Northern Lights in Estonia

Some eager New Year’s firework photographers discovered, that the background of their long shutter release pics were filled with the beautiful colours of the Aurora! The very first days of 2016 provided more chances to see them. This is a video of some Northern Lights of the 2015/16 night:

Although the Estonian  climate can include its share of grey overcast nights, there are always crisp frosty starry nights too with occasional Aurora Borealis. One may think this belongs to the ultimate North, but depending on suitable weather and Solar activity it may often happen in our own backyard. The trade secret is to be outdoors around midnight. Celestial signs say clearly that Estonia is a real Nordic country.

As a matter of fact years are not brothers and Solar wind may be stronger or weaker. In fatc the activity of the sun moves through a cycle of aorund elevben years.  In 2015 the sun has been at its peak of solar activity and  offered us several spectacular fireworks. April 17 was maybe the best day (night) to watch it. Another active period was in October. Estonian photographers have not been lazy and there are several beautiful albums on the internet.

Our own bird-guide Mati Kose has presented some best shots here: 

Northern Lights in Estonia, Spring 2015 / Photo: Mati Kose

Well known nature photographer Sven Zacek has shared his Aurora-shots from a night-trip to a bog here..

The best places to see northern lights in the Baltic region are in the northern parts of the Nordic countries, and the best time is around the ‘magnetic midnight’ – around a half-hour before regular midnight. They occur all year round, but due to the bright Baltic summers they are only really seen in the darker time of year, from August to April. Of course in higher latitudes the probability to see them is also much higher. Statistically, in Northern Finland, one would expect to see the Northern Lights twice in a week; in Helsinki and in Estonia it would only be perhaps twenty nights a year and in northern Germany only a couple of nights a year.

According to Kristofer Jäntti this captivating phenomenon – Northern Lights - has fed our curiosity since the very beginning of times. Obviously it has not gone unnoticed by the ancients – the earliest cave paintings in Southern France date to 30,000 years ago. They had a prominent role in the mythologies of many cultures around the Arctic Circle. In Finland the Northern Lights were believed to originate from a ‘fire fox’ that would run in the North aong the mountains so that the sparks they caused would become Northern Lights. In Estonia it was believed that gigantic whales with their water jets were the reason of the spectacular light-show.

This story has its dark side as well - namely that solar activity evokes people and nations and very often spectacular light shows coincide with crucial historic events.

It depends only on Sun activity and sheer luck, but in March and in October the odds are that Northern Lights may show up around midnight as  an additional bonus to birding.

MATSALU – Mecca for birdwatchers!

Despite Finland’s reputation for birding, many birdwatchers from this country prefer to spend a weekend in Estonia, in Matsalu National Park, to observe the migration of birds every May and September. There is something very exciting about watching migration in action, as huge numbers of birds pass through this area, from small passerines through to waders and wildfowl and large birds like raptors, cranes and storks. The enormous passage of migrants makes this area very special - why else would Matsalu have been chosen to appear among the top 30 migration locations in the world?

For the first time, we have on offer a fantastic 5-day holiday to this fantastic birdwatching area renown for both migration watching and a fabulous selection of breeding birds.

NEW! MATSALU – A PARADISE FOR BIRDS!
Wed 18th May – Sun 22nd May / Tour leader: Kaarel Võhandu
Group size: 6/7 pax
Price: 855 € pp.

There are only five places still available - so please make your booking soon.

Tour itinerary..
BOOK HERE..

Perhaps Estonia’s prime site for birding the list of possible species you can see is impressive - Lesser Spotted and White-tailed Eagles, Black Stork, White-backed, Three-toed and Grey-headed Woodpeckers, Corncrake, Capercaillie, Black and Hazel Grouse.  Passage migrants include a great selection of wildfowl and waders - look out for breeding plumage Ruff and Spotted Redshank that look simply stunning.  Savi’s Warblers sing from reedbeds hunted by Marsh and Hen Harriers, Bitterns boom and Bearded and Penduline Tits breed.  Huge flocks of geese pass through along with Common Cranes, storks and so much more.

Our base for the holiday is the delightful Tuulingu guesthouse, which stands barely 30 metres from the coast.  This rebuilt old farmhouse, has front windows and the cafe terrace facing the shallow sea and the flat muddy coast, where you can sip coffee as you watch the swarming birds.  Passage birds may be moving through the scrub and trees beside the guesthouse and you may not want to leave for our days out in the nearby forested areas, reedbeds and wet meadows.  To get an even better panorama you have only to walk 15 metres and climb up the watching tower and almost the whole of Matsalu Bay is literally at your feet.

Tuulingu Guesthouse / Photo: ENT

With woodlands and 3,000 hectares of reedbeds, plus the shallow, brackish, nutrient-rich waters of the Matsalu Bay which has a 165-kilometre coastline. It is not surprising that avian diversity is unequalled in northern Europe in spring and autumn. Over 170 species breed here – and it is easy to see why the north European day-list record of 194 was set in this region in May 2007.

Take a minute to enjoy the video..

Interurban Bird Rally 2016

The upcoming birdwatching contest between towns in Estonia takes place on 27th of March 2016. British and other teams are welcome to join this event!
Every spring, in the last weekend of March, an original birdwatching contest is held - The Inter-urban Bird Rally. The purpose of this event is to turn public attention to the big number of birds in the urban environment and also to the arrival of migrating birds. The most important feature of the competition is the rule not to exit town-borders when seeking species.

Each year and average of 15 towns take part.  From 5am till 1pm the competing teams try to find as many bird species as possible. Very often they search either on foot or by bicycle instead of using cars.

The weather so early in spring may be vastly different from year to year, making a big difference to the results of the competition. The exeptionally early spring in 2014 resulted in new records being set with birders in 18 different towns of Estonia counting 116 bird species in total. Winners were overwhelmingly the coastal towns.  In Pärnu 88 bird species were recorded, followed by Tallinn with 82 and Haapsalu with 76 species.  During the half-day birding event the contestants spotted some exciting birds for within city borders including Black Grouse, Hazel Grouse, Three-toed Woodpecker, Pygmy Owl, Woodlark and Bearded Tit.

The tradition of the inter-urban bird-rally dates back to 2002, when the Bird Club of Lääne County launched the birding contest in Haapsalu town. Within a couple of years birders from other locations were taking an interest in the event and the rest - the Inter-urban Bird Rally - is history. These days the contest is run by the Estonian Ornithological Society.

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...

Great partners, good network

We are happy to remind you that there are many tour operators in Europe who sell ENT tours to their clients. They are on different dates than we provide and may suit you better sometimes or you may prefer that they include everything in their price and book the flights for you too.  Some of these operators have still places available so.. if you are loyal to the company you already know then request tour packages:


Date                                                   Focus                          Booking agent

Fri 26th Feb – Wed 2nd Mar              birds                             Wise Birding

Wed 2nd Mar – Mon 7th Mar             mammals                     Wise Birding

Fri 4th Mar – Mon 7th Mar                 birds                             Sunbird

Sat 19th Mar – Sun 27th Mar             birds                            Spainbirds

Fri 25th Mar – Wed 30th Mar             birds                             Naturetrek

Fri 1st Apr – Wed 6th Apr                  birds                             Birdfinders

Sat 30th Apr – Sat 7th May               birds                             Wise Birding

Sat 7th May – Sat 14th May              wildlife                          SNP Natuurreizen

Sun 15th May – Sun 22nd May         birds & mammals         Travelling Naturalist

Mon 2nd May – Mon 9th May            birds                             Sunbird

Sun 22nd May – Sun 29th May         birds                             Naturetrek

Wed 1st Jun – Wed 8th Jun              wildlife                          Starling Reizen

Mon 6th Jun – Mon 13th Jun             birds                             Bird Holidays

Sun 5th Jun – Mon 13th Jun             orchids & mammals      Sandwich Bird Tours

Wed 8th Jun – Sun 19th Jun             wildlife                          Terra Unica Reizen               

Sun 26th Jun – Mon 4th Jul               wildflowers                   Naturetrek
  
Sat 10th Sep – Sat 17th Sep             wildlife                          SNP Natuurreizen

Sun 18th Sep – Sun 25th Sep           birds                             Naturetrek

Sat 17th Sep – Sat  24th Sep            birds                             Bird Holidays

Wed 21st Sep – Sun 2nd Oct            birds & mammals         Terra Unica Reizen

Sun 25th Sep – Sun 2nd Oct             birds                             Travelling Naturalist

Mon 3rd Oct – Mon 10th Oct             birds                             Ornitholidays 


As well as birdwatching tours, some of the tours we will be operating in conjunction of our partner companies include a Butterfly Holiday, 3 - 10 July, together with Greenwings Holidays and a Mammals and Birds tour, 23 - 30 September, together with Greenwings and Wildwings. 

There are so many options on offer, don’t think just - start packing!

Estonian Nature Tours helps to develop wildlife tourism in Western Estonia

A nature tourism project Birding Baltic was prepared by Marika Mann, the CEO of Estonian Nature Tours, to be launched in 2016. In addition to the local organizatios there are also partners  from Sweden and Latvia. The Central Baltic Interreg funded project should attract birders and general nature tourists from all over the world. During 4 years (2016-2020) several birdwatching and photography hides will be built and specific nature tour programmes launched. The primary goal is to kick off the local tourism enterpreneurs, make them support the joint tourism promotion programme and introduce our local values in the world-wide community of nature-lovers.

The main project partners are Föreningen Näsholmen from Gotland, Sweden, Dabas Tures from Latvia and Loodusturismikeskus (Nature Tourism Centre) from West-Estonia (represented by Marika Mann). All these organizations are offering bird watching activities, as the East-Atlantic Waterfowl Flyway is passing all these three countries.

Ilze Vilskerste (Kolka, Latvia), Karin Åström (Gotlandilt, Sweden)
and Marika Mann (Matsalu National Park)
Photo: Arvo Tarmula (Lääne Elu)

Estonian NGO Loodusturismikeskus is planning a real capacity boost. In addition to aforementioned hides there will be binoculars, spotting scopes, photography equipment and light river boats with silent electrical motors to serve the tourists. When the project is completed, all this equipment will be given over to nature tourism companies, who will carry these activities on. The other partners from Estonia are State Forest Management Centre and Läänemaa Bird Club, who are organizing tourism activities in Matsalu National Park and in Haapsalu town.

The Central Baltic Project call is really important for SME-s, as practical marketing activities are also eligible this time. All three countries together will be able to focus the marketing activities outside EU countries, e.g. to  Americas' market. If both steps of the application call will be positively appraised, it will be possible to start with the activities from the second half of the next year. The total budget of the project for all 3 countries is 2,5 MEUR

Over 15 hundred visitors served in the Lihula Tourist Information Office

Estonian Nature Tours, having the office in Lihula Manor building, kept this summer the doors of Lihula Tourist Information Office open again. During 5 months 1532 visitors were served, including tourists from Estonia, Finland, Germany, UK, Latvia, France, Netherlands and even India. The most often asked questions were about local accommodation facilities and sightseeing locations in the Matsalu region.

In the tourism information centre it is possible to book accommodation in guesthouses, rent bicycles and canoes, get various printed booklets and pamphlets about the region, sit and relax in a small cozy cafe and get acquainted with the history of the ancient stronghold hill.
The most popular publication was "Terra Maritima - Land by the Sea" - introduction of these local municipalities, which abut the sea.

The centre was first launched in 2006, but was closed for some years. Now Estonian Nature Tous is expecting even more active movement in the summer period.