Tower Battle - Tornien Taisto
Bird Towers. I've mentioned them quite a bit in the past few posts. One of the first things I had to adapt to when birding in Finland was the move from actively searching out birds, by walking around headlands or beaches for example, to learning to appreciate visible-migration.
So much of Finnish birding is simply standing in one place looking up.
For years, back in Ireland, I was asked "how do you find so many raptors?"
The answer is, and always has been, most Irish birders don't look up. I do.
Birding in Finland forces you to do so. Here it's all about big sky birding.
They also tend to protect their habitats a bit more, fencing off areas which Irish birders would be inclined to tramp. Makes sense. There's lots of breeding ground nesting birds on these places.
The response to this style of birding is the bird tower. Variable in design and appearance, but with a common general principle. Put birders up somewhere high with a good view over areas of interest.
I recently read that there are a little over 450 bird towers in Finland. A higher ratio of towers to the population than any other country.
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| Maarin Torni - My local patch |
This level of provision of birding facilities is something that takes some getting used to (happily so), and (sadly), likely never be seen in potatoland.
Once a year, a big day of vis-migging takes place on all the Finnish bird towers, in the form of a competition : Tornien Taisto - Tower Battle!
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| We come to it at last, the great battle of our time. |
Vis-migging in Finland usually requires a very early start, and in previous years I have done the whole day. This year I could only manage a couple of hours. But being in May now, the year ticks were coming hard and fast.
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| The view of Laajalahti bay from Maarintorni |
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| Birders on Maarintorni - Including the Tringa young birders team. |
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| On the far side of the bay - Elfvik Torni stands ominously. A pox on them. |
First up on bat was Bar-tailed Godwit, quickly followed by Temmincks Stint, Ruff and Wood Sandpiper in the dozens. Several Little Gulls were doing the rounds too.
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| Wood Sandpiper |
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| Female Yellow Wagtail |
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| Fresh in Ruff and Little Ringed Plover |
News came through of a pair of White Stork moving our way from the east. Still a decent rare in Finland. I picked these birds up over the city and the group enjoyed them for about 10 minutes before they disappeared to the north.
The Cinnamon teal (likely the same Drake which had been out west earlier in the year) also put in an appearance.
However with it being a late spring, and a northerly wind today, migration wasn't up to much.
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| Little Gulls - Size comparisons with Caspian Terns - Terrifying |
The local birding organization, Tringa, had entered a team of young birders this year, who did pretty well with a score of 87. Very good considering the lack of passerine and other migrants around. Wind direction will be southerly tomorrow. That could be interesting.
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