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Mallard pair and hooded crows

 

During the traditional springtime Easter birdwatching days on March 30 -31 bird fans in Estonia noted more than 23 000 birds of 95 species.

 

It was still late winter during the Easter birdwatch; only one white stork was seen and very few skylarks, starlings and other heralds of spring, usually common at this time. The number of observed birds stayed record low due to the conditions in nature and during the observation days no significant migration was observed.

Most observed were mallards (2378), more than one thousand birds were noted for jackdaws, hooded crows, great tits, greenfinches and tree sparrows.

 

The most frequently noted species in the observation lists this time were the hooded crow and great tit jointly who were seen by nearly all participants (on 92 lists). They were followed by magpie (80), great spotted woodpecker (77), siskin (77) and greenfinch (70).

The most interesting observations were species seldom seen in Estonia in winter: Northern pintail, common teal, woodcock and collared dove, and species that are scarce in Estonia: green woodpecker, hawk owl, Tengmalm’s owl.

 

100 filled-in observation forms were submitted to the Estonian Ornithological Society. More than 300 bird friends took part in completing them. The longest observation list was entered by Peep Veedla and his family, who met 50 bird species on a bird trip in northern Estonia . 46 species were noted by the Lehtmets, Aus and Arak families respectively.

 

The Easter birdwatch is arranged by the Estonian Ornithological Society since 1998. On the birdwatching days attention is paid to the wealth of birds in Estonia and the arrival of the migrating birds.

 

The final results of the Easter birdwatch are on the EOÜ home page:

www.eoy.ee