This is the view from the tower at Hopeakallio. Geese settle in the fields during passage periods, White-backed Woodpeckers feed in the copse next to the tower and this is one of the best sites in Finland for migrant raptors.

All the sites in this section are treated, in detail and with precise maps and directions, in my book ‘Finding Birds in South Finland’

If you have any information which you feel would help to update the book, please email me at dave@easybirder.co.uk and I’ll add your observations to these pages

To view more sites in South Finland click here

Vartsila and Tohmajarvi

Wednesday, 24 August 2011

This area, next to the Russian border, is famous for turning up scarce eastern species during the breeding season. It is one of the best places in Finland, and therefore Europe, to listen for singing Lanceolated Warbler and Booted Warbler. Other eastern species that have bred or displayed there in recent years have included Marsh Sandpiper, Great Snipe and even Swinhoe’s Snipe. Even if you don’t find these rarities, this is an exceptional area for nightsingers such as Blyth’s Reed Warbler, Corncrake and River Warbler.