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Mute swans at sea. Pakri cliffs.

The traditional international bird observation days Birdwatch 2010 took place on October 2 and 3 this year. Precisely 100 reply forms were submitted to the Estonian Ornithological Society and at least 270 people had contributed in setting them up. The form fillers observed altogether 310 000 birds of 170 species in Estonia, which is a record in the history of the birdwatching days.
The longest species lists this time were sent by Indrek Tammekänd and Eike Vunk (92 species), Kalle Muru (90) and  Leho Aaslaid (86). Of the species the barnacle goose was sky-high above all others (126833 individuals), followed by chaffinch (24861),  greater white-fronted goose (12557), bean goose (12456) and brant goose (11620). Fewer than ten thousand were observed of the other species; the most numerous among them were starling, siskin, mew gull and lapwing. The  Anser and Branta geese were 63% of all observed birds, which shows that the observation days this time fell within the main migration period of these species.
The most frequently occurring species in the lists this year were great tit (83 lists), hooded crow (77), jay (67), magpie (67), blackbird (66) and greater spotted woodpecker (64). Of 18 species only a single individual was observed. This year many exciting or rare species were seen too, such as the Pallas’s leaf warbler and yellow-browed warbler, yellow-billed loon, redbreasted goose, two-barred crossbill and others.
In Europe 34 countries took part in the birdwatching days. More than 1100 bird watching events were arranged and the observers noted more than 3 million birds during the two days. In Estonia the birdwatching days were coordinated by  BirdLife International’s partner here, the Estonian Ornithological Society.

Many thanks from the Estonian Ornithological Society to all who took part in the watching and to Monika Laurits-Arrot, who helped to carry out the days and to sum up the results.

Altogether 170 species were noted during the two observation days which is a record in the history of the birdwatching days. A few observations where the probability of a mistake having been made was very great, have been left out from the summary. If anyone who took part in Birdwatch finds a species missing in the tables, and is quite sure about the identification, we ask them to let us know at the address riho.kinks@eoy.ee.