were using the updrafts from the bluff above the river. At one point the course of the river takes an almost right angled turn and large blocks of ice were piled up on the shore against the outside bank where the melt-water had pushed it - a reminder, given how good the weather had been so far, of just how far north I was.
Slipping almost unnoticed by me across the very relaxed border I went back a time zone - as if 24 hour daylight was not enough to addle the brain of a Brit, today was going to be a day of 25 hours of daylight! I stopped in a small village for a break at a pic-nic site and to start off my Norwegian trip list and then continued along the south coast of Varangerfjord to the tip of the Bugoynes peninsula. From here Cormorant were seen offshore plus Oystercatcher on the rocks.
I slowly worked my way back west along the coast, stopping at Karlebotn, and finally ended up at Varangerbotn parking in the museum car park and walking to the hides. This proved to be a very productive little spot with the tide out enough to expose some good feeding opportunities on the mud-flats for waders and ducks. The list seen included: Crane, Greylag Goose, Shelduck, Mallard, Wigeon, Teal, Tufted Duck, Common Ringed Plover, Turnstone, Dunlin, Common Sandpiper, Redshank and Curlew but the highlight for me was a group of half a dozen Temminck's Stint close to the hide.
Heading now along the northern shore I stopped at Nesseby for a good scan. Another nice spot with Common Eider, Goosander and Red-breasted Merganser just off-shore, a large flock of colourful Bar-tailed Godwit on the beech and rocks, both Arctic Tern and Arctic Skua overhead and a Wheatear on the stone wall.
Having decided that sleeping the rest of the holiday in the car may not be the best idea I had used the last of my lap-top battery yesterday to book a cabin a bit further along the coast. So I headed towards Vestre Jakobselv stopping at an inlet on the way where there was a large flock of loafing Gulls - both Common & Herring plus Lesser Black-backed and Great Black-backed Gull added to the trip list. Arriving at my accommodation there was nobody in the reception so I left a message on the contact telephone number and went to Vadso to get something to eat. On the way back east I had a call from the cabin's owner to let me know it was OK to check in so I settled in for the next three nights. A late evening return to Nesseby added nothing new and it was now getting very cold. As I left and drove across the crofting-type farmland I stopped for some time to watch a Short-eared Owl quartering the fields.
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