Birds and snow deluge in Paljassaare
Text: Eet and Aarne Tuule, Tallinna Linnuklubi
Photo: Aarne Tuule
Translation: Liis
A deluge of snow at Paljassaare.
Reaching the Katariina quay we were somewhat taken aback – this whirling snowstorm wasn’t expected! A hefty measure of cold plus the wind brought the apparent temperature down to around -20, and on top of that there was the seaside damp. The sea itself was behind such a dense curtain of snow that when the whooper swans suddenly started calling at the shore, their hazy shapes could just barely be made out in the water. In that moment we did feel that there might be little chance of meeting any more birds that day, but such a winter scenario we had never seen before in Paljassaare, and so we unhesitatingly started off to trudge through the at least 60 centimetres thick snow.
When we returned our tracks were still the only ones, and even they were snowed over in places. Later the weather improved – there was less snow, and only periodically, and birds turned up. They were rather few, true, but the more interesting for that. From the tower in the reeds we observed a kestrel for a long time; it flew in wide circles and came in sight a few times later too. This rare winterer made one dive for prey, but obviously unsuccessfully. We saw mouse tracks on the snow only in a few places, probably small rodents now mostly move under the snow. So the future of this kestrel looks rather bleak.
The cold and snow had set other birds on the move too. We counted altogether 17 whooper swans in three groups, and there were at least 7 cormorants. A buzzard took flight from the shore of the Paljassaare bay, and an adult lesser blackbacked gull surprised us there too – it isn’t exactly an everyday winterer! In the reeds five bearded tits and the “bird of the year” – great grey shrike – were busy.
Over a long time we have a really hard and snow-rich winter again, which makes for serious trouble for many birds. Ever more often many species have started staying here in winter, and especially these are in danger now. So besides the tits, please help other birds too who struggle with the difficulties now, when you can!
Tags: 
