On 29.02, the Junior Rangers gathered for a one-day winter seminar. In the morning, we started with a discussion on how we know which animals live in the wild and in what way animals leave traces. So we went hiking. At times, there was snowless ground under our feet, and then we crossed ditches filled with water, walked in deep snow, and jumped over frozen stilts. The movement was slow and clumsy. Meanwhile, our wellies were filled with snow water, so it was necessary to use hiking skills to keep wet feet warm.

We noticed a lot of animal tracks. With the help of movement tracks, sleeping places, burrows, feeding tracks, and droppings, we learned that wild goats, wild boars, elks, foxes, and squirrels have been in the same place. We found feeding tracks of woodpeckers on cones and tree trunks, grouse droppings, and heard jays, whooper swans, and ravens. Finding a bird ring on Kubja's shoe was particularly exciting. The ring was marked MOSKVA AA1748, so this bird had been ringed in Russia. Whether this big ring could have been on the leg of a stork or a swan will soon become clear from the answer of the Matsalu ringing center.

After the hike, Pauli Saag introduced which nest boxes and why could be suitable. The BirdLife Estonia website and posters are also a good help. The nest boxes could be put up before the spring migratory birds arrive. In the future, it is worth cleaning the nest boxes of old stuff at this time to prevent the spread of parasites hidden among the nest material. The campfire by Linajärvi echoed for a while with hammer blows. The young set up 8 nest boxes. In the future, we can monitor how well they are used and by whom. Nest boxes were numbered. The MTÜ Linnvaatleja nesting box sets for young people are in every way suitable, and the assembly instructions were nicely included. Only a hammer was needed.

When the nest boxes were put up, we watched a movie about tit's life. It was a heartfelt, instructive, and unadorned insight into the joys and sorrows of these birds.

At the end, we also did a small quiz and discussed the expectations and plans for the summer camp and the next meetings.

The winter seminar was supervised by Elo Raspel and Pauli Saag from the Environmental Board.

Photos by Elo Raspel