The corn crake is a common breeding bird in Lääne County’s cultivated grasslands and meadows. It is difficult to observe a bird hiding in the high vegetation, but its voice can be heard frequently from May until mid-July. Corn crakes become especially loud at dusk.
In Matsalu, you can hear the concert of corn crakes from the viewing platform of Rannajõe or the Smoke River bridge. The national park’s territory is home to approximately 300 nesting pairs.
Matsalu and Haapsalu bays in Lääne County are vital feeding grounds for tundra swan throughout their migration. In the spring and autumn, almost one-third of all European swans stop at these two wetlands.
The spring migration of tundra swans is most frequent in early and mid-April, while the autumn migration begins at the end of September and lasts until October.
The whooper swan is an uncommon breeding and a common migratory bird in Lääne County. The whooper swan stops most frequently in Matsalu and Haapsalu bays during spring and autumn. During early spring, while the inner bays are still partially frozen, loud whooper swans frequently visit the fields to graze.
The greatest spots to see whooper swans are from the Haeska and Keemu observation towers as well as the Haapsalu Promenade. The wintering whooper swans are most active around the coast of the Noarootsi Peninsula and Vormsi Island.
The mute swan is the most common of the waterfowl breeding among the reed beds of Matsalu and Haapsalu bays and on small sea islands. Mute swans can be observed in large numbers in the spring and autumn, when thousands of individuals converge to eat.
The Haeska, Keemu bird observation towers and Tahu and Saunja birdwatching towers in the Silma Nature Reserve provide the best views of mute swan migration stopovers.
The Western house martin is a very common breeding bird and migratory bird in Lääne County. It nests wherever there are suitable eaves for making a nest. In Matsalu National Park, Western house martins nest in considerable numbers near Port Puise and Port Keemu. In autumn, between the end of August and the beginning of September, you can watch the countless Western house martin migrations from the Cape Puise observation platform.
The great egret is now a common migratory bird and an uncommon breeding bird in Lääne County. This Southern heron is a recent newcomer in the bogs of Lääne County, having only become common in the early twenty-first century. Now the great egret outnumbers its close relative, the grey heron, in many regions.
Great egrets can sometimes be found in Matsalu and Haapsalu bays even in flocks of several hundred birds. They’re good to observe from the Haeska birdwatching tower, the parking area at Põgari-Sassi beach meadow, and Sutlepa Sea and Tahu Bay observation towers in Noarootsi. Their breeding colony is also found in the reed beds of the Sutlepa Sea and birds also breed in the grey heron colony near the Laikmaa museum.
The peregrine falcon is an uncommon migratory bird in Lääne County. It can be seen here in the autumn, between September and October, and less frequently in May during the spring migration. Peregrine falcons frequently hunt waders and smaller ducks that eat on beach meadows and along the water’s edge.
They are most commonly found in Haeska, Põgari and Cape Puise. The peregrine falcon nested in Marimetsa Bog in Lääne County in the middle of the twentieth century, but no evidence of nesting has been found in the current century.
The common kestrel is unevenly distributed in Lääne County’s cultural landscape; however, it remains a relatively common falcon. Nesting birds can be seen hunting for prey in the fields and flood-meadow of Matsalu. Often, they may be seen from the Rannajõe viewing platform. In the autumn in September, migrating common kestrels are frequently seen in Cape Puise.
The common snipe is a common migratory and breeding bird in Lääne County. Migrating common snipes can be found stopping in beach meadows, seaweed and algae banks and even damp pastures. The common snipe is a widespread bird species in Matsalu. Common snipes can be seen in Põgari and Haeska as well as Riguldi Beach and Tahu Beach meadow in Noarootsi. It’s good to observe common snipes flying on the Penijõe or Tuhu Bog hiking trail during spring evenings.
The great snipe is an uncommon breeding bird on the flood-meadow of Matsalu. The national park’s nesting population consists of approximately 50 male birds. Elsewhere in Lääne County, it is a very rare breeding bird. As a strictly protected bird species, the exact breeding locations are classified.