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Merlin.

 

Last weekend I didn’t have the time to go on birding trips. Instead I ended up in Setomaa on the joint winter days of fraternities Amicitia and Ugala. From elsewhere in Estonia, particularly from the western islands, reports come telling that with the warmer weather more spring migrants have already started to arrive. Lapwings, skylarks and stock doves for instance already come by flocks. In south-eastern Estonia too the rain has rapidly been melting the snow from the fields, and coming back from Setomaa I noticed a stock dove. I didn’t see lapwings or larks but they too will soon be on the mainland. On the way a merlin caught my eye. It is one of the earliest migrants among raptors and the spring migration passage is actually the best chance to see this species, because as nester it is a great rarity in Estonia.

 

*Setomaa (Estonian: Setumaa) is a region in Estonia and Russia south of Lake Peipsi.