Photo Arne Ader

Translation Liis

White stork building nest

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It would be very interesting to know what the white storks do whose nests on the power lines have been demolished?

We often go by train in the  Rapla direction and it is always nice to see the stork nests along the railway but last week all nests on top of the electricity poles were gone (destroyed). How will the storks behave now: do they build a new nest in the same place or do they leave for another place altogether?

I think many of us are interested in the fate of the storks

Video recorded by Urmas Lett, www.eenet.ee

Webcam images captured by  Liz, LK forum
Translation Liis

Buzzard pair admiring the little miracle on the bottom of the nest

Common buzzard     Hiireviu      Buteo buteo

If the egg hadn’t been visible we wouldn’t have dared to say anything; even for female buzzard Mari it was quite time-consuming to ”fish” for it on the nest bottom.

Photo Arne Ader

Translation  Liis

Mew gulls before mating

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The mating of birds is an intricate process and it may quite often fail too.

The reasons can differ because birds must read each other’s wishes in the eyes or conclude them from behaviour. So a lack of understanding may occur between the sexes and in some cases a female who is irritated by the behaviour of her mate may even become aggressive. In some species the male tries to attain consent for the mating by bringing gifts but as we all have noticed, the birds don’t touch each other before the moments of actual copulation. This may in the opinion of scientists be the reason why birds must mate several times in order to fertilize one egg.

Text and photos Aare Lindt, www.loodusmuuseum.ee

Translation Liis

Pale brindled beauty     Lumevaksik      Phigalia pilosaria

The pale brindled moth – or beauty - is one of the first butterflies that will hatch at once after the snow thaws. It ends its flights already before the end of April.

The males are night active and willingly fly towards an artificial light.