Spring Birding – Scheduled Tour

On the first day, we will drive to Matsalu National Park. It’s the most famous national park in Estonia, known as one of the top migration stopovers and breeding grounds in northern Europe. The shallow coastal waters and vast meadows are excellent for waders, ducks, geese, and birds of prey. On the first afternoon, we get our first glimpse of what awaits us, when we will do some coastal birding. In the evening, we will head to a forest where Ural Owls and Pygmy Owls breed annually. Night in Matsalu NP

Early morning excursion to experience a Black Grouse lek. By sunrise, both male and female grouse have gathered on a field situated between 2 massive peat bogs. It’s a lek with usually well over 20-30 male grouse. On the way there and on our way back, we have a good chance of spotting a Western Capercaillie. Later we will visit Cape Põõsaspea, which is one of the best locations in Europe to observe the spring migration and witness hundreds or thousands of Long-Tailed Ducks, geese, divers, and scoters. Not too far from Cape Põõsaspea is also an excellent wader spot. We will also visit the Noarootsi area, where coastal lakes host Little Gulls, Red-Necked Grebe, and terns. In the evening, we will go out again with the hopes of spotting owls if our first evening did not produce any views of owls. Night in Matsalu NP

There are about 190 species of birds breeding in Matsalu and hundreds of thousands of migratory birds pass by Matsalu every spring. Today we will also look for woodpeckers, as the deciduous forests of Matsalu are a perfect habitat for White-backed Woodpeckers and Grey-headed Woodpeckers. Today, we will also visit Matsalu’s best birding tower, which offers views of a beautiful coastal setting Close to Matsalu is also a charming coastal town known as Haapsalu. Besides the beautiful wooden houses, its greatest highlight is the beautiful Slavonian Grebe, which breeds there annually. Haapsalu offers also reed beds and a picturesque promenade, where you can often observe White-tailed Eagles looking for prey. Night in Matsalu

Today early morning, we will make a really early visit to a 5000-hectare peat bog. Sunrise is the time when we can experience the magic of this really special landscape and breeding habitat. We can hear and see Black Grouse lekking at the center of the bog, Black-tailed Godwits, Golden Plovers, and Whimbrels doing spectacular courtship flights. If the air gets warmer, we might spot Golden Eagles soaring on a thermal and Great Grey Shrike luring on top of short pine trees. After a long afternoon break, we will go out for another evening tour to look for owls that we haven’t seen yet. Night in Matsalu

From Matsalu we will drive to Soomaa National Park, which is located in southern Estonia. On our way, we will make a stop in Pärnu town, where Citrine Wagtails breed annually. In Soomaa, we will target all the missing woodpeckers and the Great Snipe. It is a national park most famous for its so-called 5th season, which means that there is a period in spring when all the small rivers get overflooded and canoes are the best ways to get around. This already indicates that there are many rivers and flooded meadows, which is a great combination for the Great Snipe. It’s one of the more difficult species as their lekking display starts around sunset. If the first evening offers good weather conditions, we will visit their lekking ground already on the first evening. Night in Soomaa NP

Soomaa National Park consists of a few gravel roads, really vast forests, and all kinds of forest types. It’s home to all the possible woodpecker species breeding in Estonia (Three-Toed Woodpecker, White-backed Woodpecker, Grey-Headed Woodpecker.). Those will also be our main targets for the morning. Soomaa has also a really good number of breeding Lesser-Spotted Eagles and we should be able to hear our first Corncrakes of the trip. Old-growth forests are also home to Hazel Grouse and we can also hear our first Red-breasted Flycatcher. Night in Soomaa NP

Today, we can still look for missing species, such as woodpeckers or forest grouse. During the first part of the day, we will visit Pikla fish ponds, where we can spot a good number of waders, such as beautiful displaying Ruffs, listen to various passerines playing hide and seek in the reedbeds, and observe various dabbling ducks in the shallow ponds. The afternoon and evening, we spend in the national park looking for species that we haven’t seen yet.

Night in Soomaa NP

We can make a last early morning trip to the park. Depending on the times of the flights, we may also have time to make stops on our way back to Tallinn.