Norway: White-wingers

Surprisingly few of these up there, we thought we'd see loads and loads. I think there are more at Rainham. Anyway, always nice to see Iceland and Glaucous Gulls up close - I recently went to the Thames to see a distant blob, what a waste of time that was! That seems to be one of the things about birding abroad vs twitching things in the country. Sure you add a bird to a list, blah-de-blah, but in many cases you don't really see it particularly well, and I'm not talking UTVs either. There are exceptions obviously, the Northern Waterthrush and the White-tailed Plover spring immediately to mind, but often it's fleeting. Abroad you really get to look at things properly, to study them if you're that way inclined. I've seen quite a few Glaucous and Iceland Gulls in the UK now, and if you don't count the injured juv Glauc at Cley which I think was eventually put down, by far the majority of views have been of the distant blob variety. Not so in Norway. In fact, I can't think of a single bird we didn't see really really well, which is one of the reasons birding travel is somewhat addictive. Let's hope I don't win the lottery - you wouldn't see me for dust!

Migrant interlude

Golly, a post actually about Wanstead. This morning I was out on the Flats, and somewhat despondent after yet another early and birdless start. In fact I had just tweeted something about it being rubbish again, when a familiar "chuck chuck chuck" came out of the broom. Before it even emerged I knew what it was. Yup, a Pine Grosbeak Ring Ouzel. They are undoubtedly one of my favourite birds, yet I rarely see them very well. Today was no different - it flew out of the broom - a splendid male - and looped around to Long Wood. As is so often the case, I only remembered that I had a camera at the last minute, so my offering falls some way short of what I would have hoped. However, you can tell what it is, and when it comes to gripping patch birds, that's all that you need.

I never saw it again, and neither did anyone else. In fact it generated a fairly sizeable twitch, with no fewer than six people turning up to see it. Shows how poor migration has been this spring so far. We spread out, but turned up nothing. Lucky then that I was able to show people the bird on the back of my camera. In the days of film, waiting a week to get the film developed, and then showing people grainy photographs the next time you see them, well it's fair to say that moment would probably have passed. These days with digital it is so much better. Instant gratification. Instant grippage.

Mind you, with a photo this poor, there is only so much gripping you can do.

Norway: Day Three - Steller's Eider

One of the target birds in the Baltics last year had been Steller's Eider, and although I had scored with a wintering flock of the tip of Saaremaa Island, the views had been slightly distant. Vanagerfjord is currently hosting thousands of Steller's, mostly in large rafts further out from shore, but there are always smaller groups knocking around the harbours. These were what we hoped to catch up with, and hopefully get a few photographs of.

A typical Varangerfjord landscape

Of all the spots on the fjord, Kiberg - towards the eastern end - worked out the best. Not only were there quite a few birds, but you could get relatively close - though not as close as I would have liked! Patience was required, but by crouching by the side of a building, knees and calves buried in snow, the birds gradually relaxed. There were perhaps 150 of them, with a few Common Eider thrown in, bobbing around, displaying, eating snow, or preening on rocks. I could watch these birds for hours, their apricot flanks and breast contrasting superbly with the masked head and stripy coverts. I'm talking about the drakes of course, not sure I looked at a female.....

Norway: Day Two - Hawk-Owls

After the excitement of the bird feeders and then some Aurora action later that evening, the following day saw us head north to Norway, crossing the border at a place called Utsjoki. Prices in Finland are high enough to make you weep; prices in Norway are seriously unamusing. Massive cheapskates that we are, we brought a lot of snack food from the UK (thanks Suzanne!), but were forced to buy real food in Utsjoki before heading for our self-catering cabin in Norway. Thirty-five quid bought two packets of pasta, some bread rolls, and six-pack of Lapin Kulta (essential for celebrating Hawk-Owls) Just console yourself with the fact that in Norway the same amount of shopping would cost £2,145, and you'll be OK.

We headed east at this point along a river towards Varangerbotn, with plans to then head north along the Tana River towards Batsfjord. For the last few weeks Northern Hawk-Owls have been reported along this road fairly regularly, and these were a much wanted bird. Pure luck of course, when we booked this shebang months ago we had no idea. Anyhow, they were there, and we were going to see them, except we drove the length of the road without seeing one. Mucho disappointment. After a windswept Finnish cheese and undetermined meat roll which culminated in a snowstorm, we retraced our steps, stopping for a mosey at Harrelv, which was a sadlyalso  Hawk-Owl free zone. A few kilometers down the road though and our luck changed - a Hawk-Owl on a post! Bradders jr. threw the car into the driveway (ish) of a cabin, and we snuck down the road to take a look at it, crossing our fingers that it wouldn't fly off. It didn't!

Wow! What a bird! It managed to look both fierce and comical at the same time, kind of like Monty Panesar does. It wasn't really bothered about us, probably regarded us as cold-sensitive wimps. Hawk-Owl is one of the few birds in the Collins that comes with a health warning; no doubt it took one look at us, decided it could 'have us' without any significant trouble, and then carried on doing what it was doing, which wasn't much. Basically a study in ignoring us, with a few pointed stares just in case we thought we were safe.

Back to the car, and a major issue. It's stuck in snow. We start digging, this has shades of Lithuania all over again. That was a lot worse though, with the engine block stuck on snow and the tyres spinning uselessly. Here we had both wheels on the ground, but still no traction; the car just couldn't get up the feeble slope. Help was at hand though, in the form of a passing Norwegian; quite a young chap in sunglasses and a T-shirt - much cooler than us. He said that it would be easier to back it out. Bradders dutifully started to perform a three point turn in true British style. No, no, no, said Norwegian dude, just spin it round. Spinning a car round is not in the Bradders jr. vocabulary (nor the sr. I suspect!), and a blank look conviced Norwegian dude it was time to take charge. Bradders got out, he got in. Handbrake on, full lock, a few revs and the car span 180 degrees. Norwegian dude then proceeded to drive further down the slope. I must admit that at this point I cringed slightly, we hadn't been able to get it out about 2 ft from the road, and the car was now closer to 32 ft from the road. What had we allowed to happen?! Norwegian dude, casuing further angst, then went further away from the road, gave himself a bit of a run-up, and simply reversed it out onto the road. Dumb tourists 0; Norwegian Rally Driver 1.

This incident caused Bradders to turn into an OAP behind the wheel, which was most unfortunate, as when I spotted a second Hawk-Owl only a few minutes later, rather than practice the swift handbrake turn he had just learned, he drove on for about 60km, before finding a nice roundabout to turn around on. We arrived back at the spot approximately two hours later to find the Owl luckily still in its tree, and promptly overshot it. Another 40km further on (3 hours later) we turned around again, and this time managed to stop quite near it, getting great views. This one was a little further back from the road, but was at least facing us. It even started singing! "Ulululululululululululu"

Very cool birds indeed, and we found it hard to leave. The thought of Lapin Kulta made the decision a little easier, and so with elation tinged with slight regret we continued back to Tana Bru, and then headed east towards Vestre Jakobselv, which was to be our base for the next two days. Stay tuned for day three - the complete lack of migrants in Wanstead means I'll be drip-feeding this stuff for a while.





Finland: Day One again - Siberian Jays and Tits

The Pine Grosbeaks were easily the most numerous birds around the feeders, but we were also hopeful of Siberian Tit (Grey-headed Chickadee in some circles) and Siberian Jay, both northern specialities that you cannot see many other places. Tuulen Tupa didn't disappoint! The Jays came in fairly frequently, but tended to elude the camera most of the time. The Tits came in less regularly - indeed on our final morning, having returned to Tuulen Tupa, we didn't see any at all - but when they did visit the views were sensational.

Oooh, a Pine Grosbeak. How did that get there?



 Tuulen Tupa is a place that I could spend an awful lot of time. The birds are extremely close - an essential ingredient in successful bird photography. Although I used quite a large lens most of the time, something in the 300mm range will be perfectly adequate. In fact I'd say you could likely get away with a bridge camera or one of the point-and-click zooms. You simply don't get opportunities like this in the UK, and not just because of the lack of Grosbeaks. Or at least, not without an awful lot of work. Here it was simple, just bowl up and start shooting. The predominance of white in the landscape means that a grasp of exposure theory will stand you in good stead, but digital cameras make this incredibly easy. I will definitely go back

 

 

 

Finland: Day One - Pine Grosbeaks

You can read this as a trip report if you want, or just enjoy the photos - I have just this minute managed to get Blogger not to display them crappily - it is back to how it used to be - you click on it, and then you can click on it again to make it bigger still. Sharpness has returned. Please leave a comment indicating level of jealousy where 5 = extremely jealous and 1 = whatever. It will make me feel better (or worse) about spending eight quid on a shitty hot-dog in an Esso station in Northern Norway.

Day one is actually day two, but day one was basically travelling, which took all day and the only bird I saw was a Hooded Crow at Helsinki airport. Bradders jr., Bradders sr. and I flew Finnair to Ivalo via Helsinki. Finnair is excellent - they didn't look at my hand luggage, and crucially they didn't weigh it, and that is all I really ask from an airline. Didn't lose my suitcase (Flybe take note), got there on time (Flybe take note), and didn't crash either, so highly recommended.

Ivalo is well within the Arctic Circle, and was comfortably the most northerly place I've ever been. After a Reindeer-based meal in the Ivalo hotel, and a night's sleep in a some cabin thing, we drove about an hour north to our first birding location, the Tuulen Tupa motel. The chief attraction here is a vast quantity of black sunflower seed spread liberally outside the back windows, which draws in birds from miles around. We very nearly didn't see any birds in any other forest location we tried, but at Tuulen Tupa Pine Grosbeaks jostle at the feeders with Siberian Tits, Siberian Jays, Mealy and Arctic Redpolls. Winter birding in Northern forests is very difficult, the density of birds is very low indeed, but established feeding stations make it incredibly easy. We stayed here all day, and indeed stayed overnight too. If you have a hankering to observe Pine Grosbeaks at extremely close range, and get photographs of them that are so sharp they will take your breath away, then you need to go. Be prepared to get extremely cold doing so, but it will be worth it. Take lots of memory cards, and lots of batteries. And lots of gloves.

Northern Exposure

I'm back after an epic trip to the Arctic Circle. Warmth has finally returned to my toes. Work beckons, so this is just a quick update with more to follow. In short it was spectacular, with birds to dream of and to die for (though I managed to avoid the latter). The landscape is vast, and mostly white, and the trip list is short, but full of goodness. It includes Gyrfalcon and Hawk Owl. I have photographs of all of them, but I'll start with something a little different.

I slept through this last year on Shetland, so this counts as a massive grip-back.