Super Hot September

September 29, 2024

A really, abnormally hot September just gone. A weather system that really affected bird migration with it being notably quieter for certain types of birds, particularly raptors which I would normally be putting the effort in for.

Things started out well with a vagrant Lesser Grey Shrike on the east side of Helsinki.

Lesser Grey Shrike - rare, but multi-annual in Finland. They don't always turn up somewhere convenient to the capital though. I count myself lucky if I see one once every two years maybe. A fantastic species.

The parental units then arrived for a two week visit from Ireland, and for a change we made our way out west to the Uusikaupnki area.

On the way, myself and d'oul fella stopped off at Turku dump where an number of Caspian Gulls made themselves instantly available.

Caspian Gull - 1st Winter. A tall, lanky bird with very long scaps and mantle feathers and generally dark tone. Looked new based on the various shots available online, but always difficult to say at this site.

Caspian Gull - a rather delicate, but crisp and beautiful little female. Again, looked like a new bird, but can't be sure.

Caspian Gull - 2CY. Always nice to see an age class beyond the more frequent juvs. This bird has been at this location for some time. A real looker though. Me likey.

Caspian Gull - this bird showed best, coming down to the trash pile and (bleuch) drinking pool. How they survive drinking that I do not know. I believe this individual had also been around some time.

4 individuals was a good showing. As it was blisteringly hot, and that heat gave the dump a distinct aroma, we pushed on to our accomodations to meet up with the rest of the family.

On route, we stopped off at a good area of fields called Tammisto. We drove down a side road and slap bang into a male Pallid Harrier zooming across the road in front of us. The bird carried on west and out of sight in seconds, leaving much to be desired in terms of views.

I managed just a couple of shots as it flew away from us.

On inspection of these, all was not as it seemed, and it looks like what we in fact had was a male Pallid x Hen Harrier. 😱

Pallid x Hen Harrier - more restricted black wing tip than hen...but more than you want on Pallid, particularly in the P10/9 area. No visible black trailing edge to the wing, and generally pretty white all over.

Pallid x Hen is an extremely variable beast, with the trailing edge of the wing seemingly a particularly variable feature (absent on our bird).

Our bird also lies on the blacker end of the spectrum when it comes to the primaries, similar to this bird

Certainly an interesting bird and a first encounter with this mix for me.

We gave these fields another go the following morning but didn't see this particular bird. We did find several Red-Throated Pipits however, and a migrating Peregrine Falcon (always a decent bird in Finland).

We then visited a wetland area, well known as a staging area for geese. The numbers here were incredible, and amongst the thousand of Barnacle Geese, most notably, were a few hundred Taiga Bean Geese. A markedly different scenario to goosing further west, where Tundra is the dominant species.

Good numbers of Great White Egrets here, as well as many White-Tailed Eagle

Taiga Bean Geese - pretty classically structured birds. A family group here with 2 adults and 2 juvs, the juvs having that nice scalloped pattern on the upper parts.

Back at the raptor fields that evening we scored a fantastic 2CY male Pallid Harrier (unfortunately the camera battery had died), but this gave pretty nice views for us around the fields for about an hour.

On the way back through Turku, even though it was Sunday, we did a quick check of the dump from the main gate, with 2 of the Caspian Gull present.

The dinky female again

And the 2CY bird

Back home, the Nutcrackers had arrived in the garden at last, picked up by the ould fella.

Nutcracker - Ultimate garden bird. Cracks your nuts.

A late Icterine Warbler was a fine supporting cast here.

Some more wetland birding at Laajalahti was good, with plenty more Great White Egrets.

Great White Egrets - population coming along nicely and will soon be common in every wetland.

A nice party of Little Stint were also present. Always a decent bird to see.

We continued to hunt Pallid Harriers, but it's a very poor year for juveniles it seems, though we had exceptional luck with males, includinging this full adult which buzzed us at Saltfjärden.

Pallid Harrier - male. There are few birds out there as classy as a male Pallid Harrier.

A juv Bluethroat was another good bird at this site at the same time.

Since the parental units left, I have been on a bit of a Caspian Gull finding spree, with it being one of my best autumns for finding this species, including having 3 together at one site in east Helsinki, which is apparently a record count at the location.