So Damn Hot

The weekend gone by was oppressively hot. Temperatures soared into the low 30s at one point and were consistently around 28 degrees Celsius.

Normally, at this time of year, both weather and birding conditions would mandate a horrifically early start to beat the heat, and encounter birds at their most active.

Unable to manage such an early start, I settled for a little bit of wader action on the old patch at Laajalahti.

Failed breeders and the first juvs of many species are on the move and there were some nice goodies on show. Best of which were some close up Temmincks stint.


Temminck's Stint



A large number of Green Sandpiper, both adult and juvs among them were good for the location, with the Little Ringed Plovers also seemingly having had a good breeding season. 

Other waders included Dunlin, Snipe, Wood Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank and Ruff.
The usual Caspian Terns had yet to have any juvs in the roost.

Raptors included Osprey, Hobby and Marsh Harrier, whilst best of the Passerines was a singing Great Reed Warbler on the path down.

Sunday was even hotter than Saturday, we opted for open country birding, interspersed with a summer Cafe stop for lunch. The garden of this pop up cafe was actually pretty good for birds, and we were able to sit back and watch Shrikes and Rosefinch with coffee in hand.


It's all about berries this time of year. The heat has produced excellent crops with amaing flavour. 


31°C - unbearable


Male Red Backed Shrike - was feeding a full brood. 


This Male Red Backed was getting a fair bit of grief off a pair of Rosefinch. Listen for the mobbing/alarm call of Common Rosefinch in the background

We ended up back at home for the heat of the day, were we enjoyed a cold beer by the lake and an evening of swimming. Only way to survive really.


Olut -  sure how bad.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Finnish Focus On...Taiga And Tundra Bean Geese

Summer's End

How To Be A Rarity Finder