Finland & Arctic Norway June 2011 - Part 1

I have finally got around to producing a report on the trip I made in June to Finland and Arctic Norway. This was a birdwatching trip of twelve days and covered an area from central Finland right up to the Arctic Sea on the north coast of Norway. It focussed particularly on seeing the northern owl species in central Finland and then the birds of the Arctic region. Of course there are many other species of birds but I'm not going to mention everything we saw but focus on the most interesting.

I'll do the report in three parts, so you don't get too bored, covering the three main areas we visited, around Oulu where we started, the area straddling the Arctic Circle and finally Arctic Norway.

Our group of seven flew to Oulu via Helsinki where we were met by our local Finnish guide. We were to spend the next three nights there seeking out the owls and other specialities of the area. Oulu is situated on the Gulf of Bothnia and its location can be seen on the map below.

We arrived to unseasonably hot weather with temperatures over the next few days exceeding 30°C.

 Map of Oulu region

Our hotel was situated on the shore of the Gulf and there was access to the water's edge with viewing points. There were only small numbers of water fowl but we did get sightings of Smew and Red-breasted Merganser but too far away for photographs.

In the reed beds there were many singing Sedge Warblers.

It seemed quite strange to see Redwings and Fieldfares in the hotel grounds – birds that we only see in the winter in the UK.

Our first excursion was made after dinner on the evening of our arrival. Mosquitoes were very active and a good insect repellent was essential especially in the forests. After a bit of tramping through the woods we found this little chap, a Pygmy Owl. Even though it stays lighter than the UK in the evening at that time of year it was quite dark in the forest and I didn't want to use flash. I made a bit of a mess of the photographs by not pushing the ISO values up high enough and so got camera shake. Anyway here he is, a little blurred, but at least you can see the markings and colours.

They are tiny birds for owls, about the size of a Song Thrush. I was quite annoyed with myself for making such a poor job of photographing a bird which I shall probably never see again.

The next two days were spent looking for the specialities of the area although of course we picked up on everything else that was around.

Our first excursion was a visit to a nest of a Three-toed Woodpecker (and no, I didn't actually count them). Not great shots but you can see the difference in the markings compared to our more familiar GSW. This is a female, I think. The male has a yellow crown.

 We looked for the Black Woodpecker and had a brief sighting of one flying but no really good views.

 The search for owl species continued. Our guide found a Hawk Owl, it always helps when you know where to look. We think the chicks had fledged so it was fairly mobile and kept moving around. It would insist on sitting partly obscured by branches in a tree (most inconsiderate). This was the best shot I could get. I don't think it was best pleased to see us judging by its expression.

 The Ural Owl was next on the list. Our guide found the nest without problem but only the youngsters were there. The adult was away from the nest and wouldn't return while we were there. Although our guide caught a glimpse of it none of the rest of us did. We had to be content with these views of the youngsters.

We think there were at least three chicks.

The big daddy of the owls in this area is the Great Grey Owl. We were taken to a known nest deep in the forest. These are large birds which can be quite aggressive especially when guarding youngsters so we couldn't get too close. Views were fairly restricted but I managed to get these shots. For me this was probably the highlight of the birds we saw on this part of the trip. A Canadian couple who were with our group were singularly unimpressed as it's almost a garden bird for them. LOL

We couldn't see how many chicks she was sitting on but we thought probably two. She didn't seem too concerned at our presence but she was not a bird you would want to mess with. It was still very hot and I think she was too sleepy to bother very much.

A few other odds and ends that I managed to snap on our way round.

The Finnish version of a Red Squirrel.

A juvenile Red-backed Shrike.

This little chap whom I've forgotten what it was. I think it may have been a Spotted Flycatcher but I stand to be corrected if anyone would like to offer an opinion..

A very distant view of a pair of Common Cranes.

After two full days in the field with temperatures still in the 30's we were quite pleased to be heading north for the Arctic Circle hoping for cooler weather.

Part 2 will follow.