Pied Bushchat

Pied Bushchat

Saxicola caprata

The 10th record for Western Palearctic, and the first for Finland was found at Domarkobban, Kristiinankaupunki on October 9th 2010. The bird was seen until at least October 17th and it was filmed by Antti J. Lind.

Lesser Sand Plover

Lesser Sand Plover

Charadrius mongolus

The bird was a first for Finland, it was found at Kristiinankaupunki on July 22nd 2009 and it was seen until July 25th. The bird was filmed by Janne Aalto.

Fox Sparrow

Fox Sparrow

Zonotrichia iliaca

This bird was first seen at Haapsalu Estonia, December 2nd - 17th 2012. On December 20th 2012 it was refound in Finland at Utö  and it was seen until at least April 3rd 2013. It was filmed by Janne Aalto in December 2012.

Wilson's Snipe

Wilson's Snipe

Gallinago delicata

This bird was first heard at Vihtasilta, Laukaa (Central-Finland) in 2008. It was on location again in 2009, but not until April 22nd 2010 the bird was identified.

Janne Aalto made this video and has this story about the bird

It was found by locals Juha Rahkonen and Kristiina Nyholm already in 2008!!!
They first thought it was a Tengmalm's Owl but then realized it was a strange snipe. They thought it had something wrong with its tail-feathers.
Then on the next summer it was back, and they started to wonder how the sound was still the same. Tero Linjama visited the place already then and tried to record it but it was silent.
Then in 2009 Tero had read that Wilson's Snipe had a call like Tengmalm's Owl. Luckily the bird came again next spring and then Tero recorded it and the rest is history...

Some of the sound-recordings on the bird can be heard here

Swinhoe's Snipe

Swinhoe's Snipe

Gallinago megala

This bird was found at Värtsilä Niirala, Tohmajärvi, Finland on June 13th 2008. It was only the second European record, and it was seen and heard until July 6th.
The first European record was at Ynzhnaya mountains, Yengane-Pe ridge, Polar Urals only about 30 km west of the WP boundary, on June 23rd - 24th 2002

The Finnish-bird was twitch by birders from all over Europe, and it was filmed by Antony "Forezbirder" (1,2), and Totti Toiskallio (3).

Janne Aalto says about the bird
"It was first heard by locals but they had no idea what it was... Then local was told to come to listen it and so Hannu Kivivuori and his blind birder friend from other side of country Hannes Tiira who happened to be very keen bird-recorder went to listen to it and they realized that it was a Snipe! I had been birding with Hannes on the previous night and he called me that there was a strange snipe calling and I started driving there (100 km). They had already identified the bird as a Swinhoe's when I got there but of course everyone wanted to make it sure. So I listened to it and then took good quality recordings and sent them to some friends and then the rest is history"

Middle Spotted Woodpecker

Middle Spotted Woodpecker

Dendrocopos medius

November 13th 2010, a 12-year-old schoolboy and bird enthusiast Tuomas Meriläinen found a strange-looking woodpecker from his home yard. He photographed the bird and showed the pictures to the experts who were able to identify the bird as a Middle Spotted Woodpecker, a new species for Finland. The bird stayed in the area over the winter, until March 28th 2011.
It was filmed by Hannu Talvitie on November 26th 2010.