Going Bonkers in the Arctic.
Many years back, it was my tradition to hurtle round Speyside on the traditional 'Easter Bash', this year I decided on an eastern equivalent - an Arctic odyssey, a short whirlwind tour of northern Finland and the Varanger peninsula in Norway, notching up 2350 km, plus 610 km at the Baltic end.
In temperatures that touched minus 26 C, the birding was simply superb, the winter landscapes spectacular ...
Day One
Having found a very cheap flight from Riga to Oulu, my trip began at 3 p.m. with the 300 km drive north through Lithuania and Latvia. As a precursor for things to come, the weather had turned cool, flurries of snow and temperatures dipping below zero. No stops en route, but flocks of White-fronted Geese winged their way over the road and, all northbound, a single Rough-legged Buzzard was noted amongst the dozen or so Common Buzzards. I arrived in Riga just after 6 p.m., the Air Baltic flight departed on time at 8.30 p.m., the trip was about to begin.
Day Two
The fight had landed in Oulu at 11 p.m., within minutes, crunching across the snow in temperatures of minus 8 C, we were unlocking the rented car and beginning our long drive north. At 2.00 a.m., crossing the Arctic Circle, it was minus 23 C. By sunrise, we were 620 km north and the temperature had dipped to minus 26 C!
A few kilometres short of our destination, a little weary in the eye, I stopped to stretch my legs and take my first gasps of the frozen air. Stepping out into the snow, knee depth and none too friendly to wanders in the forest, I heard a vaguely familiar song, a melodic flutey affair that I was sure belonged to one of my target birds. And indeed it did, a hundred metres through the trees, a small house had a bird feeder and, better still, that feeder had about twelve Pine Grosbeaks in attendance! Amazing, minutes after first stepping out into the vast taiga forests and I had found one of its special birds - a mix of stunning males and orange-yellow females. I was tempted to take a closer look, but it was only 6.30 a.m. and I feared setting off the dogs, thus waking the owner of the house. Images of an irrate Finn coming out to chase me off, coupled with the numbing effects of the extreme cold, saw me instead retreat to the car.
Minutes later, pulling into Tuulin Tupa, a hotel 70 km north of Inari, my decision to leave the earlier Pine Grosbeaks was almost immediately forgotten. There were more here, dozens of them!!! The hotel, famous for its feeders, was like something purpose-built to be part of bird heaven! Though it was still before 7.00 a.m. and the hotel portrayed no sign of human life, what it did portray was an amazing concentration of birds! Feeders both sides of the hotel were bubbling with birds - chunky Pine Grosbeaks, probably in numbers exceeding 30, were squabbling over the grain and sunfower seeds scattered for them, a mesmerizing sight. And not just Pine Grosbeaks, but loads more birds too - a few Great Tits and loads of Greenfinches to provide the familiarity, oodles of mixed Mealy and Arctic Redpolls to provide constant entertainment.
Settling down to watch these birds, the mega-low temperatures were soon going to be a problem, already my thumb felt like it was going to fall off! But, wow, the birds were good! Never a moment without a Pine Grosbeak, never a moment without at least 20 or 30 redpolls, but soon my attention was being pulled by other attractions too - first a Siberian Tit dropped in, then just moments later a pair of simply brilliant Siberian Jays! By now wrapped in a sleeping bag and donning a Russian fur hat, the cold was kept at bay and, bar a thumb that was physically hurting, all was perfect ...two Red Squirrels had emerged from the hotel's roof and were now scampering around the beams, yet more Siberian Jays were arriving at the feeders and hopping just metres in front of me.
As the rising sun took the temperature up to minus 23, I wondered if the morning could get any better ...then it did!
