Quiet birding morning. Almost no movement at all. Two Sparrowhawks/ raudkull Accipiter nisus fly into net and we ring them. Also beautiful adult male Waxwing/ siidisaba Bombycilla garrulus are caught today - first ringed individual for us on the island.
But quiet days often offer nice surprises. I do seawatching at the western side of the spit while Margus scope sea level on the eastern side. Suddenly he runs to me and shouts - "adamsii-adamsii"! I quickly check the water level and after few seconds my lifer bird flies into view - stunning Yellow-billed Diver/ tundrakaur Gavia adamsii showing itself for a half a minute in sideways with its heavy body, dark head and neck and of course with very powerful and pale bill. Also Mati and Andrea manage to see the bird. Unfortunately we enjoy the bird through the scope for "too long", so we notice to take record shots too late and all attempts to get any proper picture failed. It is not only first sighting for Kihnu island, but also first record for whole Pärnu county. Fabulous birding week at Kihnu - 3 days and 3 new species for the island!
/T.V./
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| One step closer to the waxwing - finally one Waxwing was trapped to the net and close-up portraits become possible. The adult males have prominent black throat patch |
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| Fanciest bird wing in the Western Palearctic - adult males have reddish tips of secondaries and wide bright yellow margins in the edges of the central flight feathers. All this conspicuousness believed to serve as male ornamentation |
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| From yellow to white and from pink to black |
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