Adventures on a Frozen Sea

In this week’s edition:

Ski and Sauna Adventures on a Frozen Sea

Fifth Season’ Competition

Sirgupäev – When the birds turn their beaks towards home

SKI AND SAUNA ADVENTURES ON THE BALTIC SEA

Before the snow and ice melt away into Spring, Pärimusmatkad Heritage Tours have a great opportunity for you to experience a real winter ski and sauna adventure in Vilsandi National Park on the Island of Saaremaa.

Photo by Pärimusmatkad Heritage Tours

Explore the absolute beauty and quiet of coastal ice on skis. You will journey across this wonderful winter landscape, sharing it only with grey seals, sea birds and three lighthouses on the horizon. Their floating sauna will be waiting for you in the ice to relax in after your trip. For a real sauna experience, there is also the chance to swim in an ice hole to ‘cool off’ between sessions in the sauna.

The sauna is open all year round and accommodates 15 people. For more information about this trip or the use of the sauna, please contact Pärimusmatkad Heritage Tours.

FIFTH SEASON COMPETITION

As we get closer to the start of the ‘Spring thaw’ we’d like to remind you of the guessing competition where you can win €500 of Soomaa.com services by predicting the peak of the next spring flood in Estonia, the so called Fifth Season.

The most accurate prediction will win. The value of the main prize may be claimed for example as a 2 day Soomaa Experience for a group of 10 people. Sea-kayak suppliers www.eastpole.ee will award the five closest predictions with a subscription to Canoe Kayak magazine (www.kanuukajak.ee).

For more competition information and to make your prediction, visit our Facebook page.

SIRGUPÄEV – WHEN THE BIRDS TURN THEIR BEAKS TOWARDS HOME

Soon, millions of migratory birds will be arriving in Estonia to breed or to rest during their northerly migration along the East Atlantic Flyway. These include geese, ducks, waders, eagles and passerines, many of which are rare or absent in Western Europe. Some coastal species such as the large Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) have already begun to arrive while some arctic breeding species such as the Bohemian Waxwing (Bombycilla garrulous) have also begun passing through Estonia on their way back to the tundra.

PHOTO: Bohemian Waxwings (Bombycilla garrulous) by John Harrison

This Wednesday you can celebrate a very old Estonian holiday known as Sirgupäev (Sirgu Day) which was also known as Linnupäev (Bird’s day). This day marks the time that birds start returning home to Estonia from their winter stay in the south.
In the past, this day held a special significance as it meant that Spring was just around the corner and that life would start afresh in the forests and fields. Excitement and anticipation would be in the air and warm wishes would abound.

PHOTO: Migrating Barnacle Geese (Branta leucopsis) by Thermos
A more recent tradition connected with this day was to bake bird shaped biscuits or cookies, although originally, the tradition was to bake small buns and leave them on fence posts and wood piles for the returning birds. A special dough was also created on Sirgupäev and fed to the chickens at home so that they would start to lay better eggs. For a very long time, eggs have been a symbol of Spring, rebirth and creation stories and many old Estonian folk songs and stories attest to this.

PHOTO: Ruff (Philomachus pugnax) – A spring visitor to Estonia. Photo by Arjan Haverkamp
Unfortunately Sirgupäev is no longer generally celebrated in Estonia. The best known holiday at this time of year is the Estonian version of Shrove Tuesday (Estonian – Vastlapäev). However, for most Estonians, Vastlapäev is more about enjoying sweet cream filled buns and having fun sledding down snowy hills than Christian traditions.