Peter came around the corner of the hut and said something, which, although we always speak Estonian or English among each other, for some reason I interpreted as the Finnish ‘pitkä viiva’ meaning ‘long line’ and lifted my bins to the point in the blue sky where he pointed, expecting to see a line of ducks. Instead my bins hit an adult Gannet heading directly away from us, maybe 2 km away. At the top of my voice I screamed ‘Suula’ (Morus bassanus) and despite some initial difficulties, everyone (Uku, Mari, Pelle, Anni and Tõnis) managed to find it as it continued to fly straight out, in a west-southwesterly direction. Pelle and Peter managed some photos also. Afterwards I realised that what Peter had said was actually ‘pikad tiivad’ in Estonian, meaning ‘long wings’. Sometimes multiple languages in use can create difficulties, especially in the panic when somebody finds a rare bird. Once again I realised I was explaining the birds whereabouts in Finnish, just because I usually speak Finnish with Uku, who was the one closest. No time to think in those situations, unfortunately. Lucky that Peter saw it when he did, it is so easy to miss birds flying high in a blue sky. It was the 4th record for Põõsaspea and a species I have been waiting for. Thank you Peter!

Annika

Gannet @Peter Lind Gannet @Peter Lind Gannet @Pelle Mellov Gannet @Pelle Mellov