Juhannus

Juhannus. Mid-summer. It's a big thing in Finland. Long weekend, bonfires, barbecues. 

It's a  weekend we usually spend at our other mökki, north west of Tampere.

And usually the weather is awful. Finnish mid-summer is notoriously wet or cold or both. This weekend the forecast was for wet. 

We set off Thursday evening and arrived to the late night sounds of Corncrake, Curlew and Common Crane, this mökki being in more grassland habitat.

Midnight sun - Crex crex

Meadows the likes of which are a long forgotten memory in potatoland. Full of Corncrakes and Curlew.

I remember old fogies telling me tales of Corncrakes in Ireland in days gone by, and not being able to sleep because of the noise of them. I got by OK, but I do love that night time atmosphere they bring. 

Friday morning the weather seemed OK and I took the chance to nip down to Tampere dump, which has always been good in my experience. It wasn't open, but unlike many other dumps it still has a fair bit of open waste for gulls, and these were view-able just inside the fence.

Mostly Baltic and Herring gulls in all shapes and sizes. 

A few intermedius/heuglini types had been reported and I managed to see 3 of these, one of which looked very nice for Heuglins but did not want to pose for phonescoping.

I was hoping for some raptors, but conditions were not ideal, and just one honey buzzard was floating around.

Spot the lesser black backed type

2nd cal and Adult Baltic gull - immatures often have a rather gawky, awkward character. This one gave a sturdy, male impression.

The unmoulted primaries puts this bird in the complicated group of Baltic. Whilst the sheer depth of black in the greater coverts, for me, likely puts it down as Baltic, the sturdy appearance, bill and unmoulted primaries does leave some room for confusion with Heuglin's and some probably look like this.

2nd cal Baltic Gull

2nd cal - Baltic Gull

Baltic Gulls

Baltic Gull - looks like a male structurally

The rest of the day was spent in typical Juhannus fashion, eating and drinking too much. But the smoked BBQ pork was special it has to be said.

On Saturday, after a groggy start, we made for Sarkilla between showers, my patch away from home.

I've often done well here, my best finds being Pallid Harrier and 3 White Stork, but today was very quiet with just the usual Common Cranes and Corncrakes around. Whatever it is about the weather at the moment, raptors just ain't flying. Usually there would be a few pairs of Honey Buzzard floating around. 1 common buzzard and a male Marsh Harrier were the best on offer. It was then back to the house for yet another evening of too much food. 

Sarkkila bird tower

Baby dinosaurs are the best

We tried a midnight drive that evening, and even though the weather seemed OK, there wasn't much singing. A few woodcock roding around the place was the best, but the bonfires are always cool to see.

Midnight drive with bonfires

On Sunday I managed to nip out for a couple of hours, but again not much to show for it. A few Honey Buzzards were floating over the nearby pine forest, along with a few hobby and an osprey. 

A buzzard nearby showed a nice suite of vulpinus characters but did not play ball for photography. Plenty of Cranes, Curlew, Whinchat and even a distant flying Nutcracker, but not much in the way of singing birds. I suspect the summer doldrums period has hit.

Common Crane

It was then time to push on home. A quick stop at the dump again produced much of the same selection of gulls, with a Lesser Black Backed type being the best on offer.

Baltic Gull

Intermedius/Heuglini type (or the very pale end of Baltic, but didn't feel Balticy) Was paler in life than this damp pic suggests, but didn't really show the blue quality to the upper-parts I associate with the "best of the best" Heuglin's. Nonetheless, it's long winged, elegant structure make Heuglin's a possibility.

Not the most productive weekend, birdwise, but always an area I enjoy birding...and eating in.