Estonia

Autumn Arctic Migration

18 September to 25 September 2010

Leaders: Simon Boyes and local guides

Maximum of 12 clients (two leaders with more than six clients).

Cost: £1,999 single room supplement £140

This will be Ornitholidays' eighth tour to Estonia, a small country on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea, and our second holiday in the autumn. Estonia is a wonderful destination for birding almost the whole year round. There still are lots of untouched forests, meadows and wetlands, which offer excellent habitats for many bird species. In the autumn you can see Capercaillie, Black and Hazel Grouse and seven species of woodpecker, as well as many other interesting forest species. Meadows are of course best in the summer time, but in autumn many raptors patrol them while thousands of passerines feed on the ground. Chaffinch and Brambling flocks can consist of thousands of birds, and we may also encounter large numbers of Goldcrests, Northern Wheatears and Common Starlings on migration. Wetlands, of which Matsalu Bay is the most famous, are always full of life in the autumn. Thousands of ducks, geese and cranes use these wetlands as their last feeding and roosting grounds before their final migration to the wintering sites. By the coast the arctic migration continues from early September until late October. The first Steller's Eiders arrive at their wintering sites in September. Every day many divers and geese can be seen and with good conditions for migration the bird-count can run into the thousands. Among the migrants there is always a chance to find a rare White-billed Diver, or some other rarity such as Grey Phalarope.

Autumn is of course the best season for Siberian rarities and the Estonian islands of Hiidenmaa and Saarenmaa are excellent sites to locate one or two exciting eastern species - perhaps Yellow-browed or Pallas's Warblers. Estonia in the autumn is a magnificent destination for the birdwatcher who wants to see forest species together with raptors and arctic migration, with that added touch of eastern rarities. Travel with Ornitholidays, and see why we think that Estonia in the autumn is an exciting tour.