Spring is just around the corner, despite the little frosts and occasional snowfalls. In the world of birds, the real spring migration rush is around the end of April.
The spring migration of birds is still in its early stages.
According to Birdlife Finland’s bird situation update, strong southerly winds early in the week blew Lapwings, Red-winged Teal and other early spring migrants to Finland. Species new to spring were recorded as Lesser Swan, Tundra Goose, White-fronted Goose, Common Egret, Common Egret, Common Lark, Common Gadwall and Lapwing.
The bird information service Tiira reveals that a flock of young birds was already spotted in Naantali on Saturday.
As expected, the largest numbers of migrants have been observed in the most southwestern part of Finland: Almost 500 larks and about 200 homing pigeons were seen at most in Masku. The fastest larks and bump jumps have been recorded in Satakunta and Päijät-Häme.
Further north, spring shows itself, among other things, with whooper swans and gray gulls arriving at the molting grounds.
Longer day makes life easier for birds
According to him, little frosts and snow are still holding back migratory birds in the south. From the point of view of the birds, however, the situation is good: the longer day gives wintering birds in Finland more time to search for sufficient food during daylight hours.
– The birds have time during the day to look for food and also change places to eat. In addition to the familiar feeding place, they are now starting to move more widely and can afford to waste energy.
The spring migration of larger and better cold-resistant birds starts at the end of March, but the real bustle is a good month later at the end of April.
The winter feeding season is not over yet
From the point of view of wintering birds, the last winter has been reasonably easy. However, according to Hannila’s observations, the number of birds is smaller than usual. It’s not about the loss of species, it’s about the fact that there are fewer individuals in each species.
Winter feeding should be continued as long as there is enough snow. If necessary, the winter feeding place can be adjusted for use again, if it has already been put on summer rolls and the cold period bothers the early movers.
– For example, goldfinches are early migrants and they cannot find food under the snow. They like to gather at feeding places provided by humans. It can be decisive for their survival, reminds Juhani Hannila.
*See Yle Ostrobothnia’s article on the situation of birds’ spring migration* from *Yle Areena**.*