Text Aivar Leito

Crane Ahja 5 equipped with leg ring as well as GSM/GPRS leg ring

Hello, all crane friends!

It is a pleasure to tell you that the young crane „Ahja 5“ winters happily in Ethiopia near the little town of Sululta, 15 km north of Addis Abeba.

The bird was caught on July 6th near the village of Ahja, Estonia, and was marked with coloured leg rings and a 40g GSM/GPRS solar battery powered satellite transmitter from Latvian company „Ornitela“, also attached to a leg.

Video wolftrailcam.est

Estonia’s wildlife is in trouble but helping hands have become few and each new amendment in legal acts concerning the environment instead weakens the support of humans to nature.
Through ages nature has managed to co-exist with humans – a mutually helpful system has evolved.
We keep the abundance of species in balance, in exchange for enjoying the beauty and gifts of nature. But in the 21st century we have begun to segregate the riches of nature. We need the large wild game in the forest but the small game animals and tiny forest inhabitants, beginning with flying squirrels and ending with rare bird species such as for instance the capercaillie, must cope on their own.

Images from webcam  IceAge and Shanta, LK forum

Great spotted woodpecker male

That smaller passerines like the grain balls viewers of the bird feeder camera have surely noticed, but bigger ones are also busy at them for getting food to store.

The male in the image tears up the net quite deliberately in order to get larger bites and avoid the boring pecking…

Photo Tiit Hunt

Viviparous eelpout

Viviparous eelpout or blenny   Emakala  or kiviluts       Zoarces viviparus

The little researched eelpout belongs to the Perciformes order and Zoarces family of fish and is the only viviparous fish species fish, that is, giving birth to live fry (larvae), in Estonian waters.

The birthing started already last in December but goes on also in February. How do things proceed?

Photo Tiit Hunt

Grayling

Grayling     Harjus or ärn      Thymallus thymallus

A protected fish species in Estonian rivers.  Catching is prohibited the year round

Grayling rearing experiments  started at the RMK Põlula Fish Rearing Centre in the spring of 2016.