hi
just back from a trip to finland. i didnt manage to do any 'specific watching' just took notes of what i saw around me. it turned out not a bad list for all that, with some interesting moments.
in the city of hameenlinna jackdaws seem to have muscled out feral pigeons as the urban forager of choice. there were some pigeons, but were out numbered some ten to one. with their added corvid intelligence the flocks of jackdaws that inhabited the centre deployed some impressive tactics for food gathering.
great crested grebes were very common, even popping up from a dive somewhat unexpectedly some ten feet away as i swam in a lake. similarly mallards seemed unperturbed swimming by mid-lake.
a good sized colony of common terns live at hameenlinna just now, a fair distance inland (albeit on a large lake and river system). i had taken them exclusively for sea birds, which was an education.
and if you want to observe barnacle geese, kaivo puisto ranta (shore) in helsinki is the place.
the list was -
hoodie crows (no black crows)
jackdaws
magpie
house sparrow
tree sparrow
canada geese
mute swan
blue tit
great tit
jay
common gull
lesser black back gull
swifts
housemartins
swallows
black headed gull
mallard
pied wagtail / white
tufted duck
oystercatcher
goldfinches
grey heron
great crested grebe
common tern
starling
chaffinch
goldeneye
wood pigeon
feral pigeon
crane
spotted fly catcher
barnacle geese
goosander