Toby Carter

Fantastic views of Curlew Sandpipers y'day at @RSPBFrampton with the majority of the flock being on Middle Scrape, reserve management at it's finest🤌 @RareBirdAlertUK

@greeny1955 Any gen, just drop me a line

@_TCartz Cracking images mate, here’s to 2027

The king of the Boreal Forest in Estonia, the Ural Owl, was my personal highlight from our trip earlier this month. Where we were lucky to see 18 individuals during the first warm spell of Spring. Ural Owls are the top dogs out in the Estonian Forests.

@JohnGale8 Thanks John, need to look for some Ural artwork now

@_TCartz Wow! Brilliant.

It was hard to explore the forest tracks of Estonia without bumping into these Eurasian Pygmy-Owls, often alerted to their presence by Willow Tits nearby. For such a small Owl, they more than made up for this in how bold they were.

@DanielCMartin1 The geese have arrived then! We dipped Golden Eagle too

#Estonia the gift that keeps on giving. Black Grouse lek today, 2 Golden Eagles, Goshawk, Parrot XBill, Shorelark, Snow Bunts, 6 Geese sp, thousands arriving, inc Taiga and Tundra Beans. Yest was Stellers Eider, Hazel Grouse, Owls & more Peckers. A wonderful country for wildlife.

Not many better ways to start our trip than by twitching this showy Northern Hawk-Owl. Having not been seen since the 24th Feb, landing on the 7th March to news from @TarvoValker that it'd reappeared meant for the best possible start to our trip! Where the Owl theme started...

Stumbling across this day-roosting Ural Owl just a couple metres off the floor along the edge of a forest track was something special! Locking eyes as we initially drove past, before slowly creeping back for this view.

But it wasn't just the Owls that performed for us in Estonia, treated to exceptional views of Three-toed Woodpeckers (3 individuals), mating White-backed Woodpeckers and 100s of Long-tailed Ducks on Saaremaa Island.

@JohnGale8 As Miles has said, that is gripping. Know doubt more posts to come from our trip

@_TCartz We we're really lucky and saw this pack of Wolves, stunning butterflies....enjoyed Miles' posts as well...great stuff.

Major highlight was being in the presence of these Moose as they walked across this forest track ahead of us whilst Hazel Grouse, Crane & White-backed Woodpeckers surrounded us. We also saw signs of Lynx, Racoon Dog & Wolf (howling) too across the trip.

@JohnGale8 These Moose were on the edge of one of the bogs around Soomaa NP, love to go back in the spring!

@_TCartz Sensational place Estonia, we spent a week in Soomaa NP in early June a couple of years ago, simply amazing, mammals, butterflies.....Great hear your stories....

@marsh_eddie More photos to come

@_TCartz Sounds like great Trip Toby 👍

Back from what was a sensational trip to Estonia with the group, timing it perfectly with the weather. No doubt that the Ural Owls were the star🌟 Many seen during late afternoon through till dusk🇪🇪

Mouth watering views of Eurasian Pygmy-Owls during our trip in Estonia, with 12 seen in a single day (18 across the trip). We were definitely spoilt on this holiday.

Home from a sensational trip to Estonia with friends. Hard to grasp how lucky we were, catching up with 18 Ural Owls (mostly seen in daylight!) and 18 Pygmy Owls, amongst stacks of some of NE Europe’s finest forest species. And yes there is a Ural Owl in the last photo!

Other footage from today including BOC video of the Tengmalm's and Three-toed Woodpecker

Where to begin... Our day was spent being guided by the legend, @TarvoValker. We've managed Tengmalm's, 5 Ural & Pygmy-Owl plus 7 Woodpecker species (inc 3-toed), Hazel Grouse, Parrot Crossbills, Nutcracker & northern Long-tailed Tits. Estonia... what a country 👏 🇪🇪

@greeny1955 😶

@_TCartz I bet through Swarovski or Kowa then 😉😂😂😂

Our day visit to Saaremaa Island was one to remember, fantastic views of Eurasian Pygmy-Owls, White-tailed Eagles & Nutcracker. Steller's Eider also seen but more distant.

@greeny1955 Not bad for a phonescope

@_TCartz That’s really nice mate.