Hey there! As I haven’t posted anything here for quite a while, I thought I’d share some nature & wildlife photos I’ve taken in the last couple of weekends while visiting Gran in southern Estonia. Enjoy!
I’ve seen a couple of wild foxes in nature before, but I’ve never managed to take a photo of them. This beautiful fox (lat. Vulpes vulpes) was chasing some food on a field nearby the road and wasn’t afraid of the passing cars. However he got a bit afraid when we stopped, as he ran a bit further away. But he was still curious about me (or whatever he was chasing on the field), so I managed to take some photos of him before he disappeared into the woods.
This little birdie is the Long-Tailed Tit (lat. Aegithalos caudatus). I’ve never seen these guys in nature before as they’re quite rare, so I was very happy when I found out that a pair of these goes to visit the birdhouse at Gran’s regularly now.
This one adopted Gran a few years ago. We’ve named him Nässu. He’s a bit of a wild one. For the first couple of years he only came by for the food. Then, little by little, he started letting people pet him. And now he comes inside the house to sleep and eat & and lets pretty much everyone pet him, who looks trustworthy enough.
The other one is a city boy. He lives in Tallinn, but occasionally goes to visit Gran and Nässu in the countryside. He is called Peemot. The name comes from one of my favourite books “The Master and the Margarita” by M. Bulgakov. Behemoth (Peemot in Estonian) is a character in this book. He is an enormous (said to be as large as a hog) demonic black cat who speaks, walks on two legs, and can even transform to human shape for brief periods. He has a penchant for chess, vodka, pistols, and obnoxious sarcasm. Bulgakov’s Behemoth first appears in the scene where Ivan Bezdomny chases Woland and escapes by hopping onto a tram; he then appears in front of a severely hungover Stepan Likhodeyev drinking vodka and chasing it with pickled mushroom; he then, together with Azazello, beats up Varenukha. I definitely recommend the book if you haven’t read it yet. :)
Guards on post – Eurasian Tree Sparrows (lat. Passer montanus).
A female Mallard (lat. Anas platyrhynchos) landing in the lake, carrying the Estonian flag on her wings.
The “apples” seem to be ready for picking as well – Common Bullfinches (lat. Pyrrhula pyrrhula). At one point there were 7 of them together. The bright red ones are male bullfinches. Females are a little more modest and wear pale-brown dresses.
Saw some Roe Deers (lat. Capreolus capreolus) as well, but unfortunately I was either too far to get some close-ups, or too close so they got scared and only let me photograph their bright white butts.
Last weekend when we were driving to Grans, me and my dad were talking about the birds I’ve photographed and he mentioned that I haven’t got any photos of Magpies. Well, as requested, a couple of them were hanging around at Gran’s house the next day, so I got a bunch photos of them. Here’s my two favourites of the Black-billed Magpies (lat. Pica pica).
So at one point I had a feeling that I was being watched.. The Eurasian Jay (lat. Garrulus glandarius), also wearing the Estonian flag on his/her wings.
Dad put up a new house for the starlings a couple of weeks ago. A pair of them came to check it out last weekend, but didn’t move in yet (but hopefully have by now) – Common Starling (lat. Sturnus vulgaris).
The weather’s been quite interesting as well. At one point it’s spring in full bloom.
Then the next day: PLOT TWIST – it’s winter again.
Oh and as promised – an otter (lat. Lutra lutra) running home after a refreshing dip in the sea (at Kabli beach). A bit smaller, but looks a bit like the Loch Ness monster.. Not that I’ve seen Nessie in those two trips I’ve taken there..
Common Cranes (lat. Grus grus) enjoying spring that had just arrived. At least that’s what the calendar said..
The sunset last Saturday started out mild, then flamed up into bright pink sky.
Did some star and moon gazing as well and managed to get a photo of the Big Dipper/Plough, which (if you didn’t already know) is a large asterism consisting of seven bright stars of the constellation Ursa Major.
Sincerely,
A.
AT VISUALS PHOTOGRAPHY 