Steppe Up

The Finnish word, Aro, meaning Steppe, is a common prefix in bird names here.

Many species are named for the habitats they originate from.

So it is with Caspian Gull, Aroharmaalokki, or "Steppe Grey Gull" when translated literally, though the context would be to call it Steppe Herring Gull, Finnish names often being derived contextually from the "base" common species.

Caspian Gull is a decent rarity here. Commoner than Ireland, of course, but seemingly rarer than in Britain.

Observer and habitat factors likely play into this status in a big way, with dumps being the most frequent sites to produce the species (or any gull species for that matter), and mostly the domain of the few gullers there are here.

Finland, lacking in beaches and estuaries, means finding a Caspian whilst routinely partaking in a bit of coastal birding is a non-starter.

Second to dumps, jamming a Caspian in a recently ploughed field is your only hope. This was how I found my first here in Finland, in a small flock close to ämmäsuo dump.

Caspian Gull - a rare natural atmosphere individual.

On Saturday we headed out towards Lohja and Siuntio, in the hopes of hunting out some harriers. We are now entering the prime window for raptor exodus and the aim was to check some old reliable sites.

I wanted to check Lohja dump first, whilst Hanna, uninterested in manky gulls, hit a local market for a couple of hours. I can't blame her. Gulls are not even my main target when I visit a dump, primarily hoping for a decent raptor or passerine, but of course the gulls must be checked.

It wasn't difficult this time around, as I rounded the top of the hill, and checked the top of the waste buildings. There were just five gulls present, and my attention was instantly drawn to the cracking juv Caspian Gull, second from the left. 

Bingo.

Chalk and..well...a different shade of chalk.

I sent a shot to herself, but even with a sitter of a Caspian, she showed little interest.

The bird then took off, doing a few laps of the buildings, giving gorgeous views of the tail and underwing patterns, before heading off over the hill towards the waste dumping site itself.

I drove around there and began scanning through the gulls feeding on the rubbish, but there was no sign of it, but I could see more than a few gulls up on the hill. I did a quick drive around to the top, and there was a surprisingly large flock of some 200 gulls sat on the open ground, but then the heavens opened and I was essentially trapped in the car looking through sheets of rain at increasingly damp gulls.

There was a very good candidate for a 2nd cal Caspian in among these, and what looked like a good Heuglins candidate, but I couldn't see the juv Caspian, as many birds were not visible just over a bank. With the dump about to close, and showers increasingly frequent and heavy, I called it quits, happy with my results.

Moist - that blur effect is basically just streams of rain from on high. Getting detail on grotty, damp gulls in these conditions was hopeless.

We then made our way to Myrans to begin our harrier hunt.

A flock of some 20 Golden Plover, worryingly all adults, were present on the first field, and the general presence of hundreds of Tree Pipit, Yellow Wagtail and Whinchat was obvious.

During the week major counts of Tree Pipit were recorded over Helsinki, so if the winds shift to easterly I suspect the Celtic isles will see the effects of what, seemingly, has been a good year for passerine breeding.

A brief half hour raptor scan from Myrans produced a few Hobby, several migrating Sparrowhawk, 1 Common Buzzard and 2 Marsh Harrier. Surprisingly quiet considering good conditions for raptor migration.

Common Cranes were present in good numbers, with a couple hundred in one flock on the north fields.

We then carried on through Siuntio and Degerby, again searching for harriers but without much luck, one soaring White Tailed Eagle being the best, with again large numbers of passerines on the fields.

On Sunday I headed to Saltfjarden, hoping to see a juv Montagu's Harrier which had been seen there the previous day.

Monty's are the rarest of the four harriers here. This was not always the case, reflecting the changed status of both Montagu's (declining) and Pallid Harrier (increasing). Despite this, there seems to be quite a few Montagu's vs Pallid so far this past week, with several seen within striking distance of the city.

I manged to pick up the bird shortly after arrival at the car park as it glided over the close fields, but only 1 other birder, who had just arrived, managed to see it well, with birders present on the tower only getting poor views as it glided away from them.

This bird then led everyone a merry dance, mostly just being seen well by myself at various locations, but few others connecting with it.

I managed some horrendous video of the bird, always being difficult to phonescope something that moves as quickly and with such agility as a harrier.

These video grabs are included simply for comedy value. 

Shameful - but at least it's supermodel slim. 

This bird actually came exceptionally close, too close to even dream of trying to phonescope it. 

At one point it flew directly at me, banking and making a close flyby, before turning back towards me and then circling up over my head, rising up before heading over some trees. 

Easily the best views I've ever had in Finland and ranking up there in views I've had of a juv anywhere.

Crane migration was pretty good also, that amazing sound being the true soundtrack of autumn in Finland.

Other raptors on the go were a couple of Juv White Tailed Eagles, Marsh Harriers, Honey Buzzards, Hobby, Sparrowhawks, Kestrels and my first massive juv Goshawk of the Autumn.