Long Live The Queen

I had always wanted to visit Kallvik, on the east side of Helsinki. It always seemed to do well for various birds, and the presence of a Queen Eider was tempting, so we set off early Saturday morning.

The bird was present and rather nice, if a bit distant. However, despite the sunny weather, the wind coming off the Baltic was brutal and we only stayed watching the bird for about half an hour. The wind and distance made getting shots impossible.

On the other side of the peninsula was a nice flock of close Goosander.

 

  

 

 I adore Goosander. I saw my first off Clontarf/Fairview in the mid 90's and they always stuck with me. A quintessential Christmas card species, and here you really do see them in those snowy, ice-lake conditions.

On Sunday I headed west to Inkoo where another Hawk Owl was in situ. 

I started out at Kopparnas where the feeders were quite active , particularly with Willow Tits and the odd Northern Treecreeper.

 Willow Tit - This bird showed pale edges to the mandibles of the bill, suggestive of the "pale spot" at the bill base of Marsh Tit.

Northern Treecreeper - A typically pale bird beneath.

I then returned to Degerby fields, where the first bird I saw a was a hovering Great Grey Shrike.

This bird spent most of it's time in the air, kestrel like, before pouncing. It then came up with a vole in it's bill. I then saw it transfer the vole, mid flight, from it's bill to it's claws, something which I had no clue they could do. The bird took the vole straight to a roadside bush, and immediately returned to hunting.

 

Vicious - Don't mess with Shrikes.

The Hawk Owl was then immediately present on some roadside wires.

 

Can you tell what it is yet?

 

Best Bird In The Universe

 Look at that beautiful crown spotting.

From here I moved back to Pikkala, where a dozen or so Smew were present in the bay, along with an adult White Tailed Eagle.