Northern Norway and Finland in Late Winter: a Trip Report
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Northern Norway and Finland in Late Winter: a Trip Report David & Barry Bradnum and Jono Lethbridge, March/April 2012 Contents Overview ........................................................................................................................................... 1 Logistics ............................................................................................................................................ 2 Flights, Car Hire & Ferries ............................................................................................................. 2 Literature & Maps ........................................................................................................................ 2 Accommodation ........................................................................................................................... 2 Site Details ........................................................................................................................................ 3 Trip List ............................................................................................................................................. 6 Overview The far north of Norway and especially the area around Varangerfjord has long been known as a fantastic birding destination. Historically, birders have generally visited in late spring or early summer to see an impressive selection of breeding species in 24 hour daylight. However, over the last year or two, I’d become aware of a somewhat more adventurous alternative that should also produce great birding – to visit just as winter begins to release its grip and the days start to draw out. The level of species diversity (and the temperature!) is considerably lower then, but some excellent birds and birding spectacles are still on the cards. So, we decided to give it a try! The basic plan was to fly into northern Finland, hire a car, bag a few Lapland specialities at bird feeders, head up to explore around Varanger for two or three days, and then retrace our steps home again. Happily, it worked rather well… we saw all the key species hoped for, enjoyed some awesome scenery, experienced the Northern Lights and generally had a great time! Logistics Flights & Car Hire We flew to Ivalo, in the far north of Finland, with Finnair via Helsinki at a cost of £232 each. (We didn’t book especially far in advance, and I suspect slightly better deals are available if you do). In general, Finnair come recommended – efficient booking process; swift check-in; acceptable legroom onboard; and reasonable complimentary food and drink. The hand luggage allowance was theoretically 8kg each but this was not checked… to the benefit of one birder with a collection of optics weighing twice that! We opted to fly to Ivalo since this was convenient for a route north past Neljan Tuulen Tupa (and its bird feeders) in Kaamanen. However, if one wanted to get even closer to Varanger, Norwegian fly to Kirkenes via Oslo at reasonable prices. Car hire was booked through Budget, costing £266 (€304) for quite a decent new Ford Focus estate, plus a €50 surcharge for taking it into Norway. It came with metal-studded tyres as standard, making it relatively straightforward to negotiate snow- and ice-packed roads at near normal speeds. Driving was generally fuss-free, with very little traffic, and all the main roads well cleared. Just be careful when pulling the car off the road to go birding – I managed to get stuck no more than a foot off the cleared surface when abandoning the car near a Hawk Owl! Petrol prices were not too much more than the UK, and we spent about £120 on fuel. Literature, Maps and Information We used the recently published “Finding Birds in Lapland” site guide by Dave Gosney, and found its combination of annotated sketch maps and bullet point notes to be both clear and concise. Navigation wasn’t exactly taxing, but when we did consult a map, we used the Freytag and Berndt 1:400k map of Norway’s North Cape. Previous trip reports at this time of year are in rather short supply, but the few I did find were also useful: Dave Walker et al, March 2004 Jos Stratford, March 2008 Richard Chew, April 2010 A four-page article by Johan Elmberg published in Birding World in 1992 (vol 5, issue 1) also provided a raft of supporting information and tips. However, by far the most helpful source of recent birding information was Tormod Amundsen, a local birder based around Varanger. His business, Biotope, combines architecture and nature in a unique way – and the website regularly features great bird photos, too. I had a lengthy email conversation with Tormod before we arrived in Lapland, and then a few text messages while we were up there… many thanks! Accommodation Date Accommodation Cost Notes 28 Naverniemi Holiday £60 room A small and basic (but warm) cabin with two bunk beds March Center, Ivalo only, plus and bathroom at a campsite on the edge of Ivalo – fine, hire charge given that we were only there for a single night, and for bedlinen arrived mid-evening. 29 Neljan Tuulen Tupa, £85 per A room with two bunks and bathroom in the motel – March Kaamanen night B&B separate cabins are also available in the summer. We were & 1 woken early each morning by Red Squirrels living in the April roof above, and of course the bird feeders outside are superb! The motel also served generous (albeit rather unimaginative) meals at lunchtime and in the evening. 30-31 Vestre Jakobselv £85 per A new and spacious cabin with lounge/kitchenette, March Camping (towards night, plus spotless bathroom, and separate bedroom with bunks and west end of hire charge two single beds. Recommended! Varangerfjord) for bedlinen Total cost of accommodation was approx. £410 for five nights, equating to £135 each – not bad for a part of the world renowned for exorbitantly high prices. To keep costs down, we self-catered in Vestre Jakobselv, having stocked up with food at the supermarket in Utsjoki just before leaving Finland! Weather Unsurprisingly, it was a pretty cold trip, though generally the weather was fairly kind given what it could’ve thrown at us! In the Finnish forests, the air temperature was down below -20°C overnight, rising slowly to around -10°C by day. However, this was typically accompanied by clear skies and still air, so with enough warm layers on it wasn’t unpleasant; keeping fingers and toes warm was the greatest challenge, as usual. Around Varanger, air temperature was notably higher (around -5°C most of the time), but it was much windier, and consequently felt significantly colder! It was also cloudy most of the time, and the day we travelled to Vardo and Hornoya island was occasionally punctuated by heavy sleet and snowstorms… lovely! Itinerary Day 0 Arrived Ivalo approx. 1900 and collected car with no problem. Short drive to find our cabin at the Naverniemi Holiday Center, then a rather upmarket (but delicious) meal at the Hotel Ivalo – Reindeer tenderloin with chocolate sauce! Day 1 A fairly leisurely start, with birds around the cabin including Bullfinch and Great Spotted Woodpecker. The drive north to Neljan Tuulen Tupa take about an hour on the main road, but we opted to detour to a bird tower to the NW on the minor 9710 road (shown as ‘Toivoniementie’ on Google Maps) since several people have seen Hawk Owl here. We didn’t see much, but the views were superb. Continuing onward, we were soon booked into our room and then back outside to enjoy the bird feeders to the right of the building as you look from the road (the ones around the back don’t get much sunshine for photography!). Superb views of numerous stupidly tame Pine Grosbeak, and equally confiding Siberian Tits. A couple of pairs of Siberian Jay were more wary, but still came in to feed on fat behind the restaurant a few times. Many, many photos were taken over the remainder of the day! As the light started to dim, we took a return trip to the bird tower, but with the same general lack of birds. After dinner, and a couple of welcome cold beers, we capped an excellent day with decent views of the Northern Lights (aurora borealis) just before midnight! Day 2 After a brief spot of photography around the motel and spotting a smart Arctic Redpoll under the feeders with at least four Common Redpoll mates, we packed up and headed north once again. After a brief pause to watch an impressively bushy Red Fox wandering around by the road, our first stop was Utsjoki, just on the Finnish side of the border with Norway. Therefore this was a strategic site to stock up on food and petrol at vaguely sensible prices! Continuing across the border, we soon reached Tana Bru, and despite the lure of nearby Varangerfjord, headed north up the east side of the (completely frozen) Tanafjord on the road towards Batsfjord and Berlevag. We’d been tipped off that the area around Harrelv (just after the first large island in the fjord) had been good for Hawk Owl recently, and this was one of our main targets. Disappointingly, our first slow cruise through didn’t produce any owls at all, so we continued on to reach open water in the SE corner of the fjord. A raft of 60+ Long- tailed Ducks were smart, and we also noted a Black Guillemot. But we had owls to find, so back we went! A roadside walk through decent looking habitat near the radio mast still failed to find anything, and we were getting a bit nervous. Happily though, as we drove slowly south, Jono spotted a Hawk Owl perched on telephone wires just outside a small copse. After a grade A faff trying to find somewhere to turn round and then park off the road (safe from the occasional speeding articulated lorries!), we all enjoyed cracking scope views and took some photos. What a bird! After a friendly local helped us extricate our snowbound hire car (in some style, complete with handbrake turns), we headed on south – only for Jono to spot another Hawk Owl, this time perched in a patch of birch woodland. Again, it was pretty tolerant of our presence, and we even heard it singing a couple of times, throat feathers vibrating! By now, it was mid-afternoon, and we headed back towards the Varangerfjord.