Spring bird migration in Estonia
Spring bird migration in Estonia is about to start. I went for a short tour this Sunday to find some skylarks lapwings or cranes but it was raining and snowing heavily most of the day and had no luck to see any of them. Still i got decent 34 species within some hours including snow bunting, huge flocks of redpolls, bullfinches, very nice observation of sparrow hawk, white-tailed eagle, dipper and after sunset got one balck woodpecker as well. Got a reply from pygmy-owl from 2 spots but did not saw them. In central Estonia, Tartu, Pärnu area and west Estonia larks, lapswings and cranes are present, first small flocks of geese are flying over as well. Last week we had also rare natural phemomena called snow 🙂 here. Of course I was travelling and almost missed it but at least had few hours of snowy landscape Today the snow…
Autumn migration
Autumn migration is ongoing in west-Estonia. Here are some shots from last weekend. there is still time to enjoy the experience, find your daytrip HERE
Ural owl nesting
Last year (2018) in May I was filming ural owl nesting period. some of those clips ended up to Estonian National Television to very popular enviromental show Osoon (Ozone). Although the clip is in estoninan language without subtitles, if you are into birds you will get it without translation. I have added short description of the clip below Ural owl clip starts from 21:25 , and its about 5 min long. So the clip is about ual own nest which I found in the middle of April. The owlets hatched 3rd of May and left the nest on the 27th of May, which I unfortunately did not witnessed. In this clip there is only few minuts of this period but alltogether I filmed about 40h of footage. Please CONTACT me if you are interested of using some of that material.
The Varbad family
I have not counted how many hundred hours I have spent near ural owl (strix uralensis) nest, mostly filming but some photography as well. I have got some good and some great footages and I hope that the result will be some 15-20min movie about the owl. So since my last post there has been explosion of spring, everything is green and it has been beautiful weather, but it has been also explosion of mosquitoes and I mean the air is thick of them!!! So filming near the nest have been challenge. As you see, 2 chicks are out, good and strong and I think just few days are left before they leave the nest. So I must use the time left to get most out of it! I want to thank the people around me who understand and support that project! 😉
Beginning of the season
It has been a very good start for birdwatching season. of course its always little bit matter of luck what you see on the specific day but in general it has been without any anomalies. Well of course 2017 about 10th (ish) of May we had minus degrees and snow for 2-3 days. So there is enough time for the weather to make a wicked joke. I have had a lot more elk observations than usually. Must have been just lucky because I have not made any specific efforts to find them. Its good to be out there after the long winter. I loose the sleep already early in the morning, feels such a waste of time :D.
Last hawk-owl!?
Last week I spent time on doing some location scouting and preparing the spring tours. Winter is still here and shows its teeth but not for long. Its clear that sun will win any time soon within next couple of weeks and spring arrives finally! The hawk-owl was probably last meeting for this year. I hope next year will bring an other good year for them- lets see! Anyway, waiting for spring, bird migration and wildlife. See you in Estonia!
Homepage update
Just before the kick-off the spring season we finalized major web page update. Thanks to SC for improving texts and brainstorming, Marko for web development! Long tours and print sales will be added before April- come back soon!
Founding member of Association of Nature Tourism Companies
OÜ Kaks Hunti (Capture-Estonia) is a founding member of Association of Nature Tourism Companies, which was established 20.Feb.2018. See more info: www.loodusturism.com https://www.facebook.com/loodusturism/ https://www.instagram.com/keepestoniawild/