Finland & Norway - May 2018 (1 Viewer)

Having had a brief taster of life above the Arctic Circle in 2014 I decided on a trip for northern latitude species this spring.

I usually prefer to do my own thing but assuming that I could walk around looking in trees for many weeks searching for Boreal Forest specialists I opted for a couple of guided days and, despite the price, booked with Finnature last autumn; on the basis of their good reputation. Once they had let me know there were sufficient numbers to confirm the trips were going ahead I booked flights from London to Rovaniemi, via Helsinki, around the chosen dates (through Expedia) and a car from Budget through Rentalcars.

Realising this was going to be a pricey trip, I planned to live out of the car for most of the time but due to the very early meeting times for the guided days I decided to have a decent place to sleep in this first phase so booked the cheapest local accommodation I could find for the first four nights through Trivago.

For site guides I used 'Finding Birds in South Finland' & 'Finding Birds in Lapland' by Gosney and had 'A Birdwatcher's Guide to Norway' by Tveit from my previous visit. My trusty Collins was taken for ID back up.

Monday 21st May:

Not a long drive to Heathrow from my home but it was good that I left a bit earlier than should have been needed as my satnav failed to get me to the off-airport parking I had booked, the written directions were a bit ambiguous and the signposting was non-existent until I had stumbled accidentally into the access road. Still the parking and bus transfer were painless as was check-in despite the fact that when I checked-in on line the previous evening I only then remembered that I had not booked a hold bag so a last minute change had to be made. The problems began when the gate number for my Finnair flight appeared on the departures board along with notification of a 20 minute delay; by the time I reached the gate this had become 40 minutes, an hour by the time of boarding and 1 hour 20 minutes once a take-off slot had been found. Apparently down to a fault in one of the aircraft's hydraulic systems so I suppose it is only good that it was found and rectified. I'm not normally one to get wound up by such things but given that I had only 1 and a half hours between the scheduled landing and my onward flight I was beginning to think it may not go too smoothly. As expected we were on final approach about the time my flight was about to take off! The ground agents were ready and confirmed I was booked on the next available flight to Rovaniemi - just over 41/2 hours later than planned.

So eventually, after visiting the Budget desk in Helsinki to confirm the car hire desk in Rovaniemi would be open late in the evening, a telephone call to my accommodation to arrange for a key to be left accessible for me and a nice meal courtesy of a voucher from Finnair, I was heading north. The flight arrived on time, the bags emerged quickly and the car hire formalities went OK but it was still nearly midnight by the time I had entered the co-ordinates of my apartment in the sat-nav and was ready to set off on a more than 21/2 hour drive back south. But as it didn't really get dark, just dusk for a couple of hours, the birding started straight away with the expected airport building House Sparrows and a Magpie in the car park but better was to follow on the journey with a couple of pairs of Whooper Swan in roadside fields and a number of Woodcock flying low over the road in forested sections.

At about 02:30 I had settled in to my apartment in Oulu after what felt like a long day.

Looking forward to this Pete! By the way you have written Monday 21st June, I guess that should be May!

Chris

Scridifer said:

Looking forward to this Pete! By the way you have written Monday 21st June, I guess that should be May!

Chris

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Thanks Chris & for noticing the error - now corrected.

Like Chris,I am looking forward to this report.An area I have always wanted to visit.

Tuesday 22nd May:

Despite the late (or is that early!) arrival yesterday I was up and about at a reasonable time keen to start the birding proper with a day spent around Liminganlahti, starting at the visitor centre at Virkkula; with Magpie, Feral Pigeon, Hooded Crow & Jackdaw seen en route. Having just got out of the car there were Willow Warblers, a Pied Flycatcher, Great & Blue Tits & some Chaffinch in the trees around the car park & information boards. The short walk to the observation tower (Lintutorni) added a White Wagtail on the path, Meadow Pipits & a Whinchat in the scrub alongside and numerous Swallow & Sand Martin overhead. The water was a little distant from the tower but scanning showed a lot of birds: distant pairs of Whooper Swan; Mallard, Shoveler, Pintal & Teal on the open water; a pair of Garganey on a low weedy island with a couple of Crane; a sizeable flock of breeding plumage Black-tailed Godwit in the shallows; Lapwing, Greenshank, Curlew & Ruff around small pools on the salt marsh; Black-headed & Common Gull overhead; and a nice Grey-headed Wagtail (thunbergi Yellow Wagtail) at the base of the tower. The walk back to the visitor centre for a late breakfast / early lunch was accompanied by the soundtrack of drumming Snipe overhead.

I then drove through the farmland to the tower at Puhkiavanpera with Reed Bunting & Sedge Warbler singing in the reeds on the walk from the parking area. From the tower there were more Black-tailed Godwits, a small group of Greylag Goose flew in and a couple of Marsh Harriers quartered the reedbed. The highlight was a ring-tail Hen Harrier that flew slowly across in front of the tower.

I then continued round to a third tower at Sannanlahti where the walk from the car park had an open field one side with Skylark in song flight and young birch woodland on the other with Tree Pipit and Yellowhammer singing in the tops of the trees. From the tower there were more of the waders, ducks, etc. as seen from the others plus a couple of White-tailed Eagle sitting on the bank of a low island.

The plan was then to head back past my starting point this morning to another tower at Temmesjokisuu but there was a sign on the approach road suggesting that access was not possible beyond that point. So I continued north stopping at the suggested bridge but found the recommended path to the shore to be non-existent so continued on to the parking area for the Papinkari tower. The mixed woodland on the walk in held Fieldfare, Blackbird, Jay & Treecreeper and whilst nothing new was seen from the tower the return walk produced a nice female Ortolan Bunting on the edge of a more open glade.

I then continued on back towards Oulu and past the airport to Lake Papinjarvi - the main viewing area was busy with locals enjoying the warm sunny weather but I found another quieter spot to get to the lake shore and found a few Tufted Duck, a pair of Red-breasted Merganser and a couple of Common Scoter.

There were a few biting insects around today but not a major problem and despite thinking that this may be a sign of things to come I did not experience any more on the trip.

The final stops for the day were the lagoons along the road to Oulu Oilport (Poikkimaantie) but as the tide was right in there was no sign of the desired Sandpiper but I did get good views of Arctic Terns fishing very close in to the sea-wall.

Having had a warning light showing on the car for low tyre pressure since I picked it up I thought it was time I called in at a tyre fitting workshop to have them checked but there was apparently no problem. So time to go to a supermarket to pick up supplies for the next few days and return to the accommodation in Oulu for a relatively early night in preparation for the first guided day first thing in the morning.

As others have already said Pete, I'm looking forward to reading this. It's an area I'd like to take the family to but costs are a little off putting.

Tyre pressure warning lights can be a right royal pain. You haven't rented an Octavia have you?

Rich

Thanks Rich (& Ben, sorry, I missed your post earlier), yes, its certainly not cheap. No, not an Octavia although in the same hire group - Toyota Auris.

Wednesday 23rd May:

Up at 02:30 this morning for an 03:00 meet in an Oulu hotel car park with the guide (Satu) & 6 other trip members. Once on board the mini-bus we set off out of the town and into the forests. We had not been going long before she stopped on a forest track for a female Capercaille standing in the middle of the road. A bit further on another stop gave distant but good views of a Black Grouse lek with three males displaying in a large clearing. After a while we carried on and reached the first target territory and walked into the forest to a nest box but despite Satu scratching on the tree's bark nothing emerged so we had brief and somewhat artificial views of a female Ural Owl on the nest through the use of an angled mirror on a selfie-stick that looked like something an elephant's dentist might use. After all had had a look we backed off as the guide suggested the male may come in to feed her and sure enough after a matter of minutes a fine male silently turned up and sat out on a branch of a pine back in the forest - a much more satisfying sighting.

With further miles of gravel and tarmac roads under the belt we stopped again on a remote forest track and within a few yards of where we parked we had good views of a female Great Grey Owl on an enormous natural nest surprisingly low down in a mature Scots pine - only the top half of the bird was visible and the male did not make an appearance. But the eyes of the bird were mesmerising and you certainly got an impression of its size; it seemed totally unconcerned by our presence.

After the photographers had had their fill and another lengthy drive we stopped on another unmade track in a younger area of mixed forest and were shown a nest box low down on a tree trunk. This one also failed to emerge to investigate the scratching noises so again we backed off and Satu used play-back to entice in an angry looking looking ball of feathers - the male Pygmy Owl, which gave us some prolonged close views and even a bit of 'song'.

There was then a bit of an interruption as it was noticed that one of the mini-bus tyres was nearly flat. Between us we found the spare, jack and wheel-brace and took the old wheel off but at the point of needing to jack it up further to get the new inflated one on the vehicle slipped on the steeply cambered gravel of the track and nearly came off the jack. So we had to wait until their maintenance man could come out to the site with a trolley jack to finish the job safely; which he did after having to be talked in by Satu having got lost on the maze of forest tracks. Whilst waiting I wandered up the track and had Siskin and Stock Dove as additions to the trip list.

Back in action again we went out into the farmland nearer the coast and stopped at the side of a minor road in a rural settlement and once all out of the van Satu was describing where the nest hole was when a Northern Hawk Owl emerged from a snapped branch stub on a poplar and flew up to perch on some overhead wires and then after a while moved to a more aesthetic perch in the branches of another roadside tree. I would not have expected one to nest so close to a road; in fact it was so close that a large vehicle had obviously hit the tree in the past, perhaps causing enough damage to allow rot to enter and the cavity to form. On walking back past the tree one of the chicks was visible peering out of one of the entrance holes.

Literally a few hundred yards down the road we stopped again and walked into to a patch of roadside damp scrubby mixed woodland and this time no scratching was required as the female Tengmalm's Owl had obviously heard our approach and was staring bemusedly out of the entrance hole of its nest box.

By then it was time to call in to pick up the repaired tyre on the way back to this mornings meeting point. Finnature are by no means cheap but you get a full 8 hours of the services of a knowledgeable guide / driver with all the local inside information on nest sites. Before leaving the UK they had e-mailed to say that territories for all five target owls had been found in the Oulu area but I hadn't expected to see all five in one morning. Even with some seen only in nest boxes I think it was well worth the cost given the low probability of me seeing any of these species independently.

Another advantage of being a passenger is that a few more roadside birds were visible and identifiable on the move than usual for a lone driver; those seen this morning included: Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Wood Pigeon & Collared Dove.

After the guided part of the day was over I returned to the road to Oulu Oilport hoping the state of the tide was different from yesterday. Indeed it was out but there was still no sign of Terek Sandpiper with only a Redshank and some Black-headed Gulls in the lagoon and Arctic Terns overhead. I also saw a few Rooks whilst driving around the suburbs - the range maps in Collins seems to indicate they are not found this far north.

Eventually it was time to set off on the 3 hour drive to my next accommodation in the Kuusamo area. Beginning to feel the effects of the early start and general lack of sleep over the last couple of days and with the long straight Finnish roads with very little traffic testing the concentration I had to stop off a few times on the journey for something to eat or just a break. At one of these parking areas, the name of which I forgot to note and have now forgotten, there was an information board and boardwalk over an interesting bog area; from this I had Curlew in the small pools, Lapwing on the grassland, Snipe drumming overhead, a heard only Cuckoo, a lone Crane, a single Northern Wheatear on the boardwalk, a displaying Tree Pipit, singing Yellowhammer and more White & Grey-headed Wagtails.

I reached my base for the next two days early evening - a really nice spot close to Ruka with stereotypically Scandinavian views over a tree fringed lake, complete with Whooper Swan, Tufted Duck, Mallard and a pair each of flighty Wigeon & Goldeneye. Plus Swallows low over the water and, in the scattered trees around the site, singing Willow Warbler, Pied Flycatcher, Chaffinch, Blackbird, Great Tit, Fieldfare & Robin.

Another early night was called for after a great day in more warm, sunny weather in a nice apartment at an idyllic spot; its not such a bad life! Even considering another early start is called for in the morning!

Exceptionally good going to clear up Ural, Great Grey, Hawk, Pygmy and Tengmalm's in one day at Oulu. Personally, I felt that it was difficult to reconcile the Finnature experience to birdwatching at times but very special birds indeed.

All the best

Indeed, Paul, those were my thoughts at some points during that morning but in hindsight I was more then happy with the 'experience'.

This is an area I'd like to explore more to see more of the bird life. I've just come back from a week in Kuhmo, although this was primarily based at a site for photographing Brown Bears & Wolverine.

Great stuff Pete, what an amazing morning! I don't know what it cost but I have to say money well spent!

Chris

Took me 2 Finnature trips over two years to see all 5, so you did well.
I appreciate its paying, but what's the difference between being guided to them, and using RBA info to do a twitch?

I do understand the point though, but you'd never find these owls without a guide.

Excellent report, Pete. Splendid to have so many owls, and your 'elephant's dentist' comment had me going for a bit!

Scridifer said:

I don't know what it cost but I have to say money well spent!Chris

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Chris, the Finnature guided days were 255 Euros each! I guess everyone will have their own opinions on whether this constitutes value for money!

birdmeister said:

Excellent report, Pete. Splendid to have so many owls, and your 'elephant's dentist' comment had me going for a bit!

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Thanks. It was even more amusing to see the weird positions people had to get into in order to get the angle right.

wolfbirder said:

Took me 2 Finnature trips over two years to see all 5, so you did well.
I appreciate its paying, but what's the difference between being guided to them, and using RBA info to do a twitch?

I do understand the point though, but you'd never find these owls without a guide.

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Thanks, Nick, there is a lot of luck as well as apparently that was the first Oulu trip of the year to get all 5 owls and the first time the male Ural was seen.

It wasn't the being guided to the sites for the owls that had me thinking but the artificiality of seeing a lifer in a nest box, that's all. I'm not sure if that was Paul's point also.

foresttwitcher said:

Chris, the Finnature guided days were 255 Euros each! I guess everyone will have their own opinions on whether this constitutes value for money!

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A bit 'lumpy' perhaps Pete, but if you look at it at 50 Euros for each of these top owls I'd certainly pay that (and indeed have paid more already to see Pygmy Owl which still eludes me 3)!

Chris

foresttwitcher said:

Thanks, Nick, there is a lot of luck as well as apparently that was the first Oulu trip of the year to get all 5 owls and the first time the male Ural was seen.

It wasn't the being guided to the sites for the owls that had me thinking but the artificiality of seeing a lifer in a nest box, that's all. I'm not sure if that was Paul's point also.

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Totally understand, I loved my two days with them though. I also only saw the Tengmalm's head and shoulders, and the female Ural through a slot in her nestbox, but jammed in on a view of the male nearby. The other 3 were seen very well.

Once in a lifetime experience, well twice in my case -

foresttwitcher said:

It wasn't the being guided to the sites for the owls that had me thinking but the artificiality of seeing a lifer in a nest box, that's all. I'm not sure if that was Paul's point also.

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It was indeed.

All the best