), waders on their breeding grounds and of course the landscape, apart from a long weekend in Helsinki I had never been further north than the Isle of Lewis before!
2 June I organized my own flights from Geneva to Helsinki on the Sunday evening and on to Oulu the Monday afternoon 2 June, flying with Finnair which was a good experience. I was surprised to see so many families setting off on holiday from Helsinki but upon chatting with one pair of grandparents I discovered that the summer school holidays start on 31 May and last until 8 August!!! Finnature guide Pirita was waiting at Oulu Airport to meet me and the six other participants. The hotel was a short drive from the airport (that’s why it’s called Finlandia Airport Hotel I suppose..) and half an hour after checking in we were off in the minibus, driving through the rain to a forest somewhere to the east of Oulu. Walking quietly through the trees (apart from when one of the group took a tumble over a tree root!) we arrived at a tree sporting a nice rustic nestbox, Pirita scratched the trunk in ‘a Pine Marten stylie’ and out popped the female Tengmalm’s Owl (well, half popped out) to check the potential threat. I imagined its thoughts as we stared at it and it stared at us with that world-weary expression: “I might have known it was just another group of those peculiar bipeds and not a Marten, why do I always fall for that ‘scratch on the bark’ trick?” A long awaited upgrade from heard only for me, having both heard the species and found a corpse here in France but never seen one breathing! The soundtrack of singing Willow Warbler and Pied Flycatcher was to accompany us throughout Finland and Fieldfare were very evident on roadside verges as we drove along.
Having started early in the morning from UK, the others in the group made it clear that they were done for the day and we returned to the hotel for dinner.
3 June I did a pre-breakfast explore of the behind the hotel, an extensive reedbed with a few low trees with a raised viewing platform looking across the bay to industrial Oulu. Sedge Warbler were song flighting everywhere I looked. I heard a Common Snipe drumming, a Bittern booming and a Yellow Wagtail called overhead. A pair of Greylag Goose with at least one fluffy gosling were on full alert as an immature White-tailed Eagle was sat on the shoreline 200m away and male Marsh Harrier was also patrolling. I also saw my only Greenshank of the trip, a Green Sandpiper, Oystercatcher, Redshank and several Curlew while Common Tern, Tufted Duck, Goldeneye and Great Crested Grebe were in the inlet nearest the hotel.
First stop after breakfast was just a couple of kms along the shoreline from the hotel overlooking a sheltered part of the bay. A cracking male Pied Flycatcher and an equally smart Lesser Whitethroat were flitting around the trees by the car park. Two Common Crane were being divebombed by a a pair of anxious Lapwing, a few Red-breasted Merganser and Common Scoter were seen distantly and there were several Whooper Swan present (Finland’s national bird!) with our only Mute Swan of the trip.
On the way west to our second stop (Lumijoki) we saw a pair of frisky Common Rosefinch frolicking together around a roadside ditch, the male a very smart scarlet (as befits its name in my older bird books!). We explored the really nice woodland, bordered on one side by a slow flowing river and eventually opening out onto the wetland with an observation tower for scanning the shore and beyond. Hazel Grouse inhabit the wood but try as she might Pirita couldn’t tempt one to show interest in her special HG whistle, just a distant reply heard. Having the species here at home in France I was more on the lookout for other species and was delighted to hear and then see Wood Warbler, one that I rarely see these days. A Common Whitethroat was singing unseen by the river and on climbing the rickety steps up onto the viewing tower we were greeted by a splendid sight, pristine summer plumage Little Gull, Common and Arctic Tern fishing and a good selection of wildfowl, a male Garganey my favourite. A female Merlin whizzed along the shore, too fast for most of the group unfortunately.
The May and June period is the peak time for visiting birders so Finnature can have several of their guides in the field simultaneously, leading groups or individuals. There’s therefore an efficient ‘bush telegraph’ communication system constantly being updated enabling us to follow up a few recent sightings, listening and looking for Blyth’s Reed Warbler, Wryneck, Corncrake and Thrush Nightingale at a couple of places before heading to Liminka Bay Reserve for lunch. We drew a blank on all four and it became a bit of a standing joke that at each possible BRW spot we tried in our three days around Oulu there was an obligatory noise pollution problem, construction work, tractors or lorries parked with engines running or busy with passing traffic. So one potential lifer bit the dust (though in my ignorance I thought they were only likely further south in the country so not on my radar anyway!).
Liminka Bay reserve is a famous migration halt for wildfowl and waders and a breeding site for Black-tailed Godwit, some of which were bravely trying to shoo away a White-tailed Eagle as we watched from the (exposed to the gale force wind!) observation platform. A Caspian Tern was a welcome sight, though (perhaps due to the wind) not many birds were showing. However, a mammal lifer did show on the far side of the bay, a Moose which had a paddle in the water on the edge of the reeds!