Thursday 27 June 2024

Estonia - Day 6: 10th June 2024 for Oriole Birding

We were all ready to leave our lodge at a little after 8.30am but a fully coloured up male Red-breasted Flycatcher was temptation enough to pop into the woods where this energetic little singer showed very well indeed. 



Red-breasted Flycatcher 

From here we made our way down towards the Gulf of Riga at the Pikla fish ponds.  It was sunny but blowing a hoolie but we still managed to find a good selection of waders on the fields with Redshank, Spotted Redshank, Ruff, Black-tailed Godwits and Ringed Plovers while Great White Egrets and Grey Herons were scattered in all directions by a low flying adult White-tailed Eagle.





There were Reed, Sedge and Great Reed Warblers in the channels and a Blyth’s Reed singing in a rose on the beach where Arctic, Sandwich and Common Terns moved by close in and Goldeneye whirred along in small groups.  It was very pleasant out of the wind but we soon moved on passing Blue-headed and White Wagtails, Wheatears and Whinchats on the way out.

More road time followed (including a Lesser Spotted Eagle) until a stop at Laaksaare for a walk along a trail following a peaty stream on a circuit through the woods where Wood Warblers, three Flycatchers, Hawfinches, Marsh Tit, Coal Tit and a selection of other familiar woodland birds were encountered along with good woodland flora, amazing bracket fungi and a fluffy Red Squirrel.






Lesser Butterfly Orchid


Fly Honeysuckle - Lonicera xylosteum

Herb Paris

Ribes alpinum

Rough Horsetail - Equisetum hyemale

Shuttlecock Fern - Matteuccia struthiopteris


Wood Sorrel along a long decayed log

Spiked Rampion - Phyteuma spicatum


The orchard around the small homestead where we parked held Common Redstarts and Rosefinches, Siskins and a babbling Icterine Warbler too.


Rosefinch

Beautiful Demoiselle

Song Thrush


A traditional local and very filling lunch was taken at Mulgi Kõrts in Abja-Paluoja before a Black Kite caused a quick van exit at Viljandi.  


This is called Porridge... Carb overload - mashed potato, grains, lardons, tomato, pickles and soured cream and a generous dollop of sinep - horseradish mustard. It was fabulous and we all waddled afterwards.

Black Kite

We stopped at an immense viewing tower but the weather was turning again and a drake Garganey was all we saw before the rain came lashing down.  A Great Silver Diving Beetle larva was probably quite pleased with the damp path as it undulated off to pupate.


Down


windblown Garganey

Great Silver Diving Beetle larva



Many White Storks were seen from here on it to the city of Tartu our base for the last two days of this adventure and after dinner we headed out and quickly found a singing Booted Warbler not far from the city.  I have seen very few Booted so this was a real joy to watch and embarrassingly I did not actually know how they got there name but sure enough the feet are darker than the legs…

Booted Warbler 

Booted Warbler 

Booted Warbler 


At Kärevere we checked out the Great Snipe fields briefly before heading down the road to a small bit of the Alam-pedja reserve where a wonderful ten minutes on the bridge over the river added a Common Sandpiper to the tally as well as River Warbler, two Golden Orioles, Ravens, Rosefinches and melancholic Redwings while below the fish were rising to the swarms of flies and a Kingfisher peeped out of view.  The first Woodcock were already up and about and a bonus Barred Warbler crossed the road too.



What a magical landscape


Back at Kärevere it was now well gone 10pm and the meadows were alive with the song of Corncrakes and the drone of a trillion midges and mossies and there amongst them were the weird bubbly fizzy pops of lekking Great Snipe. They were never that close and there was no chance of a view in the grass but they kept leaping up and hovering before moving a short way and dropping back in but all the salient features were visible and the crew were happy despite the blood loss.



Kärevere - watching the Great Snipe lekk at a safe distance


Despite being after 11pm now we had one last stop and spent till nearly midnight in the last of the glow in the middle of the extensive Aardla Wetlands where our target Spotted Crake was heard upon arrival – another song, like the Corncrake that I had longed to hear.  But it was not alone and Bitterns boomed, Water Rails squealed and Green Sandpipers moved around the meadows while Little Ringed Plovers called and Garganey, Wigeon, Teal, Gadwall and Mallard were all flighting around.





You can hear the Spotted Crake through the Edible Frog chorus

The frog chorus was impressive as was the sight of a procession of 110 White Storks coming into roost.  We left a dog Fox proclaiming his territory and headed back to our hotel for the night already knowing that it was already another day…

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