The Winners of the Questionnaire in British Birdfair 2016

For the sixth time, at the British Birdfair, Estonian Nature Tours offered a possibility to win a dream wildlife holiday to Estonia. We wish to thank everyone who completed our questionnaire and took part in the prize draw. ENT apologise to participants that we have not published the results until now. We very much hope that the winners still have the opportunity to include their visit to Estonia in their plans for 2017.

All together our questionnaire was filled in by 18 people, 12 of them gave right answers to all the questions and therefore gained the right to participate in our drawing. The chance to win was very big! This time, the prizes were awarded exclusively to women!

We are delighted to announce the winners:

Grand Prize: MATSALU - A PARADISE FOR BIRDS! 

Price: 855 € - Ms. A.Wragg

Click here to see a video > 

   

Lot 1: Brown Bear photography (for two)

Price: 210 € - Ms. R.Shepherd

Click here to see the video >

Brown Bear / Photo: Luke Massey

Lot 2: Beaver boat-trip (for four) 

Price: 200 € - Ms. J.Young

Click here to see the video >

European Beaver / Photo: Sven Zacek

Lot 3: Elk safari (for two) 

Price: 150 € - A.Halligan

Click here to see the video >

Elk / Photo: Tarvo Valker

Congratulations to everyone!

For more information: info@naturetours.ee

Golden Jackals continue to spread in Estonia

The Golden Jackal is a fairly new mammal in Estonia, with the first confirmed sightings in 2013. Since then, sightings have become more and more regular. They have been mainly seen, heard and photographed in the coastal areas of West Estonia, including some islands, with only a few sightings from eastern Estonia. Golden Jackal has been officially declared as an alien invasive species and fair game since 2016 and as of November this year 20 specimen have been shot officially.

See the video..

Golden Jackals at Pärnu County / Source: maaleht.delfi.ee

According to research data Golden Jackals in Estonia feed on different plants, domestic animals, bovine animals, birds and invertebrates. Field research of artificial nests in Matsalu coastal meadow reveals that only Magpies and Ravens affect bird nests more than Jackals.  Fox damage has been decreasing compared to last year and this suggests they are unable to compete with the Jackals. It also seems that Jackals are outcompeting Raccoon Dogs as well.  Jackal and Wolf have different habitat preferences and for this reason Jackals have rarely been found in the hinterland. Anger amongst sheep breeders over the arrival of this species has quickly increased during the year. About 100 incidents of sheep killings have been announced this year, but more thorough investigation is needed to ascertain if these were caused by jackals, wolves or even lynx.

Thousands of Wild Boars affected by African Swine Fever

Wild Boars have been very numerous throughout Estonia but during the last one and a half years thousands of Wild Boars have been died from African Swine Fever. A huge cull of 11,500 Wild Boars have been shot by hunters during 2016 to reduce Wild Boar population and to avoid spreading the disease to domestic pigs. Nearly 10% of the Wild Boar hunted this year have been affected by African Swine Fever (ASF). More precisely there have been 1,333 incidents of ASF. This viral disease has spread all over the country and currently is not recorded yet only from Hiiumaa and Vormsi islands.  Sighting of Wild Boar in the wild may well become harder during next few years but hopefully the remaining viable animals will be able to build up their population again fairly quickly.

Pathological findings of ASF in Wild Boar

🔴 Nov 12-18, 2016
🌕 Earlier records
  ⎮ County borders
 ⎪ Hunting district borders

ASF is extremely contagious and critically fierce viral disease with lethal haemorraghic lineaments, fever and inflammatory affection to inner organs. Death rate is very high indeed, approaching 100%. Other animal species and humans are not taken ill with ASF, although they can carry the infection. 

The first collared bull elk is doing well

In September the very first bull elk was equipped with a satellite-telemetric monitoring collar. This tracing device will give the mammalologists of the wildlife monitoring department of the Environment Agency necessary data about the whereabouts, habitat utilization, behavioral ecology etc. 
The tracing subject was caught in the Soomaa National Park and during the next months it has moved around in the Park, albeit changed the location from one edge to the other. The main reason of active movements in the autumn is the hunting season. The traced elk is usually moving around in the radius of 10 km. The monitoring device is spotting the animal every 4th hour while the coordinates are sent to the main server of the team. Local hunters are also briefed about the elk with a wide and bright white collar, clearly visible in the twilight as well.
The wildlife monitoring team is planning to put the tracing collars all together to 10 elks. Now, when there is much more snow, it becomes possible to follow and catch the animals with a snow mobile.

Photo: Marko Kübarsepp /
Source: www.keskkonnaagentuur.ee

When the animals are already collared and thoroughly monitored, it will be possible to research their abundance or physiology as well, e.g. their endoparasites from their droppings etc.
So far the Environment Agency has used collars to monitor Roe Deer, Wild Boar, Lynx and Wolf.

Badger's life scrutinised

Second year already there's a webcamera near a badgers' town, so people have had good possibility to watch their life through internet. What was soon revealed, that just opposite the commonplace imagination, badgers are by no means twilight and night animals. Zoologist Tiit Hunt assured that morning, midday and afternoon are equally good for these positively active animals to be in the picture. 

European badger / Source: maaleht.delfi.ee

Due to the fact that although we recognize continuously increasing number of badgers in Estonia, we only know very generally that they occupy almost the whole mainland area and the Saaremaa island, but any insight into their population ecology is missing. Therefore Badger was attributed the title of the Animal of the Year 2016. Badger is the 4th mammal, who has earned such special attention. In the former years the Wolf, the Ringed Seal and the Wild Boar have earned similar attention. There are comprehensive plans to start to gather thorough data about Badger next year.

Badger is mating in June and July, so the cubs are born in March and April, although Mother Badger is able to regulate the exact springing time according to certain circumstances, explained Tiit Hunt. It may happen that the offspring have to wait for relatively long time in their Mummy's womb. Similarly to the Bear badgers also mate every second year. It takes a month until their eyes open and a next month before they start to waddle around their den. 

June 25 this year happened to be a certain top record day. Zoologists were witnessing extraordinarily long mating activity of the badger couple, all together 90 minutes, that is the longest known act in the World!

Badger camera recordings here

Lynx still in the crosshairs

It happened in the Monday afternoon. I was walking my dog and after some few hundred meters from my home HE had crossed the river and the road, in slow pace. Probably early in the morning.

In Tuesday morning I examined more closely from where he had come and into which direction he disappeared. 

Here he has crossed the river ...

.. across the road and through the shrub

Partridges are again here in Penijõe, 11 or 12 ... 

... but he has continued walking along the road towards that lone cottage. 

My Monday’s and Tuesday’s footprints and Lynx’s ones just between them. 

He likes to squirt ...

... here and there

The Lynx had passed the house within 50 meters and headed into the shrub again. 

A Boar had plotted its course across Lynx’s yesterday’s trek ... 

From here on I sloshed in the snow half an hour more, but it turned too bushy. I headed back to the road and tried to find out, where the Lynx had continued, but no result. Most probably he had waled on towards the reed bed.

It’s raining, alas! But fresh snow will fall in the weekend, as the forecast goes.

It’s just the beginning!

Beginners luck or the whole truth about mammal watching in Estonia?

We came out with a totally new opportunity Mammals and Birds in Estonia in Spring 2011. Our very first visitors experienced something extraordinary during the first trip – in 8 days they saw 5 Brown Bears in different places all over Estonia!

Read comments: One Week in Estonian Wildlife

So far, we have run 18 Mammals and Birds tours and most of them have been very successful. People have seen Flying Squirrels, Brown Bears, Elks, Wild Boars, European Beavers, Raccoon Dogs and many interesting bird species, for example Capercaillie, Hazel Grouse, Black Grouse, Black Stork, Great Snipe and various species of woodpeckers and owls. Some of the groups have been lucky even with Lynxes! What means, our clients can see in Estonia in one week more mammal and bird species than most of Estonians throughout their life. Remarkable, isn´t it?

Brown Bear in Nõva, Estonia 2014 / Photo: Jack Hill

Our first Mammals and Birds tour for this year is already full, so we decided to put on another one. Booking for a period Fri 13th May – Fri 20th May is now open! If you prefer to book through a UK agent so everything is included, there are still places left with Travelling Naturalist  from 15th May – 22nd May 2016.  

A very first Eurasian Lynx trip (probably in Europe) was organized by ENT in the beginning of March 2015 and it started successfully indeed. Pygmy Owl and Mr Lynx was seen in the  first three hours! Was it the beginner's luck? We will find it out soon. There are still places available on a tour Estonia – Eurasian Lynx Quest Wed 2nd Mar - Mon 7th Mar 2016, operated in conjunction with Wise Birding Holidays.. 

What´s new this season? Steller´s Eiders, owls and a Lynx

Steller´s Eiders usually arrive at their wintering grounds off Saaremaa Island between late November and last week of December. This winter the first flock seen in Estonia were 43 birds flying along the North-Estonia coast on 8th December, while a small group of 15 birds were located at the main wintering area already following day.  Over the coming weeks numbers should grow to 300-500 birds.

Steller's Eider / Photo: Mati Martinson

We are delighted to say that our popular Steller’s Eider trip is proving more popular than ever this year with two trips already full!!  More people are showing an interest, so for the first time, we have decided to put on a third tour.  As well as seeing Steller’s Eider there are other great birds on offer at this time of year including Ural and Pygmy Owl and with a bit of luck perhaps even Hawk Owl plus Nutcracker and several woodpecker species. Tour dates are 19th- 22nd February and you can book flights from London Gatwick with Easyjet, or from other airports with Finnair, SAS, Ryanair or Air Baltic.

If you prefer to book through a UK agent so everything is included there are still places left with Wise Birding Holidays  from 26th Feb – 2nd March 2016 while Sunbird, Birdfinders and Naturetrek are also offering trips to see Steller’s Eider, owls and other forest bird species such as grouse. For the first time, Spainbirds will be visiting Estonia with a trip in March, their tour is already fully booked! With private groups booking too it seems that Estonia and Estonian Nature Tours are very popular in winter 2016!!

The situation with Owls seems to be great this winter, especially  our most common forest owls. Although Ural Owls are mainly nocturnal, in some winters they tend to show themselves also at daytime and we have been enjoying lots of such sighting this December. We think that January and February are likely to be the best months to observe hunting Ural Owls in Estonia. Some of the more unusual owl species have been reported during the last month too with at least four Hawk Owls found so far this winter and even a Great Grey Owl in the north-east.

Pygmy Owl / Photo: Remo Savisaar

Winter time is not only a good time for owls, but also for several raptors and, due to the rather mild winter conditions, Rough-legged Buzzards and Hen Harriers have been surprisingly numerous this winter.

We are also continuing to work on developing our exciting Eurasian Lynx trip. The very first Lynx tour, which we ran with Wise Birding Holidays in early March 2015, was incredibly successful.  Such a species is never going to be guaranteed on any trip but we are working to develop this trip to increase the chances to an even higher level... we have some ideas, so definitely stay on the line. Wise Birding still have a few places on their 2016 trip, take a look and click here to make a booking...

Wise Birding tour report 2015: Pygmy Owl and Mr Lynx were seen in first 2.5 hours! Read more...

Estonia is Lonely Planet’s best value destination for 2016

In the end of October, a newsworthy message was zipping through our social media and tourism-biased internet sites. Lonely Planet, the largest travel guide book publisher in the world, published their top ten ranking of the best value destinations for 2016.  In that ranking Estonia was number one afore Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, East Africa, New Mexico, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Galicia and Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast.

What the Lonely Planet was referring to, was mainly the good deal one gets when spending on the trip to Estonia. First and perhaps the most important circumstance is the suitable location if one is already in Scandinavia - either in Helsinki or Stockholm. From there Estonia stays in a reach of a ferry-trip or a short flight with the bonus of staying in the Euro zone. Next catch is affordability combined with pretty high standard and last but not the least comes the opportunity to "experience a gloriously distinctive slice of Europe, where Eastern and Nordic influences mix together,” according to the guide.

The quality of accommodation places in Estonia /
Photo: Private collection

Lonely Planet continues the praise revealing that “beyond the irresistible capital of Tallinn there are little-known Baltic islands and the seashore and forest delights of Lahemaa National Park, which holds the distinction of being the first national park in the old Soviet Union”. Moreover - not everything is reverberated in this brief news - Estonia has a remarkable record of conservational legislation, not less remarkable location right on the East-Atlantic flyway of birds and the “crossroad” of distribution area borders of Northern, Eastern, Southern and Western flora elements, many rarities therein. Add to that the enjoyable moderate weather and the midsummer mellow and misty nocturnal brightness enfolding the landscapes of forests, raised bogs and wooded meadows and some scarce village settlement with the average population density of about 10 persons per 1 sq km. Yes, we mean it - just nature everywhere! Well, almost.

Estonia is one of the few countries in Europe where 

8 different species of Woodpeckers can be found.

In one national park in Estonia more White-backed 

Woodpeckers may nest than in the whole of Sweden!

Photo: Sven Zacek

The population of Elk is estimated 12 000 individuals in Estonia.
The best time for Elk-watching is definitely September
and October during the mating season. /
Photo: Sven Zacek

The most dangered seaduck in Europe, Steller`s Eider,
is good reason to visit Estonia in Winter. /
Photo: Tarvo Valker

Although Estonia received more than six million foreign visitors in 2014, its own population - 1.3 million - is about 15 times less than that of Holland or Denmark, on similar territory. In Estonia one can drive on almost empty roads and have a lunch in a pictoresque cafe at the seacoast together with no more than maybe only a dozen of other guests. If not the paradise, then at least a very easily reached department of it.

During 5 hours staying 50,000 Coal Tits have been
counted this Autumn in West-Estonia. /
Photo: Tarvo Valker

What value can Estonian Nature Tours add to this? But of course a plethora of professionally compiled tour packages to the hottest spots at the peak time under the care of top notch guides. Worth considering, isn´t it?

The quality of accommodation places in Estonia / 
Photo: Private collection

We'll be very delighted to see You in Estonia in 2016 :)

The First Eurasian Lynx tour – will it work?!

I have just arrived in the hotel to meet with the group on the first evening of our first ever Lynx tour... I am slightly nervous as this is a very exciting species and I am hoping it will be successful. Our guide Tarvo is annoyed as he has left his luggage at the airport... not a good start!  The first members of the group are coming downstairs and I sense a little tension in the air.  Here is how the initial conversation went...

Group: “Hi, Marika, nice to meet you!”
Marika: “Nice to meet you too! I hope you have had a great start except for the problem with Tarvo´s luggage?”
Sue: “Never mind, he'll sort that out. Tarvo is really very good ..”
Marika: “Yeah .. he is, indeed. He is one of the best, always very kind and helpful not only with customers but with me, too.”

Group: “Have you had a difficult day?”

Marika: “It has been this way and that. But now, the most difficult period is just beginning. You all want to see the Lynx surely, which is a challenge for sure..”

Chris and Helen are coming... 

Marika: “Hi, Chris, how are you?”

Chris: “I'm fine. And you?”

More greetings, hugs.. Peep and Raido come up the stairs.
Marika: “Now, you all are here... hello again to everyone! Before we go to enjoy our first dinner, I wish you a very good luck for seeing a Lynx!”

Tarvo: “Chris, now you have to say it..”

Marika: “What it? Do we have some kind of ceremony? Is there a problem??”
Chris: “Actually, we already saw a Lynx!!”
Marika: “Nnooooo, do not make a joke with me...”
Customers: “Yes, we saw, we saw indeed!”
Marika: “REALLY? Everyone saw well?”

What happened after, you can only imagine.. I was not able to manage my emotions, even at my age, I jumped and leaped and shook Tarvo.. "Why you did not tell me earlier?!" Emotions were up for several days – our very first Eurasian Lynx trip (the first in Europe!) was a success already!! Pygmy Owl and Mr Lynx seen in 2.5 hours! 

Tarvo´s luggage was also found from the airport.

The ghost of the forest with Team Lynx! 

Photo: Chris Townend

„Sometimes with nature you need some good luck and last night was a night to remember as our first Eurasian Lynx Quest Tour to Estonia scored this ultimate prize yesterday evening on the first day of our tour!

Eurasian Lynx has always been notoriously difficult to see and thanks to a recce last year and some great local work from our local guide we hit one of the Lynx "hot spots" last night at just the right time. Little did I know that the first sweep of my torch would reveal a Eurasian Lynx just 70-80 metres away!! Everyone was onto it immediately and we all had great views as it strolled across an open field in full view! Quite simply Wow!“ 

C.T. / UK, March 2015, Wise Birding Holidays

It does not mean that we do not need to continue our fieldwork in order to learn the behavior of the Lynx. A lot of work remains to be done..

See the Lynx Study trip gallery

Lynx is hot topic again

After a month our first Lynx tour in this year will take place. Only Almighty knows how well we'll succeed. We have lurked and followed lynx tracks for several years, now the truth will be told ...

Lynx (Felis lynx) / Sven Zacek

What we need is snow and frost. Last night a thin blanket of snow had fallen, so I was hunting for some tracks. Strolling early morning along the wooded meadow was pretty successful - a raccoon dog had toddled around, a wild boar and a squirrel had crossed the road and a fox had chased a hare. In the wooded meadow I could hear mild knocking and tapping - woodpeckers were there indeed. Redpolls, almost 30 of them, were nibbling up in the white alder. Beside that Willow Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Green Finch, Bullfinch and a bird I didn’t recognize by the call. On my way back I saw a Sparrow Hawk on top of a power post and on the right hand side a Buzzard lurking on the wire.

Thereafter I was driving to the forest ride, where two days ago I had taken the pictures of fresh Lynx footprints.

In the same day I took some pictures of two more animals, but I‘m not very sure about them. My wild guess is that Wolf was the one, who had pulled away and Raccoon dog the one who approached ...

No fresh footpints today, although Wild Boars had crossed the road some time ago. I also checked the edge of the bog. Further on there were 18 Black Grouse in the field.

Later we took a camera and made together with Raili a short detour by car. Couple of elks had crossed the road at night and a pack of wild boars in the morning. Six Blackcocks and a Greyhen were in the field (lucky her!).

Driving back to Lihula along the Pärnu road we saw 5 more Black Grouse in another field. All together 30 Black Grouse for one morning and everything else as a bonus - not so bad at all!

Tarvo had seen Lynx tracks in the last weekend in Vormsi island.

This Saturday I’ll go and scout around more seriously - on foot in the morning and by car in the afternoon. This time I’ll concentrate on the Lynx (and the Wolf) exclusively.

Life in front of the forest camera is agile

Forest Cam started the new season on 25th November 2014 and on the third night there was great excitement when it captured a herd of 11 Wild Boar. This species has since become a regular sight on the camera with visits from hers of 18-23 animals.

Source: LK forum

About 10 kilometres from the Forest cam there resides a Wolf pack of 11 animals. Late at night of 2nd December a large single Wolf appeared on the camera's. A few days later, the Wolf appeared again this time at half past eight in the evening. Wild Boars appeared after an hour, but there was no sign of fear in their behavior or signs of nervousness suggesting that the Wolves do not really bother them.

Source: looduskalender.ee

Source: looduskalender.ee

At night, Raccoon Dogs sometimes visit the feeding site and a local pair have been hanging aorund the marked feeding site since October.

Source: looduskalender.ee

Follow the direct stream from the forest cam.

Watch the ‘Ozone’ newscast about the Wild Boar and the forest cam here (click the picture).

Wild Boar Year has begun

On December 15th The Estonian Society for Nature Conservation announced the Mammal of the Year 2015 - the Wild Boar.  The purpose of electing the mammal of the year is to turn more attention to one mammal species, living in the forests of Estonia. During this year there will be more information available about Wild Boar - its movements, activities, way of life and  the threat of swine fever.  Contributions to this information come from scientists, hunters and vets.

Wild boars (Sus scrofa) / Sven Zacek

There are more than twenty thousand Wild Boar living in our forests and it is usually easy to find its tracks or marks of activity in the forest or in the field. Wild Boar are generally social creatures. They gather into groups of different sizes, usually between 6-20 animals depending on location or time of the year.  They are generally nocturnal, the most active periods being early in the morning and late in the evening. They search for food as an average 4-8 hours per day. This is usually a social activity  within the group.  In the daytime they rest in shady places, such as amongst shrubs.  Life expectancy of Wild Boar is usually 9-10 years, but some specimens can make it up to 25.  Wild boar has received much attention as the disseminator of CSF and over three months seven lesions and 68 cases of swine fever were discovered in Estonia. 

Take a look of the live streaming view from the Wild Boar web-camera ...

Estonia may be small externally but we think it is big internally!

We are grateful that you've noticed us, and that you are interested in our beautiful country and its wildlife.   

We hope you find something in our brochure that will tempt you but would also like to add that while everything we say in our brochure is true - it is not easy to put into words the pleasure of visiting our country beyond simply seeing and enjoying the wildlife.  We frequently find that two or three days into a trip people start asking questions!  Questions like Where are all  your people? Where are all the cars?  They talk of the pleasure of being somewhere you can listen to the sounds of nature in silence while being in a safe environment.  If we add to this the delight of travel in a country with excellent roads and clean roadsides and streets plus delicious food and friendly people who speak English - well surely this country would like a dream land!  

Estonia may be small externally but we think it is big internally!

Estonian Nature Tours has been a pioneer in developing nature and bird tourism throughout Estonia. We have 11 years experience of organising outstanding wildlife holidays in this fabulous country and feedback from our clients has always been very positive.  We try as much as possible to respond to requests quickly. We always communicate with our customers sincerely and personally. Cordiality and humour are also important to us and at the same time, we expect mutual respect - we don´t think that our customer is “king”, our client is our guest and we want to take care of him, or her, in the best possible way. Believe it or not - we have developed a fan club, with many of our customers visiting Estonia with our help again and again!

ENT office team (from left side: Hille, Marika and Raili) 

One more thing that makes us special - there are very few tourist companies where the owner takes the time to greet a group at the airport or in the office (we are located in the countryside). And there may be no other company in the world where the owner bakes a cake for her customers or offers a picnic-basket on an evening boat-trip!  We always want your trip to be special and believe little details like these make the difference.

We like to think of Estonian Nature Tours as small internally but big externally.
                        

Come to Estonia and feel it for yourself!

On behalf of the Estonian Nature Tours team, sincerely
Marika Mann

Abundance of mammals in Estonia

The abundance of Lynx has dropped significantly recently and researchers have therefore suggested to stop hunting this carnivore in the upcoming season. The reason for the decline has been a sharp drop in the abundance of Roe Deer in 2010, when females were no longer able to supply their offspring by adequate nutrition. Over the last two years, three adult female Lynx have been equipped by monitoring devices. The average size of their territories has been 200 square kilometers. When Lynx abundance was high, the average size of male territories was 180 square kilometers, but this year's territories are on average four to five times higher, 800 square kilometers!

Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus) / Remo Savisaar

Lynx (Felis lynx) / Sven Zacek

There has also been a slight decline in numbers of Brown Bear and Wolves. There were about 20 Wolf packs in Estonia this year after a steady decline from 31 packs in 2011.  Wolf packs are found in specific area and this is not influenced by other wolves in areas nearby.  Since last summer, local researchers were able to observe in detail the movements of two Wolf packs in Pärnu and Viljandi County as the alpha females of these packs were radio tagged.  Both of the territory sizes were found to be in the range of 700-750 square kilometers. The amount of damage caused to farmers by wolves has continuously declined since 2011, which is probably due to the decrease in their numbers.  

Wolf (Canis lupus) / Valeri Štšerbatõh

   Brown Bear (Ursus arctos) / Luke Massey

The abundance of Wild Boar and Raccoon Dogs is still high but there has been a moderate decline in Elk and Red Deer numbers which primarily inhabit in the two islands, Hiiumaa and Saaremaa. Roe Deer populations that were severely damaged by previous snowy and very cold winters have begun to recover.
The numbers for Pine Marten and Beaver have fallen slightly, but more significantly for Foxes, while numbers of European Polecat, Badger, Mountain and European Hare have increased. Also of interest - a new species of mammal was recorded for Estonia - the Golden Jackal, a species who's range has been gradually moving north and west in recent years.

Elk (Alces alces) / Luke Massey

Racoon Dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides) / Valeri Štšerbatõh

Wild boars (Sus scrofa) / Sven Zacek

"Oasis"- the largest travel and nature magazine of Italy- published an article about Estonian wildlife

At the invitation of Estonian Nature Tours two journalists from Italy were visiting Estonia in the beginning of June.
In early September, the latest copy of "Oasis"- the largest travel and nature magazine of Italy- published an 12-page article about Estonian wildlife.


Click on the picture to read the text or read the article here...

We were offered the opportunity to advertize our own travel calendar 2015 as ex gratia for cordial welcome and pleasant cooperation.