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Finland and Varanger, 23rd May - 3rd June 2001,

Overview

This is a report following a birding trip to Finland and Varanger by Wilton Farrelly, Dennis Weir and Willie McDowell.

We traveled in late May in order to maximise opportunities to pick up species that can be difficult at other times of the year e.g. Owls and Woodpeckers, and to get early migrants. We decided to travel extensively and the longer daylight hours enabled two whole 'nights' to be spent birding, although having to travel the following day, led to significant sleep loss (...for myself and Dennis).

The route followed over the 11 birding days was Helsinki to Kuusamo, Varanger (Norway), Ivalho, back to Kuusamo, SE Finland, Hameenlinna and down to Helsinki. We kept to our planned itinerary for 24 hrs only when in Kuusamo we learnt of a White Winged Lark on Varanger and decided to travel up to Norway asap, after we had finished our night owling. Despite the extensive drive, this worked well as we then had some time free later in the trip to spend birding elsewhere in SE Finland, although as we had not expected to bird this area, our site literature for south east Finland was very poor.

Getting local information anywhere was important and we had built up some good contacts. Two paid guides were used, primarily for Owls. Most other birds were found by ourselves. Working the northern forests was extremely difficult and often very disappointing due to the few birds species which can be seen in late May and their scarcity. The same extensive forests also made the driving monotonous.

The weather in the north was extremely cold with plenty of snow although never on the trip did the weather prevent us from birding an area. Winds were continually strong and from the north and this had the effect of holding back spring migrants when in the north of the country.

Overall 200 species were seen and it proved to be a good trip but very demanding and it took about a week for us to get our sleeping pattern back to normal.

Travel, Accommodation and Logistics

We flew from Stansted to Helsinki on Buzz ( www.buzzaway.com ) at a cost of only £110 return. The flight took just under 3 hours.

We arrived in Helsinki around 7:30 pm and picked up a hire car with Avis (circa £600). We drove into Helsinki and took a car sleeper night train to Oulu. The cost was £150 including car transport and a three  bunk cabin. This train journey was booked through Norvista in the UK.

We drove the remainder of the trip and generally the roads in Finland and Norway are excellent and well signposted. The roads in the north are very quiet and easy to drive.

Accommodation was generally taken in Cabins at Camp Sites. These ranged from £25 - £60 a night. Some are to excellent standards (and more expensive) but the lowest quality one taken (at Oiitta Camping, Espoo, Helsinki) was basically a room only with 4 bunks and communal toilets \ showers.

The only non 'camping' accommodation used during the trip was:

• Vardo, Varanger: A room for 2 nights was taken in a guest house near the harbour. The cost of a room which slept three was 300 Kroner (about £30) a night. This was a bargain as Norway is extremely expensive (a loaf, butter and milk cost nearly £6 and a pint will set you back at least £5!). The camping site at Vardo did not open until the 1^st June.
• Golden Bear Hotel, Sodankyla: A three person room with breakfast was good value at £60. 

General advice on travelling has been provided in other reports but I would also offer the following guidance:

• When getting bird site info, try and get very detailed information and write every instruction down at the time (and avoid references to dead trees and lakes - there are a lot of them!).
• Buy all your provisions and petrol before travelling into Norway.
• In Norway we found that on Sunday, all shops and most importantly petrol stations, close.  We had to pay cash to another motorist for him in order to get petrol.
• The weather in the north was extremely cold so warm, windproof clothing is absolutely essential.

Information sources

A wide variety of people provided information both before we went and when in the country. A big thanks is offered to them as many went to considerable efforts to provide us with detailed information. They included:

Annika Forsten, Finland ( annika.forsten AT fi.intrum.com )
Rob Morris ( robmorris@envirobiz.net )
Olli Karhu, Ivalho, (olli.karhu@zoo-gate.fi )
Dag Korsnes, Norway, ( dkorsne@online.no )
Heikki Seppanen, Kuusamo ( heikki.seppanen@nls.fi )
Killian Mullarney
Angus Hogg
Angus Murray

There are various trip reports available on the internet and the better ones are:

Inarin Lappi and Varangerfjord, Harry Lehto - www.astro.utu.fi/~hlehto/reports
Northern Scandanavia, Pieter van der Luit - http://members.tripod.lycos.nl/warbler/scand99t.htm
Finland & Northern Norway, Barry Cooper - www.crosswinds.net/~birdtrips/Finland99.html
Northern Scandanavia, Gruff Dodd -http://www.birdtours.co.uk/tripreports/scandinavia/scand/scand.htm
Finaland & Varanger, Roberto Garavaglia - http://web.tiscalinet.it/ebnitalia/trips/trip08.htm
Northern Finland and Varanger, Simon Woolley - http://www.jjcskw.demon.co.uk/finland.htm

Where to Watch Birds in Scandanavia was used but only for some very general information and in particular for SE Finland when we decided to travel there and had no site gen. It is however out of date and sometimes inaccurate. For example there is an inaccurate reference to Collared Flycatchers at Valtavarra, there are no directions to Viikki and some key sites are missing (e.g. Tohmajarvi).

Itinerary

Site Guide

Despite some good trip reports we still found information (particularly directions) on some sites to be thin on the ground. I have therefore set out below, a list of all the key sites that we visited. We did stop speculatively at some sites although this did not really add any new birds for the trip. The exception was stumbling upon a pair of Rustic Buntings at a marsh between Oulu and Kuusamo.

Central Finland

Hirvisuo Bog - This is located on road 20 to Kuusamo, about 45 km east of Oulu. There is a Kiosk in the car park which is on the Northern side of the road. Bird Tower is about 5 mins walk. Had Golden Eagle, Great Grey Shrike and Bean Geese.

Kuusamo Area - We only spent about 3 hours and a night in the area. It deserved more time. The areas watched included the lake (from the rear of the Museum) and the Sewerage Works (accessed from the road parallel to the main road into Kuusamo).

Valtavaara - About 30 km north of Kuusamo. Take the right on the road 8694.  Drive a further 4km to the parking place on the left. Two visits. First visit at 4:00am on the 24^th had Siberian Jay, Capecaille and a singing but distant Red Flanked Bluetail on the northern side of the valley. There was heavy snow cover on the ground at this time.

A second visit (in the afternoon) a week later and most of the snow had gone. Over 90 minutes we did manage to find10 species including Siberian Jay and Hazel Hen (3). The walk to the cabin is recommended.

Road 5 \ E63 - We travelled this road north from Kussamo on the morning of the 25^th. We had Hazel Hen, Capercaillie and Willow Grouse all feeding on the gravel verges by the road. Well worth setting off early in the morning for some easy birding!

Norway

Varanger is well covered in the literature and two recommended sources of information are:

Morten Gunthers website at: http://home.online.no/~egnter/finnmark.htm
Tommy Pedersons web site at: http://home.online.no/~stingray/Varanger.htm

A number of updates on the birding sites on Varanger would be:

Store Ekkeroy - Some literature refers to breeding Brunnichs Guillemot. Whilst the area was not fully explored, we could only see cliffs full of Kittiwakes and no Auks.

Vadso - The site is no longer used as a dump but is still worth investigating. There is a platform on the south side of the island which gives excellent views out into the Fjord. The harbour is the top spot in Varanger for Stellers Eider. This is also the place from which to look for waders in the harbour.

Hornoya - We did not visit the island as we had Brunnichs at Vardo and Hamningberg. There is seemingly no problem in getting a boat over during the week, but boats do not run on Sundays (unless you are willing to pay £100).

Vardo - We only had four King Eider for the trip and three of these were immature birds in Vardo harbour. There are roads around the island to the north which run along the shore and these were worth taking for Auks and Eider.

Kramvik - This village about 15 km west of Vardo held the rarity of the trip, a male White Winged Lark. It fed in the fields around the stream, close to the shore. We also had Temmicks Stint, Lapland Bunting, Shorelark and Snow Buntings in these fields. Other grass fields close to the shore a few km further to the east were also good for Snow and Lapland Buntings.

Hayholmen - This site is at the mouth of the Tana river on the 890. It is clearly signposted and is a spectacular landscape (but windswept). We had close up views of Long Tail Skuas, as well as a drake King Eider and Velvet Scoter here. We also heard of a hunting Gyr Falcon been seen shortly after we left.

Lapland

Mt Ailigas - This is a known Dotterel and Ptarmigan site. Unfortunately we could only locate Willow Grouse and there was still too much snow cover for Dotterel.

Haapalahti Bird Tower - At about 22 km north of Inari, there is a good site. If travelling north, you will come across a large number of sign posts for a left turn. All signposts are brown in colour and one is for Lintutorni (bird tower). Drive down the road (tarmac) until a deer research station where the road turns to the left. Continue driving along a few hundred meters until you reach a bird tower on the right. We had a Hawk Owl which gave good views from the tower.

Inari - About 6 km south of Inari there is a turn to the left (if travelling north) to a radio transmitter. The area here had held Pine Grosbeaks but we were unable to locate any.

Ivalo - We were advised of a number of sites:

The sewerage farm: Access was forbidden and there would seem to be a new gate so I would presume that this site is now out of bounds.

Veskoniemi: drive 10 km east from Ivalo and turn left to Veskoniemi. After 10 km or so turn left just after a small bridge and drive/walk straight on as far as you can to the waters edge.

Mielikköjänkä: Drive 10 km:s east of Ivalo, turn left to Veskoniemi, drive 6km and you will see a bog and a small lake on your left. There is now a new bird tower here.

Mt Kiilopää - This is 42 km south on Ivalo and is supposed to be a good place for Dotterel and Ptarmigan. There is vehicular access to the top but there was too much snow on the ground for Dotterel and we did not see any Ptarmigan

Tankavaara \ Urho Kekkosen Nat Park - This park is about 95 km north of Sodankyla. After many birdless hours on the road this looked a good place to stop. It is detailed in the Where to watch guide. Between the three of us, we walked two trails (3 km and 6km). However, never have we had to look so hard for birds and then produce so little. Three hours later, we had amassed a total of 3 species for the site (although we did have Siberian Jay down to a metre). Whilst it was still early in the year and it was cold we would presume that this site holds a lot more!

Petkula Marsh - 30 km north of Sodankyla.

Luosto - This is a ski resort about 40km south of Sodankyla. It is well signposted and we had been told that Pine Grosbeaks had been seen. An hour in the area did produce e.g. Siberian Tit and Black Woodpecker but again, it was hard work.

Pyhatunturi - This is a mountain \ forest site located off the E63 about 65km south of Sodankyla. It is a ski resort as well as a national park and did have a nature centre that was open. We only spent an hour here but it was more productive than other areas and deserved more time.

South East Finland

Vartsila - This was the first good site that we encountered in south east Finland and is very close to the Russian border.  Take the 490 east from road 6, and drive to Vartsila.  Travel north on the 500 for a few km and the bird tower is signposted on the right. Booted Warbler breeds here (not seen) and there is a good bird tower. We had Slavonian and Red Necked Grebes, Garganey, Bittern and Corncrake as well as numerous other species. Well worth a stop. 

Parikkala - After Liminganlahti, this is Finland's best wetland site. It is located about 70km north east of Imatra and is signposted from the main road and the town of Parikkala. There is a reception centre and a good bird tower. The groves to the bird tower held Thrush Nightingale. From the tower we had Hobby (5), Golden Oriole, Garganey, Slav Grebes, flying Bittern, Great Reed Warbler and plenty of other bird activity. White Backed Woodpeckers breed on the island in front of the tower. If you continue past the parking place, near to the bridge we had Blyths Reed Warbler. We also had our only River Warbler of the trip, near to the junction with the main road.

Southern Finland

Helsinki - Porkkala - This is one of the southern most headlands and a migration watch point. You can park near the end and follow 'paths' to the most southern point. If you have the available time it is worth a visit, particularly at the weekend when there are local birders present. We added a few birds for the trip list. There is a bird tower about 5 km before the end at a large car park and we had 11 Honey Buzzards moving through as well as White Tailed Eagle. Also had Barred Warbler and Hawfinch in the area. It is also one of the best areas in which to look for Parrot Crossbill although we did not see or hear any.

Helsinki - Viiki - This is a marsh in Helsinki at which we had Little Tern. It has a bird tower at the southern end. This is a known breeding site for Citrine Wagtails although over an hour we did not see any. We did have good views of Thrush Nightingale here, from the boardwalk close to the tower.

Helsinki - Vermo - Behind the Vermo race track is a known area of scrub and bushes which held Marsh Warbler and numerous Scarlet Rosefinches. Unfortunately we visited here on the last morning of our stay and the pace and lack of sleep had started to have its affect. We did not manage to bird the area until 8:00am in the morning and very little was heard to call.

Helsinki - Espoo Laajalahti - A wetland, marsh and wooded site which although not holding anything seen elsewhere, looked as though it has considerable potential. (A River Warbler was reported from here).

Owling and Guides

Two guides were used:

1) Finnature (info@finnature.fi ). This was prebooked from the UK and was for a nights birding at Kuusamo on the 24^th, at a cost of 500 FM (about £50 stg) each. It would seem that Oulu is the main Owling centre in Finland but this year was a very poor owl year. Hawk Owl nest sites were only known around Kuusamo. We met the guide in Kuusamo and five of us were taken to a Hawk Owl nest site. The female was on the nest and unfortunately only three tail feathers were showing! After an hours wait, the male had not shown up so the guide decided to take us to another site. It was however an hour's drive away and very close to the Russian border but did result in good, but brief (a few minutes) views of a male Hawk Owl. The guide also showed us Siberian Jay, Siberian Tit and we had a Red Flanked Bluetail singing at Valtavarra. The latter was the only bird that we did not see elsewhere on the trip.

2) We had arranged through Annika Forsten, a night \ morning birding on the 1^st with Pekka Pottu near Hauho. Pekka was described in a previous trip report as a 'maestro'. This is an understatement. He is an extremely talented birder who has an excellent ear and who knows his area and the birds extremely well. We met him at 3:00am in the morning and 12 hours later we had clocked up Ural, Tengmalms, Pygmy and Eagle Owl, Three Toed and Grey Headed Woodpecker, numerous Black Woodpeckers, Nutcracker, Coal Tit, Long Tailed Tit and Icterine Warbler. We had excellent views of all Owls and Woodpeckers although we did have to look in a nest box at Pygmy Owl but this did not cause any disturbance. Finally he showed us a Flying Squirrel that had taken up residence in a nest box. The charge was a total 1500 FM for the day and it was the best birding day of the trip.

Comments on species seen

Also seen: Pheasant.

Summary

This was a demanding trip. Over 4400 Km's were driven in 10 days. We managed to connect with all our priority species but we were disappointed not to have seen e.g. Pine Grosbeak or Parrot Crossbill. The cold weather and a week of strong northerly winds had also held back many summer migrants such as Greenish Warblers.

If planning a trip again, I would suggest starting out probably a few days later at the end of May as this would still be ok for the Owls and should enable more summer migrants to be seen. I would also liked to have spent a bit more time researching sites in SE Finland as this area was not on our original itinerary. We also probably spent too much time working northern woodlands that were unproductive.

Despite the above it was a rewarding and enjoyable trip. Finland is an easy country to travel around, it is not expensive and overall the birding was excellent. 

Wilton Farrelly, June 2001

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