Estonia: May 2017

Pygmy Owl

Last year I spent the first week of May in Estonia catching up with some of my "most wanted" European birds.  Colin Wilkinson and I joined a short tour organised by Estonian Nature Tours and led by Tarvo Valker, to see "Great Snipe and woodpeckers", then added a couple of extra days on our own at the superb Matsalu National Park.  We enjoyed almost unbroken sunshine, though it was pretty chilly: Estonia was just coming out of it's coldest spring for decades.

My personal highlight of the tour was a brilliant view of Pygmy Owl, sitting just above us in the forest edge, bathed in the last rays of evening sunshine. Here is a selection of my images from the tour:

Female Capercaille feeding beside a forest track

Black Woodpecker, male

Hazel Grouse, male

Hazel Grouse, female

Old growth forest - a rare habitat in Estonia - but of course, the best place the look for woodpeckers

Grey-headed Woodpecker, male

Part of a huge flock of European White-fronted Geese - many tens of thousands stop off in Estonia en route to the arctic in spring

White Stork

Liverleaf  Hepatica nobilis

Red Squirrel

Woodcock on track at dusk (in car headlights!)

Male and female Common Toad

Brambling, male

Garganey, male and female

Nutcracker

Other highlights of the organised tour included:

• an evening visit to a Great Snipe lek near Tartu (Karavere Slid)
• tracking down a male Three-toed Woodpecker in the depths of an old growth forest
• great views of Wrynecks singing in parkland and orchards
• Red-necked Grebes in gorgeous breeding plumage on many lakes
• Great food and hospitality, one place we stayed was a vodka factory turned into a hotel.

At Matsalu, Estonian Nature Tours booked us into a superbly located guest house, in a prime location overlooking a fine expanse of coastal wetland.  On arrival we were greeted by a large flock of Ruff feeding really close to the front lawn!  A very nice place to stay, with great breakfasts and lovely hosts.

View from Tuulingu guest house, Matsalu

Ruff were numerous all around Tuulingu, some great views from the road as you approach the guest house

Wood Sandpiper

Barnacle Geese

European White-fronted Geese

Sunset from the viewing tower at Tuulingu

Ruff, male

Wood Warbler

Elk

Other highlights at Matsalu:

• Displaying Montagu's Harriers
• Migrating sea duck - hundreds of Long-tailed Ducks, Common and Velvet Scoter
• Spotted Redshanks in lovely chocolate-black breeding plumage 
• Nice restaurants in nearby Happsalu

I can thoroughly recommend visiting Estonia. It is a very forested landscape that is actively managed - every property in the rural areas has a big stack of logs in the yard.  This means that old growth forest is actually pretty scarce and sadly we did see some areas of old mature pine and firs in the heart of the best area for forest birds (Capercaille, Pygmy Owl etc) being clear-felled.