Birding in around the Helsinki area.
An Irish love refugee birding in Finland. Loves migration, raptors and Finnish cinnamon buns.
Back For More
Get link
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps
I was back at Lohja dump Saturday morning for a brief visit.
I connected pretty much instantly with the same Caspian from Monday, now having paled up a little bit even in just 5 days. Was nice to hear it calling too.
That underwing. Yummy.
Gull numbers really starting to build up on site here, however looks like they may be about to rebuild a waste storage building that burned down a few years back. If so, could really decimate gull numbers. Let's see.
Have been meaning to write a post on Tundra and Taiga Bean Goose identification for a while now. Wildfowl are my guilty pleasure. I've always enjoyed looking for them. The escape issue turns a lot of people off them. Grey geese can turn people off further still. Since moving to Finland, being able to spend long hours in the field watching both types of Bean Goose has been a joy, especially considering how rare they are in Ireland. Tundra Bean Geese are the far commoner species to occur here, making them the easier to photograph and so a good place to start. Tundra Bean Goose Tundra Bean Goose - careful assessment of structure is most important when identifying bean geese. Whilst there are size differences between the smaller Tundra and larger Taiga, this plays out most obviously in their structure and shape. Both species, rear on, can be extremely difficult to pick apart without the structural clues visible. The head and bill structure are crucial in Bean Goose identification. Thi
People often ask me why "I care about what's going on back in Ireland." I imagine many Irish people who've left to live in other countries, especially better countries, care what happens back home. That's why we want the ability to vote abroad. So we can have our say in making our country better, often with first hand experience of systems working better in our new country of residence. Now, don't get me wrong. Finland isn't perfect. No country is. It has it's scandals and dodgy politicians too. But it does seem to be on a smaller scale, it has to be said. Or maybe I just don't connect with them on the same level. Currently, the biggest long running scandal seems to be when the new metro will open between Espoo and Helsinki. Somewhat of a different level than, oh...I dunno...mass graves of babies around potatoland, like. There's no handing over the new maternity hospital to the nuns. There's no nnnyaaardeee rackin
A recent statistic popped up in my various social media memories. To date I've been birding on 4 continents, Europe, Asia, Africa and North America, and found rare birds on each of them. Pretty happy with that. 😎 So thought a post on how to go about finding rarities and importantly, how to BE a rarity finder was worth throwing up. They may sound like the same thing, but I have different views on both. One is methodology. The other is an outlook. Combine the best of both and you will achieve your goals. First up, the Methodology . 1. KNOW YOUR BIRDS This is an obvious one (though people may have different perceptions on what this takes.) It stands to reason though, that to find a Lesser Yellowlegs as a vagrant, you're going to have to know what a Redshank looks like (in all plumages)...and Greenshank ...and Wood Sandpiper ...and then...just to be really fecking sure... Greater Yellowlegs, Stilt Sandpiper and Marsh Sandpiper too. Lesser Yellowlegs - I've found 6 Lesser
Comments
Post a Comment