Vanjärvi

Saturday saw us take a trip up to Vanjärvi, again looking for grey geese. With some 6000 in the area, consisting of Tundra and Taiga Bean, Russian Whitefronted and Barnacle geese, we were not disappointed.

However, whilst the birding was good, distance was a factor for most of the geese (being a large lake) and most did not play ball for phonescoping.

A closer flock of Tundra Bean Geese allowed for some pics and getting familiar with variety in bill shape and pattern.

These two Tundra are Taiga wannabees, and as close as it gets in terms of bill structure.

Tundra Bean Goose - showing a "pinched" bill shape. This is not uncommon, occurring when you have a longer billed tundra where the orange band comes right to the bill edges, exacerbating the effect of a narrowed tip. As with most Tundra, focus on the structure of the bill base is best.

A particularly jowly Tundra Bean Goose - I virtually never see this jowl effect with Taiga.

Some nice Russian Whitefronted Geese were also among the Tundras. Beautiful, delicate beasts.

The lake produced some nice year ticks too, in the form of singing Chiffchaff, Red-Necked Grebe, Great Crested Grebes, Coot, Pintail, Pochard and Swallow. 

A few pairs of Smew had also returned, the first I have seen since the freeze in February/March.

On Sunday I made for Suomenoja, aiming to see my first Slavonian Grebes of the year. As usual these little stunners were a delight of intense colour after a white winter.

Slavonian Grebe - still moulting towards full summer plumage. But still, those colours are real. 

Slavonian Grebe - so beautiful they generate an anti-gravity effect

A quick check offshore produced a few Baltic gulls and a good sized flock of Tufted Duck, but not much else.

Moving up the coast a little ways produced a dozing pair of Red-Necked Grebe, sleeping out the drizzly weather.

Red-Necked Grebes - the best of the Grebes in my humble opinion. Those smokey cheeks combined with that intense red neck and yellow bill make a superb combination. I will spend some time with these as the Spring progresses.

From here I made my way to Saltfjarden (which I'm claiming as my new patch at this point). 

Saltfjarden tower - a top notch site to observe migration and not too shabby for breeding birds either.

The King...has returned. Caspian Tern inbound. The monster of monsters. Carroty death from above.

Here more year ticks appeared in the form of Common, Arctic and Caspian terns, and a couple of Whimbrel.

The sound of the Caspian terns was amazing to hear again as they began courtship in the wet fields. 

Back in the garden, the garden list continued to grow steadily, as the lake is now mostly free of ice, water birds began to appear. 

Red Throated and Black Throated Divers made themselves known, with 3 pairs of the latter in place and singing after just a single day of open water.

Great Crested Grebes also appeared, as did GoldenEye, Goosander and Red Breasted Merganser.

The GoldenEye instantly began inspection of a couple of nest boxes in the garden and will undoubtedly breed. 

The lake is now more alive with sound than ever. Apart from all the land based bird song we have a cacaphony of Black Headed gulls mixing with the croaks and grunts of Great Crested Grebes and the evocative mourning of Black Throated Divers, all to the backdrop of dinosaur Cranes calling from the fields. The assault of sound is only going to increase, as more migrant species join the ranks. Bring it on.

Wonderful Spring.

Great Created Grebes courting - How adorable are these guys?