August 2018

Photos Arne Ader
English translation Liis

Estonian text posted 10.08.2018

Bird cherry berries

Bird cherry    Harilik toomingas       Padus avium

From the flowers that were pollinated during the flowering time of the bird cherry black and glossy berries have ripened by now.

Bird cherry berries are quite edible: taste sourish, with a high Vitamin C content and quite good for the body. But they are rich in tanning compounds, making the mouth feel ”thick” on eating.

Screenshots from webcam UteL, LK forum
English translation Liis

Estonian text posted 15.08.2018

Yesterday morning the storklets were in the nest as usual…

Black stork        Must-toonekurg       Ciconia nigra 

The young storks left on migration as usual a little before they were three months old. They did not go on discovery trips together and they left from the nest at different times and in different directions. And how do we know?

Photos Tiit Hunt and Arne Ader
English translation Liis

Estonian text posted 10.08.2018

Viviparous eelpout or blenny    Emakala or kiviluts        Zoarces viviparus

The mating period is comparable to that of  mammals; the facts are as follows.

The male fertilizes the roe inside the female fish and in the ovary of the female fry develop from the roe grains. Thus the eelpout is a viviparous fish, or our only one to give birth to living fry..

The author, Kristel Vilbaste, also posts texts in Vikerraadio

Photos: Arne Ader and Aare Lindt

Translation into English by Maret

_{Estonian text posted 07.08.2018}

Admiral

Last week I talked about my butterfly garden, so I thought that this summer I won’t mention butterflies any more. There are so many creatures out there just calling to me: Talk about me! Talk about me!

Chicory and buzzards, young common swifts ready for their first flight, and woolly burdocks, whose flower tufts are just so suitable for a “burdock war”.

But at Võtikvere book market I was approached by several people talking eagerly about admirals. I must confess, that I don’t know that much about them, only that they are migratory butterflies and that they look a little like an admiral’s three-corner hat. Dark brown, beautiful wings with proud orange stripes. and white spots on their wing tips.

The author, Kristel Vilbaste, also posts texts in Vikerraadio

Photo: Arne Ader

Translation into English by Maret

_{Estonian text posted 02.08.2018}

Tansy

Nature is gradually starting to turn yellow. Not only birch leaves and harvested grain fields, but a powerful plant with yellow flowers is now in bloom  -  tansy.

You find it just about everywhere: roadsides, seasides, and right now there are masses of it on the idle fields around the Estonian National Museum (Eesti Rahva Muuseum).

The author, Kristel Vilbaste, also presents texts in Vikerraadio

Photo: Arne Ader

Translation into English by Maret

_{Estonian text posted 01.08.2018}

Yarrow

Thunder brings a temporary cold spell, nature is “freezing” at 20˚C. But during the day, a smiling sun peeks through an opening in the clouds and spreads tropical heat again, and the dance of butterflies in my flower garden starts anew.

I have a modern butterfly garden, as the fashion in Europe now dictates.

The author, Kristel Vilbaste, also presents texts in Vikerraadio

Photo: Mairit Kallaste

Translation into English by Maret

_{Estonian text posted 31.07.2018}

A drinking vessel for white storks under their nest. (Yesterday’s story in LK -  LINK)

The Weather God has been so stingy with rain, that even all the still-water bodies are starting to dry up.

My brother Enn Vilbaste says, that he cannot remember the water level in the Nigula bog lake ever having been so low  -  even stones that were never seen before are now all above the water. The ponds by the bog are totally dry. The beavers will have a critical time in their lives.

Screenshot from webcam  IceAge, LK forum
English translation Liis

Estonian text posted 08.08.2018

The young spotted eagle has  chosen a place next to the webcam

Greater spotted eagle    Suur-konnakotkas    Aquila clanga or Clanga clanga

Screenshot from webcam and video Svenja, LK forum
English translation Liis

Estonian text posted 08.08.2018

Black stork        Must-toonekurg          Ciconia nigra     

 

As in every year the visits of the female stork becomes rarer in July until we one day notice that she has not been visiting the nest at all for several days – that is how she sets out on migration.

The last time that we saw the third storklet was on the same day that they became two and a half months old. There have been occasions in earlier years when a young bird that has been out straying around has returned again to the nest after four days …