Our final day in Estonia saw us heading after breakfast for
the centre of the country in the hope that the long staying but somewhat erratic
Hawk Owl was consider showing itself. We
eventually left the fog behind and only stopped for our first two newly arrived
White Storks one of which was already sat up on one of the numerous nests. We had a family of Bewick’s Swans and a
couple of Whoopers along with the expected Cranes pairs dotted across the
arable landscape.
White Stork
White Stork
Whooper Swan
It was not to be with the Hawk Owl around Paide and despite
our best efforts at scanning every tree, pole and wire we could not find it and
Tarvo had said that they simply do not hide – they are either on view or not there.
Our first stop however was excellent with our closest views
of Black and Middle Spotted Woodpeckers along with Fieldfares, Nuthatches,
Yellowhammers and few finches which included a couple of Mealy Redpolls for me. The
sound of Cranes resounded once again across the fields.
Middle Spotted Woodpecker - Dickie Greasby
Black Woodpecker - Rob McIntyre
Tarvo took us on a loop
into the surrounding forests but there was no Hawk Owl joy but here once again
we did very well with Woodpeckers with Great Spotted, several Grey-headed
including a pair on the same tree and calling Blacks once again.Nutcrackers eluded us too but a pair of Pygmy
Owls put on the best show yet and flew past us within a few metres while all
the local Tits, Goldcrests and Nuthatches went spare.A Great Spotted Woodpecker even came in and
gave them some stick.
Grey-headed Woodpeckers
Pygmy Owl
Pygmy Owls
Pygmy Owl
The trail took us back into the farmland for a final scan
round which did give us a rather fine female Rough-legged Buzzard sat up on a
telegraph pole.This is a scarce bird
here and one we were hoping to bump into.
On to a fine fish ‘n’ chips lunch and then into the Kõrvemaa forest
for a final attempt at elusive grouse and game. It was quiet but we did get to
explore on foot after noting the ‘don’t underestimate a bear’ sign.The understorey of mosses, lichens, Common
Bilberry, Lingonberry and Marsh-tea but a Treecreeper was the only bird.We did find the trails of Roe Deer and even where a Moose bedded down
for the night while on the road there were the tracks of a large Canid.
Cladonia
Cladonia
Common Bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus
Lingonberry Vaccinium vitis-idaea
Marsh-tea Rhododendron tomentosum
Stiff Clubmoss Lycopodium annotinum
Ruby Tiger cat I think
Another Pygmy Owl was singing and was found perched up on the
very top of a young pine where amazingly it got mobbed by four male Parrot
Crossbills that were basically the same size.There was no way to get them in the same shot unfortunately!It was good to see the Crossbills this well
rather than just flying over.
Crew and the last Pygmy Owl
Crested Tit
Parrot Crossbills
Parrot Crossbills
Parrot Crossbill
Pygmy Owl
Pygmy Owl
The surrounding farmland gave us a our last Great Grey
Shrike but little else so we started to wend our way back to Tallinn where a
fine coffee and tart awaited. We then took a final short walk around the suburban
woods of Pääsküla where a Goshawk shouted and attracted the attention of a
passing male to round up a marvellous trip of Estonian wildlife, fine
hospitality and gastronomic delights.
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.
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.
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
