birding sites in

south Finland

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Wednesday, 24 August 2011

The area is an extensive network of lakes and reedbeds. This is the view from the bird tower closest to Vanhakaupunki. The boardwalk leads to a hide where there’s a chance of Bearded Tits

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

Viikki

The proper name for this site is Vanhankaupunginlahti which means literally ‘old town bay’, since the original town of Helsinki was located on its western shore. Nowadays the bay consists of large areas of shallow water and reedbeds, making it the most popular birding site around Helsinki, often known by the simpler name of Viikki. It is particularly good

for waterbirds and warblers and 2 recent colonists, Bearded Tit and Citrine Wagtail.

Here’s the view from the hide. You can get really close to waterbirds here.

There’s a boardwalk trail to the island of Farholmen. The tower on this island is one of the places from which to look for Citrine Wagtails

However, you should also try scanning for Citrine Wagtails on these fenceposts, visible from a gate en route to the tower. The wagtails have large territories and have a nasty habit of disappearing for ages at a time - except perhaps when they are feeding young.

Another good spot for seeing the wagtails is by this viewing platform (site 6 in my book)

It overlooks an area of wet meadow that is just perfect for Citrine Wagtails

Even if you don’t see the wagtails, there’s loads of good habitat here for ducks, geese, cranes, waders and warblers