Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
Polish people have great hopes on Estonian Lynx
The Polish branch of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is hoping that lynx from Estonia will save the Polish local lynx population.
The lynx population in the Polish northeastern region of Mazur has significantly declined over the past 20 years and pushed the lynx population to the north. The lynx population is estimated at 200 and of that total population 60 are suspected to be living in the northeastern region. The Polish WWF is hoping to relocate lynxes from Estonia to the Mazuri region in an effort to restore their presence, according to the Polish Radio website.
WWF considers Estonian forests to be very similar to those in Mazur, therefore the relocation of the feline should not cause any major adjustment problems for the animals. However, it is still unclear how many lynx will be allowed the transfer to Poland and the timeline is still being worked out.
According to the Polish Radio website, the lynx has been an endangered species in Poland since 1995. In Estonia there is large population of lynx present across the country and they are not a protected species. In Estonia hunting for lynx is allowed.
Translation by ENT, original article from media channel postimees.ee
Read more: Lynxes from Estonia to repopulate Poland: WWF
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Estonian nature is among the richest in Europe
In celebrating Estonia’s nature conservation efforts 100th anniversary, the Ministry of Environment made some investigative summaries of our natural resources. The discoveries showcased Estonia among the forefront of natural heritage along with other Northern European countries.
Lilika Käis, Ministry of Environment nature preservation department main specialist, said that “The uniqueness of our natural environment as well as the diversity in our fauna is attributed to our geographical position.” Estonia in naturally a multiple border country: placed between a continental and a marine climate we have a temperate climate while across the whole of Estonia is a border between the limestone and poorer sandstone rocks. In addition we are located at the southern border of the coniferous forest zone.
“That is why Estonia has such diversity in natural conditions — we have the presence of conifer as well as broad-leaved forest and other natural sites such as coastal cliffs, dunes, sand- and stone beaches. Thanks to that positioning many species live only within these limits - for example a third of our vascular plants,” said Käis.
The dimensions and the presence of boulders in Estonia puts us in the forefront of the North-European glacier formation – an astonishing 90% of the gigantic boulders are located here.
The presence of meteor craters by area density ranks as number one in the world with 8 craters in: Ilumetsa, Kaali, Kärdla, Lasnamäe, Neugrund, Simuna, Tsõõrikmäe ja Vaidasoo.
Different bog communities cover nearly one-tenth of Estonia, and in terms of protected bogs, we are also at the forefront of the world - about half of the bog communities are under protection. "Intensive agriculture in densely populated Europe has destroyed nearly all the wetlands, and conservationists are involved in the restoration," said Went.
Particulary species-rich are Estonian meadow communities. For example, it has been counted that the Western-Estonian wooded meadow Laelatu has 76 different vascular plants in one square meter and that makes Laelatu special in the whole world. "If we take an example of Western and Southern Europe’s meadows that have impoverished flora then our semi-natural meadows give the opportunity to admire the plants that are destroyed or have become rare in Europe," said Käis.
Over half of Estonia is covered by natural forest and for that measure we are ranked 4th in Europe. Lahemaa has over 72 500 ha of natural forest and is one the largest preserves of its’ kind.
Estonia has more coastal meadows, alvars and wooded meadows than any other European country, and also one of the biggest floodplains – 4000 ha large Kasari floodplain.
Estonia protects 18% of its mainland and almost 1/5 of its’ aquatic terrain. “For example, we are ranked 5th in the EU by having a Natural network that covers 16.7% of Estonia, “said Käis.
There are over 26 000 known species in Estonia, but in reality that number may reach as far as 40 000. Over half of the species found in Estonia are invertebrates that inhabit forest. Species that are considered rare in Europe are wolves, bears and lynxes, but their populations are doing well in Estonia according to Käis.
Estonia is also a paradise for migrating birds – we are located on the East-Atlantic migration route of many species of waterfowl and in every spring and fall millions of birds pass through here. Our coastal waters are the most important stop for many birds between nesting and wintering areas. For example, approximately half of Greater Scaup stop in Estonian waters on their spring migration, as well as thousands of Long-tailed Ducks, Divers, Geese and Common Cranes.
Latvia and Lithuania have sea without islands, Finland and Sweden have generally high rock islands. Estonia has predominantly shallow marine islands and islets, there are more than 1,500 of them. Those are unique bird islands in the whole Baltic Sea and therefore Estonia is an internationally valued bird watching destination.
Limestone, which is mainly in the upper layers of rock, has been selected as our national rock because of the powerful shapes created where the cliff face erodes.
North-Estonian clint is part of the Baltic clint layer and the highest and most notable section covers about 300 km of the Baltic clint. This rock allows us to track the history of the Earth from about 80 million years ago. We can find waterfalls and cascades from the North-Estonian limestone and limestone is also associated with such landscapes as karst, secret rivers, caves and craters which are widespread in Estonian limestone area.
Translation by ENT, original article from media channel postimees.ee
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Story About Marika Mann, the Executive Manager of Estonian Nature Tours
First contacts with nature: childhood memories
I was born in the countryside near the woods and mires. Before school I was mostly raised by my grandmother, who lived some kilometres away in a small homestead. Grandmother lived alone and most of her time was spent on farm work. I had to learn early how to amuse myself. My favourite activity was playing “home” near the farm between the disintegrated stone walls that were overgrown with bushes. I cleared the surroundings of tree branches and decayed leaves then designed, from different moss patterns, “rooms” and “resting corners” for sitting and sleeping. Often I was so intent on my task that I forgot to involve my dolls and doll’s cookwares, time passed so quickly and interestingly...
Sometimes I sneaked away to the forest stream kilometre away. It was strictly forbidden, but I liked to watch the slow running water. I played barefoot along the shore with coloured stones, at the same time taking notice of not being away from home for too long. On the way back, I always gathered bunch of goutweed for the sheep - it helped to better cover up my mischief.
I remember a moment. It was a winter afternoon and my grandmother decided to go through the forest with me to visit my parents. The journey was only 4 kilometres long, but so much snow and stormy weather slowed our pace and it took much longer to arrive than grandmother had expected. Pitch-darkness made us scared of losing our way. When reaching the glade, grandmother remembered that there was a hay barn nearby and went to look for it. Minutes alone in the dark seemed to drag and I remembered that it never came into my mind to break my grandmother’s trust and wander away because I knew I would be totally lost. I was 4 years old, but still aware of the inevitability of the situation and supremacy of the wild nature. All’s well that ends well - my grandmother found the shed and we stayed the night and continued the journey in the morning. Grandmother caught a cold and fever that was hard to get over. Years later, grandmother recalled the moment with terror, what would have happened if I had moved even a metre from where I was told to stay!
At the present
I've spent many hours in the forest and the coast with my clients, colleagues, guides and therefore I have learned a lot about nature. I am like a child of nature -I have respect for all living things around me, including people. I can sit in my garden for many hours and look at the meadows towards the sunset. It is like a movie out there – Woodpecker’s making noises over my head, Golden Oriole singing beautifully, from the distance you can hear Bitterns booming, Tawny Owls hunt in the evening, Goats are bleeting, a Fox is coming closer to the garden...and there are many things you can’t even see or hear. A good and complete life is when you have an activity which grabs you, evolves you and having close people who encourage you. You have to know how to remember that the process itself is more important than the goal. You can’t be afraid to get lost and to be yourself, even if there is a danger to be left alone. And you can’t waste your time thinking about the things you can’t do, but you have to concentrate and put all your energy into things you can do. You have to occasionally remind yourself what really is important in life – having important people around you, moments, feelings, and so on. If you know how to carry these simple things in your life, then you will have a good and complete life.
Sometimes I have experienced this kind of life, but not always. I have to remind myself that the magic is to evolve. I have learned to have a good and complete life during entrepreneurship. I have faith in life!
Marika Mann
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Estonia in Autumn
Despite the cloudy, cold and windy days at the start, we only experienced rain on one afternoon and evening, and with the skies clearing leaving a beautiful final full day and a half, the changes helped move many migrants and provide us with some superb birding spectacles. The mass exodus of Common Cranes and mass arrival and passage of Barnacle Geese at the start, followed by large numbers of seemingly disorientated small birds over the Sõrve bird observatory and movement of small birds, especially those gorgeous white-headed Long-tailed Tits, at the Kabli ringing station were all excellent examples of the phenomenon of visible migration at this migration crossroads. Apart from these spectacles, I’m sure we’ll all have our own highlights, with the Racoon Dog running along the road, the surprise Eurasian Eagle-owl, or observations of both Grey-headed and European Three-toed Woodpeckers in the same tree, probably figuring among them. I hope so! And 142 bird species recorded on an autumn tour certainly can’t be bad going!
I look forward to seeing you again on a Travelling Naturalist tour, and wish to thank you all for helping make this such a rewarding, and indeed groundbreaking, holiday.
Very best wishes, John Muddeman / The Travelling Naturalist
Read the whole tour report
I look forward to seeing you again on a Travelling Naturalist tour, and wish to thank you all for helping make this such a rewarding, and indeed groundbreaking, holiday.
Very best wishes, John Muddeman / The Travelling Naturalist
Read the whole tour report
Weedon´s World in Bird Watching magazine
I don’t know if you are the same, but I have a bit of a birdwatching routine. Apart from my regular cycle to work (which is getting darker by the day), I take some time at the weekends to visit certain favourite local spots, and there are certain birds in certain places and they are familiar. Things become habitual and cozy, though I am always on the look out for something new. In addition to the constant search for
the unusual, there is a comfortable knowledge that this species will be around here and that bird around there, and they will be doing their stuff as they do every week or every year. This is all well and good, but there is something thrilling about seeing the expected and commonplace in an unusual setting or context, or getting up to something brand new. I’ve just come back from a week in Estonia, which you could regard as unfamiliar in itself, and it was indeed my first trip to one of the former Soviet Baltic states. But the flat-lying damp forests, bogs, heath and sandy coast had more than an air of the known, like an unspoilt version of what much of low-lying
England may once have looked (though with fabulous roads and excellent facilities). The birding was excellent, with plenty of classic northern European birds on offer, such as Black Woodpecker and White-tailed Eagle, plus the odd Raccoon Dog and Elk (or Moose if you prefer) and a scampering Pine Marten to keep the other-wildlife-watching me happy. But perhaps the most striking was the familiar seen as unfamiliar.
Let me elucidate with a few examples. We hadhardly started out on our journey from the capital Tallinn (in the north) to the west of Estonia and were already in wild country and seeing our first Roe Deer. “Surely, those aren’t Roe Deer, are they?”, thought I. But, after a view through binoculars it was clear that they were Roes, but they didn’t look anything like the Roes over here: they were dressed in warm golden orange fur, not the rather dull grey-brown I naturally expect. We saw dozens of Roes over the course of the week and every time I was startled by their colour.
And to take matters to a more bird-related footing, as we drove around the country we flushed up flocks of thousands of Chaffinches, that most domestic of birds lifted to a new order of magnitude, almost becoming a new species simply by dint of numbers.
Similarly, while seawatching, the sheer numbers of birds was almost disorienting. I was impressed by the constant flow of migrant Black-throated Divers, the flocks of 30plus Velvet Scoter, the hundreds of Scaup and the smattering of scarcer birds such as half-adozen Red-necked Grebes. But I just did not expect to see dozens of Sparrowhawks spilling over the waves. Above the hawks, came more flocks of Chaffinches and White Wagtails, but there were other passerines,
too, such as Willow Tit. Willow Tit is a species which I have been watching in the UK for decades. Sadly, their numbers are hugely reduced in counties such as my own (Cambridgeshire) and these days I am lucky to hear or see one or two in my travels during the year; but their ‘chay chay chay’ call is engrained in my psyche since I was a young man. But the thing that really startled me in Estonia was hearing the call while seawatching on a northern shore. Well, not so much hearing the call from the pines next to our vantage point, but looking up to see a small pine packed with 30 Willow Tits together: migrants fleeing the harsh Fennoscandian winter to come.
In the western Estonian woods, Willow Tit was the ubiquitous voice, dominating everything else, even Great Tits. The forests tread a fine line between the familiar and the strange. The trees are narrowtrunked, like plantations in Britain, but they are wild, unplanted, old; just growing on poor damp soil. The vegetation is largely familiar, but the birds are subtly different in these Estonian trees: white-breasted
northern Nuthatches; neat, grey, sleek Chiffchaffs; Long-tailed Tits with wholly snow-white heads; Bullfinches with weird, ringing trumpet calls; and there’s the knowledge that there are White-backed and Grey-headed Woodpeckers out there. On our final day, when bad weather gave way to clear, bright skies, the migration floodgates
opened and the early morning sky became full of migrating passerines: familiar ‘viz mig’ but on a grand scale, drawing on depth of call-knowledge rarely employed back home. Overhead came flocks of Chaffinches and Bramblings, Tree Pipit with the Meadows, Hawfinch and Crossbill and Siskin; 20-strong flocks of Jays, and a steady stream of Nutcrackers. Classic northern European birds in the throes of deserting a freeze to come; something that just won’t happen at home. And talking of home, as I have hinted at in this column before, we now have Cranes breeding near
Peterborough, and one or two Cranes are part of my regular birding year. Perhaps the ultimate highlight of my time in western Estonia was something that I was expecting from the itinerary, but still elevated an accustomed experience to an extraordinary one. As we drove around, we kept encountering groups of Cranes, part of an army of tens of thousand passing through Estonia in autumn. On one evening, we set up camp on a birding tower and watched some 5,000 Cranes coming into roost in the nearby damp fields. But when I say ‘watch’, this is to diminish the experience; it’s more about simultaneously looking, listening and absorbing flocks of hundreds and hundreds of Cranes flooding in. The sound of thousands of Cranes elevates a haunting, lonely trumpet to a triumphant fanfare to raise the hairs on the most hairless nape – a reminder, if ever we need it, to unexpect the expected!
■ Mike would like to thank the good people of Estonian Nature Tours for inviting him to Estonia. Look out for more from his trip in our January issue
the unusual, there is a comfortable knowledge that this species will be around here and that bird around there, and they will be doing their stuff as they do every week or every year. This is all well and good, but there is something thrilling about seeing the expected and commonplace in an unusual setting or context, or getting up to something brand new. I’ve just come back from a week in Estonia, which you could regard as unfamiliar in itself, and it was indeed my first trip to one of the former Soviet Baltic states. But the flat-lying damp forests, bogs, heath and sandy coast had more than an air of the known, like an unspoilt version of what much of low-lying
England may once have looked (though with fabulous roads and excellent facilities). The birding was excellent, with plenty of classic northern European birds on offer, such as Black Woodpecker and White-tailed Eagle, plus the odd Raccoon Dog and Elk (or Moose if you prefer) and a scampering Pine Marten to keep the other-wildlife-watching me happy. But perhaps the most striking was the familiar seen as unfamiliar.
Let me elucidate with a few examples. We hadhardly started out on our journey from the capital Tallinn (in the north) to the west of Estonia and were already in wild country and seeing our first Roe Deer. “Surely, those aren’t Roe Deer, are they?”, thought I. But, after a view through binoculars it was clear that they were Roes, but they didn’t look anything like the Roes over here: they were dressed in warm golden orange fur, not the rather dull grey-brown I naturally expect. We saw dozens of Roes over the course of the week and every time I was startled by their colour.
And to take matters to a more bird-related footing, as we drove around the country we flushed up flocks of thousands of Chaffinches, that most domestic of birds lifted to a new order of magnitude, almost becoming a new species simply by dint of numbers.
Similarly, while seawatching, the sheer numbers of birds was almost disorienting. I was impressed by the constant flow of migrant Black-throated Divers, the flocks of 30plus Velvet Scoter, the hundreds of Scaup and the smattering of scarcer birds such as half-adozen Red-necked Grebes. But I just did not expect to see dozens of Sparrowhawks spilling over the waves. Above the hawks, came more flocks of Chaffinches and White Wagtails, but there were other passerines,
too, such as Willow Tit. Willow Tit is a species which I have been watching in the UK for decades. Sadly, their numbers are hugely reduced in counties such as my own (Cambridgeshire) and these days I am lucky to hear or see one or two in my travels during the year; but their ‘chay chay chay’ call is engrained in my psyche since I was a young man. But the thing that really startled me in Estonia was hearing the call while seawatching on a northern shore. Well, not so much hearing the call from the pines next to our vantage point, but looking up to see a small pine packed with 30 Willow Tits together: migrants fleeing the harsh Fennoscandian winter to come.
In the western Estonian woods, Willow Tit was the ubiquitous voice, dominating everything else, even Great Tits. The forests tread a fine line between the familiar and the strange. The trees are narrowtrunked, like plantations in Britain, but they are wild, unplanted, old; just growing on poor damp soil. The vegetation is largely familiar, but the birds are subtly different in these Estonian trees: white-breasted
northern Nuthatches; neat, grey, sleek Chiffchaffs; Long-tailed Tits with wholly snow-white heads; Bullfinches with weird, ringing trumpet calls; and there’s the knowledge that there are White-backed and Grey-headed Woodpeckers out there. On our final day, when bad weather gave way to clear, bright skies, the migration floodgates
opened and the early morning sky became full of migrating passerines: familiar ‘viz mig’ but on a grand scale, drawing on depth of call-knowledge rarely employed back home. Overhead came flocks of Chaffinches and Bramblings, Tree Pipit with the Meadows, Hawfinch and Crossbill and Siskin; 20-strong flocks of Jays, and a steady stream of Nutcrackers. Classic northern European birds in the throes of deserting a freeze to come; something that just won’t happen at home. And talking of home, as I have hinted at in this column before, we now have Cranes breeding near
Peterborough, and one or two Cranes are part of my regular birding year. Perhaps the ultimate highlight of my time in western Estonia was something that I was expecting from the itinerary, but still elevated an accustomed experience to an extraordinary one. As we drove around, we kept encountering groups of Cranes, part of an army of tens of thousand passing through Estonia in autumn. On one evening, we set up camp on a birding tower and watched some 5,000 Cranes coming into roost in the nearby damp fields. But when I say ‘watch’, this is to diminish the experience; it’s more about simultaneously looking, listening and absorbing flocks of hundreds and hundreds of Cranes flooding in. The sound of thousands of Cranes elevates a haunting, lonely trumpet to a triumphant fanfare to raise the hairs on the most hairless nape – a reminder, if ever we need it, to unexpect the expected!
■ Mike would like to thank the good people of Estonian Nature Tours for inviting him to Estonia. Look out for more from his trip in our January issue
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Lasteaiaõpetajate õppereis Matsalu rahvuspargis
2010 aasta kevadel toimus lasteaiaõpetajate õppereis Matsalu rahvusparki. Projekti „Lasteaiaõpetajate õppereis Matsalu rahvuspargis” eesmärgiks oli keskkonnaalase väliõppe (õuesõppe) võimaluste tutvustamine ning võimalike suundade näitamine praktilise kasutusega. Sihtgrupiks lasteaiaõpetajad, kes edasiselt oleksid võimelised läbi viima praktilise suunitlusega väliõpet juba esmaselt lasteaia laste hulgas, kui ka võimalusega õpetajaid kasutada väliõppega seotud keskkonnaalaste õppepäevade läbiviimisel edasiste keskkonnateadlikkuse projektidega kavandatavatel õppepäevadel.
Õppereisi korraldaja leidmisel sai määravaks õuesõppe läbiviimise asukoht, vajaliku temaatika käsitluse oskused ja pädevus, varasemate tegevuste kvaliteetsus ning ka samalaadsete õppeprogrammide pakkujate vähesus. Eelnevat kokkuvõttes viis õppereisi läbi Kumari Reisid OÜ.
Õppereisi ülesehituses oli eelkõige käsitletav praktilise õppevormi suund, milles vaadeldi erinevate looduskoosluste, maastiku ning ka seadusandluste määratluste kasutuse võimalikkust väliõppe temaatikast lähtuvalt ning võimalusi selle viimisest lasteni ja seda just lastele huvitavaks ning arusaadavaks tegemist esile tõstes. Tutvuti lihtsamate praktiliste lahenduste ja vaatlusvormidega, mida on võimalik kasutada väliõppe käigus. Hilisema korraldatud küsitluse tagasiside oli äärmiselt positiivne ning paljus mainiti Kumari Reisid OÜ spetsialistide väga head kompetentsust ning huvitavat praktilist lähenemist õuesõppe temaatikas käsitletavale.
Piltide reas saab ka visuaalse, küll osalise, ülevaate tegevustest, mis toimusid õppereisi kestusel. Õppereisi raames õpitut kasutavad lasteaiaõpetajad juba igapäevaselt lasteaias õuesõppe tundides ning ollakse veendunud, et selliste õppereiside vajadus on tegelikkuses suurem ja seda nii õpetajatele, kui ka lastele. Loe edasi ja vaata pilte siit
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Nature- and bird magazine journalists visited Estonia
Estonian Nature Tours (ENT) and NGO Läänemaa Tourism were joined by travel agency representatives and leading European bird- and nature magazines journalists for an invitational visit to Estonia.
Journalists from Great Britain (Bird Watching), Netherlands (Grasduinen), Sweden(Sveriges Natur) and Finland (Suomen Luonto ja Finlands Nature) as well as travel agency representatives from Great Britan and Belgium participated in the 6-day tour.
The introductory tour covered bird migration observation of West Estonia, Hiiumaa and Pärnu county. It also included experiencing the attractiveness and quality of the travel package „Estonia in Autumn“. The tour was a success. Despite the rainy and windy weather, over 140 different bird species were spotted. The tour also observed mammals such as moose, deer, fox, pine marten, raccoon dog and even ringed seal.
Participants of the tour were pleasantly surprised of the well kept and quality hiking trails, walk paths, bird observation towers and accomodation establishments. Estonian cooking was highly praised along with the professionalism of the bird guide- and planning service. Descriptions of this positive tour experience will be appearing in different magazines in the coming months. Estonia as an attrative bird- and nature tourism country will be showcased to over a million nature enthusiast around Europe.
Photos of the tour are here
Birdlist is here
Participants' comments are here
Listen to CEO Marika Mann's interview about the tour to Radio Kadi here
Read the news about the tour in Hiiu Nädal here
Paul McCartney- Hope of Deliverance alias Hot delivery :))
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Linnu- ja loodusajakirjanikud külastasid Eestit!
Estonian Nature Toursi (ENT) ja Läänemaa Turism MTÜ kutsel külastasid Eestit taas Euroopa juhtivate linnu- ja loodusajakirjade ajakirjanikud ning reisibüroode esindajad.
Reisil osalesid ajakirjanikud Suurbritanniast (Bird Watching), Hollandist (Grasduinen), Rootsist (Sveriges Natur) ja Soomest (Suomen Luonto ja Finlands Natur) ning reisibüroode esindajad Suurbritanniast ja Belgiast.
6-päevase tutvumisreisi raames vaadeldi lindude rännet Lääne-, Hiiu- ja Pärnumaal. Ühtlasi testiti ka reisipaketi Estonia in Autumn kvaliteeti ning atraktiivsust. Reis osutus väga edukaks. Vaatamata vihmasele ja tuulisele ilmale nähti 140 erinevat linnuliiki ning sekka ka imetajaid nagu põder, metskits, rebane, kährikkoer, metsnugis ja viigerhüljes.
Tutvumisreisil osalejad olid meeldivalt üllatunud ka teede, matkaradade, linnutornide ja majutusasutuste heast tasemest. Väga kiideti Eesti toitu, aga ka professionaalset linnugiidi- ja korraldusteenust. Positiivse sõnumiga reisikirjeldused ilmuvad erinevates ajakirjades järgneva nelja kuu jooksul. Eestist kui atraktiivsest linnu- ja loodusturismimaast saab lugeda kokku ligemale miljon loodushuvilist Euroopas.
Pilte näed siit: http://on.fb.me/c0iCZc
Linnulistiga tutvu siin: http://bit.ly/b0Hwxf
Ajakirjanike kommentaare loe siin: http://bit.ly/chsN58
Intervjuud Kadi Raadiole kuula siit: http://bit.ly/aT4MkA
Uudist Hiiumaa Nädalas loe siit: http://bit.ly/dkhwF7
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Promotional birdwatching tour "Estonia in Autumn" comments
" This six-day promotional tour in West-Estonia (18-23 September) was an eye-opener for me. Unless I visited some places in northern Europe before, I saw four new birdspecies, including white-backed woodpecker which competed my European woodpecker-list! And I will never forget the beautiful evening at Matsalu Bay, with 6.000 cranes coming in, some parties dancing on the ground, black grouse in front, a hovering great grey shrike on the left, and some moose with there youngs coming out of the forest in the back. And this was only the first day… " Paul Böhre, editor of Grasduinen Nature Magazine, Holland / FAM trip September 2010
" Thank you all for making our Estonian such a nice one. Here are some of my pictures, taken on our seal safari, on the outermost tip of Hiiumaa (the lighthouse of Ristna + brent geese) and the surroundings of Lepanina hotel (sanderling and the Hornets, which had their nest in the trunk of a pine just outside the entrance of the hotel). " Magnus Östman, Finlands Natur, Finland / FAM trip September 2010
" It is good to discover a country in full bloom, looking toward the future, and respecting nature. The days we spend in Estonia will stay forever in my mind. Birds contrasting in wonderful skies, like thousands of cranes, white-tailed eagles, thousands of ducks, sparrowhawks, and in the same trip the corncrake and the snowbunting, the nightjar and the black guillemot...this is unforgettable. Mammals are also very attracting in Estonia, and will definitely call me back to this country. But the people will most of all stay in my mind, with a real sense of welcome, the will of developping the country with taste, and to welcome the hosts with wonderful food..." P. L., Belgia / FAM trip September 2010
" I took part of a promotional tour organized by Estonian Nature Tours in September 2010. The arrangements were excellent and the guide was very well-informed. I recommend this organizer warmly." Juha Honkonen, the managing editor of Suomen Luonto magazine / FAM trip September 2010
" This was my third time to Estonia, and first with Estonian Nature tours, on a 6 day promotional tour to the Western side of the country. I was impressed by how well-organised the programme was, a real full on trip, with excellent accommodation and food.
Marika did a wonderful job in organising & putting together the programme, and Tarvo was an excellent bird guide. Highlights - 6000 honking cranes coming to land in a meadow field, with Elk and young running across the field, an animal I thought was mythical as it as taken me over 10 years to actually see one!
I never realised that Great Grey Shrikes could hover, that is what you call a Groovy groover! But what I will remember is the amazing autumn colours of the forests, and mires, as well asstanding in the middle of a Taiga, the full moon shining over the meadow as the mist hung low, listening for Wolf, Owl or Elk - very mystical. Unfortunately, it does mean I will have to come back in Spring to see Brown Bear. What a shame!" Amanda da Rocha, Greentours Wildlife Guide, UK / FAM trip September 2010
" Just wanted to say a big thank you for inviting me on the promotional tour, and to Tarvo for all his guiding skills and enthusiasm. I really do appreciate being able to come and see Estonia, and I very much enjoyed our little group. I am already looking forward to coming back in May or June - peak mammal-watching time - to visit the bear hide, see the flying squirrel and beavers, as well as getting better views of the other mammals". H.F. / FAM trip September 2010
" Beautiful stormwaves of Ristna! The many old manor houses of German origin and their surrounding parks are just charming – and rich in birds!Never seen so many cranes flying across the evening sky as we did at Matsalu bay! Very nice meeting with a juvenile sanderling resting on the beach of the Gulf of Riga near Lepanina hotel. Well arranged accomodation and excellent food!" Magnus Östman, Finlands Natur magazine / FAM trip September 2010
" Thank you all for making our Estonian such a nice one. Here are some of my pictures, taken on our seal safari, on the outermost tip of Hiiumaa (the lighthouse of Ristna + brent geese) and the surroundings of Lepanina hotel (sanderling and the Hornets, which had their nest in the trunk of a pine just outside the entrance of the hotel). " Magnus Östman, Finlands Natur, Finland / FAM trip September 2010
" It is good to discover a country in full bloom, looking toward the future, and respecting nature. The days we spend in Estonia will stay forever in my mind. Birds contrasting in wonderful skies, like thousands of cranes, white-tailed eagles, thousands of ducks, sparrowhawks, and in the same trip the corncrake and the snowbunting, the nightjar and the black guillemot...this is unforgettable. Mammals are also very attracting in Estonia, and will definitely call me back to this country. But the people will most of all stay in my mind, with a real sense of welcome, the will of developping the country with taste, and to welcome the hosts with wonderful food..." P. L., Belgia / FAM trip September 2010
" I took part of a promotional tour organized by Estonian Nature Tours in September 2010. The arrangements were excellent and the guide was very well-informed. I recommend this organizer warmly." Juha Honkonen, the managing editor of Suomen Luonto magazine / FAM trip September 2010
" This was my third time to Estonia, and first with Estonian Nature tours, on a 6 day promotional tour to the Western side of the country. I was impressed by how well-organised the programme was, a real full on trip, with excellent accommodation and food.
Marika did a wonderful job in organising & putting together the programme, and Tarvo was an excellent bird guide. Highlights - 6000 honking cranes coming to land in a meadow field, with Elk and young running across the field, an animal I thought was mythical as it as taken me over 10 years to actually see one!
I never realised that Great Grey Shrikes could hover, that is what you call a Groovy groover! But what I will remember is the amazing autumn colours of the forests, and mires, as well asstanding in the middle of a Taiga, the full moon shining over the meadow as the mist hung low, listening for Wolf, Owl or Elk - very mystical. Unfortunately, it does mean I will have to come back in Spring to see Brown Bear. What a shame!" Amanda da Rocha, Greentours Wildlife Guide, UK / FAM trip September 2010
" Just wanted to say a big thank you for inviting me on the promotional tour, and to Tarvo for all his guiding skills and enthusiasm. I really do appreciate being able to come and see Estonia, and I very much enjoyed our little group. I am already looking forward to coming back in May or June - peak mammal-watching time - to visit the bear hide, see the flying squirrel and beavers, as well as getting better views of the other mammals". H.F. / FAM trip September 2010
" Beautiful stormwaves of Ristna! The many old manor houses of German origin and their surrounding parks are just charming – and rich in birds!Never seen so many cranes flying across the evening sky as we did at Matsalu bay! Very nice meeting with a juvenile sanderling resting on the beach of the Gulf of Riga near Lepanina hotel. Well arranged accomodation and excellent food!" Magnus Östman, Finlands Natur magazine / FAM trip September 2010
Friday, October 1, 2010
Last morning..
...of the birdwatching trip "Estonia in autumn" at Pärnu area was extremely successful. Chilly and sunny morning in the forests offered us many suprises. The biggest one in all ways was stunning views
of Eagle Owl. All group members had chance to observe the biggest Owl of
the Europe for 10 minutes through the scope. In the same spot we heard
Hazel Hen - a possible breakfeast for the Eagle Owl. The activity of
Woodpeckers in the same spot can be compared with the best spring
mornings. In one spot we had chance to get 6 Woodpecker species -
including 3 Black, 2 Grey-headed, several Lesser Spotted, White-backed
and Three-toad Woodpecker. After 6 days birding in Estonia we have more
than 140 species in our trip list.
Tarvo Valker
of Eagle Owl. All group members had chance to observe the biggest Owl of
the Europe for 10 minutes through the scope. In the same spot we heard
Hazel Hen - a possible breakfeast for the Eagle Owl. The activity of
Woodpeckers in the same spot can be compared with the best spring
mornings. In one spot we had chance to get 6 Woodpecker species -
including 3 Black, 2 Grey-headed, several Lesser Spotted, White-backed
and Three-toad Woodpecker. After 6 days birding in Estonia we have more
than 140 species in our trip list.
Tarvo Valker
Thursday, September 30, 2010
FAM trip September 2010 comment
‘This six-day promotional tour in West-Estonia (18-23 September) was an eye-opener for me. Unless I visited some places in northern Europe before, I saw four new birdspecies, including white-backed woodpecker which competed my European woodpecker-list! And I will never forget the beautiful evening at Matsalu Bay, with 6.000 cranes coming in, some parties dancing on the ground, black grouse in front, a hovering great grey shrike on the left, and some moose with there youngs coming out of the forest in the back. And this was only the first day…’
Paul Böhre, editor of Grasduinen Nature Magazine, Holland
Paul Böhre, editor of Grasduinen Nature Magazine, Holland
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Tagasiside
Suured tänud selle toreda matkaelamuse eest nii Teile kui ornitoloogile Tiit
Randlale. See matk oli nagu loodud meie perele, sest mul oli enne matka
kartus, et minu väike tütreke, kes on alles 3-ne, hirmutab kõik loomad ära
ja me ei näegi midagi põnevat. Kohale jõudes selgus aga, et me ei pidanud
üldse läbi rägastike käima, mis iseenesest mehele oleks meeldinud aga
väikesele pesamunale see ei sobi. Linnuvaatlus käis samuti väga mugavalt
meie jaoks, olime piisavalt kaugel tetredest, et neid mitte ära ehmatada ja
samas rahulikult oma ala spetsialistiga vestelda. Mitte vähem oluline oli ka
see, et kaasa oli pandud ka koduste toitudega piknikukorv, milles olid väga
maitsvad toidud- aitäh perenaisele Marikale!
Randlale. See matk oli nagu loodud meie perele, sest mul oli enne matka
kartus, et minu väike tütreke, kes on alles 3-ne, hirmutab kõik loomad ära
ja me ei näegi midagi põnevat. Kohale jõudes selgus aga, et me ei pidanud
üldse läbi rägastike käima, mis iseenesest mehele oleks meeldinud aga
väikesele pesamunale see ei sobi. Linnuvaatlus käis samuti väga mugavalt
meie jaoks, olime piisavalt kaugel tetredest, et neid mitte ära ehmatada ja
samas rahulikult oma ala spetsialistiga vestelda. Mitte vähem oluline oli ka
see, et kaasa oli pandud ka koduste toitudega piknikukorv, milles olid väga
maitsvad toidud- aitäh perenaisele Marikale!
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Messiuudised
Estonian Nature Tours oli augustis ja septembris oma messiboksiga väljas kahel rahvusvahelisel linnuvaatlusmessil.
Juba kolmandat aastat oli firma oma standiga esindatud British Birdfairil. Eesti varakevadiste ja kevadiste linnuvaatlusreiside vastu on huvi endiselt tõusuteel. Eriti suurt huvi näidati üles, aga ENT uue paketi – Mammal Watching in Estonia vastu. BBC Wildlife septembrinumbris ilmunud artikkel imetajate jälgimisest Eestis on aidanud selle väikeriigi Euroopa loodusturismimaastikul nähtavaks teha. Mammal Watching in Estonia vastu on huvi tundnud ka mitmed meie koostööpartnerid, kes soovivad alates 2011 või 2012. aastast meie reise edasi müüma hakata.
Edukaks võib pidada ka teist, tänavu alles esmakordselt toimunud, Falsterbo Bird Show. ENT sai messilt paar head kontakti, kellega juba lähema paari aasta jooksul alustatakse koostööd. Messi lõplikku tulemust on raske hinnata, kuna õpime Rootsi turgu alles tundma ning taoline mess toimus seal alles esmakordselt.
Juba kolmandat aastat oli firma oma standiga esindatud British Birdfairil. Eesti varakevadiste ja kevadiste linnuvaatlusreiside vastu on huvi endiselt tõusuteel. Eriti suurt huvi näidati üles, aga ENT uue paketi – Mammal Watching in Estonia vastu. BBC Wildlife septembrinumbris ilmunud artikkel imetajate jälgimisest Eestis on aidanud selle väikeriigi Euroopa loodusturismimaastikul nähtavaks teha. Mammal Watching in Estonia vastu on huvi tundnud ka mitmed meie koostööpartnerid, kes soovivad alates 2011 või 2012. aastast meie reise edasi müüma hakata.
Edukaks võib pidada ka teist, tänavu alles esmakordselt toimunud, Falsterbo Bird Show. ENT sai messilt paar head kontakti, kellega juba lähema paari aasta jooksul alustatakse koostööd. Messi lõplikku tulemust on raske hinnata, kuna õpime Rootsi turgu alles tundma ning taoline mess toimus seal alles esmakordselt.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Estonian Nature Tours PRESSITEADE
Linnu- ja loodusajakirjanikud taas Eestis!
Estonian Nature Toursi (ENT) ja Läänemaa Turism MTÜ kutsel saabuvad
18.septembril Eestisse Euroopa juhtivate linnu- ja loodusajakirjade
ajakirjanikud ning reisibüroode esindajad.
6-päevase tutvumisreisi raames külastatakse Lääne-, Hiiu- ja Pärnumaad.
Reisil osalevad ajakirjanikud Suurbritanniast (Bird Watching), Hollandist
(Grasduinen), Rootsist (Sveriges Natur) ja Soomest (Suomen Luonto ja Natur
och Miljö) ning reisibüroode esindajad Suurbritanniast ja Belgiast.
Tutvumisreisi eesmärgiks on tutvustada Euroopa tipp-väljaannetele Eestit kui
turvalist ja sõbralikku loodusturismi sihtriiki ning näidata looma- ja
linnuvaatluspiirkondi, mis on atraktiivsed loodushuvilise jaoks sügisel.
Samuti on oluline kummutada eelarvamused meie giiditeenuse, toidu,
majutusasutuste ja teedevõrgustiku taseme kohta. Lisaks massilisele
linnurändele loodetakse näidata ka metsaliike nagu teder, rähnid ja kakud
ning suurimetajaid nagu põder, metssiga, hall- ja viigerhüljes jne. Samuti
loodetakse näha hulganisti suurkiskjate tegevusjälgi.
Tutvumisreisi korraldab Estonian Nature Tours, rahastavad Läänemaa Turism
MTÜ ja ENT. Reisi juhendavad ja saadavad Tarvo Valker, Marika Mann ning
Bert Rähni.
Marika Mann
Tegevjuht
Kumari Reisid OÜ (Estonian Nature Tours)
Estonian Nature Toursi (ENT) ja Läänemaa Turism MTÜ kutsel saabuvad
18.septembril Eestisse Euroopa juhtivate linnu- ja loodusajakirjade
ajakirjanikud ning reisibüroode esindajad.
6-päevase tutvumisreisi raames külastatakse Lääne-, Hiiu- ja Pärnumaad.
Reisil osalevad ajakirjanikud Suurbritanniast (Bird Watching), Hollandist
(Grasduinen), Rootsist (Sveriges Natur) ja Soomest (Suomen Luonto ja Natur
och Miljö) ning reisibüroode esindajad Suurbritanniast ja Belgiast.
Tutvumisreisi eesmärgiks on tutvustada Euroopa tipp-väljaannetele Eestit kui
turvalist ja sõbralikku loodusturismi sihtriiki ning näidata looma- ja
linnuvaatluspiirkondi, mis on atraktiivsed loodushuvilise jaoks sügisel.
Samuti on oluline kummutada eelarvamused meie giiditeenuse, toidu,
majutusasutuste ja teedevõrgustiku taseme kohta. Lisaks massilisele
linnurändele loodetakse näidata ka metsaliike nagu teder, rähnid ja kakud
ning suurimetajaid nagu põder, metssiga, hall- ja viigerhüljes jne. Samuti
loodetakse näha hulganisti suurkiskjate tegevusjälgi.
Tutvumisreisi korraldab Estonian Nature Tours, rahastavad Läänemaa Turism
MTÜ ja ENT. Reisi juhendavad ja saadavad Tarvo Valker, Marika Mann ning
Bert Rähni.
Marika Mann
Tegevjuht
Kumari Reisid OÜ (Estonian Nature Tours)
Friday, September 10, 2010
Migrating birds
Estonian Nature Tours invites you to watch migrating birds!
Join us Wed 29th Sep - Sun 3rd Oct and experience the same as Estonian Nature Tours' managing director Marika Mann experienced in 2004. You can read about that fantastic experience more below:
I counted birds yesterday, helping out the ornitologists. We started before 6 pm. Eve and I were at the Haeska bird watching tower. Eve sat up the telescope; her new equipment needed personal attention. But the birds already started to come. Or rather – they already went by. Or - they came and went. We didn´t have time anymore to adjust the new equipment and had to seize the binocular and start the count. I noted down the numbers, how many, from which direction they came and into which direction they went. And what kind of birds they were. Eve was angry at me when she needed to repeat herself - I didn´t mind.
More than a thousand Beene and Greylag geese had gathered on the coastal meadow. A White-tailed Eagle desturbed their peace. They took off to the west and to the north. Several hundred teals and gadwalls nibbled in the shallow water. The White-tailed Eagle was still sitting on the big stone close to the ducks. Seemingly bored, he plucked his feathers.
The southern sky drew dangerously dark. Rain started to drizzle. Eve packed up her equipment. We felt discouraged, so much time until darkness will set in, but nowhere to run for shelter. The deputy of God Vello came to check on this nets and left his car to us.
It was silent for about half an hour, some flocks of Lapwings and ducks moved here and there. Finally the rain stopped and a wonderful double rainbow spread over the sky. It lasted for nearly an hour. I noted that down as well.
And then it began... first lonely flocks of Cranes and then things got out of hand. In groupings of ten flocks at a time, in lines without end, their calls compounding to a satisfactory noise all around us. Their bellies were full, all they needed now was a suitable place to rest for the night. Some of them lagged behind, others aimed to fly towards Põgari. Eve got upset – the trees were blocking our view, we just couldn´t see anymore where exactly they landed. After 8 pm I scribbled down partial notes, like: “numbers without end” of Grus grus and “whole pile” of Anser sp, among then about 70 of one thing and 80 of another. God only knows from where they came and where they went to – it was simply too dark to see anymore …
At Haeska and Põgari-Sassi we counted about 9000 Cranes (Grus grus) and 1500 Geese (Anser sp) all in the evening of Sept. 21, 2004. The counting of cranes and geese takes place in Matsalu National Park every autumn in the third week of September. There are about 10 lookouts for counting birds around Matsalu Bay.
Tour itinerary: http://bit.ly/c6F1VX
Book here:http://bit.ly/cWqj7V
Join us Wed 29th Sep - Sun 3rd Oct and experience the same as Estonian Nature Tours' managing director Marika Mann experienced in 2004. You can read about that fantastic experience more below:
I counted birds yesterday, helping out the ornitologists. We started before 6 pm. Eve and I were at the Haeska bird watching tower. Eve sat up the telescope; her new equipment needed personal attention. But the birds already started to come. Or rather – they already went by. Or - they came and went. We didn´t have time anymore to adjust the new equipment and had to seize the binocular and start the count. I noted down the numbers, how many, from which direction they came and into which direction they went. And what kind of birds they were. Eve was angry at me when she needed to repeat herself - I didn´t mind.
More than a thousand Beene and Greylag geese had gathered on the coastal meadow. A White-tailed Eagle desturbed their peace. They took off to the west and to the north. Several hundred teals and gadwalls nibbled in the shallow water. The White-tailed Eagle was still sitting on the big stone close to the ducks. Seemingly bored, he plucked his feathers.
The southern sky drew dangerously dark. Rain started to drizzle. Eve packed up her equipment. We felt discouraged, so much time until darkness will set in, but nowhere to run for shelter. The deputy of God Vello came to check on this nets and left his car to us.
It was silent for about half an hour, some flocks of Lapwings and ducks moved here and there. Finally the rain stopped and a wonderful double rainbow spread over the sky. It lasted for nearly an hour. I noted that down as well.
And then it began... first lonely flocks of Cranes and then things got out of hand. In groupings of ten flocks at a time, in lines without end, their calls compounding to a satisfactory noise all around us. Their bellies were full, all they needed now was a suitable place to rest for the night. Some of them lagged behind, others aimed to fly towards Põgari. Eve got upset – the trees were blocking our view, we just couldn´t see anymore where exactly they landed. After 8 pm I scribbled down partial notes, like: “numbers without end” of Grus grus and “whole pile” of Anser sp, among then about 70 of one thing and 80 of another. God only knows from where they came and where they went to – it was simply too dark to see anymore …
At Haeska and Põgari-Sassi we counted about 9000 Cranes (Grus grus) and 1500 Geese (Anser sp) all in the evening of Sept. 21, 2004. The counting of cranes and geese takes place in Matsalu National Park every autumn in the third week of September. There are about 10 lookouts for counting birds around Matsalu Bay.
Tour itinerary: http://bit.ly/c6F1VX
Book here:http://bit.ly/cWqj7V
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Client Comments (Tailor-made holidays in Estonia)
"We had a great time. Estonia is a wonderful country. I am sure we are coming back one day. Especially the Matsalu area was amazing. I've never seen so many wildflowers before.
The heat was o.k. for us ( we are getting used to it here in Belgium!! ). Only the kids had difficulties to get to sleep. Estonian houses/accommodation doesn't have curtains ( to make it dark at night ) or mosquito nets ( to keep windows open at night ) That made our trip difficult sometimes. But besides that, all the places you selected for us were very good with nice and helpful hosts. The infrastructure in nature reserves and national parks is outstanding. Better than in Belgium and amazing for a 'young' country like Estonia. And it is very easy to find the right way in your country. The brochure you gave me (Tierra Maritima - Land by the sea) was very useful and we found all the places we wanted to visit.
And the birds?... well I better come at another time of the year. Activity was very low, especially in the forests. It's not like Northern Scandinavia, were birds sing until mid July. I should remember that. What a petty that Estonia is that far for us. Otherwise we would come every year. There is so much more to discover.
And in general...Estonia has its environmental problems too indeed, and there will be many more when the E.U. creeps further into your lives. But the network of protected areas is impressive. I hope you people can lobby for their existence.
Thanks for everything.
I will encourage friend to visit Estonia" S.G. / July 2010, Belgium
What is Tailor-made holiday?
Many of passengers have a particular speciality, be it ornithology, botany, zoology or photography, and are keen to expand their knowledge and experience into new countries. We cater for just such needs and regularly organize highly focused trips in our country, and would be delighted to discuss your requirements further. Whether you are traveling alone, with a group of friends, or are organising a natural history expedition for a photographic club, university or natural history society, we have the expertise to arrange your yourney to Estonia.
The heat was o.k. for us ( we are getting used to it here in Belgium!! ). Only the kids had difficulties to get to sleep. Estonian houses/accommodation doesn't have curtains ( to make it dark at night ) or mosquito nets ( to keep windows open at night ) That made our trip difficult sometimes. But besides that, all the places you selected for us were very good with nice and helpful hosts. The infrastructure in nature reserves and national parks is outstanding. Better than in Belgium and amazing for a 'young' country like Estonia. And it is very easy to find the right way in your country. The brochure you gave me (Tierra Maritima - Land by the sea) was very useful and we found all the places we wanted to visit.
And the birds?... well I better come at another time of the year. Activity was very low, especially in the forests. It's not like Northern Scandinavia, were birds sing until mid July. I should remember that. What a petty that Estonia is that far for us. Otherwise we would come every year. There is so much more to discover.
And in general...Estonia has its environmental problems too indeed, and there will be many more when the E.U. creeps further into your lives. But the network of protected areas is impressive. I hope you people can lobby for their existence.
Thanks for everything.
I will encourage friend to visit Estonia" S.G. / July 2010, Belgium
What is Tailor-made holiday?
Many of passengers have a particular speciality, be it ornithology, botany, zoology or photography, and are keen to expand their knowledge and experience into new countries. We cater for just such needs and regularly organize highly focused trips in our country, and would be delighted to discuss your requirements further. Whether you are traveling alone, with a group of friends, or are organising a natural history expedition for a photographic club, university or natural history society, we have the expertise to arrange your yourney to Estonia.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Tagasiside
„Suur tänu toreda Matsalu reisi eest!
Tartu- ja Jõgevamaa põhikoolide loodushuvilised õpilased olid SA KIK projekti raames 28. juunist - 30. juunini looduslaagris Matsalu rahvuspargis.
Looduslaagri korraldas Kumari Reisid OÜ ja meid saatis ning juhendas kõigil kolmel päeval loodusgiid Marje Loide. Ida-Eestist pärit lastel oli huvitav uurida rannaniitude taimestikku ja loomastikku, sest Tartu ümbruses mere mõju vajavaid taimeliike ju ei kasva ja karjamaadel Šoti mägiveised ei kohta. Õpilastele meeldis kõige enam paadisõit Suitsu jõel, Näärikivide rannal kassikulla e püriidi otsimine, Matsalu looduskeskuse külastamine ja seal multimeediaprogrammi ning näituse vaatamine, rannaniitude ja nende elanike vaatlemine Haeska, Penijõe ja Suitsu vaatetornides, Kiideva linnutornikese külastamine ja ujumine Kiideva rannas ning matkamine Laelatu puisniidul. Õpilastele pakkus laagri ajal maitsvat "maatoitu" (maasikaid, piima, pannkooke, metssealihast karbonaadi jne) Männi talu lahke perenaine Ene Alpius. Looduslaagris osalenud 20 õpilast ja 3 õpetajat on väga rahul OÜ Kumari Reisid poolt pakutud programmiga, giidiga ja kogu korraldusega.“ E.S. / Luua MK 2010
Tartu- ja Jõgevamaa põhikoolide loodushuvilised õpilased olid SA KIK projekti raames 28. juunist - 30. juunini looduslaagris Matsalu rahvuspargis.
Looduslaagri korraldas Kumari Reisid OÜ ja meid saatis ning juhendas kõigil kolmel päeval loodusgiid Marje Loide. Ida-Eestist pärit lastel oli huvitav uurida rannaniitude taimestikku ja loomastikku, sest Tartu ümbruses mere mõju vajavaid taimeliike ju ei kasva ja karjamaadel Šoti mägiveised ei kohta. Õpilastele meeldis kõige enam paadisõit Suitsu jõel, Näärikivide rannal kassikulla e püriidi otsimine, Matsalu looduskeskuse külastamine ja seal multimeediaprogrammi ning näituse vaatamine, rannaniitude ja nende elanike vaatlemine Haeska, Penijõe ja Suitsu vaatetornides, Kiideva linnutornikese külastamine ja ujumine Kiideva rannas ning matkamine Laelatu puisniidul. Õpilastele pakkus laagri ajal maitsvat "maatoitu" (maasikaid, piima, pannkooke, metssealihast karbonaadi jne) Männi talu lahke perenaine Ene Alpius. Looduslaagris osalenud 20 õpilast ja 3 õpetajat on väga rahul OÜ Kumari Reisid poolt pakutud programmiga, giidiga ja kogu korraldusega.“ E.S. / Luua MK 2010
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Kured lähevad, kurjad ilmad…
Estonian Nature Tours kutsub linnuvaatlusele!
Alljärgnevalt Estonian Nature Tours tegevjuhi Marika Manni fantastiline kogemus 2004. aasta sügise loenduselt:
Käisin eile linnuloendusel, Matsalu omadel abiks. Enne kuute õhtul alustasime, meie olime Haeskas. Eve sättis vaatetoru üles, uuem tehnika vajas personaalsemat lähenemist, aga linnud juba tulid. Õigemini läksid. Või tulid ja läksid. Polnud enam aega, tuli haarata binokkel ja lugeda. Mina märkisin muudkui üles, et mitu ja kust tulid ja kuhu läksid. Ja kes olid. Eve kurjustas, kui pidi mitu korda ütlema, ma ei pannud pahaks.
Üle tuhande raba- ja hallhane lösutas rannaniidul maas, merikotkas rikkus nende rahu. Salkkonniti suundusid osad lääne-, osad põhjasuunas, veel viimast võtma. Mitusada piil- ja rägaparti nosis madalas vees, merikotkas valvsalt ikka sealsamas lähedal suure kivi peal. Näiliselt igavusest oma sulgi katkudes.
Lõunataevas tõmbas kahtlaselt tumedaks. Vihma hakkas tibutama, Eve pakkis toru kokku. Nadi tunne oli, pimedani hulk aega, aga vihmavarju pole kusagile minna. Jumala saadik Vello tuli võrke vaatama ja jättis auto meile soojakuna kasutada.
Umbes pool tundi oli vaikust, mõni parv kiivitajaid ja parte liikus siia-sinna. Vihm jäi üle ja imeline kahekordne vikerkaar laiutas meist kagu suunas. Peaaegu tund aega järjest. Märkisin selle ka Eve vaatluspäevikusse üles.
Ja siis see algas... Esialgu ikka üksikud tõsisemad kureparved, edasi läks asi hoopis hulluks. Kümnete kaupa lõpmatuid ahelaid, rahulolevat lärmi rohkem kui rubla eest. Kõhud olid head-paremat täis söödud, vaja oli vaid leida sobiv koht magamiseks. Osad jäid justkui pidama, osad lendasid Põgari suunas. Eve kirus, et puud tuleb maha võtta, ei näe enam, kuhu nad randuvad. Peale kaheksat tegin märkmeid poolenisti huupi, umbes nii: "lõputu hulk" Grus grusi ja "terve posu" Anser anserit, sekka umbes 70 seda ja 80 teist. Tont teab, kust nad tulid ja kuhu läksid - ei näinud ju enam, pime oli...
Kokku loeti 21.septembri õhtul Haeska ja Põgari-Sassi vaatluspunktis ligemale 9000 sookurge (Grus grus) ja 1500 hane (Anser sp). Sookure ja haneloendust viiakse Matsalus läbi igal sügisel septembrikuu kolmandal nädalal. Vaatluspunkte on kahel pool lahte kokku ligemale kümme.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Pressiteade
Eesti loodusturismi tippsündmus 2010.
Reisikorraldaja Estonian Nature Tours kutsel viibis sel kevadel 8 päeva
Eestis BBC Wildlife’i Magazine ajakirjanik Ben Hoare. Maailma mainekama
loodusajakirja ajakirjanikule sai osaks võimalus testida meie uhiuut
reisipaketti Mammal Watching in Estonia. Tutvumisreis osutus üliedukaks,
Ida-Virumaal ja Lõuna-Eestis veedetud aja jooksul nähti lendoravat,
kährikuid, karusid, metssigu, kopraid ja hulganisti värskeid hundi, karu ja
ilvese jälgi ning huvitavaid linnuliike nagu teder, metsis, laanepüü,
rohunepp, kuldhänilane jpt. Kohalikud eksperdid Triin Ivandi ja Bert Rähni
ning Eesti tippspetsialistid Uudo Timm, Remek Meel ja Tarvo Valker avaldasid oma teadmiste ning oskustega sügavat muljet.
Tutvumisreisi tulemusena ilmutatud 4-leheküljelist artiklit koos perfektselt ülesehitatud lisateabega (kuidas Eestisse saada, kust Eesti kohta infot ammutada, milliseid loomaliike kuidas ja millal saab vaadelda, kes müüvad
reise Eestisse jne.) saavad alates 5. augustist lugeda enam kui 350 000
loodushuvilist Suurbritannias ja mujal maailmas. Artiklis mainitakse ära
probleeme seoses lendorava elupaikade kaduvusega ning avaldatakse lootust,
et organiseeritud loomavaatlustuurid aitavad probleeme avalikustada ka
väljaspool riigi piire. See omakorda aitab survestada kohalikke otsuseid.
Siinkohal tuleb ilmekalt välja koostöö vajadus Eesti loodusturismi
ettevõtjate, tipptasemel ekspertide ja kohalike looduskaitsjatega.
Metsatüübid, kus see äärmiselt armas ja maailmas haruldane imetaja elab,
vajavad läbimõeldud majandamisotsuseid juba täna.
Artiklile juhitakse tähelepanu ajakirja esikaanel ning koduleheküljel,
ajakiri viitab kõige muu hulgas ka Eestile kui ühele kõige ilusama loodusega
maale Euroopas. Samuti kiidetakse meie majutusasutuste, toidu ja
infrastruktuuri taset.
www.mammalwatching.com kodulehe haldaja Jonathan Hall, kes samuti meie
kutsel kevadel Eestit külastas, peab aga Eestit vaieldamatult üheks parimaks
kui mitte kõige paremaks loomavaatlusmaaks Euroopas!
Mammal Watching in Estonia on reisikorraldaja uudistoode, mida hakatakse
müüma Euroopa sihtturgudel juba sel sügisel. 8-päevase reisipaketi
valmimisele on kaasa aidanud mitmed väga head koostööpartnerid, ideest
teostuseni kulus 3 aastat.
Tutvumisreise kaasrahastati EL toetusfondidest. Estonian Nature Tours
taotles EAS-lt 2008.a. augustil turundustoetust. Projekti "Linnuvaatlus- ja
loodusreisid" kogumaksumus on 1 292 900 krooni, millest taotletava toetuse
moodustab 646 450 krooni. Projekti kestvus on 3 a.. Turundusprojekti
eesmärgiks on firma visiooni täitumine ehk firma tuntuse suurendamine
maailmas linnu- ja loodusturismitoodete kaudu, toodete pakkumine
lõpptarbijale jne. Turundustegevuste elluviimine on olnud õigustatud ja
andnud erakordselt häid tulemusi. Juba kahe aastaga oleme oma visioonile
väga lähedal või koguni selle täitnud. Meie kodulehte külastavad huvilised
üle kogu maailma. Meie trükiseid ja uudiskirju peetakse väga sisukateks ja
professionaalseteks, statistika ja tagasiside näitab, et meie müügisõnum on
õigesti fokusseeritud ja meid leiavad üles õiged sihtturud. Oluliselt on
paranenud koostöö ka ristturunduse osas teiste webi haldajate ning
ettevõtjatega nii Eestis kui välismaal. Firma omab väga head mainet
Euroopas, aga ka mujal maailmas. Huvi Eesti linnuvaatlus- ja loodusreiside
järele on selgelt kasvamas.
Edukaks on osutunud ka messitöö tulemused. Mõne nädala pärast osaleme juba
kolmandat korda väljapanekuga maailma suurimal linnuturismimessil
Suurbritannias. Kui aastal 2008 olime uustulnukad, siis eelmisel aastal
otsis juba enamus inimesi meie messipinna üles konkreetse reisiplaani
eesmärgil. Meie trükiste ja Eesti looduse vastu tundis eelmisel aastal huvi
ka messi peakorraldaja Tim Appleton isiklikult. Birdfair toetab igal aastal
müügituludest laekunud rahadega erinevaid linnukaitseprojekte üle kogu
maailma. Arendasime vestlusringis põgusalt teemat tulevikus ka Eestis midagi
Birdfairi abiga ära teha. Tim Appleton suhtus sellesse ideesse igati
positiivselt ja julgustas pöörduma antud teema puhul Birdlife International
juhtkonna poole, kes on otsustajaks pooleks. Kuna lendorav ja Eesti on
saanud suure tähelepanu osaliseks, arendame kindlasti kohapeal diskussiooni
edasi.
Meid on kutsutud osalema sarnastele messidele ka Ameerikas, Rootsis,
Hollandis ja Itaalias.
Siiralt tänades kõiki häid koostööpartnereid, kes meisse on uskunud!
Marika Mann
Estonian Nature Tours tegevjuht
Reisikorraldaja Estonian Nature Tours kutsel viibis sel kevadel 8 päeva
Eestis BBC Wildlife’i Magazine ajakirjanik Ben Hoare. Maailma mainekama
loodusajakirja ajakirjanikule sai osaks võimalus testida meie uhiuut
reisipaketti Mammal Watching in Estonia. Tutvumisreis osutus üliedukaks,
Ida-Virumaal ja Lõuna-Eestis veedetud aja jooksul nähti lendoravat,
kährikuid, karusid, metssigu, kopraid ja hulganisti värskeid hundi, karu ja
ilvese jälgi ning huvitavaid linnuliike nagu teder, metsis, laanepüü,
rohunepp, kuldhänilane jpt. Kohalikud eksperdid Triin Ivandi ja Bert Rähni
ning Eesti tippspetsialistid Uudo Timm, Remek Meel ja Tarvo Valker avaldasid oma teadmiste ning oskustega sügavat muljet.
Tutvumisreisi tulemusena ilmutatud 4-leheküljelist artiklit koos perfektselt ülesehitatud lisateabega (kuidas Eestisse saada, kust Eesti kohta infot ammutada, milliseid loomaliike kuidas ja millal saab vaadelda, kes müüvad
reise Eestisse jne.) saavad alates 5. augustist lugeda enam kui 350 000
loodushuvilist Suurbritannias ja mujal maailmas. Artiklis mainitakse ära
probleeme seoses lendorava elupaikade kaduvusega ning avaldatakse lootust,
et organiseeritud loomavaatlustuurid aitavad probleeme avalikustada ka
väljaspool riigi piire. See omakorda aitab survestada kohalikke otsuseid.
Siinkohal tuleb ilmekalt välja koostöö vajadus Eesti loodusturismi
ettevõtjate, tipptasemel ekspertide ja kohalike looduskaitsjatega.
Metsatüübid, kus see äärmiselt armas ja maailmas haruldane imetaja elab,
vajavad läbimõeldud majandamisotsuseid juba täna.
Artiklile juhitakse tähelepanu ajakirja esikaanel ning koduleheküljel,
ajakiri viitab kõige muu hulgas ka Eestile kui ühele kõige ilusama loodusega
maale Euroopas. Samuti kiidetakse meie majutusasutuste, toidu ja
infrastruktuuri taset.
www.mammalwatching.com kodulehe haldaja Jonathan Hall, kes samuti meie
kutsel kevadel Eestit külastas, peab aga Eestit vaieldamatult üheks parimaks
kui mitte kõige paremaks loomavaatlusmaaks Euroopas!
Mammal Watching in Estonia on reisikorraldaja uudistoode, mida hakatakse
müüma Euroopa sihtturgudel juba sel sügisel. 8-päevase reisipaketi
valmimisele on kaasa aidanud mitmed väga head koostööpartnerid, ideest
teostuseni kulus 3 aastat.
Tutvumisreise kaasrahastati EL toetusfondidest. Estonian Nature Tours
taotles EAS-lt 2008.a. augustil turundustoetust. Projekti "Linnuvaatlus- ja
loodusreisid" kogumaksumus on 1 292 900 krooni, millest taotletava toetuse
moodustab 646 450 krooni. Projekti kestvus on 3 a.. Turundusprojekti
eesmärgiks on firma visiooni täitumine ehk firma tuntuse suurendamine
maailmas linnu- ja loodusturismitoodete kaudu, toodete pakkumine
lõpptarbijale jne. Turundustegevuste elluviimine on olnud õigustatud ja
andnud erakordselt häid tulemusi. Juba kahe aastaga oleme oma visioonile
väga lähedal või koguni selle täitnud. Meie kodulehte külastavad huvilised
üle kogu maailma. Meie trükiseid ja uudiskirju peetakse väga sisukateks ja
professionaalseteks, statistika ja tagasiside näitab, et meie müügisõnum on
õigesti fokusseeritud ja meid leiavad üles õiged sihtturud. Oluliselt on
paranenud koostöö ka ristturunduse osas teiste webi haldajate ning
ettevõtjatega nii Eestis kui välismaal. Firma omab väga head mainet
Euroopas, aga ka mujal maailmas. Huvi Eesti linnuvaatlus- ja loodusreiside
järele on selgelt kasvamas.
Edukaks on osutunud ka messitöö tulemused. Mõne nädala pärast osaleme juba
kolmandat korda väljapanekuga maailma suurimal linnuturismimessil
Suurbritannias. Kui aastal 2008 olime uustulnukad, siis eelmisel aastal
otsis juba enamus inimesi meie messipinna üles konkreetse reisiplaani
eesmärgil. Meie trükiste ja Eesti looduse vastu tundis eelmisel aastal huvi
ka messi peakorraldaja Tim Appleton isiklikult. Birdfair toetab igal aastal
müügituludest laekunud rahadega erinevaid linnukaitseprojekte üle kogu
maailma. Arendasime vestlusringis põgusalt teemat tulevikus ka Eestis midagi
Birdfairi abiga ära teha. Tim Appleton suhtus sellesse ideesse igati
positiivselt ja julgustas pöörduma antud teema puhul Birdlife International
juhtkonna poole, kes on otsustajaks pooleks. Kuna lendorav ja Eesti on
saanud suure tähelepanu osaliseks, arendame kindlasti kohapeal diskussiooni
edasi.
Meid on kutsutud osalema sarnastele messidele ka Ameerikas, Rootsis,
Hollandis ja Itaalias.
Siiralt tänades kõiki häid koostööpartnereid, kes meisse on uskunud!
Marika Mann
Estonian Nature Tours tegevjuht
Monday, August 2, 2010
Client Comments
"Thank you for a great holiday. We had a fantastic time. Margus was a great and knowledgeable guide and the bus driver was excellent. The holiday went well and the food was very good especially the farms. The change to Troffee hotel was great. It is a fantastic place to stay with many birds to see. Your skill in organising the trip was well recommended and we look forward to seeing you again in the future. I will keep in touch." D.B. / Spring 2009 RSPB North West Surrey Local Group /
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Birdfair
Come and see Estonian Nature Tours at Birdfair Friday 20th - Sunday 22nd August BirdFair.org.uk
BirdFair.org.uk
BirdFair.org.uk
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
Client Comments
„We had planned to go to Estonia with Mark and Alice in early April. A combination of EasyJet and Icelandic volcanoes ensured that this did not happen: but we finally went with Alice only, late in May. We had booked our holiday with a really helpful lady, Marika Mann, who runs her own business organising birding tours and birding holidays in Estonia. She had arranged a 3-day tour for us, with a guide called Tarvo Valker, who turned out to be a lot younger than we had expected (he is low thirties). He is knowledgeable about birds, found a lot of birds because he knew the terrain so well and had a fantastic ear for the songs. He also speaks good English and knows the (English) names of all the birds.
An excellent few days. Estonia feels like management have taken a ‘quality’ decision: everything Estonia does will be done well, even if they cannot afford it. They are one of the ‘greenest’ nations in Europe, environmentally friendly, large areas of national park and protected areas, good walkways well maintained, decent roads with some bicycle lanes, hotels good, clean and friendly. Tallinn was a joy, but more so the areas outside Tallinn where the government is trying to create an aura of quality: this is all difficult in a country with the bear looming over the shoulder, and with such a low income. Prices are at euro levels, but incomes less than half those of UK/Germany/France. As Tarvo said, Estonia produces excellent dentists – but they all go to Finland, where they are paid three times as much.
In three days with Tarvo we saw an incredible 117 bird species, heard another ten (including three we have never seen!) and seven land mammals (and seals and bats). In Tallinn we saw an excellent ballet and an excellently-performed opera. Overall a really good holiday.“ P. & V.C. / Spring 2010 /
An excellent few days. Estonia feels like management have taken a ‘quality’ decision: everything Estonia does will be done well, even if they cannot afford it. They are one of the ‘greenest’ nations in Europe, environmentally friendly, large areas of national park and protected areas, good walkways well maintained, decent roads with some bicycle lanes, hotels good, clean and friendly. Tallinn was a joy, but more so the areas outside Tallinn where the government is trying to create an aura of quality: this is all difficult in a country with the bear looming over the shoulder, and with such a low income. Prices are at euro levels, but incomes less than half those of UK/Germany/France. As Tarvo said, Estonia produces excellent dentists – but they all go to Finland, where they are paid three times as much.
In three days with Tarvo we saw an incredible 117 bird species, heard another ten (including three we have never seen!) and seven land mammals (and seals and bats). In Tallinn we saw an excellent ballet and an excellently-performed opera. Overall a really good holiday.“ P. & V.C. / Spring 2010 /
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)