Review of Finland: Aug - Dec 2012.

Anyone who knows me or reads this blog would find it hard not to know that I spent the last four months of 2012 in Rovaniemi, Southern Lapland, Finland from August 30th to December 21st. The main purpose of the trip was as an exchange student and I would be carrying out the first semester of my degree year at The Rovaniemi University of Applied Sciences (RAMK) and the University of Lapland (uLapland).

Of course as someone interested in birds this was a whole new world to explore. I've always had a fascination with the North and it was great to finally get to experience it first hand. Straight away I thought of the Owls, Woodpeckers and Waxwings and hope I would get the chance to see a few. I also knew that the forests of Finland are vast, the birds are elusive and local knowledge would be my greatest tool. I did as much research as I could but most of the information on the internet of course was for birding in the Springtime at well known bird hotspots such as around Inari, Kuusamo and Oulu. Not so much information for Rovaniemi in the Winter time as it seems Northern Finland is regarded as "birdless" during these months. And yes it is true the majority of the birds migrate away at this time of the year but I found out that there is still plenty to see especially in a Northern city that draws the remaining birds in and the encounters I had were superb. During my time there my birding was restricted to the city itself and outer city limits as the only transport I had was my bike or walking. My time was also limited as I was taking courses at three different institutions and of course the weather and diminishing day light hours was also a factor.

So how did I do? Well I managed 51 species (see HERE) during my time there, 9 new species for me and a couple of new races not found in Britain of species that are found in Britain. It looks like a fairly minimal list but I arrived after the majority of migration had taken place (a lot sooner than Britain as it is a lot further North), I was there in the Winter months with November and December being particularly harsh and the majority of my birding was restricted to the city. But as I said before some of encounters I did have were excellent with some cracking views!

Also as I mentioned information on birding locations were limited and I relied on information from helpful members on BirdForum, in particular wolfbirder, piecing together small bits of information I found myself from tourism and nature websites (Rovaniemi.fi) and from a very helpful contact called Antti who works for the Lapland Ornithological Society and Birdlife Finland. Another great resource that I used over there which helped me a lot was the website Tiira. Tiira (Finnish for Tern) is Birdlife Finland's bird recording system similar to BirdTrack in Britain. The website is in Finnish but found it easy to use if it is loaded on the Google Chrome browers with it's ability to translate automatically. I then had no problem registering and using the site. If you click on Basic Search select the relevant birding association, in this case the Lapland Ornithological Society and then enter the municipality you require which for me was Rovaniemi. You are then provided with a list of records sorted by date with location maps and extra details.

So where is Rovaniemi compared to home in the Highlands? Rovaniemi is located in the Southern part of Lapland a region that covers the whole of Northern Finland. Finland as a whole is dominated by forest (approximately 75% cover) made up of Pine, Spruce and Birch and forms part of the Northern Boreal forest biome. Rovaniemi is the second largest city in the whole of Northern Finland after Oulu but is the largest city in Lapland itself. See map below.

Rovaniemi located a few km below Arctic Circle

I have also created this rough map using google maps and added locations that I will mention throughout.

Locations in Rovaniemi

So to the review. I will keep it similar to the 2012 Review I posted a couple days ago and try and work methodically through each month. Again all the pictures are mine are from the actual encounters and locations I am describing.

I arrived on Thursday August 30th taking the plane from Manchester to Helsinki then another plane North on to Rovaniemi. The first birds I saw in Finland were White Wagtails hopping around the airport carpark. The following two days were spent settling in and familarising myself with my new home for the next 4 months (and of course old friends and the local pub). The student accomodation didn't have internet access so I bought an internet dongle from the local supermarket and started checking Tiira for what had been seen around the city and when. Nutcrackers were being reported from all over the city. On Saturday morning I headed into the city to do some shopping and there were 3 Nutcrackers my first new species in Finland, just metres from me, no camera with me so I would come back.

In the afternoon a friend of ours took us to Ounasvaara. Ounasvaara is a hill on the East side of the city and was close to my accomodation. It is about 200 metres high and covered in conifer forest. It is a very popular winter sports area with plenty of tracks and a ski slope but the further East you go away from the city the more quiet it gets. A short walk through produced Spotted Flycatchers, Goldcrest and Raven with Red Squirrels easily seen.

View of Rovaniemi from Ounasvaara

In the afternoon our friend drove us to Jängislahti, a site I had read about before coming and wanted to see where it was. Jängislahti is pretty much a wasteland with plenty of scrub and surrounding woodland close to the banks of one of the main rivers running through the city. The area is actually used as a snow dumping site in the winter months. I only saw Reed Buntings on this brief visit but I would be back.

Jängislahti looking back towards the city.

The next day I headed back down into the city to catch up with the Nutcrackers. On the way I saw Great and Blue Tit, Fieldfare, Redwing and Siskin. The Nutcrackers were still there, 5 this time and I got some great views down to a few metres. More info HERE. A walk around the city before coming home produced Tree Sparrow, Willow Warbler, Feral Pigeons, Black-headed Gull, Scaup, Goldeneye and Magpie.

Spotted Nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes)

September by far was my most productive month over as many birds were still hanging around and it was pretty mild and sunny mostly. At the start of the second week of September, there weather was pretty good I headed back to Jängislahti, this time on my bike which I had purchased from a second hand shop in the city. Jängislahti is a site of a lot of ringing activity and by far one of the most productive areas in the city. Bluethroats, Rustic Buntings and Red-throated Pipits had all been reported in the previous days. On my trip there I saw plenty of Reed Bunting, Meadow Pipits and a few Willow Warblers. I got a cracking view of male Hen Harrier but was too slow for a picture. The highlight of the day was up to 11 Bluethroats, a new species for me, in the surrounding scrub another most wanted bird for me. I saw Whooper Swans on the water, a late Sedge Warbler and a Northern Wheatear on it's own in the very middle of the field.

View from Jängislahti of Ounasvaara

Bluethroat (Luscinia svecica)

Sedge Warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus)

A few days later I visited another site called Koivusaari on the other side of the river. It is actually an island in the river estuary and there is a circular boardwalk around the island and a bird hide apparently but I never found it. More sightings of Bluethroat and my first ever Lesser Whitethroat were the highlights, but there were also loads of Black Darter dragonflies basking on the boardwalk.

Male Black Darter (Sympetrum danae)

In the third week of September came one of the main highlights of my whole time in Finland. We learned that for one of our forestry courses we would be going on a tour of Northern Forests in Finland. We would be going to Northernmost Finland and touring around various sites seeing all aspects of natural resource management. I won't go into too much detail, if you really want to you can read all about it HERE. In terms of wildlife I saw Hoodie Crows, Goldeneye, Reindeer and Red Squirrel. On Day.2 we had an excursion to a forest near Ivalo. When having a forest lunch we had 2 visitors, Siberian jays! My very first and the number 1 bird I wanted to see in Finland. Unforunately didn't have too much time to enjoy it. However on Day.4 it was the highlight of the trip. A 20km boat journey up river into the heart of Lemmenjoki National Park. Again whilst having lunch around the fire we were joined by 6 Siberian Jays this time! They stayed for as long as we were eating lunch and picked up crumbs from around the fire, a superb experience (also where the blog banner picture originates from). On boat ride back I saw Dipper and Little Grebe. The last day was spent at Levi where I saw another Siberian Jay, Whooper Swan, Raven and my first European Elk on the roadside.

Siberian Jay (Perisoreus infaustus)

I ended the month with another trip to Jängislahti and managed to add Willow Tit, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Brambling, Swallow and Shoveler. The Swallows seemed to be rather late migrants and repeatedly flew over the reedbeds there. On the 27th September I also attended a presentation at the Artikum here in Rovaniemi for the publication of the new Rovaniemi Breeding Bird Atlas. At the end there was a table with several copies of the atlas (a really top quality publication) and when I asked how much they were I was greeted with the answer "Just take one, they are free". So I did! All September posts HERE.

Into October now then and University was in full swing now so time for birding became limited. I did most of my birdwatching walking or cycling to places I needed to go but I had some time to visit a few places. In the first week of October a Hoopoe had been sighted for most of the time. Didn't expect to have a chance to see this bird and the location was not far from Jängislahti so I decided to have a look. I didn't find the Hoopoe (surprise, surprise) did a few other birders looking around for it but I didn't want to ask due to the language barrier. On the way back from the area I cycled through a narrow lane where I saw my very first Waxwings! Another new bird and one I hadn't expected to see that day. Close by was a small garden with a very busy feeding station also. Willow Tit, Greenfinch, Great Tit, Blue Tit, really close views of Great Spotted Woodpecker and 2 fighting squirrels!

Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)

During October the forest exchange students were invited by a private company to take part in an Elk hunt acting as beaters. It was a very wet day, managed to see an Elk only 20 metres away in the forest and luckily the shooters were hopeless so no Elk were killed that day which I was secretly pleased about. But the highlight was two Hazel Grouse that I saw whilst walking through some Birch swamp forest.

Mid October and it was starting to feel like winter already. The first snow had fallen and so had the temperature. We decided to take a trip with the Czech forestry students to a cabin out in woods about 30km from Rovaniemi. The cabins are free to stay in and are maintained by the state forestry agency. Luckily there was no-one else staying when we were there, so we had it to ourselves. I saw another lone Siberian Jay on the walk up to the cabin. It was a great night, plenty of drinks and laughs and temperatures now at -4c.

During the next week was the start of the Waxwing invasion to the city which would last until I left. Flocks of up to 1200 had been reported from locations within the city. The courtyard outside my accomodation had up to 10 Rowan trees loaded with bright red berries and I was hoping it wouldn't be too long before some Waxwings showed up. And it wasn't long, up to 120 Waxwings arrived working their way around the trees and all the berries. It was great to stand on my balcony and see so many birds not 10 metres away. They resemble Starlings in alot of ways. Their flight is similar, they fly in large groups and are quite noisy all "trilling away".

Bohemian Waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus)

I also started to put some food out on the tree outside, started off with some half coconuts and they were visited by plenty of Great and Blue Tits.

I also decided to explore Ounasvaara some more. On one day the temperature had dropped to -15c but it was clear and sunny and decided to take a walk to a part of the hill called Isorakka. Within the forest I saw Waxwings, Willow, Great and Blue Tit and added Bullfinch to my Finnish list.

Towards the end of October we had a class trip to Pilke, a forestry science centre and headquarters for the state forestry agency. This building is also next to the Arktikum a museum about the Arctic. Before the trip a group of 30 Pine Grosbeak and been reported from the Arktikum gardens, so after our trip I went round for a look. No Pine Grosbeaks but I did see a flock of c20 Common Redpolls, a new bird for me, and another bird I was hoping to see, Long-Tailed Tit. But these were no ordinary LTTs, these were the Northern Race which look quite different from our own (see picture below) so I was still glad I checked. I took photos but it was snowing and almost dark already by 3 o'clock so they weren't great.

Common Redpoll (Carduelis flammea)

Northern Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus caudatus)

The overall highlight for October came right at the end of the month and again it was right on my doorstep. There was plenty of snow on the ground now, almost half a foot, and temperatures had stayed around -10c. We were defrosting our bikes and getting ready to head down to University, this was about half 8 in the morning. As I was checking my bike something caught my eye in a Rowan tree about 20 metres away. It looked quite big but when I saw a flash of red I knew exactly what it was, Pine Grosbeak! 3 of them, one stunning red male and two female / juvs. I rushed for the camera and got some pictures and ended up being a bit late for Uni, but I hoped they would be there when I got home, but then it was dark.

Male Pine Grosbeak (Pinicola enucleator)

So by the end of October I had seen, Nutcracker, Siberian Jay, Bluethroat, Waxwing and Pine Grosbeak all really close, superb. All posts from October can be found HERE.

By November, University had become very intense and busy and the weather too extreme for travelling very far by bike. Snow remained on the ground and temperatures low but there was a thaw for a few days where the snow completely disappeared. I brought a proper bird feeder now and was filling it regularly. The courtyard at Kuntotie became my main area for birding for the next 2-3 weeks. The feeder was visited by plenty of Great and Blue Tits and the odd Greenfinch and once by a male Bullfinch. Regular sightings of groups of Waxwings of various sizes were a daily occurence.

Great Tit on new feeder.

On the 9th of November, Pine Grosbeaks had returned to the courtyard, two this time, a male and a female. There was plenty of snow and frost but this time it was a clear day with plenty of sunshine, time to try and get some more photos. The birds were not fussed at all, allowing me to approach very near. Watching them feeding in the sun, especially the red male, was one of my birding highlights in Finland.

Over the next week the bird feeder was visited by a single Willow Tit briefly on one occasion and by now the resident Red Squirrel was in on the act.There was also regular Mountain Hare in the courtyard during my whole time in Finland and I finally managed to get a picture one night. I will also quickly mention here that I saw a stoat in full winter pelage. It ran across the road in front of me as I was walking home one day.

Mountain Hare (Lepus timidus)

I had an interesting record on the 15th of November. Snow and freezing temperatures were the norm now and the main rivers running through the city had started to freeze over. It was another clear, sunny day and we were making our way through the city. I noticed a small bird hopping about on the low branches of a Birch by the roadside. I was quite surprised to see it was a female/juv Blackcap. An unusual record I would think this far North in mid-November.

Frozen river.

Female/ juv Eurasian Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla)

Throughout the rest of the month groups of Waxwings, Pine Grosbeaks and Nutcrackers were seen throughout the city at various locations. There were also a few mobile flocks of Redpolls around and I examined them as much as I could but couldn't find an Arctic, althought they had been reported. I was also waiting to hear some reports of another bird I had hoped to see over in Finland, the Siberian Tit, no reports so far. All posts from November can be found HERE.

Into December now and it was starting to get properly cold, temperatures of -20c were becoming more common with one morning at -22c. The days were extremely short now, maybe 2-3 hours of daylight a day. But, if it was cloudy and snowing, which is was a lot, then it was pretty much dark all day.

I had been looking online for some more information on some good areas to visit on Ounasvaara hill and I came across a comment on a photo on Flickr. It was a photo of a Nutcracker and it was taken at a feeding station near to the main road going to the top. I asked the owner of the photo and he kindly replied with some directions. The next day I decided to visit as it was clear and sunny so I had a couple hours of daylight to play with. It was also -21c up on the hill. I made it to the feeding station no problem due to the excellent directions. I had actually walked past it a couple times before without realising as it was tucked away under a large Spruce tree near to one of the visitor carparks.

There was birds everywhere and I found a spot to sit down in the snow a couple metres away from the feeders to watch and get some pictures. The birds weren't bothered at all and they all kept feeding. There was 4 x Nutcracker, Great Tits, Blue Tits, up to 8 Willow Tits and 3 Bullfinch + the obligatory Red Squirrel. Then after a 20mins a new bird arrived, a Crested Tit! Feeding not 2 metres away, definately my best views of some of these species ever and my 50th species in Finland.

Crested Tit (Lophophanes cristatus)

Nutcracker

Red Squirrel

Willow Tit (Poecile montanus "borealis")

The Sunday after visiting the feeder a few of us decided to go to a different part of Ounasvaara one last time to light a fire, have some tea / coffee and experience this wonderful place one last time. Whilst up there I saw two Siberian Jays. By far my favourite bird of the North and it was nice to see them one last time.

I did however end up going back to Ounasvaara one last time on my own. On the 19th December two days before I had to leave I went back to the feeder at Ounasvaara and took a walk along one of the nature trails up there. It was bitterly cold again around -20c. On my way up the road to the feeder a Sparrowhawk flew out of the forest on the left across the road and disappeared into the forest on the otherside, bird number 51. There were the same species at the feeder but this time there were 3 Crested Tit. During the walk along the nature trail I saw a Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit and what I think was probably two Capercaillie but I didn't count them as I was unsure. One last check at the feeder on the way back and that was the end of my birding experience in Finland. All posts from December can be found HERE.

And what an experience it was, one I will never forget. As I said earlier I didn't see a lot of species but the ones I did were pretty special. Anyone searching for birding information for Rovaniemi that happens to come across this blog, please, feel free to contact me if you want to know more and I will try my best.

Winter birding and farewell Finland...

Today (20/12) is my last day in Finland. My first flight to Helsinki is tomorrow (21/12) morning at 06:05.

I have made the effort to get out a couple times in the last week and I am very glad I did. Last Sunday 3 of us headed up to Ounasvaara to take a walk in the snow and make a fire and have tea / coffee. But I had an ulterior motive of maybe seeing a Capercallie which I did not, but I did get to see 2 Siberian Jays which was just a great bird to see one last time and in a perfect setting.

So on Wednesday, yesterday I took one last trip to Ounasvaara on my own. I decided to visit the feeder again that I mentioned in my last post. The weather was really good, clear skies meant there was some actual light for a couple hours but it was bitterly cold at minus 20 degrees.

On the way up to the feeder a nice surprise was a Sparrowhawk that flew out of the forest across the road about 20 metres in front of me and disappeared into the forest on the other side. Species number 51 for my time here and only my second bird of prey species (saw a Hen Harrier back in the Autumn). I got to the feeder and there were plenty of Great and Blue Tits and a Willow Tit. After a few minutes 1 Crested Tit joined them. I didn't spend too long there this time as I wanted to walk through the forest and I decided to take the route of one of the nature trails which starts at the same carpark where the feeder is located.

Start of the nature trail.

Now I love going out walking and birdwatching in the winter. It is quiet and there is not as much to see the Spring but there is always something to see and if you do see something, it is usually even more special and I tend to focus on anything I see more because it might be the only thing you do see that day. There is usually no-one else around either which makes it even better. But, birding in winter in Lapland is something else. Clothing is so crucial if you want to be out for a few hours. It is impossible to be quiet crunching through a foot of snow when the forest itself is almost deadly quiet. Your binoculars freeze, the focus wheel is hard to turn and you have to be careful not to breathe out near the lenses as it means instant freezing. You have to choose whether to breathe through your nose and have your nostrils stick together or through your mouth which starts to hurt your teeth after awhile. The forest is a matrix of brilliant white snow patches and parts of dark green conifers that make your eyes go funny when looking at them for too long. The light is poor so it's harder to see things of which there are not many to see in the first place. Most of the time (unless you are at a feeder) there is not much sign of life apart from the odd Great Tit and Mountain Hare tracks in the snow. Occasionally you may see one running across your path for a split second before it is lost to your eye by it's camouflage or be lucky enough to see something interesting like a Siberian Jay which comes to investigate the noise and follows you for a 100 metres before losing interest. This basically summed up my walk apart from the Jay (this time). I have a great respect for birders here in Lapland some of who are out nearly every day carrying out Winter Bird Atlas work, according to Birdlife Finland's bird recording system, Tiira.

I didn't see too much on my walk as you can now imagine, but I did see a couple of Great Tits and a Great Spotted Woodpecker that was calling from the top of one of the trees. I did however see two Capercaillie, I think. They took off from half way up a Pine right beside me and I saw them for a split second before they were lost behind more trees. They were fairly big Capercaillie looking birds but it was dark and as I only saw them for a split second I won't be counting them on my list.

Great Spotted Woodpecker

I doubled back after awhile as it was still light enough to check the feeder again before heading home. It was a lot busier now with 7 Great Tit, 4 Blue Tit, 6 Willow Tit, 1 Nutcracker, 3 Crested Tit, 1 Female Bullfinch and another Great Spotted Woodpecker that flew past. As always the local Red Squirrel joined in too. Again the birds were not bothered by my presence at all and I stood there watching them all for half an hour knowing that for some of these species it would be my last time seeing them for a long time.

It was great to be out one last time but it is time to go home now and I am looking forward to birding back home in the Highlands again and I will be taking part in WeBS and the BTO Winter Thrushes Survey. But there will be plenty time to talk about that and reflect on my whole experience here when I have more time after Christmas when things settle down.

So Farewell Finland, it has been an experience I will never forget with some bird encounters that I will definately never forget.

Finnish Bird List additions:
51. Sparrowhawk

Update: 14th December 2012...

Well again it's been quite awhile since I wrote my last blog, almost 3 weeks. The last couple weeks have been really busy with University and completing coursework. Our time here is almost coming to an end too and there have been some goodbyes already. Myself and my girlfriend are leaving next Friday 21st. So now I have a bit more time it's now time to get a few last bits of birding done. The weather recently has been very cold and snowy which is not surprising. Last week the temperature stayed around minus 20 degrees and this week is staying around minus 10 but it hasn't really stopped snowing all week.

I had been in contact with a local birder about a feeder at Ounasvaara hill which is just across the road from my accomodation. He very kindly gave me some good directions to the feeder so that was the plan for today (14/12).

There is very little light here, down to 2-3 hours but when it is overcast and snowing like today there is not really any good light for taking photographs. But I decided to go out anyway and find this feeder. It is about minus 8 today, grey, snowing and quite windy.

The feeder I was told was close to one of the public carparks just off the road that takes you to the hotel at the top of the hill so that's where I set off. It really isn't far away and I was in the rough area in about 20mins. There was almost no birds seen on the way up apart from a Magpie. I got to the carpark which is surrounded by fairly dense forest covered in snow and I didnt locate the feeder straight away but a Nutcracker bursting out of the undergrowth gave the feeder's position away.

There were actually two feeders plus some half coconuts hanging up low down under a large Spruce tree which would have been easily missed if you didn't know. The feeders are maintained by another local birder and it was packed full of birds. The first birds I saw were Nutcrackers, 4 in total plus a variety of Tit species and a Bullfinch. I moved around to the otherside and the birds really did not seem bothered so I moved to within 2 metres and sat down on some snow covered Blaeberry (oh how I wish I worn my waterproof trousers) and waited for the birds to settle down again.

The feeder really was alive with birds. Nutcrackers, Great, Blue and Willow Tits in abundance. The longer I stayed the more birds seemed to appear with a group of 4 Bullfinch coming to feed. All these birds within 2 metres some almost seeming to nearly hit me as they moved around the trees.

I did take some photos but it was so dark and even darker under the tree that I needed the full flash for a fairly clear photo.

Nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes)

Male Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula)

I really couldn't believe how many birds there were. Nutcrackers are always fascinating to watch and they were sometimes less than a metre away from my feet. Never had such good views of Willow Tits either and there was up to 8 of them.

Willow Tit (Poecile montanus)

Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus)

The highlight of the outing came about 20 minutes in when I heard the distinct call. Crested Tit! One flew in and landed on a branch not a metre away and began to feed on the coconut and on the ground. Amazing views of a bird I have only had a couple brief glimpses of back home. It was shortly joined by another and they both came and went for the half an hour as if I wasn't even there, superb, and my 50th bird on my Finnish list.

Crested Tit ( Lophophanes cristatus)

After about an hour of sitting in the snow my arse was completely numb and I was losing what very little light there was so I decided to head back home but it was an excellent and well spent hour. Just before I left a Red Squirrel joined the party and came down to feed after making sure I wasn't a threat. They look so grey and frosty here but there is no mistaking it with those ear tufts (please excuse the demon eyes!) I will definately try to get back there again before I leave.

Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris)

Finnish Bird List additions:
50. Crested Tit

Update: 28th November 2012...

Another general update on the last week or so.

Birding quiet now as expected. Temperatures have dropped again this week -14C this morning (28/11). But there is always something to see and enjoy around the city.

Still plenty of Waxings around with a nice flock of around 200 seen today on the way home from University. Some not 3 metres away in some roadside Rowan trees.

Still the odd Nutcracker hanging around. One feeding near the bus station at the weekend and one seen today feeding on a fatcake feeder near to the road also on the way home. The bird also allowed me to approach to within a couple of metres, so I will visit the feeder again and try and get some pictures / video.

Plenty of Tits around everywhere, mostly Great but many Blues too. Still no Siberian unfortunately but I will keep trying. House and Tree sparrows still evident everywhere especially around feeding stations.

Hooded Crows and Magpies are still of course everywhere you look.

Redpoll flocks are scattered throughout the city with c60 seen the other day near the industrial park. Scanned the flock long and hard but still can't find that Arctic Redpoll either.

Pine Grosbeaks still in small scattered flocks around the city, good chance to see them in any Rowan trees. There were actually 2 in the Rowan trees outside the accomodation on returning from University today with one landing on the ground and was within two metres and getting closer until someone walked past and scared it off. Didn't have the camera unfortunately.

Another nice surprise the other day, again on the way home, was a Stoat or Ermine as they are known here, that ran out right in front of me across the road when I was on the bike. It paused for a few seconds before running under someone's shed. Looked stunning with it's coat completely white and black tail tip.

As you can see from my Finnish list I am stuck on 49 species, would be nice to get 50 before heading home in 3 weeks time. There has been Arctic Redpoll reported and chance of Siberian Tit still so I will keep trying. There is also regular reports of Lesser and Grey Headed woodpeckers about 10km South of the city but getting there is another thing entirely.

Will keep you updated!

Finnish Mammal List additions:
5. Stoat (Ermine)

Update: 19th November 2012...

Overall a fairly quiet week, the weather has been miserable, temperatures are slightly above 0 now and everything is starting to melt which means it's very icy and wet. It is getting very quiet on the birding front generally which is to be expected but still some stuff to enjoy. Finished a very intense part of my studies here today so will have a bit more time to explore again although we are down to just 5 hours of daylight already.

Last Tuesday (13/09) had a nice surprise in the form of a Willow Tit (of the Northern race borealis and new bird for the "garden" list) out on the feeder in the morning which was shortly followed by one of the many Red Squirrels seen around here all the time which had finally found the feeder and spent a good few minutes eating the peanuts but I didn't mind it was nice to see one so close. The Red Squirrels over here are actually quite grey looking and almost frosty in certain light. Unfortunately no picture of the Willow Tit but some did get some of the squirrel.

On Thursday (15/09) the weather was bright and sunny for the early morning walk to University and made a nice change of the dark overcast conditions of the last few days. Plenty of Waxwings still about in decent sized flocks and Pine Grosbeaks were spotted a few times at the top of some tall conifers. After crossing the old railway bridge I noticed a small bird in the shrubs at the side of the road. At first it was hard to see as I was looking up and into the direction of the sun. Then the bird hopped down a few branches to not more than 2 metres and I could see it was a Female/juv Blackcap! I was quite shocked if I am honest, never expected to see one of these so far North in mid-November but a nice record for my Finnish list and interesting in general! Did have my camera but only the short lense but you can see what it is at least.

Female/ juv Eurasian Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla)

The river that runs through the city was looking impressive in the sun as it is was mostly covered in ice.

As I said before birding is fairly quiet now and the day are getting shorter by the day but I still hold out some hope for Siberian Tit or Arctic Redpoll before I leave (and one of the woodpeckers would be nice!).

Finnish Bird List additions:
49. Blackcap

Kuntotie Garden List:

1. Blue Tit
2. Bohemian Waxwings
3. Great Tit
4. Greenfinch
5. Hooded Crow
6. House Sparrow
7. Magpie
8. Pine Grosbeak
9. Tree Sparrow
10. White Wagtail (from back in September)
11. Willow Tit*

Pine Grosbeaks again...09/11

First of this morning (10/11) the usual suspects on the bird feeder along with the Greenfinch which was back again. Also in the same tree was a lovely Male Bullfinch, a nice addition to the garden list.

The main highlight was yesterday (09/11) when the Pine Grosbeaks were back again, 2 this time. 1 Female and 1 one of those stunning red males again. Both in one of the Rowan trees mandibulating (thanks Autumnwatch) the berries. Well, I had to try and get some photos didn't I! Four of the male below, what a bird!

Update: 8th November 2012...

Just a quick update on the Kuntotie garden list. Had another addition this morning as I was eating my breakfast, a Greenfinch! Didn't hang around long enough for a picture though unfortunately.

Kuntotie Garden List:

1. Blue Tit
2. Bohemian Waxwings
3. Great Tit
4. Greenfinch*
5. Hooded Crow
6. House Sparrow
7. Magpie
8. Pine Grosbeak
9. Tree Sparrow
10. White Wagtail (from back in September)

Update: 4th November 2012...

There has been more snow over the last few days but two days ago the temperature rose above 0 degrees which caused a partial thaw and icy conditions the next day (the car park here was like an ice rink).

I have been searching for a fairly cheap but decent bird feeder in the local shops (the half cardboard box on a shoe lace wasn't up to the task) here but hadn't managed to find one but now with the weather getting colder I stepped up my efforts and managed to find and buy a pretty good one for only 6 euros. Finding bird food is easy as all the local small supermarkets are selling bags at fairly cheap prices.

I am now referring to the courtyard by the student accomodation (called Kuntotie pronounced "kuhn-toe-tee-ay") as my "garden". It is about 50 squared metres of grass and a footpath with several coniferous trees (spruce and pine) and about 10 rowan trees. So far on the feeder since I put it up are plenty of Great Tits (up to 10 at a time) just like on the half coconuts but also a few Blue Tits now and again. Both House Sparrows and Tree Sparrows have been seen feeding on the ground underneath. Overall the garden list is very short BUT with a couple of cracking species on it! Would be nice to see a Willow or Siberian Tit on the feeder if the weather becomes harsh enough to draw them out of the forest.

Kuntotie Garden List:

1. Great Tit
2. Blue Tit
3. House Sparrow
4. Tree Sparrow
5. Magpie
6. Hooded Crow
7. White Wagtail (from back in September)
8. Bohemian Waxwings
9. Pine Grosbeak 

New feeder outside

Great Tit (Parus major)