Finland/Arctic Norway c.16-25 Mar 2019 (1 Viewer)

The dates are still flexible within a week or so, but in late March I’ll be doing a 10 day trip to northern Scandinavia for some great northern birding and a great chance of charismatic mammals too, not to mention amazing vistas and photo opportunities. My specific targets are 8 species which I'll be going all out for - great grey owl, hawk owl, gyr falcon, siberian jay, siberian tit, pine grosbeak, steller's eider, brunnich's guillemot.

The map attached shows the rough plan but basically I’m keen for 2-4 like-minded souls to join and make the trip more fun.

The plan would be to fly to Oulu (blue square on the map), hire a car, and first bird the boreal/taiga zone of northern Finland. Enticing species include Great Grey Owl, Hazel Grouse, Pine Grosbeak, Siberian Jay, Siberian Tit and Hawk Owl, but a whole range of ‘rare’ UK species here are delightfully abundant and these include Capercaillie, both eagle species, crane and many more.

In the second part of the trip, we will push north into the spectacular Varanger region of Arctic Norway/Lapland, home to birds I’ve dreamed of seeing for a very long time - not only Hawk Owls but huge flocks of King and Steller’s Eider, Brunnich’s Guillemot and most of all, Gyr Falcon. Along the way, a range of charismatic species such as Elk are likely, with chance encounters of wolf, wolverine and lynx an outside possibility.

I don’t leave much to chance, and a huge amount of planning goes into these trips. We won’t be randomly traipsing around hoping to see species, especially Great Grey Owl, but be relying on current information to give us our best chances. Most of the planning will be done by me, but these trips are always best shared. I’d emphasise this won’t be super cheap - £800 at the least - but a special time to go for the resident/wintering species. There is some flexibility on dates to within c.3-4 days either side at present.

PM if interested.

Hi Ben

Sounds like fun. Are you going to take some cross-country skis? I'd imagine that otherwise you'd be limited to birding near the road mostly.

Are you going to drive back to Oulu at the end or arrange to drop the the car off in Norway?

Arbu said:

Hi Ben

Sounds like fun. Are you going to take some cross-country skis? I'd imagine that otherwise you'd be limited to birding near the road mostly.

Are you going to drive back to Oulu at the end or arrange to drop the the car off in Norway?

Click to expand...

With the cost of fuel in Finland and Norway, probably cheaper to fly back down?

Too early Ben I would say. We went about 3 years ago in May and got all of your targets. There were 6 of us and it cost about £1k each then for about 8 days. That did include a night in a bear hide.

Pitta Patter said:

Too early Ben I would say. We went about 3 years ago in May and got all of your targets. There were 6 of us and it cost about £1k each then for about 8 days. That did include a night in a bear hide.

Click to expand...

The Wheatley Europe guide says that late March is a good time to see King and Steller's Eiders and I think that if you could see the resident birds in the snow it could be quite fun, and make for good photos. But I still reckon you'd need skis.

Pitta Patter said:

Too early Ben I would say. We went about 3 years ago in May and got all of your targets. There were 6 of us and it cost about £1k each then for about 8 days. That did include a night in a bear hide.

Click to expand...

The Wheatley Europe guide says that late March is a good time to see King and Steller's Eiders in Varanger and I think that if you could see the resident birds in the snow it could be quite fun, and make for good photos. But I still reckon you'd need skis.

March is a straightforward season to do Varanger and northern Finland, with most of the species on the OP's target list being very easy at that season. No skies needed, can even see all the passerines from a restaurant window if you so wish.

Jos Stratford said:

March is a straightforward season to do Varanger and northern Finland, with most of the species on the OP's target list being very easy at that season. No skies needed, can even see all the passerines from a restaurant window if you so wish.

Click to expand...

But is the snow firm enough that you can walk away from the road? Getting views from restaurants and roadsides isn't my idea of what birding is about.

Maybe Ben will be along soon to let us know more about his plans.

Arbu said:

But is the snow firm enough that you can walk away from the road? Getting views from restaurants and roadsides isn't my idea of what birding is about.

Maybe Ben will be along soon to let us know more about his plans.

Click to expand...

Been up there twice in mid-winter, it offers some of the best and most dramatic birding in Europe ... "roadside" generally means an amazing landscape, no traffic to disturb you, snow-oacked road surface. This is not akin to the UK ...not your idea of birding?

Arbu said:

But is the snow firm enough that you can walk away from the road? Getting views from restaurants and roadsides isn't my idea of what birding is about.

Maybe Ben will be along soon to let us know more about his plans.

Click to expand...

Depth of snow won't be an issue, we've had snow here in Russia for two months and I can still get out on my patch. Take water proof trousers, wading in snow causes it to melt with you body heat and the bottom of your trousers get soaking wet.