Hel Hath No Birdies

The time of Rough Legged Buzzard migration is upon us, meaning that they can be found pretty much anywhere at the moment. These two ad males came over the house together the other day. Last weekend was spent at our Hämeenkyrö mökki enjoying the Autumn feel to things. Black Grouse - a local stop in decent habitat produced 7-8 male Black Grouse sitting around in trees, and the sound of yet more lekking birds from the near by bog. It's a sound I could listen to all day. They really are spectacular looking birds. Incredible blues and blacks, contrasting against those white underwings and red comb. As we were shuttering up the cottage for the Winter, Hanna picked up a calling Yellow-Browed Warbler in the copse beside the Sauna. Yellow-Browed Warbler - as is frequently the case with rare/scarce warblers in Finland, always high up in the canopy. Saturday we made a quick trip through Lohja. Not much in the way of decent gulling here, except for a late Baltic Gull, probably due to the frequ...

My weekend has started out pretty well I have to say. Yesterday produced two decent birds whilst walking Kuura, a Greenish Warbler calling away near our house on the mid-day dog walk, followed by a calling Yellow-Browed Warbler on the evening dog walk near the In-law's house in Espoo. Always great to hear that first spee-oo-eeet of the autumn! We then made our way up to Hämeenkyrö for our last long weekend of the year at the northern mökki (getting cold after all). I was looking forward to nipping down to Tarastenjärvi, as I have never visited so late in the season before. It's a big change, it has to be said. Most obviously, the demographics have changed. The majority of gulls are now adult or sub-adult Herring Gulls. Baltic Gulls are down to just a few stragglers with just 3-5 seen. The birds were also more spread out, with many roosting at various sites on the hill, many others feeding on a huge trash pile at the back of the dump and relatively few feeding at the trash bins ...

The days are getting colder. A noticeable chill in the wind at the weekend heralds the need to change from baseball cap to wool hat. The birds must have sensed it too, with noticeable movements of things like Brambling, and my first Rough-Legged Buzzard of the autumn. Some time at Saltfjarden produced more excellent views of the tame Red-Backed Shrike, as well as a few other individuals now present. The patterns when seen up close are spectacular. Evidence of a murderous nature here. Sunday was fairly quiet on the raptor front, with just a Merlin and a Hen Harrier, along with this Goshawk to show for my trouble at Saltfjarden. Goshawk - fabulous shape and structure. Goshawk - juv. Comparison with raven. Today I made for Lohja dump in the evening. Straight away on arrival at the trash pile I picked up this distinctive looking bird. It set off alarm bells instantly for a 2nd cal Caspian. Obvious bill and head structure, dark greater coverts, tipped tertials and plain grey scapulars comin...