Estonia Day Two

We started the day off at 5 am and did a pre-dawn night drive along some local forest tracks. The highlight was a glimpse of a Eurasian Lynx crossing the track. A lifer but barely tickable views unfortunately. We also had Roe Deer, Brown Hare and Arctic Hare. We then spent the first part of the day looking for woodpeckers- we had Middle, Lesser, Great Spotted and Black Woodpecker, Nutcrackers, Common Redpolls, Great Grey Shrike, Marsh and Willow Tits and a small group of the stunning white headed caudatus Long-tailed Tits. 

After breakfast and a short break we spent the afternoon checking out some areas of coastline and clocked up some more wetland birds and sea ducks including some cracking Smews, summer plumage Long-tailed Ducks, Eiders, Common and Velvet Scoter, Red-breasted Mergansers, stacks of Goosander and Goldeneye and the background spectacle of hundreds of wild swans and geese.  

Live trip report HERE with added sounds of Nutcrackers, Bean and White-fronted Goose and Middle Spotted and Black Woodpecker. Click on 'show all details' from HERE.

Common Crane- a particularly pale bird on the left 

Middle Spotted Woodpecker. Some characteristic vocalisations HERE

Male and female Goosander

Male Goldeneye

Long-tailed Ducks 

The forest tracks

Poosaspea Neem, the migration 'capital' of Estonia. Plenty of seaducks off the Cape and a flock of Mistle Thrush were the only passerine migrants we found. Mistle Thrush are just arriving in Estonia now. Still no Fieldfares and Redwings which arrive later.