On Sunday and Monday night a beautiful swan migration took place; with it the first swans provided with GPS transmitters also arrived in Estonia.  Three of them stay in Pärnu and two at Matsalu bay. The birds can be recognized from the white neck ring with a black solar powered battery.

In case anyone happens to visit these two locations please take a look. It would be interesting to know how large the flock is, what the birds feed on, how many of last year’s young swans are there in the flock?

Bay of Pärnu 

Roe deer    Metskits or kaber    Capreolus capreolus

In Virumaa in the Roostoja area the roe buck is out for food. In the bog bilberry kind of pine forest habitat there are not many choices. So an investigation was made to see what goes for food in such a place at this time of the year. He had nibbled at fresh shoots of hare’s-tail cottongrass (Eriophorum vaginatum). In pulling them out of the tussock he managed to get hold of the white and sweeter lower parts of the stems as well.

Beaver    Kobras or piiber       Castor fiber

On the banks of inland waters traces of beaver activities are well visible; our largest rodents still have their mating period, and the otherwise wary creatures move around even in daytime. Their gestation period lasts three and a half months.

In our neighbourhood pygmy owls have become more active in evenings. There were at least three of them on Wednesday making themselves heard in the village.

Pygmy owl; Eurasian pygmy owl     Värbkakk          Glaucidium passerinum

Pygmy owls occur widely in all of Estonia but they are scarce. It might be said that they are birds who set store on ecologically valuable areas. Their  numbers are estimated at around a thousand breeding pairs.

In the video we recognize the nesters of last year, the smaller male Mihkel with greyish plumage and sturdy and strong female Mari

Buzzard; Common buzzard     Hiireviu            Buteo buteo