Birding in around the Helsinki area.
An Irish love refugee birding in Finland. Loves migration, raptors and Finnish cinnamon buns.
A Grand Visit
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The end of July saw a visit from my parents, eager to meet their granddaughter, take place.
Needless to say, getting the new Grandda a few nice birds was a bit of a priority too, and at the top of the agenda were our local Eagle Owls, a long overdue lifer for the old man.
A family outing ensued, and 3 generations of birder spent a rather pleasant, if intensely hot evening, enjoying a monstrous juvenile Eagle Owl, good food, and beers in the intensely urban and picturesque setting above.
There are some birds, which, whilst being truly awesome to watch, instill a feeling of reverence at the same time.
Eagle owl is one such species. If ever a Tiger took bird form it would be that of an Eagle Owl. Those eyes. Those talons. Those fluffy, cuddly paws of death.
This pair have been successful here for many years now, though only one youngster seems to be present this year. Hopefully it goes on to live a happy life decimating the city's rabbit population.
Eagle Owl - Hail to the king
Easy summer birding at it's best, washed down with a few cold beers.
Refreshments
The entirety of the visit was, however, insanely hot, with most days between 28 and 31°C, making birding fairly difficult.
We did manage to nip out here and there for a few choice morsels, however.
Dawn at Laajalahti
A very early, dawn start at Laajalahti at least allowed us to bird for a few hours in manageable temperatures. The usual fare was here, plenty of Caspian Terns, Wood Sands, Green Sands, Spotted Redshank, Temmincks stint, Little ringed plover, Hobby, Marsh Harrier etc. Alas no luck with any of the resident Spotted Crake, needed by his decrepitness.
Wood Sandpiper
Caspian Terns
We carried on to Suomenoja in the hopes of said crakes, but were again disappointed, instead settling for some juv/winter plumaged Slavonian Grebe.
Slav
We then carried on to Porkkala, where the woodlands offered some slight relief from the strength of the sun.
A party of extremely fresh fledged Red Breasted Flycatchers were a real treat here, me personally having never seen birds quite this young before.
Juv Red Breasted Flycatcher - barely recognizable and downright grotty. Hard to believe in just a few weeks these beauties will be clean and crisp, maybe on a headland in Ireland.
A quick stop at Sundsin produced a large family party of Red Backed Shrike, the adults looking particularly grotty after having produced so many young.
Red Backed Shrike
We also nipped out to take a quick look at the nearby Red-Necked Grebes, another good, rarely encountered bird in Ireland, and certainly never in Juv plumage.
Red Necked Grebe - juvenile - Don Foley
Otherwise it was just about enjoying common garden birds like Icterine warbler, Pied Flycatcher, Osprey etc. And frequently cooling off with beers or dips in the lake.
Icterine warbler - Don Foley
Hopefully it won't be too long before their next visit.
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