GALLERY: Stunners of winter bird watch
Organizers have revealed that according to the preliminary results of the annual winter bird watch, 3,500 volunteers counted more than 42,000 individual birds in 1,150 different locations.
The bird watch took place last weekend and concentrated on birds that frequent people's gardens. The organizers say that the results are preliminary, as some people who responded to the call have yet to insert their results into the system.
People were invited to count all the birds they saw in their garden or another chosen location within one hour.
Study coordinator Aarne Tuule said that 24 percent of all the observed birds were great tits. The tree sparrow was the second and greenfinch the third most common bird. Tuule added that the soft winter weather means that less birds visit the feeding cites that people have set up in their gardens.
The count served a twofold aim: to make people, especially children, more aware and knowledgeable of the surrounding nature, and to get an overview of the situation of the birds who winter in Estonia.
The final results of the count will be revealed in February. Previous counts have recorded over 60 different species.
The gallery above features the very common birds that people encounter on a daily basis, as well as same rare species. All the photos have been taken by ERR readers.
Editor: M. Oll