An enjoyable long weekend Fri 21/5 to Mon 24/5 yielded the following highlights -
FRI
Tengmalm's and Pygmy Owls, Crested Tit, Black Woodpecker, Temminck's Stint.
SAT
Thrush Nightingale (heard and seen), Ural Owl, Three-toed Woodpecker, Wryneck, Ortolan, White-tailed Eagle, Hawk Owl, Great Grey Owl.
SUN
Booted Warbler, Taiga Bean Goose, Rustic Bunting, Wryneck, Honey Buzzard, Waxwing, Siberian and Baltic Gulls, Black Grouse, Siberian Tit, Red-necked Grebe.
MON
Waxwing, Black Grouse, Capercaillie, Siberian Jay, Willow Grouse, Rustic Bunting, Hazelhen.
Other interesting species seen on several occasions throughout included Whooper Swan, BT Diver (s plumage), Rosefinch, Arctic Tern, Smew, Marsh Harrier, Velvet Scoter, Goosander, Grey-headed Wagtail, Woodcock, LR Plover, Crane, Brambling (s plum), Garganey, Willow Tit, Wood & Green Sandpiper. Crossbills were few and far between, with a lack of pinecones perhaps being the reason? The weather was generally kind to us, with mostly warm and sunny conditions on Fri and Sat, a little rain Sun am, heavy rain Sun late pm and Mon early am (which put paid to Red-flanked Bluetail), then just odd showers.
The trip was booked with Birdfinders, using Finnature as ground agents and sharing the leadership. Tony (Finnature) was an excellent leader, working hard and really "putting in the hours" for us, as did Martyn Kenefick, co-leader, from Birdfinders. Accommodation in Kempele (near Oulu - 2 nights) and Kuusamo (1 night) was good, and the food was excellent, being varied, filling and provided to us at times to suit the birding. There was quite a bit of travelling involved (about 1,300km) and long hours in the field, and it wasn't a cheap trip, but I felt that I'd had good value for money and thoroughly enjoyed my first "organised" birding trip abroad.
A few pics will follow once processed.
Very good rate of return ! You saw some excellent birds.
I am going on an overnight Finnature trip 4-5th June at Oulu, what owls and species did you see there? Hoping for the good ones!
Cheers, Wolfbirder
Finnature are (rightly) cautious about giving out too much info regarding locations, but we were based in Oulu on Fri and Sat nights, so the owls were all seen on trips starting from and returning to Oulu. Funnily enough, we were discussing this mid-trip and all on the tour agreed that if we'd left on the Sat eve, we'd still have had a great trip! AFAIK there's only one site for Hawk and Ural Owls, so there's an element of luck involved; more sites may have been found before you arrive, but really it's time (and the distances that you need to travel) that's the major issue eg we missed Eagle Owl at the city rubbish dump - Martyn had a brief view, but we couldn't enter the tip itself to follow this up, and time didn't allow us to linger too long.