Great Tit Year scientific news are edited by Marko Mägi, marko.magi@ut.ee, Bird ecologist at University of Tartu

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Pied flycatcher male checking on what goes on in a great tit nestbox / photo: Marko Mägi

Pied flycatcher   Must-kärbsenäpp     Ficedula hypoleuca

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If you are a stranger and you arrive at the nesting site later than the others information on local conditions –is important and both  knowledge and experiences are essential. Knowing the best feeding and nesting sites can increase the nesting success significantly.

Text and photos  Margus Ots, coordnator of Great Tit Year

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The pied flycatcher arrives in Estonia in the second half of April, at latest in May. Like the great tit and the starling, it constructs its nest in a tree hollow or a nestbox but since by May the greater part of suitable nest sites are already occupied by other birds, the flycatcher starts taking over already occupied nests. The fights may even end with the death of one part – the great tit is larger and stronger and usually manages to defeat the intruding flycatcher. In 2015 for instance I found in a nest box in Vana Kuuste in Tartu County two dead male pied flycatchers on the verge of a great tit nest with eggs. The great tit evidently was not seriously hurt since all chicks developed nicely.

Text and photos  Aare Lindt, www.loodusmuuseum.ee

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Chocolate tip

Chocolate tip      Roostelaik-haavatutlane      Clostera curtula

The chocolate tip moth occurs in all Estonia but is not particularly common anywhere.

The moths fly in broadleaf and mixed forests and in parks and gardens  from mid-May until early July. During summer some second generation specimens may occur.

Photos Arne Ader

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Globeflowers

Globeflower   Harilik kullerkupp        Trollius europaeus

Globeflowers are the favourite flower of many people; over time they have been perpetuated in paintings and praised in words.

Belonging to the Ranunculaceae or buttercup family, it prefers rather damp meadows or wooded meadows as habitat but we also find it at forest verges. On the mainland it is a common flower nearly everywhere but on the islands we find globerflowers less frequently.

Text and photos  Aare Lindt, www.loodusmuuseum.ee

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Pebble prominent

Pebble prominent     Siksak-hammastutlane   Notodonta ziczac (Linnaeus, 1758)

The pebble prominent occurs in all Estonia and it is quite common locally.  The mothe fly in broadleaf and mixed forests, and in parks and gardens from mid-May until mid-June, a few specimens can also be seen later. In the second half of summer the second generation appears but it is not as numerous as the springtime one.