Kuusamo

A trip up north to Kuusamo have me the opportunity to see some of the northern specialities I hadn't encountered in years. 

The first target was the fantastically beautiful Siberian Jay. We ended up seeing these all over, with remarkably tame birds coming at times to investigate peanuts in the hand.












Siberian Jay



Siberian Jay is up there as the pinnacle of Finnish birding for me. An iconic species of the north and particularly approachable in winter, where that flash of orange-red against the snow provides a warm fuzzy feeling in sub-zero temperatures.

Siberian Jay is a species I have seen on occasion further south than Kuusamo, however next on the check list was the far more difficult to pin down Siberian Tit.

I had seen many Sibe Tits on a Lapland visit 8 years ago, in Summer, where they were quite easy to see in the Sodankyla area. This time around, things were a bit trickier. 

I scored one on a feeder the first afternoon near our rented cabin, but alas it was a very brief view. 

I then struggled the entire week, failing to find any at a number of feeders I was keeping tabs on.

It was the final day of the trip when we checked out a new feeder on the way back to Oulu that I was able to get to grips with a couple of very obliging birds, even having them feed from my hand. 


















Siberian Tit - Now these are exotic to me. And real lookers. An incredibly different tit species to anything I'm used to, both structure and plumage wise.

The number of Willow Tit this far north is incredible, and at times looking through flocks of them you start to worry that maybe you're missing a Siberian, but then you clap eyes on the real deal.



Willow Tit

Birding is tough going in the far north. Deep snow, temperature at -27 and birds few and far between. You can be highly reliant on stumbling across roving flocks, moving some distance between feeders. 

Nonetheless we did encounter some notable northern goodies, including a couple of flocks of Pine Grosbeaks (unfortunately quite mobile), Two-Barred Crossbill, and a Finnish tick for me in the form of Willow Grouse.

Indeed we managed to see all the grouse bar Ptarmigan on this trip, with flocks of Black Grouse, Hazel Grouse and best of all, a Capercaillie.



Capercaillie - female. Seeing one of these huge beasts flying through the woods is some experience. Immense birds. 



Crested Tit - rounding off the tit species for the trip. 






Dipper - these are relatively easy up here, apart from better numbers, flowing water is a scarce commodity, with some locations having double figures using the same open sections. Hearing them sing in this frozen setting was a beautiful experience. 


All in all a fantastic trip in true Narnia conditions, getting up close and personal with some amazing birds.




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