A quick look outside before breakfast at Loona Mois on a
grey and misty morning saw the Northern Bullfinches in fine form with eight
birds moving between the scrub and tops of the tall trees where they were bust
nibbling buds. The vocal range of these
seem so much more than our own but it may be that because the pitch is louder
we are actually hearing more compared to the quietly voiced British birds?
Northern Bullfinch
Northern Bullfinch
Northern Bullfinches
Hawfinches could be heard too and Dickie and Judy both saw
one perched up high and our first trip addition of the day.There was the background song of
Yellowhammers, Stock Doves, Wood and Skylarks and of course the Cranes and two
Foxes and a hind Red Deer watched me from the fields.
Breakfast and then back across the islands to the ferry back
to the mainland with flocks of Lapwings, Cranes, White-tailed Eagles and Tundra
Bean Geese on the way but still not one Great Grey Shrike. An adult Baltic Gull
was on the ice just before the causeway to Muhu. Late yesterday the Hawk Owl
had been re-found near Tallinn and if it had been seen before we got to the
ferry our day would have been very different but it was not and so the plan
remained unchanged. We made it with ages to spare (eight whole minutes) and
from the warmth of the van we could see Smew, Goosander and Goldeneye flying
around and once on board for the 25 minutes crossing we were treated once more
to stunning Long-tailed Ducks in front of the ship with the addition this time
of a single drake Common Scoter and the bobbing head of a Grey Seal.
Wind turbines poking above the fog bank
Long-tailed Ducks and the other ferry widening the channel as it went by
Long-tailed Ducks
Long-tailed Ducks
Common Gull
Common Gull - not sure if this would be 'heinei' out here?
By the time we reached the famous Tuhu bog area it was
starting to drizzle but it was good to find four male Black Grouse from the
super wide runway like main road on the way in.One was in the fields while the others were in a tall Birch and like the
Bulllies, were eating buds.They even
flew across the road for us where they looked even better in flight.
Black Grouse
The main bog viewpoint overlooking the sea of stunted pines
did not actually produce one bird but further along we found the main Black
Grouse lekking area and nearly 30 were seen strutting around the grassy
although most of the time they just peaked a head out or a fluffy white bum
would suddenly flash.
It looks like we were incredibly high and staring across the canopy of some towering pine forest but we were in fact no more than ten feet off the ground...
Honestly, the view was full of Grouse!
A Great Grey Shrike was at last found, first chasing a small bird
energetically and then perched up and glowing in the poor light.Both Larks and Mistle Thrushes were seen and
Cranes bugled. The nearby woods provided us with a speedy set of passerine
additions with a flock containing several frosty Willow Tits and punky Crested
Tits along with both Goldcrest and a surprise Firecrest.We also saw Treecreepers, Nuthatch and a
Great Spotted Woodpecker along with a few finches and a Jay doing the Buzzard
call.The drizzle was getting heavier as
we moved on and soon became light rain.
Four of the numerous Roe Deer we encountered during the day
Roe Deer
I think that this Lichen is a Ramalina or Evernia. Each bit looks like an inverted stag antler
Eyes were kept peeled and 12 Golden Plovers and two big flocks of Lapwing were seen but a further woodland stop failed to produce anything at all.
Golden Plovers
A pastry heavy lunch stop and then a lovely open patch of
woodland at Netrema where a short Woodpecker succession was much more
successful with Grey-headeds bounding around and a female White-backed putting
on a great show and even drumming.Great
Spots also drummed and a calling Middle Spotted Woodpecker was the first Tarvo
had seen here of this fast expanding species.
White-backed Woodpecker
The rain got heavier as we pushed onto Parnu and our last
stop before getting to the hotel was Audru marsh where we saw all the
breeding Citrine Wagtails on the summer trip but this time Geese were the
target and on seeing a large flock in the distance, Tarvo took the ‘interesting
track’ through the middle confidently saying that he had only got stuck
once.Well, for a short while that
became twice but an appropriate push and he was underway again.We walked…
Hundreds of Geese headed off but nothing small could be seen
amongst the throng of White-fronts and Beans but the next flock down did hold a
few Greylags and Barnacles. Perhaps we would find something different on the
morrow?
Sparkling Mallards on ice
A murky throng of grey geese
It was cold and spitty spotty with the rain and a single
Common Snipe was the only new bird so we headed on to our lodgings in the
middle of Parnu, dropped our bags off and then headed back out to the Pikla
fishponds.Fourteen Great Egrets were
feeding in the shallows and many Grey Herons came and went from the large
colony in the pines on the other side of the road and our scans around gave us more
geese totalling 170 White-fronts, 13 Tundra Beans and three Barnacles.
Great Egrets - interestingly they had breeding colour legs but not bills
White-fronts and a White-tailed Eagle
Tundra Beans and two Barnacle Geese
Several good sized flocks of Starlings fed around the edges
of the reedbeds and on an area where over 20 Reed Buntings, some Linnets and
ten Tree Sparrows had gathered.White-tailed Eagles were sat up in the gloomy weather and made occasional
sorties and one seemed to take a fish from a pool spooking Ravens and Hoodies
in the process and I suspect that it was already a deceased dinner.
White-tailed Eagle
Rob found a glowing adult female Goshawk perched up in the
pines a long way off which showed every detail.As usual nothing wet near here and she watched for her dinner
unmolested.We could not find any
Bearded Tits but our second Great Grey Shrike of the day was sat sentinel near
the beach but the weather was closing back in so we called it a day bit not
before Dickie found a huge male Beaver sat at the edge of the reeds right next
to the van! It plopped off as soon as we reversed but was seen well in the
water before submerging.I had always wanted
to see one of these in the wild and it was the perfect end to the day.
A short pre-breakfast amble around the Loona Mois grounds
provided us with an obliging male Northern Bullfinch sat up quite high but
still glowing in the pre-dawn light. A very different call and a bit of a
bruiser too. Yellowhammers sang all
around with at least four counter singing males while two pair of Stock Doves
were in the wood where Greenfinches wheezed.
All the while you could hear Cranes in the surrounding fields with ‘good
morning’ duets echoing across the landscape.
Greylags dropped into feed and a flock of 13 Blue Tits and three Great
Tits dropped in from up high on their way back through the island. I wonder if any of them flew past me on their
way to Latvia on that most memorable of days in October last year?
We headed back out after breakfast and were greeted but a
bushy Red Fox inspecting the lawn but it was not particularly bothered about us
and went about its business.
Red Fox
Our first stop was back at Saaremaa sadam where we hoped the
Steller’s Eiders would be paddling around but it was not to be and they were
once again clearly not there so after listening to the dapper yodelling
Long-tailed Ducks and seeing a flock of flying mixed Scoters we decamped back to
where we saw them the evening before but at a more sedate pace.They were not here either and speaking to a
visiting birder, she had not seem them at all over the last three days which
made our luck and alacrity and quality views all the more special.
Long-tailed Ducks
Long-tailed Ducks
Goosanders, Coot s and a Long-tailed Ducks
With more time here we had a good scan and picked up several
Great Crested Grebes and Red-throated Divers, two more Common Scoter, Common
Eiders and about 30 Red-breasted Mergansers.Migrants were on the move with incoming Siskins, Goldfinch, Linnet,
Skylark, Blackbird, Blue and Great Tits, Hooded Crows and a single lost
Lapwing.There were Geese too and the
closest flock was made up of both White-fronts and Tundra Beans.
On and up around the coast to another vast bay at Cape Undva
and although we did indeed find a fine raft of at leas 50 Steller’s Eiders they
were of a similar calibre to my first sightings and the views could best be
described at poor – cue more happy chatter about how good last night was!
Four female Velvet Scoters were closer in with Goldeneye and
Long-tailed Ducks and a whizzing group of Teal were new for the trip.Skylarks sung at eyelevel over grassy patches
within the Juniper scrub and Judy picked up our first Red Kite over the distant
wood where it avoided any interaction with the flock of six sparring
White-tailed Eagles but di not escape the attention of a Raven.A single Fieldfare was seen in some paddocks.
Inland a little ways to a forest trail around Viidumäe where
it took all of 30 seconds this time to find a Pygmy Owl.He put on a fine show and as usual it was
fabulous to watch the shape of the head change from rounded to flat depending
on what style of hard stare it was trying to achieve.
Pygmy Owl
Leaving him to his woodland we made our way back to the
coast for a picnic lunch atToomalõuka overlooking a semi ice bound bay which had
large pools within it covered in Tufted Duck, Goldeneye and Smew.There were more Wigeon here and our first
five Gadwall too.Several Shelducks were
found along with newly arrived single Avocet and two Oystercatchers and everything
was frequently airborne due to regular Eagle attention.A female Sparrowhawk nipped over the road and
a second Red Kite was over the woods.A
Great Spotted Woodpecker was heard calling and a Lesser Spotted bounded over
but did not seemingly stop and I wondered if
that was a returning migrant too?
White-tailed Eagle and spooked duckage
A party of six Cranes headed high and north and we heard
Snow Bunting and Yellowhammer going over while we were scanning through a flock
of about 90 Russian White-fronts and 57 Tundra Beans.Two of the RWFGs had black collars inscribed
with white but it took a while to work out that they were 1-2E and 2-6D.Tarvo will submit them and let us know their
history.
Cranes
Russian White-fronts andTundra Beans
Tundra Beans at the front
The two neck ringed Russian White-fronts
From here we made our way down to the Sõrve peninsular once
again and it was quite difficult to not keep talking about the 6th
October and the mass Tit migration.It
was bitterly cold and most of the bay was frozen but we still had a good scan
and Rob found our first pair of Pintail that were spooked by yet another
hunting Eagle.This one was given short
shrift by the Great Black-backed and Herring Gulls.
What no tits?
White-tailed Eagle, GBB and Herring Gulls and Goldeneye
As we walked towards the far point we came alongside the
last ice holes and I counted 28 more Smew on them with so many Goldeneye and a
few Goosanders.A Great Egret was on the
distant marsh where a Ringed Plover displayed and a pair of Whooper Swans were
actually sat on the beach just in front with a couple of dozing Mute Swans –
all the while gently trumpeting.
Goldeneye
Smew and Northern Herring Gulls
mmm... interesting
Whooper Swan
Whooper Swan
There were no Snow Buntings on the beach but we enjoyed
watching a female Long-tailed Duck preening her belly feathers meticulously but
not by rolling.She sat back and then
must have been paddling furiously to keep her entire backend under the water
and vertical while she bobbed and sorted out here feathers.Once she was done she popped back to floating
position and went on her way.
Long-tailed Duck
Long-tailed Duck
The Oriole party attempted to migrate to Latvia but the weather forced them to turn back
A wall of rain could be seen coming in from the east so we
started to turn back finding a couple of newly arrived Great Tits foraging in
the grass before a Robin flew along the beach and landed on the very first
stones and began to look for food. Another successful returnee but only just.
Ex-Common Scoter
Robin
Icy rain began to fall so we scurried back to the van and
ended up opting for an early dinner back in Kuressaare with only a group of three Red Deer and two road crossing Roe Deer seen on the murky and wet drive back.
The next day we would return to the mainland for more woodland walking
and goose hunting.
