A super early start on a clear and very crisp still morning saw
us on the road at just after 5am and heading deep into the forest tracks of
Soometsa. The first Ural Owl glided
across the road well before dawn and we stopped to have a listen and quickly
picked up Tawny Owl, Pygmy Owl and a male Ural Owl on the opposite side of the
road.
Driving around to the other side gave us a good chance of
finding him and sure enough he was sat up at the back of the clearing and he
gave some fair views as he patrolled his patch.The first Blackbirds and Wrens were singing and Cranes trumpeted way off
in the distance and it resounded through the forest.A Woodcock called and one dropped back into
the trees after its night out in the fields.Onwards and another Pygmy Owl was heard but closer and it was quickly
found in the half-light.They are just so
tiny.
Pygmy Owl
A Lesser Spotted Woodpecker flew over us and the first of
several Grey-headed Woodpeckers was heard yaffling before coming into the
closest pines.Black Woodpeckers were
also to be heard giving a variety of calls and drumming and by the end of our
pre breakfast jaunt I think we had seen at least five and probably heard
another three or four and with Great Spotted too, it was definitely a Woody
morning.
The best was still to come with a fervently drumming female
Three-toed Woodpecker that stayed put on the same snag sounding board in a huge
Aspen for at least twenty minutes and it became a one of the birds with ‘walk
away views’.We knew we were lucky to be
able to watch one so intimately for so long.Her chosen broken branch was perfect and it resonated throughout the
trees but she failed to get the attention of a male.
Three-toed Woodpecker - just look at how the plumage matches the tree. No wonder they are so tricky to find.
Three-toed Woodpecker
A frosty sunrise - Ron McIntyre
As the light came up the volume of Blackbirds and Mistle
Thrushes increased and we also heard several more Pygmy Owls which in turn
attracted the Tits and we got close views of Cresteds, Marsh and Willow as well
as seeing Jays, Nuthatches and Goldcrests again and several more dusky looking
Wrens.I am unsure of the race out
here.Three Common Crossbills called
overhead and were part of many finches all morning including Siskins,Chaffinches and quite a few high flying Northern Bullfinches.
It had been cold and still enough over night for the rare Hair Frost to form
We tried for Capercaille and Hazel Hen but had no joy and
you need so much luck with both species before making our way back to Parnu for
breakfast.
Hot food and coffee and then back out to be greeted by a fly
over Hawfinch and then off along the coast to check on the fields at Häädemeeste.It started well with two good sized flock of
Geese to go through.Most were Tundra
Beans and White-fronts but there were a few Barnacles and at least six hefty
Taiga Beans Geese in there too offering a useful comparison. A pair of Cranes
were with them and we found a good flock of Bullfinches and a Woodlark.A local farmer pulled up in his bale lifter
and got very angry about us looking in the general direction of his house which
was lurking behind some barns and trees, before speeding off down the
road.Unfortunately he got his wish as
within two minutes a wall of mist started to creep towards us from the frozen
Gulf of Riga just over the far bund which very quickly became a proper foggy
mess that stymied all further attempts to view or even find any geese within
the whole coastal belt.Our chances of
Lesser White-front and Red-breasted Geese had literally vanished before our
eyes.
Taiga Bean Geese
Taiga & Tundra Bean Geese, White-fronted Geese & a Crane
We cut our losses and headed back inland where the fog was
still a way off and set about continuing our hunt for elusive gamebirds and
such like.No luck but we did see some
more Crested Tits and at last find a pair of Northern Long-tailed Tits that
showed incredibly well as well as hearing more Woodpeckers and listening to a
very vocal but stationary Goshawk somewhere in the pine canopy and a large
Eagle went over at a distance that was not a Golden or White-tailed but we had
to leave it at that despite our suspicions.
Wood Ant nest
Northern Long-tailed Tit
Northern Long-tailed Tit
Northern Long-tailed Tit
Crested Tit - always in the canopy
Contrasts - Ron McIntyre
We were all flagging and so after a light lunch we headed
back for a siesta or whatever they might call it in Estonia before an
delightful early dinner and a return to the field (well forests around Soomaa) from about 6pm
for three hours.
We needed coffee
The crew: Judy and Steve, Sue and Ron, Dickie and Tarvo in his usual birding attire
It was still and
overcast and as we approached the first potential Ural Owl spot, Tarvo found
the male sat up next to the track and in serious hunting mode and we got to
watch him in the low light silently dropping onto ‘things’ in the grass between
the pines. He was not bothered by us in the least and only moved on when
another car approached.A male could be
heard off in the distance and just around the corner we found third male our
hunting which at one stage cruised silently just over our heads and landed on a
pine stump.I had given up with my
camera at this point and let the bins soak up the light and the experience.
Ural Owl
Ural Owl
A couple of Woodcock were already roding and Cranes were
still going strong well after sundown.Continuing around allowed us to find two more male Ural Owls on
territory but our one chance for a Tengmalm’s Owl failed with not one
tremulous note to be heard.
Some subsequent driving of the lanes and checking of the
fields with the thermal gave us Foxes, Brown Hares, Roe Deer, Mallards and
Woodcock but alas no big cats and with the temperature now just above freezing
and heavy drizzle falling we called it a night and returned to an even foggier
Parnu for out final night.
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