Altogether 13 birdwatchers shared their time with Örö, 3 female and 10 men. The 2 trips made in April lasted 5 days altogether and were made by three of us; the 5 trips made in May covered 21 days by 11 of us. Mikko Oivukka, Tarja Pajari and Jouko Lunden made their 4-days stays in May alone, which showed their willingness to keep on observing even the work load was not shared by others. There was some hint of a Robinson Crusoe effect on those occasions, which Jouko formulated by telling me: “it was close to an unbelievable feeling to have Örö totally reserved for oneself”.
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| Ilkka “Ila” Stén and Osmo Kivivuori – more than a hundred years of birdwatching experience. For Osmo Örö was the second bird observatory place visited as a member of the pioneer team: he belongs to the Turku bird watchers who established in the 1960´ies the Bird Observatory Station of the Birdwatchers Society at Turku at Jurmo island in Korppoo / Archipelago Sea of SW Finland. |
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| Timo Nurmi is leaving Örö. Timo belongs to the same group with Osmo, who sought and found the location for the Bird Observatory Station of the Birdwatchers Society at Turku. They wanted to give a visit to Örö for reference, but as Örö was military area, it was not possible. |
We were not the first observers at Örö
Occasional observations have been made at Örö by those who have made their military service at Örö, and by personnel from the national board for the forests in Finland “Metsähallitus”. I heard from Mauno Mustajärvi, who had checked this that around 2000 observations have been registered until spring 2014 into BirdLife Finland´s Tiira database from Örö. These observations are under the copyrights of the observers and BirdLife Finland.
A research of butterflies has been more constant and is made by Jaakko Kullberg from Helsinki. I had after my May trip an interesting change of ideas with him. He has used his option more or less over a decade at Örö with efficiency. When he told me about his effort, I could find some common features to birdwatching, like the result of the last years´ reproduction success and especially weather affecting the amounts the different species may occur. Part of his data Jaakko collects with the help of “mini-lighthouses”, the light-traps. Here I must envy him a bit, since a lighthouse on the island would really make a difference also for birds. All the islands having lighthouses tend to allure the night migrating birds!
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| Jaakko studies the effect of large scale invasions in respect with the new populations growing in situ at Örö by distributing his traps as evenly across the island on all its relevant sub-biotopes. This light-trap attracts butterflies with an UV centralized spectrum. |
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| Changing experiences, Ilkka Stén (on the left) and Jaakko Kullberg (on the right). |
Besides making observations the Brigadiers transfer their observations into the BirdLife Finland's Tiira information system. This is either done in the so called evening call or later on when the observers get access to a more rapid internet connection on mainland. The principle is however the same, and same as at any bird observing station in Finland – probably also in Europe in general - to collect the observations of all the species by estimating or counting the amounts of the migrating and local ones, and by indicating the possible sites for major observations.
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| The creator and administrator of the Örö Bird Brigade blog, Liisa Puhakka, keeping track of the day´s observations. |
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| Osmo and Ilkka making their quota… |
I visited the Island on a beautiful spring day 8.4. during a few hours (09:45–12:00) to get the first oversight of its accommodation and bird watching possibilities. Out of the 34 species I observed some could be indicators for first of all of the main biotopes, one was marking one possible migration route. The 4 singing Eurasian Wrynecs (Jynx torquilla), Black Woodpecker (Dryocopus martius), 4 Great Spotted Woodpeckers (Dendrocopos major) and one Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (D. minor) told a story of mature woods and certainly with good amount of insect life; one flock of 19 Common cranes (Grus grus) kept on following the western outline of the island on their way north at 11:25.
Perhaps the most known Finnish “ground-roller” – meaning that no-one makes a more profound work when observing birds, Jari Helstola, visited the island with Raisa Tanner for two days in mid-April. The days were beautiful, sunny ones. They got observation support from Jaakko Kullberg and Taavi Sulander. The bird species observed were 85 in total. The local Mute Swans (Cygnus olor) were studied for their age distribution, which showed that more than half of them were 2. calendar year non-breeders and the other half +2 cal-year birds; 3 Shelducks (Tadorna tadorna) had – not unexpectedly – found the sandy shores of the island and besides the local flocks of Eiders (Somateria mollissima) small amounts of them (160 14.4. and 680 15.4.) and the more arctic waterfowl was on their migration, like Long-tailed Ducks (Clangula hyemalis): 0/25 (0 out of the total of 25 on 14.5.) and 104/104 (on 15.4.); Common Scoters (Melanitta nigra): 35/54 and 323/286 Velvet Scoters (Melanitta fusca): 26/26 and 106/147. Red-breasted Mergansers (Mergus serrator) were abundant: 0/51 and 35/79 respectively. Other visible migration was scarce, but 146 migrating Woodpigeons (Columba palumbus) were observed 15.4., added with 4 Stock Doves (C. oenas). One pair of stock doves, the specialist to breed in the oak forests in southern Finland, had found an acceptable place to keep a territory on the island, and was observable there also during other trips of May.
The amounts of the old forest beneficiaries rose significantly from my first rapid visit and some new ones were observed. E.g. the following maximum counts per day were made: Great-spotted Woodpecker 20, Mistle Thrush (Turdus viscivorus) 10, Goldcrest (Regulus regulus) 30. A few Redpolls (Carduelis flammea) made close to a statement that they have developed a population which breeds far away from their traditional breeding grounds in Lapland – this has been an ongoing phenomena on several islands in the Archipelago Sea and e.g. at Kökar during the last decade.
May
Osmo Kivivuori, Ilkka Stén, Timo Nurmi, Liisa Puhakka and I started May by visiting Örö 7.-10.5.2014. The total amount of species was 99.
The arrival on Wednesday was with blue skies; the wind was from SE and increased from 4m/s to 9 m/s. In the morning no migration was seen from the southernmost point, Södernäbben, but 19:00–20:40 small flocks of Common scoters headed east on the southern sea, 192 altogether. Thursday started foggy, with visibility less than 600 meters. A single Dunlin of the arctic race (Calidris alpina alpina) got the questionable honor to be the only identified Calidris of the spring. It had occupied the low islets west of Nordnabban, the northernmost point at Örö. Ten Greenshanks (Tringa nebularia) travelled together north following the route marked on the earlier trip by Cranes – just out of the shore following the outline of the island.
All the other Brigadiers were taking a break and chat at the place of accommodation, the old medical clinic, when Ilkka alarmed them being at Södernäbben: the fog had given way for geese, and two flocks of Ansers (150 and 180) had crossed the peninsula 17:20-18:00. I took my bike and was soon giving some back up with my telescope for Ilkka, who had left his telescope at camp. The others climbed on the hill at Holmen close to the accommodation, so that they could see also the northern side of Örö. The total sums for the geese counted still that evening were: Anser/Branta sp. 870, Barnacle Goose (Branta leucopsis) 1159; Brent Goose 2. The southern wind had pushed part of the flocks to pass Örö from the northern and eastern side, and out of the Anser/Branta just 120 were seen from Södernäbben. The fact was that the geese observed from Södernäbben passed within the distance less than 300 meters, between the cape and the next southernmost islet, Syllskären. Each individual in the flocks of 95-160 birds could be studied in detail.
Friday 9.5.2014 commenced foggy, with occasional rain showers and the visibility being 100–200 meters. I and Liisa tried to start observing at Södernäbben early, but it proved impossible because of limited visibility. I returned there again 9:00 – with increased visibility to 400 meters: the first Barnacle geese for the day used the same route as the previous day, but that movement ceased down after these two flocks (75 and 76 birds). Good numbers of passerines, landed during the previous rainy night, were counted during the day. The top-five were Wryneck (Jynx torquilla) 15, Tree Pipit (Anthus trivialis) 50, Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus) 15, Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus) 50, Pied Flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) 35. Three Thrush Nightingales (Luscinia luscinia) were singing; the first Garden Warbler (Sylvia borin) and the first two Ortolan buntings (Emberiza hortulana) were observed.
This period, 7.-10.5.2014, due to the moist conditions together with the emerging greenness of the vegetation in its many shades, gave some exceptional possibilities for photographing.
Mikko Oivukka suffered 12.-15.5.2014 first of a dense fog hiding even close by Södernäbban in its gauze, then of cold and strong northern winds. The visible migration was largely absent, with some exceptions like Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus) and 9 Whimbrels (Numenius phaeopus). The total of Shelducks had risen to 3 and there were still quite many Wrynecs (8); the first Red-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio) was found. The total sum of species was 80.
Tarja Pajari arrived to Örö with the same taxi-boat, which carried Mikko back to the mainland. She had 102 species during her stay which lasted until 18.5.2014. During her first day, sunny and warm, she joined as a “tourist” a group of people from the National Board of Forestry “Metsähallitus” to get herself acquainted with the new environment. She walked 12 km, mainly in the inner parts of the island and accordingly got species like Red-backed Shrike (3), Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra) 11 and Stonechat (Oenanthe oenanthe) 15. There is a good population of Black Grouse (Tetrao tetrix) on the island, but Tarja saw also a Hazel Grouse (Bonasia bonasia). I myself start to be a bit worried for my earlier observation of Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus), since no-one seems to get a second observation of it – did I really hear the Pheasant shouting…
16.4.2014 was one of the best days for migration for birds at Örö during the spring. Luckily it was the devoted and skillful Tarja who was at Södernäbben during this morning, which became a hectic one. The Branta-geese, Gavias and arctic waterfowl in general were heading towards their remote northeastern breeding grounds in such a rhythm that it was hard to set all the notes on paper – birds to the notebook. The fog arrived from the west 07:00 and the rain started between 7:30-8:00. Tarja has marked into the BirdLife Finland´s Tiira database that the wind was 10 m/s from south, and before the rain started the amount of Barnacle Geese rose to 1 119. In this rather strong southern wind the geese directed to NE, and 647 of the Barnacles passed on eastern side, 302 came straight over, and 170 used the western route. The number of Anser/Branta (not identified for their accurate species) ended with a total of 3 385: 3 265 passed from the eastern side, 120 used the western route. Later on 104 Brent geese flew over the island, which added the total of geese observed to 4 698.
The total morning sum for migrating Black-throated Divers (Gavia arctica) was 63, added with 114 Gavia sp. Most of them headed NE. The other waterfowl could not be scanned any more as accurately by a single observer, so that the documented sums, such as 81 for Common Scoter, are less than the real sums.
The next day was started at Södernäbben at 05:30 with a wind of 5 m/s from SE, fading away soon. The temperature was +5C, and the warm air rising over the sea made it impossible to see the details over long distances. The main direction for migration was NE. The total amounts until 10:00 were: Brent Goose 21; Barnacle Goose 125; Scaup (Aythya marila) 7, Long-tailed Duck 743 Common Scoter 139; Velvet Scoter 47¸ Gavia sp. 6; Black-throated Diver 17; Red-throated Diver (Gavia stellata) 6; Black Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) 12.
When during my visit less than 10 days earlier the forest and bushes north of Södernäbben collected a nice set of passerines, now the southern wind gathered them to the bushes of the northernmost peninsula, e.g. two Bluethroats (Luscinia svecica), 8 Spotted Flycatchers (Muscicapa striata) and two observations of Red-breasted Flycatcher. The most handsome bird for Tarja was one of the Spotted Eagles (Aquila clanga/ A. pomarina), which crossed northern part of the island gliding east on 17.5. at 18:20. When it curved it showed the dark brown upper parts and the white semi-arc patch on the upper tail-covers; glanced at Tarja showing a bill smaller than a Sea Eagle’s, with a dark tip and a yellow base.
The final countdown happened 18.5. in eastern wind, which stopped the migration totally. By 09:00 the wind had ceased, but the emptiness was filled just with some newcomers to the list: Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 2 W, Gadwall male (Anas strepera) coming down into the Sokura bay and one gigantic “black-headed” Gavia, Gavia adamsii / G. immer going east. The first Icterine Warbler (Hippolais icterina) sang.
Tarja had no knowledge of how to travel from Kasnäs to Taalintehdas or directly back Turku, but good luck was on her side, when she got a lift from Kasnäs.
Jouko Lunden arrived when Tarja returned to Kasnäs. His stay 18.-21.5.2014 gave 105 species including some of the latest migrants to come. Slight breeze from east had again arisen and it brought warm air over the island. Migration was absent as it had been during the morning. Six Sea Eagles were chasing something on the sea.
Jouko had the next day´s breakfast and morning coffee outside at 04:00 listening to the wakening up of the morning. Thrush Nightingale, Icterine Warbler, Blyth´s Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus palustris), Greenish Warbler and Red-breasted Flycatcher kept company. The migration was still scarce: 121 Black-throated Divers and 19 Gavia sp. moved east, one Honey Buzzard (Pernis apivorus) and 3 Sand Martins (Riparia riparia) north. So Jouko had time for local birds, among others Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus) and Marsh Warbler (Acrocephalus palustris), which kept on singing behind the health clinic. The total sum of Icterine Warblers had risen to seven. The evening was foggy.
The following morning, 20.5.2014, Jouko got an extra hour to sleep due to intense fog still lying on the island. Coffee was served outside at 5:00 with a rasping voice from the roof of the neighboring house: a 2 cal-year male Black Redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros). Many singing birds slowed down the bicycle trip to Södernäbben, birds as 4 Greenish Warblers and Red-breasted Flycatcher. The best Branta migration for the spring was spreading in front of Jouko´s eyes, and both Brantas and Gavias were moving over the sea when he got the watching point manned. If Tarja had it intensive 16.4.2014, so did Jouko now. The cumulative sums when counted together were: Anser/Branta sp. 2550; Barnacle Goose 3334; Brent Goose 241; Gavia sp. 77; Red-Throated Diver 1; Black Throated Diver 6. An adult male Barred Warbler (Sylvia nisoria) landed from the migration to a nearby bush, just to be chased away by a Whitethroat (Sylvia communis) guarding its territory by the bunker. The count on Red-backed Shrikes was 4 males, one female.
Where both Red-backed Shrikes and Barred Warblers occur together, they tend to reside so close by to each other that a symbiotic relationship between these two species has been hypothesized. It was not evident that Örö would have a breeding stand of Barred Warblers, but e.g. at Kökar where 40-20 Barred Warbler territories were detected during the 2014 early June early excursions, these species can be found in the same or close by bushes. Tapani Missonen, visiting Örö just before Midsummer took Barred Warbler on his agenda of research, but when I am writing this text I don´t know the final outcome yet. It may be that a few pairs may breed at Örö, since some older observations are known, and at a close by island, Vänö, there breeds a small population.
We were unlucky not to have brigadiers at Örö during 22.-25.5.2014. Mikael Nordström, Kimmo Kuusisto and Rasmus Mäki arrived on Monday 26.5.2014. The previous weekend had been summerlike with temperatures exceeding 25 C, but now the temperature had already started dropping. During Tuesday–Thursday it was barely over 10 C, in the mornings even less.
On Monday the sea was just slightly awoken by the breeze pushing its surface from south. Big amounts of male Eiders got off and landed again into the sea, so the gathering for their molting was ongoing. Over 10 000 male Eiders were estimated to have been gathered far south of Örö added by some 200 females joined with some juveniles for the spring. A few flocks of male Goldeneyes (Bucephala clangula) demonstrated the beginning of the autumn migration by their constant movement to west. A small lark of the genus Alauda was skulking at Södernäbben, but not once seen on ground, and when it kept silent, identification could not be made for the species.
The days got lighter and lighter, and so the awakening for the Brigadiers got earlier too for them to be able to observe the best part of the migration, which in many cases happens during the first hours after the sunrise. The wake-up for Mikael, Kimmo and Rasmus on Tuesday 27.5.2014 was at 03:30. The cold northern wind wasn´t in favor of any migration though, and the three Whimbrels observed flew south. Some latest spring migrants had never the less been increasing in numbers, and besides the three Greenish Warblers and one Red-breasted Flycatcher, exceptionally high numbers of some more common species were counted. Icterine Warbler count showed 30 examples, which is an extraordinary sum for a day at any place in Finland. Similar or close by sums can be achieved on some other islands too; for example the 12 individuals from Kökar on 15.6.2014 were noticed on the front page of the BirdLife Finland´s Tiira information system. Out of the 30 birds at Örö some were obviously still migrants and some local ones singing already on their territories. The day´s sum for Thrush Nightingales was 16 and for Wood Warblers 12.
The cold wind from north continued on 28.5.2014 plugging further the migration. Some Wrynecks and a couple of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers were observed and also several Redpolls were suspected to make a breeding stand on the island. On 29.5.2014 an Eagle Owl was heard shouting far in the east. A bat detector was used to observe three northern bats (Eptesicus nilssonii). Other observations of mammals for the days consisted of a few white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides), which were seen almost daily, squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) and European moles (Talpa europaea).
Friday 30.5.2014 was filled with hope and expectations. The wind was almost non-existent and it turned to a southern one during the morning. The nature itself was however again the crucial limiting factor for the spring observations of Örö Bird Brigadiers: the sea was once again covered with a thick blanket of fog which didn´t allow birds to intrude. The highlights were 2 Chiffchaffs (Phylloscopus collybita), which sang in a peculiar way. Their voice was more monotonous and stammering than the normal singing of our common Chiffchaffs. I heard a similarly singing Chiffchaff at Kökar 15.6.2014, so perhaps a new population non-familiar to us may have invaded to our southern archipelago in late May 2014.
Ending the spring season, some remarks
Our spring term at Örö ended 30.5.2014 by Mikael, Kimmo and Rasmus listening to the singing whiz of 20 grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) on the islets west of Nordnabban.
The bird list for the period showed 153 species. Since each of them is attached with a history and experience, I wanted here to deliver some of them also to you who may read this blog. As a source I used my own experience of birdwatching and the texts the Brigadiers provided into the blog in Finnish, as well their observations as such.
This effort gave some first insight to the birds of the spring and how spring proceeds at Örö. Due to its rather big surface it is comparable with the still larger Kökar: both have a wide and interesting bird fauna and observation of the territories to be manned by each of the migratory species is straightforward. The most obvious sites to be scanned when looking for the possible specialties could most probably be identified – the stems of the southern and northern cape, the open pitch of a couple of hectares in the central part of the island and the surroundings of the old barracks for passerines, the bays for waders and waterfowl and the capes for migrating birds flying by. During the spring 2014 the good migration was observed just on four days, and rarities were scarce. At least for the visible migration it can be added that when the weather allowed, it was as good as or better than in any place to be compared in the area of the Turku Bird-watching society. So in that respect birdwatching at Örö seems certainly one of the prominent attractions for the future, when planning the potential use of Örö as a nature-tourism target.
About uniqueness
Interestingly enough, I visited another old military Island, Aegna, on the coast of Estonia 23.-25.5.2014. This period was unmanned at Örö, but the high pressure with temperatures up to 28C made the nature rather stagnant. Just small butterfly migration made by Large Whites (Pieris brassicae) rolled in the mild to non-existent wind across the sea towards east. The Branta-geese let themselves still be waited, though the main migration of Brent geese (Branta bernicla) could have been ongoing.
With my former experience from Suursaari and Örö, now Aegna, I started to get a bigger picture of the network of residual outposts, which all have been preserved from alternative landuse already close to 100 years, during which period the forests have grown as they exist today.
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| Pine forests on esker terrain of northern Aegna |
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| Grey Alders (Alnus incana) and Spruces (Picea abies) grow into heights of 25 meters on southern Aegna |
The threat is coming from our side, from the outcomes of social and environmental planning. Örö would certainly deserve to be set under the magnifying glass when planning how the island can be developed as a tourist attraction.
The continuation
This was our first chapter of Örö seen from a birdwatcher´s point of view. The summer, autumn and winter will make the next natural epochs of diverse bird activities, and for us Brigadiers it gives opportunities to get acquainted with the breeding species, the autumn migration, which was seen to have been started already in late May for some species, and then if the logistics will allow, we will visit Örö still as far into the winter as possible, and if it is seen appropriate, continue still over the spring 2015. All this input will make the outcome more complete, and the observations of what is observable at Örö more accurate.
Hopefully you, as birdwatchers and friends of nature, will find Örö as attractive as it has already been for us Brigadiers during this first phase of making observations, so that you can step on to serve as soon as this military island will be opened to the public. In the meantime the Brigadiers will continue to pave you a road map for the basics of Örö birdwatching.
As I have learned from Kökar, visiting there since 1970´ies, one island can serve almost as a bottomless treasure for learning new from nature, and one piece connected to another will someday lead to consciousness about what are the features most common, most prominent, most exceptional, and finally what they together can possible tell about the nature. One island can have a big story, which is connected to a bigger one still, reflecting the wider environmental changes via the observations made during decades.
Ari Linna
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