Day
1: London or manchester/
helsinki/tallin/MATSALU
We make short early morning Finnair flights from Manchester or London
to Helsinki to meet for a connecting Finnair flight to Tallinn arriving in the
late afternoon. We then drive approximately two hours to our first accommodation
near Matsalu National Park where we will check in for four nights. Altimõisa
Guest House is charming, relaxed, welcoming and perfectly situated on the edge
of the vast Matsalu Bay. Looking out to the sea on one side and forest on the
other, this is the ideal place from which to explore the whole area and also
enjoy comfortable accommodation and excellent home-cooking.
Day 2 - 4:
matsalu
Matsalu (a
Ramsar site) is a shallow bay no more than four meters in depth and one of
Estonia’s premier birdwatching sites with a 3000 hectare reedbed, flooded meadows
and a multitude of islands. Over the next three days we will be exploring the
whole area where six observation towers enable unrivalled views.
Each year
vast numbers of wildfowl including Long-tailed Duck and Scaup stop off here and
feed up on their migration northwards; Matsalu also has 170 recorded breeding
birds including such highlights as Red-necked Grebe, Caspian Tern and
White-tailed Eagle. The reedbeds hold booming Bitterns, Bearded Tits, Spotted
Crakes, Great Reed and Savi’s Warblers, while the rasping of Corncrakes can be
heard everywhere and Thrush Nightingales serenade long after dusk.
The timing
of our tour captures the last of the winter visitors such as Barnacle,
White-fronted and Tundra Bean Geese before they head north as well as the
incoming breeding species including Garganey. Ruffs, Spotted Redshanks and
Black-tailed Godwits can be seen in their springtime finery and the
characteristic song of Common Rosefinch can be heard along with a variety of warblers
such as Blyth’s Reed, Icterine, Barred and Lesser Whitethroat.
Poosapea
Point on the north-west corner of Estonia provides some of the best chances of catching
the last sea-duck migration heading north to Finland while Haapsalu and Sutlepa
Meri are good sites for breeding Slavonian and Red-necked Grebes respectively.
Nearby forests
and wooded parklands are home to an impressive number of woodpecker species
including Black, Grey-headed, White-backed, Three-toed, Great, Middle and
Lesser Spotted, not forgetting Wrynecks which are common.
Day 5 - 7:
KABLI, Häädemeeste
Today we
head further south to the coastal village of Kabli, near Häädemeeste, close to
the Latvian Border, and check in to the Lepanina Hotel for three nights. This delightfully-situated
spot is surrounded by forest and looks out onto a pristine coastline. Thrush
Nightingales and Black Redstarts can be found in the garden while Marsh
Harriers, White-tailed Eagles and Ospreys patrol the coastline and marshes. Kabli
is a well-known strategic point for north-bound passerine migration in the spring
and nearby trails through reedbeds, freshwater marsh and forest attract a wide range
of breeding birds.
A short
distance further north, Pikla Pools is another productive wetland site for Great
Reed and Savi’s Warbler, Little Gull, displaying Ruff, Bittern, Marsh Harrier and
both Yellow and Citrine Wagtails.
The nearby
Nigula reserve is a fascinating area with towers and boardwalks enabling easy
viewing and access. Here, Hobbies hawk for dragonflies and Lesser Spotted
Eagles breed in the taller trees. Golden Plover and Wood Sandpiper breed on
edges of numerous pools. Wheatears hop around in gardens and Whinchats are
birds of rough lowland pasture. In the nearby
vast forests we will have further chances to see all seven species of
woodpecker along with Ural Owl, Pied and Red-breasted Flycatchers plus - with luck
- Hazel Grouse and Nutcracker.
We also have
a chance of some interesting mammals such as Elk, Racoon Dog and Otter.
Day 8:
Tallinn / Helsinki / MANCHESTER OR London
We will make
the straightforward journey back to Tallin in time for our lunchtime flights
back to Manchester and Heathrow via Helsinki, arriving late afternoon.
