Raised bogs of Estonia
Raised bog landscapes in Estonia are often difficult to access. Difficult to find your way through wet areas and wrong step might even cost your life. But fortunatly some bogs have wooden paths that make easy access possible and bogshoes are good way to go off-track. Here are some shots of Aela- Viirika raised bog. It’s about 1300 ha and includes several wetland types. Easy way to discover raised bogs is to take Lahemaa National Park day tour, click here for details.
Autumn colors
Autumn is in full colors at the moment. Lets just hope that the autumn storms are not ruining the party and tear off all the leaves.
Curious capercaillie
There are some curious (and a little bit crazy) capercaillies in the forest. The best time for seeing them is in early spring when they have their mating rituals. Usually they are seen in the bog forests and gravel roads. But as I mentioned before there are some crazy ones who can be seen everywhere. š
Take a moment to enjoy autumn
Take a moment to enjoy autumn because it’s one of the prettiest times to visit the bog. Colorful leaves, the smell of mushrooms and a lot of cranberries. Check out our nature tours.
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.
Between autumn and winter
Remains of autumn are still here but the winter (-ish) season is about to begin. Summer and autumn were so perfect that I think i might need to wait an other 10 years to have such a good weather. We are now prepared for the winter season. Day- tours are available all year round so feel free to join one of them! We are now ready with the new tour- DRONE PHOTOGRAPHY DAYTOUR . It will be a niche tour for sure but so far the feedback has shown there is clear need for such type of day-tour. It just makes things so much easier if you get a guide who understands the drone photography and also knows the locations. We are looking forward to see you in Estonia and hopefully we meet outdoors!
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! š
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!