Finnish winter

We have now been organising trips to the wonderful Finnish forests in the depths of winter for a number of years now and this year’s trip will take us to a couple of different regions where amongst our many opportunities will be the elaborate courtship ritual of displaying Black Grouse at their traditional lek.  Snow cover will still be on the ground and this is the perfect setting for photographing this beautiful Grouse as it provides a classic and contrasting setting.

We could also be lucky and get the opportunity to photograph hunting owls – Hawk Owl and Great Grey Owl skimming across the snowfields being our primary goal in this respect.  Each year is different though with these silent hunters so we will have alternative options with the more regularly visiting Golden Eagle where we will access to a hide focussed on this magnificent raptor, Dippers fishing where the ice has melted on nearby streams, and feeding stations for local specialities such as Siberian Jay and Siberian Tit along with a whole array of other passerines. In previous years we have been lucky to come across an eruption of Bohemian Waxwings here too.

We will also be exploring the landscape opportunities of these northern forests with a visit to the wonderful Riissintinturi National Park for the spectacular snow-covered trees an option if conditions allow and will always be on the lookout for spectacular Northern Lights during the  evenings of a trip that offers variety as well as quality and almost always throws up a different surprise element each year too.