Soomaa Golden Eagle Webcam – A Nest Above Estonia’s Bogs

The Soomaa Golden Eagle Webcam looks down into a golden eagle nest in the crown of an old pine, deep in the bogs of Soomaa National Park in southwestern Estonia. Kotkaklubi, the Estonian Eagle Club, has filmed this nest since 2020, home to a pair named Kalju and Helju. The nest is a broad platform of grey sticks that fills most of the picture, with the pine’s flaking trunk on the left and its branches arching over the top. Past the canopy, the forest falls away to open bog running flat to the horizon. Two more tabs carry the club’s black stork and lesser spotted eagle nest cameras.

About the Soomaa Golden Eagle Nest

Kotkaklubi says the nest lies between the Soomaa bogs, far from any houses, and that eagles have used it since 2011. The camera has a microphone, so the stream carries the nest’s sounds too, and the club does not publish the exact site. In every season with eggs, the first one came between 11 and 21 March, and chicks hatched in late April. The pair usually lays two eggs, but the second chick has not lasted: in 2020 and 2022 it died young, losing the competition for food to its older sibling. Single chicks fledged in July of 2020, 2022, 2024 and 2025, while 2021 ended with a broken egg and 2023 with none laid.

Aike, the 2025 chick, was fitted with a transmitter on 1 July and set off on migration on 10 October. The park’s common cranes leave each autumn as well, on a flight from the Baltic to Spain traced on our bird migration map.

Soomaa was established on 8 December 1993 to protect raised bogs, floodplain meadows and rivers: the Kuresoo, Riisa and Ordi bogs, and the Navesti, Halliste, Raudna and Lemmjogi rivers of the Parnu River basin. It became a Ramsar wetland in 1997 and a Natura 2000 site in 2004. Its spring flood, the “fifth season”, can spread across 175 square kilometers (68 square miles) of the Riisa flood area, the largest regularly flooded area in Estonia. Soomaa is also probably the only place in Europe where building the haabjas, a dugout canoe, survived into the 21st century.

The two tabs show other Kotkaklubi nests, and the club gives no location for either. The Black Stork tab looks across a wide nest of sticks and pine needles against a tall pine trunk, in dense spruce. The Lesser Spotted Eagle tab watches a nest near a military training ground, and its female, Milda, hatched in western Latvia in 2016 and carries a transmitter. That camera is switched off at times to save its batteries or for maintenance, and the tab then shows a “Camera is turned off” card until it returns on its own.

Weather and Climate in Soomaa National Park

Winters are cold and dark. Viljandi, about 29 kilometers (18 miles) east of the park’s center, averages a high of -1.7 C (29 F) and a low of -6.4 C (20 F) in January, on the Estonian Weather Service’s 1991 to 2020 normals. Most snow falls from December to February. At this latitude the sun is up for only about 6 hours 20 minutes in late December, so the nest sees daylight for a short window around midday. April warms to 10.9 C (52 F) by day and 0.9 C (34 F) at night, the weeks when the eagles on camera are sitting on eggs and the flood usually peaks.

Summers are mild. July averages 23.3 C (74 F) by day and 12.9 C (55 F) at night, and around midsummer the sun is up for about 18 hours 20 minutes, so the chick stays in good light well into the evening. October falls back to 9.2 C (49 F) by day and 3.1 C (38 F) at night.

Things to Do Near Soomaa National Park

The park’s visitor center, finished in 1998, stands in the middle of Soomaa and is the usual starting point. Marked trails range from the 2-kilometer (1.2-mile) Beaver trail to the 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) Riisa trail and Hupassaare study trail, with Ingatsi at 4.5 kilometers (2.8 miles) and Meiekose and Toramaa each under 3 kilometers (1.9 miles). The Kuresoo hiking trail is a two-day route of 32 kilometers (20 miles).

When the fifth season arrives, local outfitters run canoe trips through flooded forest and meadows, typically about two hours over 6 kilometers (3.7 miles), with longer routes of three to six hours. The flood is not guaranteed: in March 2026 the public broadcaster ERR reported it had failed for the second year running. Parnu, about 37 kilometers (23 miles) southwest of the park’s center, and Viljandi are the nearest towns for a bed.

Similar Webcams You Might Like

More nest cameras around the Baltic, and another view of Estonia:

• Kemeri Sea Eagle Webcam
• Ogre Black Stork Webcam
• Muratsi Harbor Webcam

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is the Soomaa Golden Eagle Webcam located?

In Soomaa National Park in southwestern Estonia, between the park’s raised bogs and far from any houses. Kotkaklubi does not publish the exact site, so the map marks the park rather than the tree.

What can you see on the Soomaa Golden Eagle Webcam?

A close view down into the nest: a wide platform of grey sticks among the pine’s branches, the trunk on the left, and flat open bog beyond the treetops. From March to July it follows incubation, a growing chick and its first flights. Outside the breeding season the nest can be empty when you look in.

Is this webcam in Karula National Park?

No. Kotkaklubi places the golden eagle nest in Soomaa National Park, about 115 kilometers (72 miles) northwest of Karula in southern Estonia. Neither tab is placed there either.

When do the Soomaa golden eagles lay their eggs?

In mid-March. Since 2020 the first egg has come between 11 and 21 March in every year the pair laid, chicks have hatched in late April or the first days of May, and the young bird has left the nest in July.

What is the weather like in Soomaa National Park?

Cold winters and mild summers. Nearby Viljandi averages highs of -1.7 C (29 F) in January and 23.3 C (74 F) in July, with most snow from December to February.

What is the fifth season in Soomaa?

The spring flood, usually at the end of March or in early April, when the rivers spill over the meadows and forest. In some years the water has risen by a meter (3.3 feet) a day for three or four days, leaving a sheet of water 7 to 8 kilometers (4.3 to 5 miles) across at its peak.

Why does the Lesser Spotted Eagle tab say the camera is turned off?

Kotkaklubi switches that camera off at times to save its batteries or for maintenance, and the player shows the club’s “Camera is turned off” card meanwhile. The picture returns by itself when the camera comes back on. Estonia’s Centre for Defence Investments pays for the camera, which records how the eagles react to noise from the nearby training ground.

Source: Kotkaklubi