Estonian impressions - part 3

The main time of my visit I stayed at the headquarters of Karula Nationalpark in Võru County. All the pics below are from this small nationalpark that actually only covers about 12 squarekilometers. It is a hilly area and consists of pineforest, several bogs, lots of ponds, beaver-dams and a few lakes.

Male White-backed Woodpecker, 16/6. Photo by Nichols Bell. New species for me!

Chick of Hazel Grouse, 16/6-11. Video above is by Nicholas Bell. Another new species for me only half an our after the woodpecker.

Bog with loads of different insects e.g....

Annex IV dragonfly - Epitheca bimaculata.

Happy camper Casper Katborg with the Epitheca bimaculata.

Nutcracker

Annex IV water beetle - Dytiscus latissimus.

Flooded area due to a Beaver-dam. Estonia has a population of about 40.000 Beavers.

Bufo viridens/esculenta

Osprey and White-tailed Sea-eagle in infight, 17/6.

Local estonian woman working in her vegetable garden.

Laus Gro-Nielsen in an observation-tower raised 40 meters above the ground.

Red-breasted Flycatcher 3cy+ male, 16/6-11. This species seemed rather common in all types of forest.

Nicholas Bell while spraying insect-repellent on himself. Estonia has lots of mosquitos.

Golden Oriole

Limenitis populi

Sauna

Cirsium helenioides

Capercaille-shit

Estonian impressions - part 2

The first brief stop of our trip (11/6-11) at a minor river in Lahemaa NP resulted in a Blyth´s Reed Warbler, two Corncrakes, a Spotted Crake, a Red-backed Shrike, a Red-breasted Flycatcher, a Lesser Spotted Eagle, a River Warbler, Common Rosefinches and Clouded Apollos (Parnassius mnemosyne). A good start!

Common Rosefinch is very common in Estonia...

Temporary (!), karstic lake near Lahemaa NP, 11/6-11.

The karstic lakes had good populations of Spade-toed Frog but no tadpoles could be found which was not suprising the size of the lake taken into consideration.

On 12/6 a boat-trip was in the vast Emajögi swamp was arranged. The swamp covers almost 1000 km2 and lies on the estonian bank of the gigantic Lake Pepsi. See more pics from Estonia on Mads Fjeldsøs picasa album.

 A few Black Terns were seen in a small colony on one the river-arms.

 Leucorrhinia pectoralis, Emajögi, 12/6-11.

Wood Warbler, Emajögi, 12/6-11. This species is one of the commonest birds in Estonia. On a 5 km walk through the forest depicted below approximately 50 birds were heard singing.

 Typical estonian forest with, Emajögi, 12/6-11.

Iris spuria, Emajögi, 12/6-11.

 White Storks are ubiquitous in Estonia with a seemingly ever-increasing population.

 

On our way back to Tallinn (17/6-11) we made a stop for lunch near some gravel-pits where Little Ringed Plovers and Wrynecks were seen.

Lesset Spotted Eagle, Otepa, 13/6-11. About 500 pairs of Lesser Spotted Eagles is found in Estonia. I saw only about 5-10 birds during my visit. Greater Spotted Eagle breeds with approximately 5 pairs and is together with Willow Ptarmigan the most likely birds to go extinct in Estonia in near future.

Black Storks, Haania, 16/6-11. Four Black Storks were seen on the trip. The species breeds with 70-80 pairs in Estonia which is considerably less than previously assumed. Furthermore the population is declining.

Pusilla - nu med bedre dokumentation

Torsdag aften kørte jeg forbi Lille Vildmose for at høre Dværgrørvagtlen igen uden forstyrrende elementer såsom medobservatører. Klokken 22.23 gik fuglen i gang og sang herefter næsten uafbrudt i ca. 5 minutter på tæt hold. Derefter holdt den ca. fem minutters pause inden den sang et par minutter igen. Gad vide hvor mange Dværgrørvagtler der sidder i Dk lige nu - eksempelvis i Vejlerne? 

 Udover Dværgrørvagtlen hørtes endvidere meget kortvarigt en Plettet Rørvagtel.

 Hør desuden KO´s og LAK´s rigtig gode optagelser af fuglen på hhv. BirdsDK og Xeno-canto.

Gerå grill

Ansporet af gårsdagens dejlige vejr fik jeg stablet en grill-aften ved Gerå på plads sammen med mine forældre og min kæreste Johanne. Menuen stod på koteletter, pølser, grillede majs og peberfrugter, hvidløgsflütes samt salat. Maden var vellykket, og undervejs kunne min far og jeg stå og panorere lidt ud over vaden, der var fyldt med vadere, måger og ænder.

Grillseancen foregik ved p-pladsen ved Borgmestermolen.

Flere gange blev næsten alle fuglene skræmt op fra vaden dog uden vi kunne finde ud af hvorfor. Dette fik en del af vaderne til at trække syd bl.a. denne Store Kobbersneppe, som kom i en flok Hvidklirer. Vist nok min første på lokaliteten, hvor ferskvandsvadere er ret sjældne. Ud fra billedet vurderer jeg fuglen til en han limosa. Fuglen sås ikke godt i skop, da jeg koncentrerede mig om, at fotografere kræet.

Af vadere kan nævnes ca. 300 Alm. Ryler, ca. 180 Hvidklirer, ca. 250 Rødben, 7 Tinksmede, 1 Svaleklire, 3 Mudderklirer og en enlig Hjejle, der ikke var broget og spinkel nok.

Min far og undertegnede yderst på Borgmestermolen.

I. C. Jacobsens fars fødested ligger i dag hen mere eller mindre ubeboet.

Estonian impressions - part 1

From 10th to 17th of June I was in Estonia on a workshop about habitats for the two Annex IV-species Spade-toed Frog and the dragonfly Leucorrhinia pectoralis. The program also offered good opportunities for birding. This post will focus on the species that are most often active in night.

Spade-toed Frog

Great Reed Warbler

Behagelig birding

Sommer er måske ikke lige så hitbefængt som for- og efterår, men fuglekigning er nu engang rarest i godt vejr. Således var jeg i går aftes sammen med min far på et østkystraid i det utroligt dejlige vejr. Ved Gerå sås små hundrede Alm. Ryler og efterårets første flotte Krumnæbbede Ryle. Derudover var det sjoveste en out-of-season adult Sangsvane, som var en ganganger.

Derefter kørte vi til Nordmandshage, der var et knot-helvede (ikke Red Knot...). Her stod over 250 Alm. Ryler, men ikke noget sjovt imellem dem. Til gengæld rastede der en 2K Gråmåge ude en af revlerne sammen med andre store måger. Fuglen er min første hvide måge nogensinde i Sydøstvendsyssel trods megen mågekig.... Fundet er tillige det blot andet fund for lokaliteten nogensinde. Dog sås en 2K ved de nærliggende lokaliteter Egense/Muldbjerge i juli 1999.