WINTER 2014/2015

“Finland’s winter 2014/2015” is almost an oxymoron. The past winter has been very short and mild, at least in the SW part of the country. The thermal winter (daily average temperatures dropping below 0 degrees C) started in SW Finland right before Christmas, on December 21st, but gave way to the thermal spring (daily average temperatures staying above 0 degrees C) already by the end of January (Jan 25th-26th) in the extreme SW, and by mid-February (Feb 18th-19th) in most of southern and central Finland. The December-February monthly average temperatures in SW Finland were several degrees higher than 30-year averages.

This winter’s very limited ice cover in the Baltic Sea had some effect on birdwatching in the Finnish archipelago. During cold winters, the ice cover drives wintering seabirds to the outer archipelago, where they can be observed in large wintering flocks. However, this winter only small areas of the Baltic Sea froze; most of the inner and outer SW archipelago remained open.

During December, January and February, the Bird Brigadiers visited Örö four times: Tapani Missonen on December 5th-8th; Jari Helstola, Raisa Tanner and Aarni Nummila on December 11th-14th; Mauno Mustakangas, Olavi Nurmi, Ari Linna and I on January 23rd-26th; and Jari, Raisa and Aarni again on February 20th-23rd.


December

Tapani Missonen spent the Finnish Independence Day weekend on Örö (December 5th-8th, our Independence Day being Dec 6th). The weekend was rainy and windy, and the short daylight hours (sunrise at approximately 9:30 AM and sunset at approximately 3:30 PM) contributed to a relatively short list of species: 24. The trip list did however include one new species for the Brigade: Great Grey Shrike (Lanius excubitor), which was seen on an island off the northeastern shore.

In the spirit of the weekend’s festivities, the national bird of Finland, Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus), did make appearances in small numbers. It was however vastly outnumbered by Mute Swans (Cygnus olor, e.g. 30 individuals seen on several days on Balget bay).

Birds of prey observed during the weekend consisted of a Rough-legged Buzzard (Buteo lagopus) seen on two days in the northern part of the island, a Eurasian Buzzard (Buteo buteo) seen above the main village in the eastern part of the island, and the regular inhabitants of the neighboring islands, White-tailed Sea Eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla; largest daily count 4 individuals).

The next weekend after Tapani’s trip, Jari Helstola, Aarni Nummila and Raisa Tanner headed for Örö in very stormy weather – the wind was blowing at 16 m/s on the way to the island. Despite some initial setbacks caused by the storm – a temporary power outage had turned off the heating in the Brigadiers’ lodgings – the team were able to settle in and eventually tally up a trip list of 30 species.

The best sighting of the weekend was a Black-legged Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) seen on Friday from the southernmost part of the island, heading south. Gulls in general were quite numerous (770 Mew Gulls, Larus canus, on Friday), and other observed seabirds included e.g. Black Guillemots (Cepphus grylle, 9 on Friday and 7 on Sunday; one individual on both Thursday and Saturday), and Gavia sp. (a total of 5 migrating individuals, one of which a probable Red-throated Diver, Gavia stellata).

Passerines were rather scarce apart from Fieldfares (Turdus pilaris, 160 on Friday), Eurasian Siskins (Carduelis spinus, 50 on Friday and 45 on Sunday) and Great and Blue Tits (Parus major and P. caeruleus, 95 on Friday). Less numerous passerines included e.g. Long-tailed Tits (Aegithalos caudatus), Coal Tits (Parus ater), Common Redpolls (Carduelis flammea) and Goldcrests (Regulus regulus). Most of the passerines, particularly the Tits, were congregating around the two feeders set on the island: one by the barracks in the eastern part of the island, and the other next to the Brigadiers' lodgings.

January

The turn of the year marked the start of a new era for Örö: the annexation of the island to the Archipelago National Park took effect on January 1st, 2015.

The Brigadiers’ first trip of the year 2015 was done on January 23rd-26th by Ari Linna, Mauno Mustakangas, Olavi Nurmi and me. We had the pleasure of experiencing a white island: a light snow cover had fallen during the previous weeks. The weekend’s species count was a nice and round 30. It included one new species to the Brigadiers’ total list, bringing it up to 180: Bohemian Waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus, 4 on Monday).

The sea was relatively empty during our trip, the largest flock being 15 Common Goldeneyes (Bucephala clangula), but it did bring some nice species to our list. A Red-throated Diver and 8 Long-tailed Ducks (Clangula hyemalis) were seen migrating south off the west shore, and there were three sightings of White-winged Scoters (Melanitta fusca; one individual on Friday, and a male and a female off the northeastern shore on Saturday).

The main passerine activity was again concentrated around the two feeders, and consisted mostly of Tits (Great, Blue, and Crested, Parus cristatus), and a couple each of European Greenfinches (Carduelis chloris), Bramblings (Fringilla montifringilla) and Chaffinches (Fringilla coelebs). A Great Grey Shrike raised some alarm among the birds at the feeder in the eastern barrack area on Friday, but it soon continued on its way, allowing peace to return to the feeder. Evidence of a successful hunt (possibly by the same bird?) had however been left in the snow a bit further north: an unlucky rodent had chosen an inopportune moment to cross the road, and ended up as dinner.

The snow cover allowed us a glimpse into the vivid, but quite hidden, mammalian fauna of the island. Tracks of small rodents crisscrossed the roads, an Otter (Lutra lutra) had climbed on shore at Balget bay, and Raccoon Dog (Nycticoreus procyonoides) and White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginiatus) tracks were abundant throughout the island. Two Raccoon Dogs were regular visitors to the bird feeder at our lodgings, but the only deer I saw was a dead one, caught by a group of hunters we shared the island with on Saturday.

The bird that brought our species number up to 30 was a Eurasian Black Grouse (Lyrurus tetrix), seen on Monday while we were waiting for the taxi boat to pick us up at Gölen Bay.

February

Jari Helstola, Aarni Nummila and Raisa Tanner’s second trip of the winter (February 20th-23rd) was, as their first one, windy and rainy. It rained in the morning on both Saturday and Sunday, with the weather clearing up a bit in the afternoons. Monday morning dawned with clear skies, but unfortunately the return trip was booked for 9:30 AM, so the group didn’t have much time to enjoy the good weather. The species count was 32.

The trip brought a second observation of Greater Scaup (Aythya marila) to the Brigadiers’ list, the first one being from last May. Other noteworthy seabird observations were a Black-throated Diver (Gavia arctica, one individual on Sunday), Black Guillemots (3 on Friday, 5 on Saturday and 8 on Sunday), Red-breasted Mergansers (Mergus serrator, 2 migrating S-E and 7 local on Saturday; 5 migrating N and 1 E on Sunday), and a Greylag Goose (Anser anser, migrating SW on Sunday).

White-tailed Sea-Eagles were the only birds of prey observed, but this was compensated by their number: 11 observed on Sunday.

Mammal observations included bats wintering in the buildings, an American Mink (Neovison vison), Raccoon Dogs, White-tailed Deer, two Grey Seals (Halichoerus grypus), and fox tracks.

Having gotten used to being the only people on Örö, Raisa, Aarni and Jari were surprised on Saturday by a group of tourists who had decided to come and explore the island. A sign of the changing times at Örö, indeed. Entry to the island is no longer restricted by the Finnish Defence Forces since the island’s annexation to the Archipelago National Park; the official opening of the island for tourists is in early June.

The Örö Bird Brigade will continue visiting the island up until June; the following months leading up to June will be very interesting, and hopefully bring us ample opportunities to observe the spring migration.

-Liisa