Hämeenkyrö

It was time to visit the Hämeenkyrö mökki, north of Tampere.

This would mean a weekend of singing Curlews and Corncrake in the grasslands and gulls on the dump.

I set out early on Saturday morning for the dump east of Tampere, stopping off at my beloved Sarkkila on the way.

It was pretty quiet here, surprisingly, with just a singing Thrush Nightengale below the main tower and no water birds of note on the lake. This showy Common Crane with it's glaring pale eye was nice though, seemingly oblivious to me on the tower, and a single Corncrake sang from the fields behind the tower.

On to the dump, where I found a line of cars waiting to get in. Clearly the lads had had a heavy Friday night, so I mooched around the scrub and settling ponds whilst I waited.

Rakes of Common Rosefinch were singing along the fence and a couple of pairs of Little Ringed Plover eyed me from the ponds, as did a single Temmincks stint. 

When the dump opened I drove in, starting at the main buildings, lots of gulls here, but they suddenly took off together for some reason before I even parked up. 

I decided to drive up the back of the dump to see if there was anywhere else they may be feeding. I didn't get too far, as rounding the corner, the habitat changed to scrub, nettles and bramble and suddenly there were Blyth's Reed Warbler singing everywhere.

Blyth's Reed Warbler - Skulky. Blyth's Reed Warbler are another species I adore, and one of the best aspects about living in Finland. I never thought I'd live somewhere I would gain such familiarity with these, and so, when living in Ireland, I found them boring. Stupid skulkers giving a tac call now and again, if you were lucky. Here they're in country gardens, hedgerows, ditches and parks, singing away when they arrive in.

The density of these here was incredible, with birds singing just a few meters apart all along the hillside. 

This cuckoo also sat watching me the whole time I was enjoying the Warbler song. Plenty of target species for them. 

Cuckoo

I then carried on, finding the majority of gulls feeding on open waste at the back of the dump. 

My target was a first summer Caspian gull which had been seen recently. Unfortunately this did not play ball for me, though the numerous Baltic gulls are always nice. 

Baltic Gull

Returning to the waste buildings, gulls had taken up residence there again. Still no sign of the Caspian, but I did find this bird.

I was immediately attracted to it's rather clean and neat appearance, white head and underparts, obvious neck shawl reminiscent of Caspian. However it was clearly in the Baltic/Heuglins bracket structurally.

The pale grey mantle feathers, paler than I would expect on Baltic, with an obvious and consistent shaft streak was also notable, and, moreso, this pattern was being replicated in the wing coverts as new feathers emerged, distinctly unlike the usual dark feathers of 2nd cal Baltic Gull. The retained juvenile wing coverts were still dark and surprisingly neat, quite unlike most Caspian. Retained axilaries were obviously barred. The bill was just about paling at the base of the lower madible, and I am somewhat concerned it should be more advanced, however I have seen references to individuals with dark bills at this time of year.

It did not play ball for me in terms of giving flight views, instead remaining wary on the roof of the waste buildings, but I can only put this down as 2nd Calendar year Heuglins Gull. Pretty pleased with that I have to say, barring any objections from experts. I would certainly look forward to encountering more birds like this in the future.

More Baltic Gulls were the best of the rest here. 

The rest of the weekend was relatively quiet, though I did see my first Honey Buzzards of the year (very late this year). 

Blyth's Reed Warbler sang from pretty much anywhere we chose to stop, as did birds such as Garden Warbler and Thrush Nightengale. Curlews were song flighting everywhere and one of the local lakes gave nice views of Red Necked Grebe.