Fever Pitch

The illness theme continues as this past weekend saw the dreaded Flu of Man descend upon me.

Saturday was fairly miserable weather-wise and was mostly a write off save for a couple of hours in the afternoon where it was dry.

Desperate for some fresh air, and with errands to run any way, I opted for an afternoon stroll through an area where it just so happened there was a Great Snipe, which I managed to bag, along with Jack Snipe and Common Snipe.

I then continued my stroll around Suomenoja, where the scrubby building area produced two skulky Bluethroat, a plethora of migrant Chiffchaff and Blackcap and another Jack Snipe on the pools. 

Sunday was a beautiful day, so still afflicted, I opted for Saltfjarden. It is prime Rough Legged Buzzard migration time now and I managed to see some 30 birds over the course of the morning between here and Sunds. 



Saltfjarden - prime migrant habitat now.


Numerous White Tailed Eagle were also evident with about 20 Goshawk also.

Another Jack Snipe flew over the fields and an obliging Bluethroat was present on the track to the tower.



Bluethroat - first winter male. Little gems.


Bluethroat - note those rusty tipped uppertail coverts and rump feathers.


That Blue coming through on the throat.


That super. See that on headland or beach in Ireland and you've got something good.
Tangled up in blue.



Love these birds. They're reasonably scarce here in the south, though I usually connect with a few in both Spring and Autumn. In Lapland however they are abundant. One of my most enduring memories of Kilpisjärvi was arriving into the car park at our accommodation and literally having to step over them as they littered the ground. Seeing them like this sure beats skulkers in reeds.






Bluethroat - Even they way they move is a joy to watch.

A real treat came in the form of a migrating Rustic Bunting tic-ing as it went over the tower. It was pretty low too and I even managed a couple of seconds in the scope as it went by, seeing those lovely rusty flank streaks.

Rustic here, of course, is not quite the same rarity value as Ireland, but still scarce in the south of Finland in a migration context. One a year would be good going for me personally, so nice to find and nice to pick up on call.


Any weekend you see Great Snipe, Rustic Bunting, Bluethroat and a rake of Goshawk and Rough Legged Buzzards can't be too bad, regardless of the need for a lung transplant.

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