April 2016

Text Triin Leetmaa

Translation Liis

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I was asked to play child-minder to a seven-year-old chit of a girl. We watched multifilms and talked for at bit but as sunset approached we went into the forest for adventures. We walked and climbed in the trees when I suddenly noticed that we had reached the badger castle. I tried to explani what kind of place this was when I was suddenly told that someone had looked out of the mouth of the den opening that we were standing beside. With a slight smile I tried to find out what the creature looked like. The reply was very concrete: ”White and some black too!“  Was it the imagination of the child or did the badger really greet its visitors? It did make me a little envious.

Maire lets us know

Photos Arne Ader

Translation Liis

Cuckoo

.I was in the country today in the forest near the Koidula (Värska) border post and heard the cuckoo calling. It called in the Kolodovitsa village forest at about two o’clock in the day. The weather was sunny and quite warm. I also found some false morels or turban fungi (Gyromitra esculenta). They however were very small

Turban fungus, Gyromitra esculenta

Photos Arne Ader

Translation Liis

Golden saxifrage 

Golden saxifrage      Harilik lepiklill    Chrysosplenium alternifolium

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The golden saxifrages flower in wet bog forests, on the banks of water bodies throughout the whole mainland, but for the Saaremaa people the golden saxifrage is unknown.

The golden saxifrage has a peculiar appearance, light yellowish green in colour and even the leaves in the same colour, creating a nice collar around the inflorescence which in turn is supported by the leaves or bracts. The bracts are fleshy and with serrated margins. The golden saxifrage is not easily confused with any other plant

Image captured by  Lussi, LK forum

Translation Liis

Black stork pair at nest, male Karl at left replaces brooding female Kati

Black stork     Must-toonekurg        Ciconia nigra

A brief survey: the eggs appeared in Kati’s nest on April 12, 14, 16 and 17. The incubation time lasts about one month for large birds, so we can begin to expect hatching of the chicks from mid-May.

The last couple of days with rain and cold weather was replaced by sunshine today – it dries the nest a little; the adults are busy draining the bottom.

Video recorded by  Mutikluti, LK forum

Translation Liis

White-tailed eagle   Merikotkas       Haliaeetus albicilla

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We have reached a line of birthday celebrations. In the white-tailed eagle nest the eagle chicks were hatched on April 13, 16 and 19, so the oldest and largest eagle-to-be has two weeks of life. The middle one becomes two weeks old on April 30, and the smallest on May 3.

Science news of the bird of the year conveyed by Marko Mägi, marko.magi@ut.ee

Translation Liis

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Calcium is necessary for the normal functioning of the organism and the development of bones, for birds also for breeding making up the larger part of the egg shell and giving it resilience. Nearly 90% of the calcium in the organism of birds is tied in the bones..

Image from webcam captured by  Maggy, LK forum

Translation Liis

Tawny owl       Kodukakk        Strix aluco

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Time flies. The trio that hatched on the night of April 12 has become two weeks old. The last owlet, that hatched 4 days later, cannot even out the difference in development; for tawny owls as for many other species the strongest individuals stay alive..

Owl mum Klaara no longer covers the young in the night, they must become hardened. Of course the food need grows by each day. The adults have managed nicely despite the changeable weather.

If you go out in the forest looking for a badger, for instance to take part of the campaign for nature observations arranged by the Environmental Agency, then be sure to remember to write down your story. For the observation campaign the coordinates must be entered and a brief description, for us the story of finding the badger. Send it to us! It is not easy to meet a badger, and so stories about its activity traces are welcomed. Even stories where the badger was not found. Badger experts will comment doubtful points. We announce a badger story competition that will last until the end of the badger year. The best will receive prizes, among others a photo from the photo competition ”Mägral maja nagu vaja . Badger had a house as he should".  We look forward to stories heard from elders as well as own adventures

Badger story from our southern neighbours, written by Ineta from Riga

Photo Arne Ader

Translation Liis

Frog pond

In the rain on Saturday night* there was a significant frog migration on the roads around  Harku lake and the weather forecast promised suitable migration weather on the following days.

The Estonian Fund for Nature (Eestimaa Looduse Fond, ELF) announces

The annual frog migration is once more gathering momentum due to the suitable weather. For this the Estonian Fund for NAture (ELF) calls for volunteers to help the amphibians across roads crossing their migratin paths. Car drivers are also asked to be observant on the frog migration that takes place in the dark, for the sake of the amphibians as well as the volunteers helping them. The frog actions take place all over Estonia, for the fifth time.

Video record and image from webcam captured by  Mutikluti, LK forum

 Translation Liis

White-tailed eagle    Merikotkas    Haliaeetus albicilla

On Saturday snow fell in West Virumaa, on Sunday on the Lääne county coast.The worse the weather, the more energy is used and the eagle chicks demand food, be it raining ”dogs and cats”.

Video recorded by  Olle Koert, www.tt.ee

Image from webcam captured by  Felis Silvestris, LK forum

Translation Liis

Great tit       Rasvatihane     Parus major

Early on Sunday morning the nest box of the great tits was empty and desolate. The female spent the night in the nest box and the male guarded the surroundings to keep off intruders or even other nest contenders.

Image from webcam captured by  Shanta, LK forum

Video recorded by  Fleur, LK forum

Translation  Liis

By Saturday  morning the great tit had laid an egg

Great tit     Rasvatihane      Parus major

Great tits nest everywhere in Estonia and this year about 300-400 thousand great tit pairs will build a nest.  In camera view birds have spent the night in all nests but the egg is in the first nest box. There is quite a lot to tell about our ordinary great tits during the breeding season.

In the Week in the Forest corner on the Animal of the Year home page we start monitoring the doings of a couple of badger families and events in their home forest by trail cameras.

This year, the Badger Year, Latvian zoologists installed several track cameras in protected Latvian forests. As in Estonia, our southern neighbours until now have no proper overview of their badger population. To complement the knowledge about badgers the Latvian forest agency Silava chose three large badger castles in northwestern Latvia in a nature reserve area, installed the cameras and now have sent us pictures and video cuts. In the video we can see how the badger –   āpsis in Latvian  – scratches itself. The other members of the large castle are not visible at the moment but it is known that a large number of inhabitants live there, more than in the home of our video stars in Saaremaa.

Great Tit Year science news conveyed by  Marko Mägi,  marko.magi@ut.ee

Photo Arne Ader

Translation Liis

Blue tit

Hawk-eyed, eagle eyed –the expressions are tied to the keen eyesight of birds.

Birds whose eyesight is noticeably better than that of humans are also able to see light invisible to the human eye – radiation in the UV part of the spectrum. The visual capacity of birds does however not stop there. Since many birds catch their prey in the air, they must distinguish a great number of details in movements in order to be successful. While a human viewer sees what happens on a film screen as a uniform smooth movement when in fact looking at images that change at a rate of 24 frames per second, then birds are able to see many more frames per second individually.

Text: Urmas Sellis and Jānis Ķuze

Transmission courtesy of  Tele2 ja EENet

Translation Liis

Two cameras are installed at black stork nests, one in South Estonia and the other in South Latvia

The black stork nest in Estonia is new to the viewers as well as to us: