Heatwave 2026

Really warm and notably humid weather of late has made for interesting birding.

A White Stork near the house (though sadly didn't make an appearance over the garden) was a nice treat, enjoyed over the course of two days.

White Stork - the real McCoy. None of your dodgy plastic Knepp pollution issues here like you have in Ireland.

White Stork is still a rarity in Finland, though becoming increasingly regular and starting to colonize. I've found a few here in the past, but they're always a good bird to see.

A weekend up in Hämeenkyrö meant another visit to Tarastenjärvi, but this time only a LBB type was present.

Sub adult LBB type. At times this bird looked very blueish, something which can tempt you to say Heuglin's imo, but always difficult to say.

It's been a raptor summer by all accounts, with various rare raptors such as Steppe, Greater Spotted, Booted and Short Toed Eagles and a Long-Legged Buzzard doing the rounds in the country, none of which I managed to see. 

For me, personally, finding a Lesser Spotted Eagle on patch in Saltfjärden was a big highlight, being my most notable bogey bird in Finland.

Marsh Harrier

White-Tailed Eagle 

2 singing Icterine Warbler have been a garden highlight, with summer waders adding themselves to the garden list in the form of Dunlin and Ringed Plover.

Icterine Warbler - a garden gem.

Parental units then arrived for a visit and we set off west to Turku for a few days relaxing...ensuring that we got the Don of Irish birding a few decent birds here and there.

Eagle Owl - Juv - hard to beat Eagle Owls. Just sunning beasts.

Eagle Owl - adult - look at those talons!!!

Eagle Owls are true gems, and juvs, with their uniform, neat plumage always look amazing.

Whilst in Turku we also, as usual took in the dump, hoping for some decent gulls. Nothing interesting on that front this time around, but the resident breeding pair of White Stork put on a good show. 

White Storks - the day is coming when these will be everywhere. 

We also made a quick stop for a Long Stayed Hooded Merganser in Naantali. A striking male when it appeared in Spring, it was now in grotty eclipse. The Finns give vagtant wildfowl a tough time, but sure if goons are ticking plastic White Storks then an unringed, fully winged, mega quack is fair game. 🤣

Hooded Merganser - grimey...

Being in Turku in Summer, meant we got to explore some new sites, including some interesting wetlands etc, seeing numerous returning waders, best of which where quite a few full adult summer Spotted Redshank, and numerous White-Tailed Eagle and Goshawk.

Goshawk

Back near Helsinki, we visited various sites, best of which was Laajalahti for birds like Great White Egret and Citrine Wagtail.

Great White Egret - a rapidly expanding scarcity. You don't always get views this good. I will always have a soft spot for these, no matter how common they become. 

Citrine Wagtail - this bird had been eluding me on numerous visits, but finally appeared, briefly, whilst Don was here. Always nice to get one on the year list. Still a decent bird here, though again, increasing in occurrence and breeding.

Temminck's Stint seem to be a staple at Laajalahti this year. Fantastic species and very vocal on these latest visits.

Ospreys are always a joy at Laajalahti. 

Caspian Terns - making a fantastic break from the Irish norm. Being able to see these whenever we want is fantastic. What beasts!

Coming to the end of the visit, Don realized he hadn't encountered any Blyth's Reed Warbler this trip, so we nipped out the road to one I knew to be in situ. 

The bird was surprisingly singing right in the middle of the day (interesting for July) right on arrival and really gave itself up. 

Blyth's Reed Warbler - great to see these the way you're meant to. Not a skulker on a September/October headland.

In typical fashion, the best bird of the Summer appeared after Don had gotten on the plane home, with a Greater Spotted Eagle appearing on the deck at Laajalahti.

This was a rare occurrence in every sense. 

A. Rare Eagles are usually found in flight passing over some watchpoint. And B. This bird clearly had some fulvescens influence going on.

Greater Spotted Eagle - looking like a 2CY individual and appears to be one that was photographed in eastern Finland (Kotka) earlier in the year, in May.

With the missing gap in the left wing secondaries and of course the pale underparts, with dark "holsters" on the hips, looks to be the same bird to me at least. Highlights just how rare birds like this are, duplicating their records in wide ranging visits to Finland.

This bird was quite interesting, and a bit of an appearance morph with various lighting. On the first evening it appeared very pale, a distinct warm tan colouration on the upper parts. 

Other images taken however show a darker appearance. It would seem, however, it has some fulvescens influence regardless, though not the whitest/palest type fulvescens you can get.

I've only seen a couple of fulvescens types before, over ten years ago in Israel, so this was a joy to watch and easily bird of the Summer for me.