Bird of the Year 2025: Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo)

[Made]

17:39 gulls and crows are impatiently waiting for their meal.

[Made]

9:29 on the morning of May 7


9:29 What are these black and white birds? in the water between the stone ridges

[Made]

9:31 feeding time


9:34 at the same time, one must not lose vigilance.

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10:07 green contribution


10:14 feeding time in another nest

[Made]

10:27 a densely populated area


14:51 here she feels somewhat like a homestead

[Made]

15:02 Do seagulls nest here among the stones?


15:16 This is a strategically very important place.

[Made]

I think about those trees behind the green meadow.

15:18 I guess these dead ones are the same. The trunk is twisted..


17:32 it seems there is life at the ends of the branches here


Could it be, for example, Thuja occidentalis (northern white Cedar, harilik elupuu) or Juniperus communis (Juniper, harilik kadakas)?

[Made]

May 8

9:55-9:58 mute swans again and again


10:01; 10:02 maybe he's the most charming one in the colony right now, mostly other`s heads are already turning dark


11:30 four geese

[Made]

BirdLife Estonia: 11:32 good view of five eggs in a nest. But at least half of the nests around the camera already have at least a couple of hatched chicks. There was also some plastic trash visible in the nest which unfortunately is very typical for cormorant nests.
11:31 this plastic trash was put in the nest on May 4 (here picture 20:48 viewtopic.php?p=954259#p954259)


11:38 the feather collection has been replenished


BirdLife Estonia: 11:40 the tragedy of living in a dense colony

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BirdLife Estonia: 11:51 quite a large chick in that nest already!


BirdLife Estonia: 12:15 three little happy chicks


12:17 come here!

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BirdLife Estonia: 12:28 immature adults have white bellies. They are usually seen on the edges of the colony.


12:26 Yes, it has been seen that they are being chased away from the sacral nesting area and I hadn't noticed them on the treetops either. Surprisingly, this one is at the top and can poop from above

[Kunter]

9:29 What are these black and white birds? in the water between the stone ridges

Barnacle geese (Branta leucopsis)

15:02 Do seagulls nest here among the stones?

Yes, that's very likely.

May 8
11:30 four geese

It also seems that the tern on right is holding a fish in its beak to bring it to chicks. I have noticed that a lot of terns have repeatedly landed on this green grass where these geese are. There could be a breeding colony there.

[Made]

12:12 immatured birds are forming relationships... will they be nesting next year?


12:12 the flipper already looks like a palm

[Made]

Thanks, Kunter, for answers!

12:42 are these Aythya fuligula (tufted duck, tuttvart)?


I found here in 5th row wonderful picture of them https://dziedava.lv/daba/izveleta_daba. ... #bilzu_sak

Maybe on your photo site also they are.. (there are so many beautiful pictures, I haven't looked at them yet)

[Made]

BirdLife Estonia: 12:46 close-up portrait

12:46 a sleepy sight


12:48 is sleeping


12:49 is sleepy

[Made]

9:46 oh, yee, oystercatcher also appeared in the main square in the morning


21:20 pink evening is possible also here


21:19-21:20 pink flight

[Made]

May 9

9:14 one lost his fishes on the way home


9:14 and had to fight off robbers who were immediately there.. he swallowed them again

[Kunter]

12:42 are these Aythya fuligula (tufted duck, tuttvart)?

Yes, indeed.

I set the camera to use automatic movements when nobody is operating it. Hopefully this will increase the viewership numbers. It changes the view about every two minutes to fixed destinations (about 15 different angles currently). Maybe I will change the rhythm at some point.

[Made]

11:07 AM BirdLife Estonia: Sorry for sudden fast camera movements today, we are trying to automatize some of the movements so that there would be movement even when are not currently operating the camera.

2:20 PMBirdLife Estonia: The automation is working, but we are still fine-tuning the exact spots and intervals.

I put these comments for history
The day has passed in the new mode - automatic management works like clockwork. Language of programming looks like this (Google translation is my teacher).

põhikaader veidi paremalt - main frame slightly to the right
parem sev laikaader - right edge wide frame
parem serv - laikaader luigega - right edge wide shot – with swan
parem sev laikaader muruga - right edge wide shot with grass
parem sev laikaader – suum murule - right edge wide shot – zoom to the grass
zoom kaugele murule - zoom to the far grass
põhikaader pesa lähedalt - main frame nest coolly
põhikaader keskel - main frame in the middle
põhikaader ülemiste pesadega - main frame with upper slots
maasääre taustaga - with a background of earth
rohelise muruga parempoolne serv - right edge with green grass
üks tagumine pesa kaugel keskel - one rear slot far in the middle
pesa otse all - slot directly below
põhikaader keskkoht – main frame center

[Made]

Now about events in May 9

BirdLife Estonia: 10:05 - water level has dropped. A lot of cormorants on the sea now, swimming around and drying their wings on rocks.

10:03


10:03