Peter took over final
day guiding duties and we began at some hidden pools adjacent to the Aardla
Wetlands. These reclaimed gravel pits
were well vegetated and were full of life and in our short walk we found a
female Goldeneye with three half grown chicks while Black and Common Terns
dipped down.
Marsh Warblers burbled
forth a stream of expert mimicry and Great Reed and Sedge Warblers were doing
their thing but the singing Penduline Tits were sticking to their willows and
were tricky to find but a nice male Rosefinch did pop up briefly and say
‘pleased to meet you’. The sheltered path between ponds was full of
Damselflies, Pearly Heaths and even a Burnet Companion moth.
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| Rosefinch |
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| Rosefinch |
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| Burnet Companion |
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| Chrysops sp |
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| Common Emerald Damselfly |
We followed the river track down to the main gravel road we
found just before midnight two day previously and spent a goodly time just
soaking up the now daylight sights and sounds of these meadows and pools. Ravens were everywhere and they, along with
Hoodies, Jackdaws, Gulls and White Storks were hanging around the rooftops
associated with an out of view landfill site.
Suddenly a flock of panicked Lapwing appeared followed by
more gulls and corvids and I shouted at everyone to look up and sure enough a
male Goshawk was powering across at height before reaching the landfill and
stooping down into the melee of birds. It was magnificent. We had only seen two Goshawks so to witness a
hunt on both occasions was a real treat.
White-tailed Eagles circled in the distance and a pair of
Lesser Spotted Eagles cruised in from the north with out a beat and spooked the
recently settled landfill birds once again. They were not having a good
morning. Marsh Harriers were constantly
on views and frequently put up Green Sandpipers, Teal and the local foraging
Starlings. A Wood Sandpiper was also
heard a couple of times.
Black Terns were scattered across the views and would bounce
past us croaking as they went before dipping to pick insect from the water and
reeds. Obviously there were no Crakes,
Rails or Bitterns this time but they were replaced by singing Reed Buntings,
Citrine and Grey Headed Wagtails, Skylarks and Whinchats. With rain pushing in
we opted to move around the corner and try the ponds where signs with Beavers
on suggested a potential opportunity!
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| Black Tern |
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| Black Tern |
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| Citrine Wagtail - Sean Moore |
A lovely circuit may not have produced the desired tree
munchers although there was lots of recent evidence but it did give us
unexpected and point blank views of a pair of Thrush Nightingales. They (like the Willow Warblers and
Whitethroats in the same clump) clearly had nests near the path so we did not
linger. It was so good to be able to
show the crew one after hearing so many.
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| Whitethroat |
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| Thrush Nightingale |
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| Thrush Nightingale |
Golden Orioles fluted in the Poplars and two flew over us
and a Marsh Warbler was seriously going for it and had amassed an impressive
repertoire. There were some cool plants
with flowering Melancholy Thistles, Early Marsh Orchids, Siberian Irises and
Bistort and a few insects to with Chimney Sweeps and Lattice Heaths being
commoner than any butterflies.
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| Bistort |
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| Early Marsh Orchid |
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| Melancholy Thistle |
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| Scorpion Fly |
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| Azure Damselfly |
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| Variable Damselfly |
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| Ceratomegilla notata |
We had to be careful on the path because of thousands of
tiny Toadlets and one 100m section was littered with the plucked wings of
hundreds of Dragonflies and Damselflies although I could see no predators or
likely reason for them to be spread in that particular areas. It was most bizarre.
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| Toadlets |
With a little time left before our Tartu lunch we walked
down a track towards some more hidden pools where a Whooper Swan stood watch
and two Cranes waded through the long grass where many breeding plumaged Great
White Egrets could be seen. There was little else but a fine Raft Spider
crossed the path – she looked fit to burst.
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| Great White Egret |
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| Cranes |
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| Whooper Swan |
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| Yellow-winged Darter |
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| Dolomedes fimbriatus |
A fine final lunch and then off towards Tallinn with a short
stop at some delightful fish ponds on the way.
Garrulous Great Reed Warblers were heard and Penduline Tits once again
were only seen if they flew away from us!
There were Goldeneye, Mallard and Gadwall on the pools and we found spot
where the Beavers had been leaving the water to forage on a felled Willow. There were plenty of Damselflies with Blue Tails, Variable, Azure,
Red-eyed, Emerald Spreadwings and Blue Featherlegs.
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| Emerald Spreadwing |
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| Blue Featherleg |
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| Red-eyed Damselfly |
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| Emerald Spreadwing |
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| Blue-tailed Damselfly |
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| Variable Damselfly |
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| Azure Damselfly |
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| Red-eyed Damselfly |
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| Great White Egret |
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| Great White Egret |
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| Flowering Rush - Butomus
umbellatus |
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| Bloody Cranesbill - Geranium sanguineum |
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| Meadow Cranesbill - Geranium pratense
|
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| Glaucous Bullrush - Schoenoplectus lacustris |
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Lesser Reedmace - Typha angustifolia
|
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| Garden Chafer |
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| Dioctria sp - a Robberfly |
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| Lattice Heath |
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| Small Tortoiseshell |
The plan to spend time in Tallinn old town got easier as we
headed that way as our flight home got pushed back to 22.50 thus giving us a
bit more time to look around although given us a hideous arrival time.
Peter dropped us off at the perfect start point
and we all enjoyed a good couple of hours ambling up and down the cobbled
streets, passing churches of every shape and size, listening to the peeling of
bells, crossing through city walls and narrow alleyways, stopping at view
points over the city below, lingering at the poignant Ukrainian messages
outside the Russian embassy on the main square, avoiding the stares of the
faceless monks and of course picking up the fizzy sizzling of Black Redstarts
from the rooftops. It was a fitting way to end our Estonian adventure.
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| Linda... |
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| No idea where this was from the plane on the way home but it was spectacular |
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