 ESTONIA
A BALTIC BIRDING BONANZA
mONDAY 12 MAY - MONDAY 19 MAY 2008
Price: £1395
Single Supp: £80 pp
Deposit: £300 pp
Leaders: Gerard Gorman and Kevin Shaw
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MONDAY 11 MAY - MONDAY 18 MAY 2009
Price TBC
Estonia is rapidly becoming known as one of Europe's very best destinations for birdwatchers. More than 200 bird species breed, and in spring a heavy passage of wildfowl and waders occurs along the Baltic coast heading north - a real Baltic birding bonanza.
On this well planned north-east European adventure, we will stay at three different locations, giving us the best possible chances on finding those northern and eastern specialities, with Red-necked Grebe, Taiga and Tundra Bean Geese, Caspian, Black and White-winged Black Terns, White-tailed, Golden, Lesser and Greater Spotted Eagles, Montagu’s Harrier, Hazel Grouse, lekking Great Snipe, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Red-necked Phalarope, Temminck’s Stint, Corncrake, Black and White Storks, Pygmy, Ural and Tengmalm's Owls, White-backed, Grey-headed, Black and Three-toed Woodpeckers, Red-backed and Great Grey Shrikes, Thrush Nightingale, Savi’s, Marsh, Barred, Icterine and River Warblers, Citrine Wagtail, Penduline Tit, Nutcracker, Parrot Crossbill, Common Rosefinch and Ortolan Bunting amongst our targets.
Estonia is the smallest and least populated of the three Baltic states that achieved independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. About 10% of the country is legally protected for conservation reasons, typified by coast, wetlands and forests. There are thousands of ponds, marshes, bogs and lakes and nearly 1,000 offshore islands and islets. About 40% of the land mass is covered by forest, 20% by bog, and the farmland is often managed in a low-intensive manner with many acres of hand-mown meadows and lush pastures. This picturesque rustic scenery only enhances the charm of this little known country, and we aim to explore each habitat thoroughly to bring you the very best of Baltic birds.
ITINERARY
Day 1 - Arrive Tallin Airport. Transfer to our first base at Haapsalu
making several birding stops en route. We can expect White Stork, Bewick's
Swan, Greater Scaup, Common Crane and possiobly Woodcock as well as a few
raptors. In the evening, we can visit places such as Sutlepa for Bittern,
White-tailed Eagle, Avocet, Spotted Redshank, Spotted Crake, Thrush
Nightingale and Savi's Warbler. Our first chances of Ural Owl will be here, too. Haapsalu Bay is good for Slavonian Grebes, White-tailed
Eagle and Little, Sandwich and Caspian Terns. NIGHT: Matsula Bay area.
Days 2 & 3 - For those up early there will be a trip to Pöösaspea to watch
migration movements. With luck there will be thousands of birds on the move
here including Red and Black-throated Divers, Dark-bellied Brent and
Barnacle Goose, Long-tailed Duck, Common and Velvet Scoter and Arctic Skua.
We spend the rest of the day exploring the Matsalu Bay area. This is a
huge, shallow bay on the Baltic coast, which hosts more than 300,000 ducks,
geese and Common Cranes each spring. Raptors include White-tailed Eagle
and Montagu's Harrier. Adjacent freshwater wetlands have breeding waders and
reedbed species. Deciduous and mixed forests are home to grouse, owls,
Black, and White-backed Woodpeckers, Parrot Crossbill (a real speciality), Ortolan Bunting and Nutcracker. On either an early or late excursion we will search for these special birds. Woodcock will be roding and Black and Hazel Grouse likely. Another excursion will be to the Spithami headland from
where Barnacle Geese, Whooper and Bewick's Swans, seaduck, terns, divers
and grebes can be seen. Other sites to visit include Leidissoo for more chances
of Hazel Grouse, Crested Tit, Wood Lark and Common Parrot Crossbills.
Other possibilities include Red-breasted Goose, Lesser Spotted Eagles, Ruff, Spotted
Redshank, Temminck's Stint, Penduline Tit and Hawfinch. We have two full
days in the Matsalu Bay area and there will be plenty of sites and birds to
keep us busy here. NIGHTS Matsula Bay area.
Day 4 - Today we have an optional pre-breakfast trip for forests birds. Later we drive south towards Latvia and the Pärnu Bay area. We will be birding en route at various
roadside wetlands and old-growth forests of the area. In the afternoon we will explore the Audru
wetlands where the adjacent large fields host thousands of passage geese.
We should pick up Taiga Bean and Greater White-fronted Goose here. Other attractions are Garganey and a real eastern species which breeds here, Citrine Wagtail. In the evening there will be another chance to look for Ural,
Pygmy and Tengmalm's Owls. Hazel Grouse can also be seen on this excursion.
The famous Kabli Bird Station is a migration hotspot and we may have time
to fit this in, too. For the keen we can also do an optional after dinner excursion for owls. NIGHT: Coast near Parnu.
Day 5 - In the early morning we visit the Soomaa National Park to
try to clean up on the grouse and woodpeckers. Perhaps Capercaillie and Black Grouse, Hazel Grouse, Wryneck, Lesser Spotted, Three-toed, White-backed, Grey-headed and Black Woodpeckers. The peat bogs, ponds and lush forest habitats here are also he home of Beaver and Elk and we have a good chance of seeing them both. Later we will continue our exploration of what will now be the familiar Estonian bird habitats of old forests dotted with wetlands. Other species in this region include Goshawk, Golden Oriole. Lesser Spotted, Golden and White-tailed Eagles, Montagu's Harrier, Black Stork, Black Tern, maybe White-winged Black Tern, Corncrake, Great Reed, River and Savi's Warbler, Penduline Tit and Common Rosefinch. NIGHT: Coast near Parnu.
Day 6 - Today we head inland and eastwards to Tartu making several birding
stops. During the day we hope to see Black-throated Diver, Long-tailed
Duck, Greater Scaup, Sandwich and Little Tern, Black Grouse, Black and
Grey-headed Woodpeckers, Thrush Nightingale, Marsh and Icterine Warblers, Red-backed Shrike and Great Grey Shrike. The forests here abouts are similar to those of the Fennoscandic and Siberian taiga belt and thus are favoured by Three-toed Woodpeckers and the like. NIGHT Tartu.
Day 7 - We will probably spend the morning at the Aadrapalu and Ilmatsalu
fishponds. Temminck's Stint, Red-necked Phalarope, Broad-billed Sandpiper
are possible here. Later we will spend time raptor watching, in particular
looking out for Greater Spotted Eagle, another special species and one
which our local guide has good sites for. There will also be more
White-backed Woodpecker habitat to search. There are some fine wild wetland
habitats hereabouts including bogs and wet meadows where Great Snipe are
found. We will go out one evening to observe these birds at a lek.
Woodcock, perhaps Jack Snipe and owls are again possible on this
excursion. NIGHT: Tartu.
Day 8 - Today we return to Tallinn in order to catch our flights home. If
our flights are in the afternoon we will have time as we head north-west
through the Estonian countryside to make several birding stops on the way.
Please note: all itineraries are given as a guide only. Actual
holiday content may vary according to the judgement of your guide, and
elements beyond our control (eg weather).
 
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