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Lesser spotted woodpecker

 

With the arrival of the hard colds the urge to go by bike vanished. Most of the common city birds have already been transferred into ”points”, hence more careful consideration must be given for trips about where to head in order to meet new species.

 

In connection with the Midwinter waterfowl census I decided to make a longer eco trip. In the cold the only ice-free location in Tartu is the water treatment plant. Just strolling around there is not allowed, but the Tartu birdwatchers have permission to count birds every now and then. So I headed through the city towards there.

 

On the way I found a couple of good birdfeeders with all sorts of passerines but no new exciting species caught the eye. I got the first new eco-point only on the water treatment plant territory – a white-backed woodpecker (Dendrocopos leucotos), who tried to hack out something edible from the frozen willow shrubs. The second find was birdwatcher Liis whose thoughts about the bird trip destination had moved in the same direction. An additional pair of eyes is always a help, and with great expectations we moved towards the river.

 

The river is partly free of ice thanks to the warm water coming from the treatment plant, and all waterfowl had nicely gathered here. We counted 500 mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), among whom we also found three goldeneyes (Bucephala clangula) and one goosander (Mergus merganser). While we were watching the waterfowl a lesser spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos minor) flew into a shrub almost under our noses.

 

With this I had added three new species to the eco year list, and it only remained to march the long kilometres back home – the length of the trip turned out to be fifteen and a half kilometre.

 

 Crested tit

 

Yesterday I decided to go to the forest. The nearest decent piece of forest is outside Tartu, in Tähtvere parish. Getting there was quite nice and easy, but on coming back the cold and sharp wind was freezing my cheekbones off. Luckily I managed to get from the open field into shelter between houses before permanent damage was done.

 

In the forest it was relatively silent as usual in winter. In  tree tops goldcrests (Regulus regulus) and crested tits (Parus cristatus) were busy, occasionally there was a knocking great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major).

 

I also found a quite interesting bog forest crossed by ditches edged with dense shrubs. Regrettably trampling along the ditch didn’t frighten up any Gallinaceous birds. As the only new species from the ”polar expedition” I got a crested tit. Personally I already forward to the cold retreating. With only a couple of minus degrees it would be much pleasanter to rove around, or even try to go farther away by bicycle.

 

 

kaarel@crew.ee