Wise Birding Holidays made a recce trip to Estonia

Chris Townend had just returned from a short 6 day trip to Estonia as a recce for a future Wise Birding Holidays trip to Estonia in 2015 in cooperation with Estonian Nature Tours.

"All I can say is WOW! 

Visiting in late February is perhaps not the usual time for birders to visit Estonia, but it is the best time to witness hundreds of Steller's Eider that winter off the coast and an excellent time for some very special Owls and Woodpeckers. Aside from birds, mammal watching is also pretty impressive with Eurasian Elk, Racoon Dog and of course Eurasian Lynx. Although still a very difficult mammal to find, this is the start of the Lynx mating season when animals are more vocal and with an estimated 800 animals, Estonia has to be your best chance with the highest density of Lynx in Europe!"

 Steller's Eiders / Chris Townend (Wise Birding Holidays)

On his first morning (24th Feb) looking for Steller's Eider, the sea was quite rough, though the spectacle of 150+ birds in one flock was pretty exciting! The following morning he returned to calm seas and superb light, as a huge flock containing around 300+ birds gave him a fly-by at around 400-500 metres range.

See video here...

Few days later Chris travelled to the mainland and spent day with ENT birdguide Tarvo Valker. The undoubted highlight for them was a superb Hawk Owl that performed admirably!
See Hawk Owl video... 

Other highlights from day with Tarvo:
2 Parrot Crossbill
1 Hazel Grouse
13 Black Grouse
1 Capercaillie
1 White-backed Woodpecker
1 Black Woodpecker
4 Nutctcracker
7 Elk
1 Racoon Dog
1 Mountain Hare

Read more from Chris Townend blog...

We are pleased to start working with a new partner from UK!

Winner of the Estonian winter competition announced

We are very pleased to announce that Pieter-Jan D´Hondt (Belgium) is the winner of AP Estonian winter competition with his image of a Curious Arctic Fox. The winner will travel to Estonia from 10-14 March 2014 and the prize includes return flights, accommodation, food, travel within Estonia and guiding.

Congratulation!

Curious Arctic Fox by Pieter-Jan

Estonian Nature Tours gave one lucky photographer the chance to visit Estonia this March to spend five days alongside top wildlife photographer and AP contributor Luke Massey photographing white-tailed eagles. AP readers were asked to upload their best winter wildlife photographs to the AP Estonia Gallery for a chance to win this fantastic trip to Estonia.

The winning prize has been supported also by Visit Estonia.

Looking forward to seeing you in Estonia!

Sincerely
ENT team

If you were not lucky enough to win you can still visit this stunningly beautiful country in early Summer by joining Estonian Nature Tours on a wildlife photography tour. The tour takes place from Saturday 31st May until Sunday 8th June and involves travelling from coast to forest and from bog to riverbank photographing Estonia's wildlife and wild places.

  Photo: Neil Aldridge

This photo tour combines specialist photographic tuition and expert wildlife guiding through the skills and knowledge of noted professional wildlife photographer from UK, Neil Aldridge and leading Estonian photographer Remo Savisaar. We offer just six people the chance to photograph some of Europe's iconic wildlife, now rare or extinct elsewhere in Europe. All levels of photography skill and interest are welcome and each guest will receive help and tuition personal to them no matter whether they are an amateur or semi-professional. 

BOOK HERE...

Photo: Remo Savisaar

Neil Aldridge is an award-winning photojournalist and professional wildlife guide. Neil's photography has been celebrated in the winning portfolio of the international Wildlife Photographer of the Year and he is a British Wildlife Photography Awards winner. He is a published author and his work is seen widely in publications such as BBC Wildlife Magazine. Neil's photography experience, knowledge of wildlife and professional field guiding qualifications make him ideally suited to assisting others in photographing and experiencing wildlife and wild places. Neil leads wildlife photography trips in Europe and Africa.

 Photo: Neil Aldridge

 Photo: Neil Aldridge

Photo: Neil Aldridge

Remo Savisaar is one of Estonia's leading wildlife photographers. Remo was attracted to the nature around him at an early age and has been passionate about nature photography for the past seven years. His award-winning photographs have received recognition at international level. Remo is also a Grand Prize winner of Estonia Nature photo contest 2011. He has held numerous exhibitions and his work has been published in books and in magazines, including National Geographic. His knowledge of photography and eye for a good photograph has meant that he has also been a member of the jury of several photo contests. This makes Remo well suited to helping others see and take that winning photograph.

 Photo: Remo Savisaar

 Photo: Remo Savisaar

 Photo: Remo Savisaar

Photo: Remo Savisaar