Mother Nature struck with a vengeance this week. It was bleak, brisk, and frigid most days. Sometimes the snow fell in beautiful flakes, and other times the snow fell in depressing wet globs. It is the height of cross-country ski season right now in Estonia, and everyone is preparing for more wind and snow this weekend.
The most exciting part of this week was my first sighting of a hawk owl, which is a rare winter visitor in Estonia. This country is a great bird-watching destination even in the cold. Over nine million pairs of nesting birds stay here through the winter! There are a whopping number of bird species in Estonia (over 300 to be exact!), which makes Estonia the second most diverse region for birds in Europe after Spain.
