The Estonian Open birdrace takes place every August. This year was the 20th annivessary of this international race, with teams from Finland and Latvia also taking part. An impressive 23 teams with 95 participants joined the great birding event.
The race started at 3 a.m and every team had exactly 14 hours to gain the biggest bird list. As with most bird races, to have a tick, more than a half the team members need to see or hear the species.
Because of the anniversary, this year the race area was the whole of Estonia. The winning team Spithman, (including two Estonian Nature Tours bird guides Margus Ellermaa and Tarvo Valker), chose Läänemaa county as their area. It was mixed team – beside Margus and Tarvo, the team included three Finns (Juho Könonen, Aki Aintila and Markus Lampinen). They put the secret of their success down to top birding skills and an excellent knowledge of the local patch, plus of course running at many sites, to avoid loosing valuable time. Two owl species were ticked within the first 5 minutes, and by mid-day, the team list was already nearly 150 species!
Making of summaries (Tarvo Valker is in the middle in the front row) / Uku Paal
Even during the last half a hour, the winning team managed to tick two more species – Lesser Spotted Eagle and then just 10 minutes before the end, they added a Turtle Dove to the list. The team result of 167 species beat the previous record total by 12 species. The second-placed team had 152 species, so it turned out to be biggest margin of victory between two teams ever. If you consider that birds in August are not vocal and it wasnt 24 hours bird race, it is amazing result, showing the great birding potential of the country!
NB! It is important to realize that birding records are done in May, while in August birds are less vocal and gaining high list is far more challenging.
Results of the teams:
1. 167 Spithamn (Aki Aintila, Margus Ellermaa, Juho Könönen, Markus Lampinen, Tarvo Valker)
2. 152 MuoviLabaJengi (Teppo Lehtola, Petteri Mäkelä, Tom Nordblad, Jarkko Santaharju, Roni Väisänen)
3. 150 Takaveto (Vesa Jouhki, Andreas Linden, Jukka Salokangas, Andreas Uppstu, Peter Uppstu)
4. 148 Team Ristisaari (Petri Ripatti, Kari Soilevaara, Petteri Tolvanen, Ari Vuorio)
5. 146 Himantopus Himantopus (Ivars Brediks, Andris Klepers, Ieva Mārdega, Mārcis Tīrums)
6. 143 Sylvia (Mika Bruun, Asko Rokala, Roland Sundström, Ari Veijalainen)
7. 141 Nahkhiirmees (Jan Nordblad, Timo Pettay, Matti Rekilä, Juha Sjöholm, Erkki Valsta)
8. 139 Bad Company (Kuido Kõiv, Mati Salumäe, Tiit Vohta)
9. 138 Länemaa Linnuklubi (Trinus Haitjema, Mati Kose, Renno Nellis, Hannes Pehlak)
10. 137 Eesti Naised (Mariliis Märtson, Marju Erit, Triin Kaasiku, Aire Orula, Reet Rannik)
11.-12. 136 FC Fallos (Heikki Eriksson, Jukka Hatva, Juha Laaksonen, Pasi Pirinen, Tuomas Seimola)
11.-12. 136 V5 (Madis Karu, Raul Vilk, Kris Voog, Kaarel Võhandu)
13. 133 RC&Co (Margus Ots, Uku Paal, Ranno Puumets, Peeter Raudsepp)
14. 132 Vantaa (Heikki Luoto, Leena Luoto, Biti Ojala, Markku Ojala)
15. 132 Kõrvemaa Suusaklubi (Aki Arkiomaa, Johan Hassel, Jari Kårlund, Timo Nuoranen)
16.-17. 124 Kuldkihar ja kolm Karu (Tiina Mäkelä, Henry Tennberg, Jyrki Tolvanen, Juha Tuomaala)
16.-17. 124 Bilia (Christer Casagrande, Seppo Grönlund, Jaakko Hynninen, Istvan Kecskemeti)
18. 122 FC Pullus (Ilpo Hanski, Ilpo Huolman, Martti Vattulainen, Erkki Virolainen)
19. 120 Buteo (Eedi Lelov, Heikki Luhamaa, Riho Männik, Kalle Muru)
20. 115 Unioni (Risto Lammin-Soila, Tuomas Lukkarinen, Petteri Uusivouri)
21. 101 Sunset ökoriders (Timo Böhme, Lauri Mäenpää, Minna Mäenpää, Leena Törnqvist)
22. 99 Male&Female (Ave Huugen, Sander Sirelbu)
23. 97 Qkakk (Martin Piispea, Rene Ottesson, Meelis Suurkaev)
The total number of species 206.
„Aces“:
MuoviLabaJengi – Caspian Gull (Larus cachinnans), Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus), Ortolan Bunting (Emberiza hortulana)
Team Ristisaari – Blyth's Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus dumetorum)
Himantopus Himantopus – Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis)
Sylvia – European Penduline Tit (Remiz pendulinus)
Bad Company – Great Bittern (Botaurus stellaris)
Eesti Naised – Parrot Crossbill (Loxia pytyopsittacus)
RC&Co – Grey Partridge (Perdix perdix), Common Redpoll (Acanthis flammea)
Vantaa – Eurasian Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)
Kuldkihar ja kolm Karu – Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea)
Bilia – Eurasian Eagle-owl (Bubo bubo)
Buteo – Greater Spotted Eagle (Aquila clanga)
Qkakk – Black Kite (Milvus migrans)
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