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 Black kite

 

Today the alarm clock happened to have got shut down and so we overslept. We reached Ristna nina only at 6 am but probably nothing important was left unseen, because no particular waterfowl migration took place. Some loons were on the move but there was no really "fat“ find among them. But I was not left without rarities. When we arrived at Ristna nina in the morning a carrion crow (Corvus corone corone) was busy there once more. We think that it is a new individual because in contrast to the bird seen earlier in the same place this crow had a very tattered tail. Some photos must be compared. If they are different individuals then it is the 8th observation of carrion crow in Estonia. Of course the Bird Rarities Committee must confirm the observations. Telescoping waterfowl paid off at last too – following three common eiders (Somateria mollissima) a king eider (Somateria spectabilis) (2nd calendar year male bird) flew towards north. I have seen this rare passing migrant in Estonia only three times earlier and I did not hope to see it this year.

In the afternoon I again stayed to watch at Ristna nina. Waterfowl migration was non-existent but above the peninsula several birds of prey circulated. Among more interesting things we saw the black kite (Milvus migrans) and golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos).

We looked around elsewhere too on Hiiumaa today, but did not see anyone particularly remarkable. But I could still note one more new species – in the reeds at Haldi nina a common reed warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus) was singing. My 2012 list now has 239 bird species.