Birding in Finland late in July may not be the best option; however, we found out that even so late in the breeding season it is possible to see a good number of species, many of them attending nestlings or fledglings. Besides, summer in northern Finland and Norway have other rewards for the naturalist, and we enjoyed the high season for butterflies, dragonflies as well as flowering plants, of which we identified dozens of beautiful boreal species.
Norway is a very expensive country (a cup of coffee can cost 4€). In Varanger there are not many tourism facilities, so it is a good idea to bring your tent (free camping is legal in Scandinavia).
In stark contrast with Finland, national parks in Varanger seems to lack well-marked trails and even the only bird hide that we found, at Varangerbotn, is not announced.
Weather in Finland in July-August 2010 was extraordinarily hot, with temperatures well above 30º C, reaching 37.2º C in the southeast, the highest temperature ever recorded in Finland. In European Russia temperatures climbed above 35º C for days, and around 50 people died as a consequence of thousands of fires that burnt more than 1.5 million hectares of taiga.
Mosquitoes weren’t as bad as we expected and we only suffered severe attacks in some forests of Kuusamo and Parikkala.
This was a rather last moment-improvised trip and all the guides that we contacted were already busy, so we had to give up most of the difficult bird species, such as owls, from the beginning. We only found 2 trip reports for July (by Daniel Velasco and Sander Bot), but they proved to be very useful.
There are 2 birding websites for Finland www.tiira.fi and www.tarsiger.com which can be useful, but not easy to deal with. For Norway you can surf http://artsobservasjoner.no/fugler/ which is similar to the Swedish artportalen. Users of these sites don’t seem to be very active in July, and there were very few observations for Varanger.
The book “Finnish Lapland” by the Crossbill Foundation is a good source of information about Lapland’s natural history, and provides maps and lots of practical details. The advice and information provided by José Luis Copete, Daniel Burgas and Martí Rodríguez were invaluable.
We are particularly grateful to the Pöllänens for their hospitality, good humour, garden vegetables, lake fish and luxurious sauna.
Viikki (16 Jul) and Laajalahti (2 Aug)
These two natural reserves near Helsinki have easy trails and several hides over an extensive marsh area. We couldn’t see the Citrine Wagtail nor any Locustella warbler but ended up with around 80 species among which Osprey, Hobby, Temminck’s Sandpiper and breeding Nightingale Thrush. In addition, we saw many species that we didn’t find again in our trip as Greylag, Barnacle and Canada geese, Mute Swan, Little Ringed Plover, Green Sandpiper, Caspian Tern, Blackcap and Icterine and Reed warblers.
Konnonsuo (17 Jul)
In this rural area near Lappeenranta we saw our first two Common Rosefinches, as well as the only Common Buzzard, Grey-headed Woodpecker and Wood Warbler of the trip (a nesting pair of the latter species by Lake Saimaa). We also had our first contact with a Marsh/Blyth’s Warbler, but the bird was too shy and we just had glimpses of it. Other highlights of the area were a courting Crested Grebe pair, Black Woodpecker, Skylark and Red-backed Shrike. We drove off with the impression of leaving the area too soon and that it is actually a very good spot for birding that deserves more than a quick visit.
Parikkala (18-20 Jul, 3 Aug)
We spent long hours at Siikalahti where we got Gadwall, Marsh Harrier, Spotted Crake and a ringed White-backed Woodpecker female. However, many species such as the Little Gull were already gone.
Some old forests near Parikkala hold the southwesternmost population of the Siberian Jay although we failed to see this as well as the majority of most wanted forest species such as Capercaille and Black Grouse. However, we were lucky enough to encounter a female Hazel Hen with her 5 chicks crossing warily a dirt road in front of us!
Near Melkoniemi, there are some nature trails (luontopolku) and interesting bird watch towers (lintutorni), where we had very close sights of a breeding Whooper Swan pair and many Beautiful Demoiselle damselflies.
At the Pöllänens we got Corncrake, Sparrowhawk, Wryneck, Black Woodpecker, Marsh Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, six or seven Golden Orioles and a juvenile Common Rosefinch. We took a boat from 10 to 12 PM and sailed the Pyhajärvi (järvi is Finnish for lake), we saw Red-necked Grebes, Merganser, and an ethereal pair of Arctic Loon. On 29 July, a vagrant Pallas’s Sandgrouse appeared near Lappeenranta; it was last seen on 2/8, the day before we were in the area.
Tohmajärvi and Värtsilä (20-21 Jul)
This is a lovely rural area near the Russian border, a maze of cereal fields amidst forests, where many Corncrakes could be heard, and Blyth’s Reed Warbler is common along the hedges.
Here we got our only Northern and Marsh harriers, Common and Lesser whitethroats but weren’t able to find any Booted, Locustella or Greenish warblers. We recommend the Sini Lintu restaurant in Värtsilä, which serves Finnish home cuisine at an amazingly cheap price.
Kuusamo area (22-24 Jul)
This area is famous for its taiga wildlife, and there are bear watching possibilities (contact the Information Center at Kuusamo). On our first day we camped at Närängänvaara, a fjell with precious old spruce forests, which produced many new birds such as Bohemian Waxwing, Siberian Tit, Common and Parrot crossbills, Rustic Bunting and the only Great Grey Shrike and Golden Eagle of our trip. While having lunch by the road we watched how Common Swifts were coming in and out tree holes.
Ascending the main trail at Iivaara, a female Three-toed Woodpecker flew from a tree standing 30 m away directly toward us and detoured in the very last moment to perch in a spruce just 3 m away from us! When we were descending the hill we stopped to tie our boots and suddenly a group of one male and two female Two-barred Crossbills stopped on this tree just beside us! We were aware of our luck and enjoyed watching them manipulating the spruce cones and eating their seeds for long minutes.
In our last day, we hiked the “Karhunkierros” trail from the parking lot at Kontainen through the Valtavaara fjell to Ruka. This famous spot gave us two females and three juveniles Red-flanked Bluetail and several cheeky Siberian Jays.
Here we saw our first Bramblings and the only Crested Tits of the trip.
At Nissinjärvi we saw a good variety of ducks and waders, among which Northern Pintail and the only Smew and Greater Scaup of the trip. We also dedicated a quick visit to Oulanka but we failed to find any bird species worth of comment.
Ivalo-Inari (24-25 Jul)
Driving away from Kuusamo, we stopped at Ilmakkiaappa, a nature reserve with a nice boardwalk running on a peat bog that ends in a lintutorni. From the distance we heard our first Cranes.
In the birch scrub north of Ivalo, we looked for Arctic Warblers for a long while but didn’t see any; instead we had a Short-eared Owl flying overhead and calling while staring severely at us.
Our next stop was Neeljan Tuulen Tupa, the road restaurant and camping site famous by its bird feeders. Just two minutes after buying lunch (buffet for just 12€!) a female Pine Grosbeak showed up in one of the feeders! We were surprised of its size that doubles the one of a Greenfinch. The bird left soon but our lunch was livened up by the constant quarrels and chases of dozens of Greenfinches and Redpolls and the despotism of this squirrel sitting inside one of the feeders. A quick stop a few kilometres north produced two Cranes and our first Bluethroat.
Varanger (26-31 Jul)
The Varanger Peninsula was probably the high point of the trip because of its unique landscapes, the Arctic Ocean and the abundance of birds. There, we saw 81 species, 39 species exclusive for the trip. One thing that struck us was the strong differences in breeding success among species, with some having numerous young (as Shag and Kittiwake) and others not having at all (as alcids, jaegers and terns). Probably over-fishing has something to do with it.
We entered Norway through Utsjoki very early in the morning. The landscape suddenly became hilly and we encountered two fox cubs and several Ringed Plovers in the middle of the solitary road. As we drove through Varangerbotn, we were surprised by the unexpected presence of a Kestrel and a Chiff-chaff. Thanks to this stop we distinguished by chance a hide by the bay. It was Varangerbotn Nature Reserve. After some search we figured out where the entrance was, and it was worth visiting because there we saw our first Common Eiders, scoters, Bar-tailed Godwits, Little Ringed Plovers, and our northernmost Siberian Tits.
Along the road to Vadsø we saw our first Sea Eagles, Rough-legged Buzzards and Parasitic Jaegers. We stopped at Nesseby church, the famous spot for Red-necked Phalarope, of which there were 5 juveniles. Although, this is the most visited spot for the species, we saw flocks of more than 100 individuals in other lagoons later on (specifically at Ekkerøy and Vadsøya). As we drove away, we counted 5 Short-eared Owls patrolling the nearby field! As we arrived to Vadsø we scanned the harbour searching the Steller’s Eider, an operation that we repeated unsuccessfully in subsequent days. In the afternoon we visited the Kittiwake colony at Ekkerøy, a small peninsula that would save very nice surprises to us for the last day. Red-throated Pipits were common along the road, and many were feeding young. However, we were puzzled by some individuals, which acted and called as Red-throated but whose plumage didn’t match any pipit. We only solved this riddle a few days later when we realised that many (most?) adults were breeding and undergoing its complete postnuptial moult simultaneously. In the Red-throated, this implied a whole variety of plumages: from almost full breeding to almost full winter appearance.
On the 27th, we headed toward Vardø. Along the road we saw an adult Peregrine Falcon sitting on a rock.
At 9 AM we took the boat to the island of Hornøya, which holds large nesting colonies of seabirds. The strong smell and the cries of thousands of birds stroke our senses. We were really impressed by the cluttered colonies of Kittiwakes, Puffins, Shags and Common Guillemots and their clamorous and restless activity. The game of life and death was distressing, and the corpses of so many birds predated just where they live struck us by its wild character. A Great Black-backed Gull was gobbling up the only juvenile alcid that we got to see on the island. We saw 22 species there, among which stood out the five Alcidae species (no signs of the Little Auk), Rock Pipit and our only two Twites of our trip.
The next day we drove through Kongsfjordfjellet towards Berlevåg and spent much time identifying plants near Hangalačaerre. Firstly, we stopped a very long while under the cliffs of the Tana River hoping to see a Gyrfalcon breaking the upper clouds in any moment. But nothing interesting came out of that stop (although, in our way back we saw a male Cuckoo flying across the road). We enjoyed watching Red-throated Loons swimming with their chicks, flying between lakes and hearing their mysterious calls and their partridge like flight song. We got a solitary Common Scoter, one juvenile Long-tailed Duck and a couple of Merlins.
Back to Vardø, we saw 5 Glaucous Gulls at the harbour. Along the road to Vadsø, we scanned the eider and merganser rafts looking unsuccessfully for King Eiders; however, we saw a raft of 60 Long-tailed Ducks, a couple of Long-tailed Skuas and one Little Stint still showing its breeding plumage. As the days went by, Santi grew more anxious for our bad luck, and we were especially surprised we hadn’t seen any bunting yet. We took a last chance with the tundra in Komagbær. The day was bleak: wet, foggy, windy and rainy, so we were only able to see a handful of Golden Plovers attending their chicks. Santi felt really frustrated.
The next day was sunny, warm, completely different. We met a German birdwatcher at the harbour of Vadsø who had photographed an Iceland Gull there the day before. We chatted for a while and he cheered us up. He told us that Yellow-billed Loons are seen at the junction of the road to Ekkerøy in the evenings. So we decided to take an easy day until then, and had a walk around Ekkerøy. Before getting there we saw one solitary adult Grey Plover: the day had a promising begin. So we walked the loop around this peninsula, reading the interesting panels on geology, history and nature. The lagoon at the tip was packed with Tufted Ducks and Red-necked Phalaropes. As we reached the shingle beach, a Temminck’s Sandpiper landed just in front of us but flew off too fast. A few minutes later, we almost stepped on a group of Dunlins resting in the middle of the trail. We raised the rage of hundreds of Arctic Terns as we walked by, and had another happy encounter along the beach: two Sanderlings. Right after this, we almost stepped this juvenile bunting with a funny face and whitish margins on its greater and middle coverts. It didn’t quite matched a Reed Bunting…it should be…yes! Here the father came, preceded by its fluty beautiful calls, to feed it. Finally, the longed Lapland Bunting showed up! Perhaps 30 m away a group of three juveniles flew by. But just another few hundred meters farther on, we had another unexpected reward: one adult Broad-billed Sandpiper.
The day could only finish well, and we got two juvenile Yellow-billed Loons at around 6 PM together with a group of 4 juvenile Arctic Loons. The sea was rippled but the birds came very close to the shore.
We dropped our rented car in Rovaniemi and took a train to Helsinki. In Tervola station we saw the only Nutcracker of the trip. The long south to north drive allowed us to witness the latitudinal change in species distribution and abundance. Only four of them were present all the way: Common Gull, White Wagtail, Fieldfare and Willow Warbler. We ended up seeing 182 bird species. For a copy of the list per locality e-mail to sguallar@yahoo.com
Scientific name English name
Gavia stellata Red-throated Loon
Gavia arctica Arctic Loon
Gavia adamsii Yellow-billed Loon
Podiceps cristatus Crested Grebe
Podiceps grisegena Red-necked Grebe
Phalacrocorax carbo Great Cormorant
Phalacrocorax aristotelis Shag
Ardea cinerea Gray Heron
Cygnus olor Mute Swan
Cygnus cygnus Whooper Swan
Anser anser Greylag
Branta leucopsis Barnacle Goose
Branta canadensis Canada Goose
Tadorna tadorna Shelduck
Anas platyrhynchos Mallard
Anas strepera Gadwall
Anas acuta Northern Pintail
Anas penelope Eurasian Wigeon
Anas crecca Green-winged Teal
Anas clypeata Northern Shoveler
Aythya ferina Common Pochard
Aythya marila Greater Scaup
Aythya fuligula Tufted Duck
Somateria mollissima Common Eider
Mergus albellus Smew
Mergus merganser Common Merganser
Mergus serrator Red-breasted Merganser
Melanitta nigra Black Scoter
Melanitta fusca White-winged Scoter
Bucephala clangula Common Goldeneye
Clangula hyemalis Long-tailed Duck
Haliaetus albicilla Sea Eagle
Pandion haliaetus Osprey
Aquila chrysaetos Golden Eagle
Circus aeruginosus Marsh Harrier
Circus cyaneus Northern Harrier
Accipiter nisus Sparrowhawk
Buteo buteo Common Buzzard
Buteo lagopus Rough-legged Hawk
Falco tinnunculus Eurasian Kestrel
Falco subbuteo Eurasian Hobby
Falco peregrinus Peregrine Falcon
Falco columbarius Merlin
Bonasia bonasa Hazel Hen
Crex crex Corn Crake
Porzana porzana Spotted Crake
Fulica atra Eurasian Coot
Grus grus Common Crane
Haematopus ostralegus Eurasian Oystercatcher
Charadius dubius Little Ringed Plover
Charadius hiaticula Ringed Plover
Pluvialis squatarola Black-bellied Plover
Pluvialis apricaria European Golden-Plover
Vanellus vanellus Northern Lapwing
Philomachus pugnax Ruff
Tringa erythropus Spotted Redshank
Tringa totanus Common Redshank
Tringa ochropus Green Sandpiper
Tringa glareola Wood Sandpiper
Tringa nebularia Common Greenshank
Actitis hypoleucos Common Sandpiper
Arenaria interpres Ruddy Turnstone
Numenius phaeopus Whimbrel
Numenius arquata Eurasian Curlew
Limosa lapponica Bar-tailed Godwit
Calidris alba Sanderling
Calidris alpina Dunlin
Calidris minuta Little Stint
Calidris temminckii Temminck's Stint
Limicola falcinellus Broad-billed Sandpiper
Scolopax rusticola Eurasian Woodcock
Gallinago gallinago Common Snipe
Phalaropus lobatus Red-necked Phalarope
Stercorarius parasiticus Parasitic Jaeger
Stercorarius longicaudus Long-tailed Jaeger
Larus ridibundus Black-headed Gull
Larus canus Mew Gull
Larus argentatus Herring Gull
Larus marinus Great Black-backed Gull
Larus hyperboreus Glaucous Gull
Rissa tridactyla Black-legged Kittiwake
Sterna hirundo Common Tern
Sterna paradisaea Arctic Tern
Sterna caspia Caspian Tern
Fratercula arctica Atlantic Puffin
Cepphus grylle Black Guillemot
Uria lomvia Thick-billed Murre
Uria aalge Common Murre
Alca torda Razorbill
Columba livia Rock Dove
Columba palumbus Wood Pigeon
Columba oenas Stock Dove
Streptopelia decaocto Eurasian Collared-Dove
Cuculus canorus Common Cuckoo
Asio flammeus Short-eared Owl
Apus apus Common Swift
Jynx torquilla Eurasian Wryneck
Picus canus Grey-headed Woodpecker
Dryocopus martius Black Woodpecker
Dendrocopos leucotos White-backed Woodpecker
Dendrocopos major Great Spotted Woodpecker
Picoides tridactylus Three-toed Woodpecker
Alauda arvensis Sky Lark
Anthus pratensis Meadow Pipit
Anthus petrosus Rock Pipit
Anthus trivialis Tree Pipit
Anthus cervinus Red-throated Pipit
Motacilla flava Yellow Wagtail
Motacilla alba White Wagtail
Riparia riparia Bank Swallow
Delichon urbica Common House-Martin
Hirundo rustica Barn Swallow
Bombycilla garrulus Bohemian Waxwing
Troglodytes troglodytes Winter Wren
Erithacus rubecula Robin
Luscinia luscinia Nightingale Thrush
Luscinia svecica Bluethroat
Tarsiger cyanurus Red-flanked Bluetail
Phoenicurus phoenicuru Common Redstart
Oenanthe oenanthe Northern Wheatear
Saxicola rubetra Whinchat
Turdus philomelos Song Thrush
Tirdus iliacus Redwing
Turdus pilaris Fieldfare
Turdus merula Eurasian Blackbird
Turdus viscivorus Mistle Thrush
Sylvia atricapilla Blackcap
Sylvia curruca Lesser Whitethroat
Sylvia borin Garden Warbler
Sylvia communis Whitethroat
Acrocephalus schoenobaenus Sedge Warbler
Acrocephalus scirpaceus Reed Warbler
Acrocephalus dumetorum Blyth's Reed Warbler
Acrocephalus palustris Marsh Warbler
Hippolais icterina Icterine Warbler
Phylloscopus trochilus Willow Warbler
Phylloscopus collybita Mosquitero común
Phylloscopus sibilatrix Wood Warbler
Regulus regulus Goldcrest
Muscicapa striata Papamoscas gris
Ficedula hypoleuca Papamoscas cerrojillo
Parus major Great Tit
Parus caeruleus Herrerillo común
Parus cristatus Crested Tit
Parus montanus Willow Tit
Parus cinctus Siberian Tit
Aegithalos caudatus Long-tailed Tit
Certhia familiaris Treecreeper
Remiz pendulinus Penduline Tit
Lanius excubitor Northern Shrike
Lanius collurio Red-backed Shrike
Pica pica Magpie
Nucifraga caryocatactes Nutcracker
Garrulus glandarius Eurasian Jay
Perisoreus infaustus Siberian Jay
Corvus monedula Eurasian Jackdaw
Corvus corone cornix Hooded Crow
Corvus corax Common Raven
Sturnus vulgaris European Starling
Oriolus oriolus Golden Oriole
Passer domesticus House Sparrow
Passer montanus Eurasian Tree Sparrow
Fringilla coelebs Common Chaffinch
Fringilla montifringilla Brambling
Carduelis cannabina Pardillo común
Carduelis flavirostris Twite
Carduelis flammea Common Redpoll
Carduelis hornemanni Hoary Redpoll
Carduelis carduelis European Goldfinch
Carduelis chloris Greenfinch
Carduelis spinus Eurasian Siskin
Pyrrhula pyrrhula Eurasian Bullfinch
Pinicola enucleator Pine Grosbeak
Loxia pytiopsittacus Parrot Crossbill
Loxia curvirostra Red Crossbill
Loxia leucoptera White-winged Crossbill
Carpodacus erythrinus Common Rosefinch
Calcarius lapponicus Lapland Bunting
Emberiza rustica Rustic Bunting
Emberiza citrinella Yellowhammer
Emberiza schoeniclus Reed Bunting