looduskalender.ee

On January 30-31 in this severe winter the first Estonian winter garden bird count, "Talv 2010” (Winter 2010), took place, arranged by the Estonian Orntihological Society and Tallinn Bird Club.

1072 bird enthusiasts sent in their observations and observations were made in 888 places, which was far more than the arrangers had dared to expect. If this energetic activity continues in the following years it will be possible to draw reliable conclusions about the variety of species, their numbers, and the changes in the numbers of our wintering garden birds.

Altogether the bird enthusiasts noted 37 046 birds, of 62 species. The most numerous species was the great tit as expected; it was seen in 95% of the observations sites and made up nearly one quarter of the total number of observed birds. The second place was surprisingly won by the greenfinch, who is a rather seldom seen winterer in the first half of winter. Seen to the total numbers they were followed by tree and house sparrows, hooded crow, bullfinch and blue tit.
Blackbirds turned out to be surprisingly frequent; they were observed in nearly half of the observation sites. Likewise a positive surprise was the numerous presence of the rather rare winterer, the chaffinch, that was seen at 55 observation sites.

Rare winter birds were seen locally: starling, redbreast, wren, collared dove, pheasant and middle spotted woodpecker.

Of birds of prey, sparrowhawk, goshawk, buzzard, hen harrier, and pygmy owl were seen. In 12 observation sites the "Bird of the Year 2010”, the great grey shrike, was noted.

In the cold winter this year observers noted the presence of jays and grey shrikes nearer to settlements than usual, and many bird friends were concerned about the small number of partridges.

Statistics from the winter garden bird count both as total and  by individual counties are on the "Talv 2010” home page: www.tallinna-linnuklubi.ee/talv

The Estonian Ornithological Society and Tallinn Bird Club thank all who took part.

"Winter 2011” will take place on January 29-30 2011.