Bad Finnish Birdwatcher

Friday, November 16, 2007 - In Estonia, part one

What great soul I have! I took Janne with me on a birding-trip to Estonia. He is like a helpless puppy, he needs someone to look after him.

A trip of six days (4th - 8th November) to Sõrve was just what I needed. A break (with birds included). The southern tip of Saarenmaa is a fairly remote part of the world - at least this time of year, the tourists come in the summer. And Estonia is easily accessible from Finland by a short ferry crossing (in fact so easily that some finnish birders have practically given up birding in Finland altogether). And there were lots more birds to be seen than in Finland. Mainly seabirds that is. And the company on the bird observatory was pleasant as well. Thanks Heidi, Late, Uku, Mati and Janne! (plus the dogs: Donna and Muti)

I'm not up to the task of writing a detailed report of the trip, but here's a brief summary of the highlights:

A Desert Wheatear we luckily saw, a Peregrine Falcon (pretty late), four terns of which three were identified as Arctic Terns (very late), six species of waders (Red Knot, Dunlin, Purple Sandpiper, Grey Plover, Eurasian Golden Plover, Common Ringed Plover).
Nice migration, some examples of the best day-sums: Little Gull 141, Razorbill 566, Red throated Diver 160, Red-breasted Merganser 804, Greater Scaup 108.
Species worth a mention in my opinion also - although most of these are pretty common in Estonia even this late in the year: Black Redstart, Hawfinch, Marsh Tit, Woodlark, Twite, Hoary Redpoll, Rock Pipit.

Spending time in a cabin heated by burning wood deserves a mention as well. Going to sauna in the pitch black autumn night. Listening to the waves of Riga bay (absolutely full of Long-Tailed Ducks by the way) crashing on the shore in the distance. Breathing in the cool air and watching out to the enormous sea. I could also go on and on about the Estonian nature, the way its not exploited nearly as efficiently as its finnish counterpart, but I won't.

The southern tip at dusk.