Bird watching

Spring has arrived early in Finland this year and so it is the perfect time to go out bird watching. There are around 450 different species of birds here, some are summer visitors, whilst others brave out the cold winters. As a guide I have only ever taken one group bird watching, but these tours are quite popular with visitors coming to Finland. I went with a group a couple of weeks ago  to one of the many nature reserves around Helsinki.

The best time to join one of these tours is early in the morning, our group arrived at the Viikki nature reserve at 6.30am and made our way to the observation platform arriving at about 7.00am. The group I joined were members of the Helsinki University in Viikki and they have made this an annual event for nearly ten years. All you have to take with you are warm clothes (it still gets rather cold at night and in the early morning), a thermos flask of hot coffee or tea, a pair of binoculars helps and perhaps a bird book for the inexperienced bird watcher (or Bonger) as they like to call themselves. A professor of the University organises these outings, who has been a bird enthusiast all his life and helps with naming the birds seen.

During a three hour period, 34 different types of birds were seen at the nature reserve. The reserve is made of marshland surrounded by tall reeds and a well maintained duck board path connects small woodland Islands together, before the path leads you to an estuary and out to the sea. So there is the possibility to see water as well as forest birds.

I did not manage to get any pictures of the 35 species of birds seen that day, so I decided that I would visit the country cottage the following weekend and see if I would have better luck there. For the interest of any bird watchers who may read this article, I shall list the birds seen at the end.

Once at the cottage it was not difficult to find birds, but it was a bit more difficult to photograph them! This Barnacle Goose, visits every year with about five or six others. Last year a pair had about six chicks, but we think that three of them were eaten by predators.

Whooper Swans are also common at the cottage, they seem to be very territorial and often there are large arguments if a stranger goes too close to another's territory. They breed very successfully as the picture suggests, already we counted about ten individuals on the lake with at least two breeding couples.

This Artic Tern is also a regular visitor to the lake, they have bred very well over the last few years and this year we have already seen about ten individuals. We often enjoy watching them diving for fish.

Pied wagtails have been nesting in the roof of the cottage for as long as I can remember. Every year they find the same place to nest, just in the eves of the roof.

Chaffinches are also common around the cottage, I managed to catch this one in a pine tree.

Lots of different species of owls also live in the area, I was lucky to see this one in the old barn, I believe it to be a Tawny Owl. Another bird often seen and heard at dusk is the Common Snipe, often seen and heard flying over the forest just as it is getting dark. Once again I have seen this bird for many years and they always seem to take the same route. Unfortunately I have not yet been able to get a photograph of it.

The experts tell me that the spring is three weeks early, and just to prove that the nesting season is already upon us this Blackbird has decided to start her family in the woodshed.

As promised earlier, here is a list of the birds spotted at the Viikki Nature Reserve.

1.Great Tit (Parus major). 2.Blue Tit (Parus caeruelus). 3.Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris). 4.Hooded Crow (Corvus corone). 5.Common Gull (Larus canus). 6.Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus).
7.Common Tern (Sterna hirundo). 8.Redwing (Turdus iliacus). 9.Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs). 10.Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus). 11.Goldeneye (Bucephala claugula). 12.Starling (Sturnus Vulgaris). 13.Herring Gull (Larus argentatus). 14.Mute Swan (Cygnus olor). 15.Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus). 16.Coot (Fulica atra). 17.Blackbird (Turdus merula). 18.Wild Duck (Anas platyrhynchos). 19.House Sparrow (Passer domesticus). 20.Barnacle Goose (Branta leucopsis). 21.Shoveler (Anas clypeata). 22.Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus). 23.Wigeon (Anas penelope). 24.Chiffhaff (Phylloscopus collybita). 25.Jackdaw (Corvus monedula). 26.Tufted Duck (Aythia fuligula). 27.Goosander (Mergus merganser). 28.Caspian Tern (Sterna caspia). 29.Wood pigeon (Columba palumbus). 30.Robin (Ertihacus rubecula). 31.Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis). 32.Canada Goose (Branta canadensis). 33.Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea). 34.Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula).