How I fell in love with birdwatching in Estonia

By Mats Björklund, Sweden 2016

"I was asked by a collegue to join him and his wife to a trip to Estonia for bird watching in 2003. This was new area for me so, why not? We were taken to all the best birding spots, and in addition guided to historically interesting sites. After that I convinced my birding pal to join me and he was as astonished as I was the first time. We have since then been in the Matsalu area, including Hiiumaa, almost every year in the spring to enjoy the remarkable bird migration, and all the other great places. It has become an addiction!

Nedrema wooded meadow / Photo: Mats Björklund

Kasari river and flooded meadow / Photo: Mats Björklund

 This was my first trip to a country in the former Soviet Union and since we knew very little about Estonia we were all very curious. The landscape was beautiful, but there were also sad sights with abandoned farms and houses, and the small cities were quite run down. Over the years since then things have changed and especially the small towns has been refurbished to a large extent, and are now very pretty and attractive. Haapsalu is my clear favourite, and this town has gone through a major change to the better over time. The trip was very well-organised with no problems on the way despite the fact it was the first time it was organised. Not all in the group was devote birders, but there were things to see for everyone during the days.

Põgari-Sassi coastal meadow / Photo: Mats Björklund

When I thinking back, we really had horrible weather but still the atmosphere in the group was great. It could easily have become a distaster due to all the freezing but we were still all very excited. That's a great achievement!
The company now has several years of experience and thus I definitely trust them to be excellent. I still contact the Manager at times for help, and I know I will always get good advice."

Globe-flower (Trollius europaeus) / Photo: Mats Björklund

Pasque flower (Pulsatilla) /
Photo: Mats Björklund

The trip Mats Björklund participated in 2003, was a very first birdwatching tour we ever arranged.

Many thanks to Jan Wigsten who was a key person for our company during this period helping us to build the first successful birdwatching tour!