Estonia 16th-26th May 2015
Birds, Bears...... and Pine Marten.
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Estonia was a place that i would probably of glanced over as a birding destination before Gary Waddington thought it would be a good place to visit.
Estonia has Sweden to its west across the Baltic sea, Finland to the north and its eastern border neighbors Russia. Estonia is the same size as Wales roughly. Flat as a pancake throughout the highest peak is as high as a double decker bus.
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| Thrush Nightingale. |
Prices are generally half of what they are here in rip off Britain. The hotels, restaurants, supermarkets are good and run with efficiency. The folks that we met were more than helpful and some very helpful like one girl who rang and booked a hotel for us and pointed us in the right direction when we became a little lost.
Outside Tallinn the capital, it is very rural with large arable farms and vast forests, the place is beautiful, clean, and quiet. Traffic is virtually non existent in a lot of places but the roads are good everywhere.
The areas we visited for wildlife became better and better, the variety was superb and what we considered rare became possible with effort.
We landed and collected the hire car in the early evening spotting Common and Artic terns, Hooded crows, Swallows and both Herring and Black headed gulls. We made our way to the Hotell Tehetorni on the edge of Tallinn. Unpacking in a flash we had a couple of hours at a local park/ woodland area . The area was easy to amble around and peaceful. The birds we noted surprised me, we had 4-5 Wood warblers, Spotted flycatcher, Goldcrest, Great spotted woodpecker and a skeen of 400 Barnacle geese overhead. Fieldfare seemed plentiful around us and quite busy feeding. The star of the show though was one particular Thrush nightingale singing like a champion, we chased the little songbird along the paths trying to capture its song on our mobile phones.
17th May started well we had several songbirds singing around the hotel including Thrush nightingale again, Lesser whitethroat, and Yellowhammer. Today we headed towards Spithami point a couple of hours away. The drive was easy and we picked up Marsh harrier, several Common buzzards, Kestrel, White storks nesting upon purpose made nesting poles.
but the best surprise was a huge female Capercaillie at the side of a forest track. The car was feet away when we noticed the well camouflaged bird, maybe if we had spotted it a few moments earlier we would of had a chance of photos but the huge female was obviously spooked by the car and flew past and around the back of us vanishing into the forest..what a treat and what a cracker.
We landed and collected the hire car in the early evening spotting Common and Artic terns, Hooded crows, Swallows and both Herring and Black headed gulls. We made our way to the Hotell Tehetorni on the edge of Tallinn. Unpacking in a flash we had a couple of hours at a local park/ woodland area . The area was easy to amble around and peaceful. The birds we noted surprised me, we had 4-5 Wood warblers, Spotted flycatcher, Goldcrest, Great spotted woodpecker and a skeen of 400 Barnacle geese overhead. Fieldfare seemed plentiful around us and quite busy feeding. The star of the show though was one particular Thrush nightingale singing like a champion, we chased the little songbird along the paths trying to capture its song on our mobile phones.
17th May started well we had several songbirds singing around the hotel including Thrush nightingale again, Lesser whitethroat, and Yellowhammer. Today we headed towards Spithami point a couple of hours away. The drive was easy and we picked up Marsh harrier, several Common buzzards, Kestrel, White storks nesting upon purpose made nesting poles.
White Stork on nest.
Spithami point is a peninsula with good arable land nearby, we did some sea watching picking up .Sandwich tern,Redshank and Spottted redshank, Velvet and Common scoter, Goldeneye, Common sandpiper, Little gull, Ringed plover, Whimbrel, Gadwall , Pochard and Scaup. The whole place is worth spending time there with plenty of habitat and areas to investigate. We walked along the paths and onto the farmland picking up Red backed shrike, Whinchat, Wheatear, Linnet and Gary spotted a Ortalan bunting that gave us the run around. Yellowhammer now started to become common and White and Blue headed wagtail also.
We headed towards the Sutlepa Meri birding area and its 3 bird watching towers that we read viewed over the vast reedbeds. Unfortunately 2 of the towers had been pulled down and the 3rd closed for obvious safety reasons. We did pick up on Little gulls and Black terns and a single Red necked grebe along with Sedge and Great reed warbler. A lone Caspian tern flew over and we spotted a female Roe deer. The area looked good and we did return the next day. We headed to our hotel for the next two nights The Baltic Hotel Promenaadi. Haapsalu
18th May we had breakfast and noted 3 Sea eagles on the bay that the hotel is situated upon along with Common, Caspian and Artic terns. We headed towards the local sewage works.Obviously being one of the more glamorous places on the itinerary. On the way we stopped at a decent size lake that is part of Haapsalu town. We picked up Slavonian grebes and Gargney and decided to call back later after the Grebes drifted away and into poor light for us.. At the glamorous sewage works we chased a Thrush nightingale through a large pile of brush and cut down trees before doing a bit of bush bashing along a quiet track. Garden warbler, Lesser whitethroat, Bearded , great and blue tits showed. We spotted Hawfinch but failed at snapping them. Along the way we saw a female Montagu's harrier but she drifted away from our lenses. We bumped into a lad that found our scopes and tripods amusing and fascinating the poor lad was hard to communicate with and obviously had learning difficulties. We tried to encourage him to look through the scope but i think it scared him slightly. We set off back to the car and picked up a displaying Honey buzzard . Whilst we watched the bird a pair of Montagu's harriers came into view to our left hand side tumbling and rolling sometimes talons touching. The Honey buzzard drifted away but the harriers gave us good views. When they had drifted away another harrier appeared over the trees to our right hand side and we think that we had a possible total of 5 Montagu's harriers that morning in this area. I walked back to the pile of brush and dead trees for the Thrush nightingale but with little chance of a photo . Whilst searching a Hobby soared past.
We headed back towards Sutlepa Meri picking up Marsh harrier and Great white egret on the way.
Whilst at Sutlepa meri we added Raven, Long tailed tit, and our 2nd Honey Buzzard of the day. Later we moved to Haeska tower one of my favorite places. Along the edges we had views of Little stints, 15 Temmincks stints 50 Ring plover 7Grey plover 50 Dunlin 400 ruff and 3 Marsh sandpipers that gave good photography views.
We added 10 Shovelers 2 Smew 6 Gargney Black tailed godwit Sea eagles Lapwing and about 4-5000 Barnacle geese as well. Walking around the reception block and gardens we picked up Hawfinch Chaffinch and Wood sandpiper near the car parking area before leaving.
19th May we had a hour before breakfast on the headland near our hotel spotting Sea eagles again and Little ring plover along the way. After breakfast we headed back towards the Slavonian grebes that we had seen not far from the hotel. We pulled over looking to our far left but noticed that a pair of Grebes were just ahead of us and better still somebody walked past them and the birds did not drift away like they had the day before. We had crippling views of these birds at close quarters and produced some stunning photos between us.
Summer plumage Slavonian Grebe
We moved towards the areas around the north part of Mattsalu bay, another good area.On our way Gary heard a noise that he had not heard in years so pulling over we looked around and caught a few brief views of our first Wryneck..and a Green woodpecker also..a good spot . We stopped on our way at the side of the road looking over the foreshore and marshland pools picking up Snipe and Ring plover with young and also Lapwing. Thousands of Barnacles geese could be seen along the foreshore and we had several Wood sandpipers at the edge of the marshy pools. Another good bird was a female Bluethroat on the lawn of a house just as we were parking up. We had another elusive Male Bluethroat a hour or so later. The area were we stopped is called Puise and it was a lovely spot for birding. One of the first things we watched was a male Red backed shrike displaying to a nearby female. White fronted geese and Turnstones added to our growing total before we moved on.
We headed towards Virtsu looking for a hotel but hit a blank, a young girl in a supermarket helped us and booked a room for us in a nearby holiday village that was comfortable and clean. We had a walk in the evening watching Common cranes display with their necks stretched and heads help high whilst making the unmistakable evocative cry. We also spotted a female fallow deer along the edge of a wooded area.
20th May Bright and Sunny. We drove to Mattsalu river park and spent sometime searching for a woodpecker that never showed itself but we did get some good quality photos of a male Wood warbler ( below) along with Pied flycatcher , Dunnock and Wren on our woodland walkabout. In the same area we caught up with Common crane again Black grouse and a very vocal Corncrake.
We headed to the ferry that would take us over to the island of Saaremaa. The food was rubbish in the ferry terminal the only poor meal we ate. We looked around the perimiter of the port for Barred warbler .. a tip that we had been given but nothing showed. Oystercatcher and Common terns flew over and two separate Common gulls nested on the floor on the ferry terminal car park...bizzare !
The 20 minute crossing produced Velvet and common scoter, Long tailed duck, Eider and Scaup.
Once we disembarked we headed towards Kubassaare point, the walk around was quiet but we did catch 4 Scarlet Rosefinch, Serin and Barred warbler. Along a dusty wooded track we scanned the trees from the car searching for movement or listening for something different. What we did not do was look straight ahead at a pair of Hawfinch and a Yellowhammer drinking from a puddle 20 yards or so in front of us. We did eventually photograph them though we could of seen them earlier. The male Hawfinch was a very striking bird.
Common Buzzard showed well on our way back towards the main road and away from the area. Making our way towards the capital Kuressaare and looking for accommodation we dropped into the tourist information centre only to find that we were about to strike gold for the night. We were advised to stay at the Ekespaar residents Hotell. A nice looking and high class hotel set in the grounds of the castle of the beautiful town of Kuressaare. We booked a twin room that was smallish but well fitted out and nicely decorated. Outside of the bedroom window we could view Artic and Common terns on the moat that surrounded the castle. The grounds are a public park area that is well kept and very pretty. This was not the best part, we were offered a complimentary drink on arrival ( so i had two coffees) sorry Gary. The best part was the breakfast, when it was served they offered us a 7 course breakfast including champagne, we declined the champagne at such a early hour. The total price for staying at this place was a ridiculous 51 euros....and that was between us. On top of that the girl at reception did some research for birding spot around the island for us. Gary gave her a good tip when we left...what a place and what a beautiful setting and town.
21st May..The birding in the area was good we saw lots of birds but not many new ones though our walk before breakfast did give us good photos of Wryneck, Rosefinch and Lesser Redpoll even though we had drizzle we were happy.
The drive back to the ferry we watched White tailed sea eagles, Little gulls and Black terns at distance and a nice male Marsh Harrier.
Puhtulaid and Tuhu Soo were the next on the agenda for a spot of birding after we crossed back onto the mainland.
Puhtulaid is quiet and has wooded areas and a pebbled foreshore, it also boasts a tower overlooking the foreshore. We had great fun chasing 3 Ictrine warblers and listening to these birds mimic so many other birds. , what a song and what a cracking little warbler to study. Warblers scare many birders because they are hard to identify especially if you dont get a good view but on this trip Gary made it easy to identify quite a few small birds without seeing them. In the same wooded area we had decent views of 4 Red breasted flycatchers one was probably a first year male showing no rusty orange/red throat patch. In the same wooded patch we had more Hawfinch, Pied and Spotted flycatchers. A good place and maybe worthy of a longer stay.
On our way towards Tuhu Soo from Puhtulaid we had just turned off route 10 and onto route 60 if i recall correctly, when just in front of the car and at tree top height a cracking Honey Buzzard circled over the road.Leaping out of the car like two mad men we rattled off some shots before the beauty climbed and gained height, another cracker and probably the best view we will get of these birds.
Tuhu Soo is a mire a bog or wet moorland with a boardwalk that is purpose made to explore. Again it is quiet, we had a walk along the boards and spotted two raptors at distance and studying them for a few minutes we thought they were Golden eagles, Red backed shrikes showed as did Tree pipits and as we walked along 3 Black tailed Godwits took exception to our presence. These are known to nest here. We watched a Hobby catching insects also whilst walking back towards the car. This is another place worthy of spending more time at because it also hosts Black grouse , Cranes and Harriers.
22nd May .. We made our way towards " the magic corner " a name given by Dave Gosney in his guide to this area of forest. This area was supposed to hold a rich wealth of forest birds. We never thought that the birds would be easy, we just hoped that we would see some good birds.First of all we found several open felled areas of forest that looked promising so we walked along the tracks investigating each area. One of the first things that we spotted was a fox walking down one track towards us that Gary filmed. We heard Black woodpecker very close but failed to see any, we did pick up Mistle thrush and Ictrine warbler again along with Rosefinch, Common Buzzard and Wryneck as we walked. One area looked better than the others and we spent sometime searching here, after awhile we managed 2 sightings of White backed woodpecker and a Grey headed woodpecker, Though quite brief they were positive sightings. Nutcracker was heard but not seen.
After a few hours at this patch we moved towards Nigula Bog. Driving towards the area we picked up several Golden plover, nesting White storks and the usual Yellowhammers. As we came close to the car park we noticed two large raptors soaring over the tree tops.
Two lesser spotted eagles showed fairly well, we watched them for a few minutes and drove nearer towards them and the car park. We sat in the car park picnic area and listened to another Ictrine warbler singing around us before we walked along the boardwalk towards a vast open moorland. we walked and chatted when all of a sudden a female Capercaille lifted from the side of the boardwalk that we were walking only two feet from us. She hid at the foot of a large bush and then stepped out onto the boards behind us for a brief few seconds before flying off. The moorland was quiet but looked a very promising area maybe in the early morning or evenings. We made our way back to the car park and i went looking for the Eagles, spotting a Sparrowhawk straight away. I thought i had a buzzard perched on the edge of the forest but once i had the scope up we both decided it was another Lesser spotted Eagle. They seemed very numerous here we had 5-6 birds at this area though we could of seen the same birds twice.
In the evening we headed towards Pikla Pools.This was my favorite place of the trip. Huge coastal reedbeds, farmland, shallow pools , foreshore, two birding towers, and some scrapes. The first thing we noticed as we drove onto the site was a Great Bittern lift from one part of a reedbed and drop down several yards further along. The reeds were full of noise mostly from Great reed warblers ( right ) but also Bearded Tits. We had at least 3 booming Bitterns , several Rosefinch and Marsh Harriers (below ).
Add to that hundreds of Swifts and plenty of Terns, Little ringed plovers displaying, half a dozen Ruff, Black tailed godwits and a handful of Greylag geese flying over. We had wagtails on the fences, and a cracking Savi's warbler singing from the reeds that we photographed ( below right ).
Lapwings, Golden plover and Red backed shrike added to the numbers. One of the funniest things we saw was a Marsh Harrier spook a Bittern out of the reeds, the Bittern flew a short distance before squawking some disapproval at the nearby Harrier.A easy place to go bird watching and we believe that Crakes can be found here as well. On the way back to the chalet we had two Moose cross the road 100 yards in front of us. Back at the chalet we had something running over our metal roof we never saw it but think it was either a Squirrel or a Cheeky Pine Marten.
23rd May. We started with a walk along a track in Nigula forest that we had heard was good for Hazel Grouse but with no luck. We arrived early spotting a Common Crane and Common Buzzard. We saw Green Sandpiper along the drainage ditches that run beside the forest tracks. They breed in the forest here nesting in trees. Along the tracks that we walked we did manage to see Turtle doves and also Crested tits. One of the nicest thing we saw and photographed was a cheeky Red squirrel that showed some curiosity towards us.
We had plenty of other sightings but still no Black Woodpecker and no Hazel Grouse. In the evening we hit Pikla Pools again with our first main sighting being a Hobby overhead, the next good bird that we saw was a group of 5 Red necked Phalaropes about 100 yards away on a shallow pool. They shared this pool with Gargney and later 2 cracking mall Ruffs. One being quite mottled with a red neck the second male was a splendid deep purple in colour .Gary spotted a immature Goshawk being mobbed and the Marsh Harriers glided over the reeds again. Bitterns boomed and Savis's warbler sung again.We noted Stock dove.Lapwing and Whinchat before setting off for Nigula forest again to see what would be around at last light. We had a tip off for Ural owl but decided to split up and watch separate areas. Soon Gary was waving and by the time i had made my way over the owl had moved. Minutes later it returned and flew past us hunting the only grassy area within the forest. It showed well but was hard to photograph in low light.It was a superb bird to witness and a great bird to find. Just further down the track as the light was going a River Warbler sand and was close to the edge of the track ut very hard to pick out. Woodcock also flew over us as we searched for the River Warbler.
On our way back to the chalet we caught Nightjars in the headlights another great bird to see.
24th May 2015. The day started with Gary being unwell, so i had a little walk around the chalets whilst he slept a little longer. The chalets faced the sea and quite quickly two White tailed sea eagles passed at distance. A Marsh harrier cruised over the reeds and a new bird appeared in the trees around the chalet a Coal tit. A female Roe deer caught wind of me and ran into nearby trees.
After Gary woke we headed back towards Nigula forest, we had been given a tip off on Black woodpeckers nesting, a bird Gary had missed a few times before. We returned to a clearing that we had visited several times before, several mature trees had been left standing in the middle of the clearing and the nest hole was on the back side of one of them.Gary stayed with the car and i made my way towards the trees about 100 yards away. The light was strong and cast the nest hole into shadow.
Whilst i waited a Tree Pipit gave me a good photo opportunity posing upon a stump. A Greater spotted woodpecker gave some entertainment but then i heard the call of a Black woodpecker quite close. A female adult, she stayed on the edge of the felled area surveying the open clearing whilst the single chick called from the nest hole. I am quite sure she noticed me and that made her hesitant for awhile but slowly she made her way over. She tended her youngster and i took photographs, when she left she called again and i wonder if this was to let her mate know the that the youngster had been fed.About 40 minutes later another call came quite close by, this time it was the male, he seemed nervous and flew around the edge of the clearing before quickly flying to the nest for only a short time then departing quickly. He also did the same thing by letting out a loud call on his exit surely letting his mate know he had visited the youngster. Making my way back to the car a Honey Buzzard showed over the trees but drifted away. We made our way to the roadside filling station and cafe for food and coffee. We had a good feed and Gary took a nap whilst i had a wander around. I didn't see much until a White Stork flew overhead giving good views.
We had decided to head to Tartu that afternoon but stopped at Rannametsa Vaatetorn just a few miles from our cafe diner. It was a stop on the main road that we had passed a few times and proved to be a good spot that we maybe should of paid more attention too. It was midday and we picked up two Hobbies straight away, from the top of the tower we overlooked a vast area of open ground and around the tower was a vast expanse of pine forest that must of held Black grouse, Goshawk and Capercaille. The top of the tower would of given great sightings at first light and i bet some good birds and animals would of been seen at dawn. Whilst at the top of the tower a ragged immature White tailed sea eagle soared past and below on the footpaths we had several Pied flycatchers. Back at the car we drank some water and heard Golden Oriole call from the trees across the road from us.
On the road to Tartu we had Marsh Harriers again along the road, We booked into the Riia Villa and unpacked we then decided to head to The Great snipe Lek just off the road to Karevere. We would of seen more if we had stayed staring at the wall in our rooms. The lek site was quiet, two Yorkshire men had been there way before us and scoured the area with nothing at all, the site was not there anymore.Though the men from the White rose county did give us some good tips of places to visit. We did get a red fox as the light faded and we went on to have a quick look at the llmatsalu fish ponds but we ended up on the wrong side of them as darkness fell. Though we did see Hobby and a very vocal River warbler.
25th May 2015 we started at the fish ponds and what a place it is ! A river runs down one side and the ponds are large and quite varied in vegetation. Telegraph and power lines criss cross the area and there is one huge lake that is close to the bird watching tower. The footpaths are easy and a few hours here may not quite do it justice. We had all the usual suspects and the birds of note that we did see were White spotted bluethroat singing from a telegraph wire. A marsh warbler sang from the bottom of a bush but did give us brief views as it flitted around. Gary found a hanging domed Penduline tits nest that was active
and we spotted 3 Red necked grebes on the centre of the large lake. Whitethroats, Rosefinch and Yellowhammer became plentiful here.We did stop for awhile when Gary became curious over the song of one bird coming from the trees , it was hard to catch sight of but when we did we realised that he had found a singing Redwing something i had never witnessed. Citrine wagtails showed but not in great numbers. Also a Osprey flew across the large lake hovering like a Kestrel before moving on. Later it flew past us clutching a fish in its talons. Several Black terns gave us good views and Marsh sandpiper could be seen on the pools We met the Yorkshire men again who told us of a possible Pine Marten den that we would later investigate.
We moved at midday towards Hollywood Hill a raptor watching point. Its not a hill really though it is the highest ground in that area. It is behind a service station and cafe along the main and is easily missed. I would say it is about 100ft high and the path to the top is loose gravel and stone making it hard to climb but worse to walk back down. Whilst climbing we had a Sea eagle fly past and another eagle to the right that we could not get onto because neither of us could secure a footing on the path.At he top it is a good place to scan for eagles. We stayed for a short time then moved along the road 100 yards past the burger bar and petrol pumps. Turning left if you are coming from Tartu and Karevere. This was a place the Yorkshire lads had told us about and not in any guide books. A huge expanse of flooded fields with a backdrop of tall trees. Another cracking place that held lots of birds. 2oo plus Sand martins , a large number of Little gulls picking insects on the wing with a few Black terns mixed in. Wigeon, Green sandpiper and Wood sandpiper waded in the shallows. Some rarer birds showed well in the scope. 14 broad billed sandpipers 12 Ruff and 2 Terrick sandpipers shown to me by Paul one of the Yorkshire men. In addition to this we had Moorhen, Spotted redshank and 3 Citrine wagtails.
In the evening we returned back to llmatsalu fish pools. The hedges and reeds were alive with warblers but not one Hobby that we thought would be around chasing the many Dragonfly's. We spent some time waiting for the Pine Martens to appear but when they did i had my camera setting wrong. I took some pictures but they are rubbish. Gary managed a few beautiful shots through his scope and then the light fell. We went back to the motel and i kicked myself hard for making a costly stupid mistake.
26th May 2015.
We returned to the fish pools again and i headed to the Pine Martens den it was still quite early. Along the way a cracking Penduline tit was feeding and i caught some good views and good photographs. A nice Thrush Nightingale sang from the wires as i walked along. At the den i waited and waited but nothing showed, i thought my luck was out when i noticed movement and a flash of cream midway up the tree, a few moments later the cheeky begger poked its head from behind the tree checking me out.
These animals are quick but this one was cute it did not show itself any longer than it needed after it's curiosity of me had gone. It vanished through the undergrowth and that was that.
After some food and packing our cases away we headed north towards the Brown Bear hide at Veneoja Kula. About 90 minutes from Tallin in the north eastern part of Estonia quite close to the Russian border. We arrived at the meeting point early so did some birding along the forest tracks picking up 2 black woodpeckers flying over, drumming Snipe at 4pm and Golden Orioles. Corncrakes could be heard but not spotted and common Buzzards also.This place must be worth a couple of days here if you are thinking about visiting. A promising area for Golden Eagle, Capercaille and Black Grouse along with Woodpeckers, deer and Elk. I imagine a lot could be found here in such a remote area, this was the least populated place we visited with big expanses of forest and fields.
We met the lady who owned the Bear hides and paid our £75 each. A high price with no guarantees. The hide was a good walk from the track about 1 mile.The hide was wooden and basic with no water or power, the loo was dry and used wood shavings. The bunk beds had flat thin foam for a mattress and no pillows. It was very warm and musty and had 2 hard chairs for sitting and viewing from. The place was full of biting insects.
The 2 viewing windows had clear perspex and were 15cm high by 45cm wide and at eye level. Below and close to the floor was a shelf with a tripod head fixed and a small opening for the camera lens. A good idea but a tad awkward laying on the floor to take photographs.
We had been in the hide a hour or so and a red fox sneaked through the trees and a little later a Racoon dog showed slightly. Gary climbed onto his bunk and i watched for Bears. Around 7.30 i glanced to my far right and about 3 meters away right besides the hide a Brown bear was passing.
My heart jumped into my mouth it was huge, its bulk was massive and it was yards away.
We both observed it as it walked into a better position for photos. It was rummaging around the fallen trees and undergrowth when all of a sudden it glanced over its shoulder and shot off running like a scolded cat. Then from the right of the forest that we could see the daddy of all bears strolled in. The first bear was a big animal but this new one was 20% bigger, he was a giant. Probably 4ft at the shoulder 6-7ft in length and weighing 550-600 lbs. The head was round with small ears but the muzzle was broad and strong.He was mature and he stayed around sniffing and foraging before moving along the same path as the first bear. Before the light faded we noted four bears in total though we could of seen the same bear twice. One bear came in and started digging at a patch of ground as i took photos and something bolted from beneath its claws startling the bear and myself. I guess it was a rabbit i only saw a flash of white for a split second.
We had a look around some of the forest trails and spotted Golden Orioles, Cuckoo, Whinchat, Common Crane, Hobby, Wryneck, Whitethroats, and River Warbler. We noted lots of tracks along some of the muddy paths that probably belonged to Wild pigs, Racoon dogs and foxes. On our way from the forest we had 2 Green sandpipers almost attack our car. As we drove they took great excpetion to us flying around the car and us and making a right old racket. We must of been close to the nest site on this particular track.
Making our way back towards the airport we stopped at Kuhli Tarv, we could not make much progress through the trees towards the lake but we did see good signs of active Beaver, we noted 3 River warblers and had god views of Ictrine warbler along with Hobby Whinchat and Wheatear and vocal Corncrakes.We packed our scopes and bins and returned to Tallin and home !
In Total we calculated 184 species of birds. Several good mammals and a fantastic new country.
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Spithami point is a peninsula with good arable land nearby, we did some sea watching picking up .Sandwich tern,Redshank and Spottted redshank, Velvet and Common scoter, Goldeneye, Common sandpiper, Little gull, Ringed plover, Whimbrel, Gadwall , Pochard and Scaup. The whole place is worth spending time there with plenty of habitat and areas to investigate. We walked along the paths and onto the farmland picking up Red backed shrike, Whinchat, Wheatear, Linnet and Gary spotted a Ortalan bunting that gave us the run around. Yellowhammer now started to become common and White and Blue headed wagtail also.
We headed towards the Sutlepa Meri birding area and its 3 bird watching towers that we read viewed over the vast reedbeds. Unfortunately 2 of the towers had been pulled down and the 3rd closed for obvious safety reasons. We did pick up on Little gulls and Black terns and a single Red necked grebe along with Sedge and Great reed warbler. A lone Caspian tern flew over and we spotted a female Roe deer. The area looked good and we did return the next day. We headed to our hotel for the next two nights The Baltic Hotel Promenaadi. Haapsalu
18th May we had breakfast and noted 3 Sea eagles on the bay that the hotel is situated upon along with Common, Caspian and Artic terns. We headed towards the local sewage works.Obviously being one of the more glamorous places on the itinerary. On the way we stopped at a decent size lake that is part of Haapsalu town. We picked up Slavonian grebes and Gargney and decided to call back later after the Grebes drifted away and into poor light for us.. At the glamorous sewage works we chased a Thrush nightingale through a large pile of brush and cut down trees before doing a bit of bush bashing along a quiet track. Garden warbler, Lesser whitethroat, Bearded , great and blue tits showed. We spotted Hawfinch but failed at snapping them. Along the way we saw a female Montagu's harrier but she drifted away from our lenses. We bumped into a lad that found our scopes and tripods amusing and fascinating the poor lad was hard to communicate with and obviously had learning difficulties. We tried to encourage him to look through the scope but i think it scared him slightly. We set off back to the car and picked up a displaying Honey buzzard . Whilst we watched the bird a pair of Montagu's harriers came into view to our left hand side tumbling and rolling sometimes talons touching. The Honey buzzard drifted away but the harriers gave us good views. When they had drifted away another harrier appeared over the trees to our right hand side and we think that we had a possible total of 5 Montagu's harriers that morning in this area. I walked back to the pile of brush and dead trees for the Thrush nightingale but with little chance of a photo . Whilst searching a Hobby soared past.
We headed back towards Sutlepa Meri picking up Marsh harrier and Great white egret on the way.
Whilst at Sutlepa meri we added Raven, Long tailed tit, and our 2nd Honey Buzzard of the day. Later we moved to Haeska tower one of my favorite places. Along the edges we had views of Little stints, 15 Temmincks stints 50 Ring plover 7Grey plover 50 Dunlin 400 ruff and 3 Marsh sandpipers that gave good photography views.
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| Marsh Sandpiper |
19th May we had a hour before breakfast on the headland near our hotel spotting Sea eagles again and Little ring plover along the way. After breakfast we headed back towards the Slavonian grebes that we had seen not far from the hotel. We pulled over looking to our far left but noticed that a pair of Grebes were just ahead of us and better still somebody walked past them and the birds did not drift away like they had the day before. We had crippling views of these birds at close quarters and produced some stunning photos between us.
Summer plumage Slavonian Grebe
We moved towards the areas around the north part of Mattsalu bay, another good area.On our way Gary heard a noise that he had not heard in years so pulling over we looked around and caught a few brief views of our first Wryneck..and a Green woodpecker also..a good spot . We stopped on our way at the side of the road looking over the foreshore and marshland pools picking up Snipe and Ring plover with young and also Lapwing. Thousands of Barnacles geese could be seen along the foreshore and we had several Wood sandpipers at the edge of the marshy pools. Another good bird was a female Bluethroat on the lawn of a house just as we were parking up. We had another elusive Male Bluethroat a hour or so later. The area were we stopped is called Puise and it was a lovely spot for birding. One of the first things we watched was a male Red backed shrike displaying to a nearby female. White fronted geese and Turnstones added to our growing total before we moved on.
We headed towards Virtsu looking for a hotel but hit a blank, a young girl in a supermarket helped us and booked a room for us in a nearby holiday village that was comfortable and clean. We had a walk in the evening watching Common cranes display with their necks stretched and heads help high whilst making the unmistakable evocative cry. We also spotted a female fallow deer along the edge of a wooded area.
20th May Bright and Sunny. We drove to Mattsalu river park and spent sometime searching for a woodpecker that never showed itself but we did get some good quality photos of a male Wood warbler ( below) along with Pied flycatcher , Dunnock and Wren on our woodland walkabout. In the same area we caught up with Common crane again Black grouse and a very vocal Corncrake.
We headed to the ferry that would take us over to the island of Saaremaa. The food was rubbish in the ferry terminal the only poor meal we ate. We looked around the perimiter of the port for Barred warbler .. a tip that we had been given but nothing showed. Oystercatcher and Common terns flew over and two separate Common gulls nested on the floor on the ferry terminal car park...bizzare !
The 20 minute crossing produced Velvet and common scoter, Long tailed duck, Eider and Scaup.
Once we disembarked we headed towards Kubassaare point, the walk around was quiet but we did catch 4 Scarlet Rosefinch, Serin and Barred warbler. Along a dusty wooded track we scanned the trees from the car searching for movement or listening for something different. What we did not do was look straight ahead at a pair of Hawfinch and a Yellowhammer drinking from a puddle 20 yards or so in front of us. We did eventually photograph them though we could of seen them earlier. The male Hawfinch was a very striking bird.
21st May..The birding in the area was good we saw lots of birds but not many new ones though our walk before breakfast did give us good photos of Wryneck, Rosefinch and Lesser Redpoll even though we had drizzle we were happy.
The drive back to the ferry we watched White tailed sea eagles, Little gulls and Black terns at distance and a nice male Marsh Harrier.
Puhtulaid and Tuhu Soo were the next on the agenda for a spot of birding after we crossed back onto the mainland.
Puhtulaid is quiet and has wooded areas and a pebbled foreshore, it also boasts a tower overlooking the foreshore. We had great fun chasing 3 Ictrine warblers and listening to these birds mimic so many other birds. , what a song and what a cracking little warbler to study. Warblers scare many birders because they are hard to identify especially if you dont get a good view but on this trip Gary made it easy to identify quite a few small birds without seeing them. In the same wooded area we had decent views of 4 Red breasted flycatchers one was probably a first year male showing no rusty orange/red throat patch. In the same wooded patch we had more Hawfinch, Pied and Spotted flycatchers. A good place and maybe worthy of a longer stay.
On our way towards Tuhu Soo from Puhtulaid we had just turned off route 10 and onto route 60 if i recall correctly, when just in front of the car and at tree top height a cracking Honey Buzzard circled over the road.Leaping out of the car like two mad men we rattled off some shots before the beauty climbed and gained height, another cracker and probably the best view we will get of these birds.
Tuhu Soo is a mire a bog or wet moorland with a boardwalk that is purpose made to explore. Again it is quiet, we had a walk along the boards and spotted two raptors at distance and studying them for a few minutes we thought they were Golden eagles, Red backed shrikes showed as did Tree pipits and as we walked along 3 Black tailed Godwits took exception to our presence. These are known to nest here. We watched a Hobby catching insects also whilst walking back towards the car. This is another place worthy of spending more time at because it also hosts Black grouse , Cranes and Harriers.
22nd May .. We made our way towards " the magic corner " a name given by Dave Gosney in his guide to this area of forest. This area was supposed to hold a rich wealth of forest birds. We never thought that the birds would be easy, we just hoped that we would see some good birds.First of all we found several open felled areas of forest that looked promising so we walked along the tracks investigating each area. One of the first things that we spotted was a fox walking down one track towards us that Gary filmed. We heard Black woodpecker very close but failed to see any, we did pick up Mistle thrush and Ictrine warbler again along with Rosefinch, Common Buzzard and Wryneck as we walked. One area looked better than the others and we spent sometime searching here, after awhile we managed 2 sightings of White backed woodpecker and a Grey headed woodpecker, Though quite brief they were positive sightings. Nutcracker was heard but not seen.
After a few hours at this patch we moved towards Nigula Bog. Driving towards the area we picked up several Golden plover, nesting White storks and the usual Yellowhammers. As we came close to the car park we noticed two large raptors soaring over the tree tops.
In the evening we headed towards Pikla Pools.This was my favorite place of the trip. Huge coastal reedbeds, farmland, shallow pools , foreshore, two birding towers, and some scrapes. The first thing we noticed as we drove onto the site was a Great Bittern lift from one part of a reedbed and drop down several yards further along. The reeds were full of noise mostly from Great reed warblers ( right ) but also Bearded Tits. We had at least 3 booming Bitterns , several Rosefinch and Marsh Harriers (below ).
23rd May. We started with a walk along a track in Nigula forest that we had heard was good for Hazel Grouse but with no luck. We arrived early spotting a Common Crane and Common Buzzard. We saw Green Sandpiper along the drainage ditches that run beside the forest tracks. They breed in the forest here nesting in trees. Along the tracks that we walked we did manage to see Turtle doves and also Crested tits. One of the nicest thing we saw and photographed was a cheeky Red squirrel that showed some curiosity towards us.
On our way back to the chalet we caught Nightjars in the headlights another great bird to see.
24th May 2015. The day started with Gary being unwell, so i had a little walk around the chalets whilst he slept a little longer. The chalets faced the sea and quite quickly two White tailed sea eagles passed at distance. A Marsh harrier cruised over the reeds and a new bird appeared in the trees around the chalet a Coal tit. A female Roe deer caught wind of me and ran into nearby trees.
After Gary woke we headed back towards Nigula forest, we had been given a tip off on Black woodpeckers nesting, a bird Gary had missed a few times before. We returned to a clearing that we had visited several times before, several mature trees had been left standing in the middle of the clearing and the nest hole was on the back side of one of them.Gary stayed with the car and i made my way towards the trees about 100 yards away. The light was strong and cast the nest hole into shadow.
On the road to Tartu we had Marsh Harriers again along the road, We booked into the Riia Villa and unpacked we then decided to head to The Great snipe Lek just off the road to Karevere. We would of seen more if we had stayed staring at the wall in our rooms. The lek site was quiet, two Yorkshire men had been there way before us and scoured the area with nothing at all, the site was not there anymore.Though the men from the White rose county did give us some good tips of places to visit. We did get a red fox as the light faded and we went on to have a quick look at the llmatsalu fish ponds but we ended up on the wrong side of them as darkness fell. Though we did see Hobby and a very vocal River warbler.
25th May 2015 we started at the fish ponds and what a place it is ! A river runs down one side and the ponds are large and quite varied in vegetation. Telegraph and power lines criss cross the area and there is one huge lake that is close to the bird watching tower. The footpaths are easy and a few hours here may not quite do it justice. We had all the usual suspects and the birds of note that we did see were White spotted bluethroat singing from a telegraph wire. A marsh warbler sang from the bottom of a bush but did give us brief views as it flitted around. Gary found a hanging domed Penduline tits nest that was active
We moved at midday towards Hollywood Hill a raptor watching point. Its not a hill really though it is the highest ground in that area. It is behind a service station and cafe along the main and is easily missed. I would say it is about 100ft high and the path to the top is loose gravel and stone making it hard to climb but worse to walk back down. Whilst climbing we had a Sea eagle fly past and another eagle to the right that we could not get onto because neither of us could secure a footing on the path.At he top it is a good place to scan for eagles. We stayed for a short time then moved along the road 100 yards past the burger bar and petrol pumps. Turning left if you are coming from Tartu and Karevere. This was a place the Yorkshire lads had told us about and not in any guide books. A huge expanse of flooded fields with a backdrop of tall trees. Another cracking place that held lots of birds. 2oo plus Sand martins , a large number of Little gulls picking insects on the wing with a few Black terns mixed in. Wigeon, Green sandpiper and Wood sandpiper waded in the shallows. Some rarer birds showed well in the scope. 14 broad billed sandpipers 12 Ruff and 2 Terrick sandpipers shown to me by Paul one of the Yorkshire men. In addition to this we had Moorhen, Spotted redshank and 3 Citrine wagtails.
26th May 2015.
We returned to the fish pools again and i headed to the Pine Martens den it was still quite early. Along the way a cracking Penduline tit was feeding and i caught some good views and good photographs. A nice Thrush Nightingale sang from the wires as i walked along. At the den i waited and waited but nothing showed, i thought my luck was out when i noticed movement and a flash of cream midway up the tree, a few moments later the cheeky begger poked its head from behind the tree checking me out.
It stayed long enough for me to grab a few decent shots before scurrying down the tree and looking in my direction again. I snapped away knowing that this beauty could be away in a flash.
Walking back to the tower a Beautiful male Scarlet Rosefinch posed nicely for the camera.By the tower i met Gary and we noticed another Penduline tit close by it had a hidden nest hanging like a Christmas Decoration just beside the tower.
We met the lady who owned the Bear hides and paid our £75 each. A high price with no guarantees. The hide was a good walk from the track about 1 mile.The hide was wooden and basic with no water or power, the loo was dry and used wood shavings. The bunk beds had flat thin foam for a mattress and no pillows. It was very warm and musty and had 2 hard chairs for sitting and viewing from. The place was full of biting insects.
The 2 viewing windows had clear perspex and were 15cm high by 45cm wide and at eye level. Below and close to the floor was a shelf with a tripod head fixed and a small opening for the camera lens. A good idea but a tad awkward laying on the floor to take photographs.
We had been in the hide a hour or so and a red fox sneaked through the trees and a little later a Racoon dog showed slightly. Gary climbed onto his bunk and i watched for Bears. Around 7.30 i glanced to my far right and about 3 meters away right besides the hide a Brown bear was passing.
My heart jumped into my mouth it was huge, its bulk was massive and it was yards away.
Also in the mix that evening was several Racoon dogs, Great spotted woodpecker and Black Woodpecker. We did hear some deep owl calls from the trees above the hide but saw nothing. After a dredful sleep we woke early to see more Racoon dogs, Turtle doves,Pied flycatchers and another Black woodpecker on the stump of a tree. The sightings made the price cheap, but it was uncomfy. We moved to a cafe/petrol station fueling up with coffee and sandwiches and washing in the men's toilets.
I would not hesitate to investigate this area more without the bear hide. I imagine this forest is alive at dusk.We had a look around some of the forest trails and spotted Golden Orioles, Cuckoo, Whinchat, Common Crane, Hobby, Wryneck, Whitethroats, and River Warbler. We noted lots of tracks along some of the muddy paths that probably belonged to Wild pigs, Racoon dogs and foxes. On our way from the forest we had 2 Green sandpipers almost attack our car. As we drove they took great excpetion to us flying around the car and us and making a right old racket. We must of been close to the nest site on this particular track.
Making our way back towards the airport we stopped at Kuhli Tarv, we could not make much progress through the trees towards the lake but we did see good signs of active Beaver, we noted 3 River warblers and had god views of Ictrine warbler along with Hobby Whinchat and Wheatear and vocal Corncrakes.We packed our scopes and bins and returned to Tallin and home !
In Total we calculated 184 species of birds. Several good mammals and a fantastic new country.
