June 2016

Image from webcam by  Shanta, LK forum

Translation Liis

Sadly we did not see how the great tit chicks left their nest on Friday morning since there was an interruption in transmission. From nest trunk 2 the chicks may be expected to leave on Saturday or Sunday.

Leaving the nest often takes place in early morning.

Photo  Arne Ader

Translation Liis

Greater celandine

We find the greater celandine in fresh and a little shadowy habitats, for instance at the base of old city walls, at churchyards, in shore areas or inland where it grows together with our native plants. The greater celandine has been cultivated for thousands of years already in all kinds of herb gardens but its original homeland may be the hills of Persia or western Himalaya.

In summer the plant, of the poppy or Papaveraceae family, may grow up to a metre high, decorated with siliqua-like seed capsules and yellow flowers with four petals. Herbivores avoid the poppy family plants since they excrete toxic alkaloids to fend them off.

Text Margus Ots, Coordinator of Great Tit Year

Translation Liis

The 18 days old great tit chicks are capable of flying and can leave the nest at any moment, Vana-Kuuste 02.06.2016 / Photo: Margus Ots

The chicks of great tits usually leave the nest when they are 18-20 days old. The chicks of the tits that begun their nesting first have already left the nests but the majority of the chicks will fledge during next week. In the great tit nests with cameras the nesting has developed as follows:

Great Tit Year science news edted by UT bird ecologist  Marko Mägi,marko.magi@ut.ee

Translation Liis

All chicks do not hatch at the same time and so there are chicks of different ages together in the nests. The so-called asynchronous hatching is the result of starting incubation immediately when an egg is laid.  While for instance the chicks of birds of prey hatch at intervals of a couple of days then the small passerines start their incubation when the clutch is complete and all chicks hatch as a rule within 24 hours. Still, considering the fast development of passerines, a hatching 24 hours later may influence the future significantly – the chicks hatched later are smaller and often they do mot succeed to grow into fledging age. The occurrence of asynchronous hatching among passerines poses the question why such a phenomenon occurs at all and are  there any benefits in it?

Jaani-Tooma boulder in Lahemaa. Photo: Riina Kotter

Lahemaa National Park celebrates its 45th year of activity on June 1st

Aarne Kaasik, long-time director of the Lahemaa National Park presented an invaluable gift to the celebrating park – a collection of nearly 20 000 slides together with material showing the history of the national park and nature conservation.

Text and photos  Aare Lindt, www.loodusmuuseum.ee

Translation Liis

Female small emperor

Small emperor   Kevadpaabusilm    Saturnia pavonia

The small emperor occurs in the whole of Estonia; occasionally they can be seen in bogs and marshes as well as at the outskirts of mixed forests. They fly from mid-May until mid-June.

The male and female small emperor have different colours..

Photo Arne Ader

Translation Liis

Broad-bordered bee hawkmoth

Broad-bordered bee hawkmoth   Kimalas-lottsuru   Hemaris fuciformis

We are used to notice the flight of the hawkmoths in the evening, and so it is with most of the hawkmoth species that can be seen in Estonia (there are 17 species here).

For a hawkmoth busy in daytime the broad-bordered bee haawkmoth is almost always a safe guess; at that time the other species are resting on tree trunks, little visible thanks to their good camouflage colouring.

Letter from  Raul  in Pärnu

Photo Arne Ader

Translation Liis

Fox family

The Vana-Pärnu shore meadow is kept open by grazing cattle. A number of different bird species live in the meadow, it seems that some of them also use the insects that circle around the cattle for food.

Photo Arne Ader

Translation Liis

Piiritaja

Swift     Piiritaja or piirpääsuke      Apus apus

The simple answer – at the summer solstice, on June 21st at 1.34  AM local time in Estonia

In nature things are a little different. In southern Estonia summer has begun but on the northern coast the beautiful springtime still lasts.

When the flowering of apple trees ends  summer begins. Other markers must also be considered, such as the heading of rye and in the world of birds, the arrival of swifts.

Text and photos  Aare Lindt, www.loodusmuuseum.ee

Translation Liis

Pale prominent

Pale prominent   Nokktutlane     Pterostoma palpinum

Pale prominents occur in all Estonia and they can be seen in forests and coppices but also in gardens and parks. The moths hatch in the second half of May and fly until mid-July.