Trip to Norway and Lapland 27.6. – 7.7.2019 with family, part 1
At a first day of my Summer holiday, we started to drive towards the North at 7.35 am. There was nothing amazing on the way to the Liminka – just the usual stuff;
Magpies, Jackdaws, Crows, Wood Pigeons, Gulls, Cranes, Sparrows, Swallows, couple of dead Raccoon Dogs, etc… After 560 km and 8½ hours we were at the hotel.
Some of you might know that Liminka is one of the best birding hot spots of Finland and this was my first time there. Not the best time of a year, and only one evening and one morning to spend there but I decided to get most out of the short time. At evening (or afternoon if I’m absolutely correct) we drove to parking lot of Liminka Bay Visitor Centre (
Liminganlahti:
https://visitliminka.fi/en/liminka-bay/ ) and walked couple hundred meters to birdwatching tower of Virkkula. Which looked absolutely fantastic, it’s the finest watching tower what I have ever seen. But when I climbed to upper lever of tower, it soon became clear that the hard wind made it impossible to use the telescope… [couple of not so nice words] :C
There I was – on the ultimate hot spot of Finland and I could use only my binoculars and even that was unpleasant as the blowing North wind. Other family escaped soon from tower and so did I. I tried the lower level which is covered by the walls but the view from there was very limited. Soon my wife and son demanded that we return to the Visitor Centre. So my sightings from that visit was minor:
Pied Flycatcher, Willow Warbler, Reed Bunting, Common Redshank (very showy),
Hooded Crow, Marsh Harrier, Caspian Tern, Common Tern, Mallard, Wigeon (mother and ducklings) and
Common Snipe. On the other side of Bay I saw lots of ducks and other waterfowl, but couldn’t ID them.
We make a short visit in the Visitor Centre and the exhibitions there and we all like it very much. On the hotels yard I saw couple of
Rooks which is always nice to see, cos they don’t occur regularly on our neigborhood.
After good 5 hours sleep, I sneaked out and drove back to Liminka Bay. I thought that early in the morning the wind had calmed, but I was wrong. It still blew so that I soon pulled back to the lower level of the tower. It wasn’t pure joy, but I stayed there about an hour and saw in addition to the species seen last evening:
Whooper Swan, Northern Shoveler, Common Teal, White-tailed Eagle, Common Greenshank, Wood Sandpiper, Black-headed and Common Gull, Great Tit, Fieldfare, Whinchat, White Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Chaffinch, Greenfinch and
Yellowhammer.
At the next I drove half an hour to North-West to Sannanlahti’s tower in Lumijoki. I thought that it would be little bit more wind cover than Virkkula. I was right, but just a little. In my half an hour there I saw
Wood Pigeon, Common Crane, Black-tailed Godwit (which is one of Liminka Bay specialities),
Red-backed Shrike, Sedge Warbler, Redwing and briefly small Falcon (not sure was it Kestrel or Hobby). On way back to the hotel for breakfast I manage to see
Lapwing, Magpie, Jackdaw, Blackbird and
Spruce Siskin.
Then it was time to hit the road again. I had planned that the first stop would be made in Oritkari, Oulu. I was told that there might be Terek Sandpipers. – Actually, I had just got it for Lifer from Kouvola (which I think I haven’t told you yet) at the less than a week ago, but it was so distant that I didn’t get any photos it could have recognized. – So, this time I wanted more successful pictures.
When we get TS place, I noticed there was plenty of waders on a pool. Soon I found promising looking bird, but no – it was a
Wood Sandpiper. There was at least four of them and also couple of
Redshanks, Little Ringed Plover, Mallards, Teals and
White Wagtails but no sign from Terek. Other family members get little bit nervous already, so I thought it’s better to put scope, binos, camera and myself in to the car. Anyway, I had still one other TS place in my notes. I started the little Skoda and lifted up the clutch, when I saw something small and pale
waderish kind of thing landed on pool, I stopped the car and jump out with a camera. And indeed – there it was now –
Terek Sandpiper looking for a lunch. I take my photos and short video and then we were ready to leave Oulu – and Finland - behind us.
https://youtu.be/WoC_NYaNUrw