A Finnish Winter
At the end of March I was in Finland leading the Finnish Winter trip for Natures Images. It seems a long time ago that I was in Finland but I have only just got round to processing my images from this trip. I have been to Finland many times now and this wonderful country and its wildlife keeps drawing me back time and time again. This year I planned my trip to coincide with the late winter as I wanted to target the elusive forest grouse, Black Grouse and Capercaillie. I wanted to get images of these beautiful birds in winter conditions but this can be tricky as the timing has to be critical.
This winter was a hard one in Finland and by the end of March showed no sign of relenting. My first visits to a black grouse lek in the Kuusamo region proved unsuccessful as it was still too cold for the males to visit their lek. With temperatures hovering at around minus -25 it was no surprise and after a four hour stint in a hide in those conditions I wished I had stayed in bed too. It was a real shame because the conditions were perfect and where what I was really hoping for.
Eventually the temperatures started to rise and the male Black Grouse started to drop down to the lek to perform their elaborate courtship ritual. I always feel that these early days during the season give you more opportunities for capturing fighting males as they have not worked out the dominance at the lek. I have covered most things in Northern Europe now but spending those early mornings at a black grouse lekking arena is certainly one of the most rewarding experiences.
After a few days of warm conditions the temperature started to drop again. Most of these images were taken on one particular morning where the temperature had plummeted to -20. As I was driving to the site I could really see the potential but you have this nagging doubt that the birds won’t turn up. After an hour and a half there were no birds in front of the hide but I could see them in the tops of the trees. Then one bird flew down and the rest followed. The conditions were amazing with a thin veil of mist clinging to ground and with clear skies it wasn’t going to be long before the sun rose which would produce some lovely backlighting for the scene in front of me. You need luck on your side for wildlife photography and boy did I get it on this morning.
My other main target for this trip was Capercaillie, again a bird I have photographed many times before but just feel I will never finish. These pictures were of a rouge male which is not as good an experience as photographing them at a traditional lek but it does allow you to work in a different way. Rouge Capercaillies are quite rare but every now and then a bird turns up. This one had set up his territory on the slopes of a ski centre and had been attacking the skiers.
Capercaillie displaying male (Tetrao urogallus), Finland, March 2015
Again it was cold conditions and so I positioned myself to shoot into the early morning light which would then pick up the capers breath as he called. The early morning light as it filtered through the trees was great at highlighting his beautiful fanned tail too. I went to see him a few times throughout my trip which enabled me to get a range of images in different conditions. I must stress though that I only spent a maximum of 20 minutes with him once we had found him which was more than enough time and we feel didn’t waste too much of his energy. When you are working with grouse in this way you are done by 9.00 so I then spent some time at a few other locations.
Capercaillie displaying male in the snow (Tetrao urogallus), Finland, March 2015
Capercaillie male displaying in the snow (Tetrao urogallus), Finland, March 2015
There is a very special river in Kuusamo that stays ice free during the winter and it attracts a huge amount of Dippers. Most of the rivers are completely frozen over and so that is why this small stretch attracts the numbers. I have been trying to get an image like this for a while now but it has proven difficult as I am using a very slow shutter speed to blur the movement of the water but of course dippers very rarely stand still so it has taken me a while. Whilst in Kuusamo I also went to Oulanka National Park and back to a hide which gives you a great opportunity in photographing golden eagles and other species like great spotted woodpeckers.
Dipper on an Icy River (Cinclus), Finland, March 2015
After Kuusamo I then headed a bit further south to try and photograph European Brown bears. I have been to Martinselkonen many times but it has always been during the summer’s months. We have always had a 100% success rate here when we have run trips but I wanted to try and some different images of the Bears in the snow. Easier said than done.
After eight nights and a total of 120 hours spent in the hide I didn’t get one sighting of a bear. The long winter had caused the Bears to come out of hibernation a little later than usual and also the deep snow was a hindrance for them to cover the distance to get to their feeding site. It is a long time to spend without taking any images but I was able to set up a feeding station during the day which was attracting a number of small birds like great tits, redpolls and bullfinches. I also had some very tame Red Squirrels coming to the feeder too.
Male Bullfinch in the snow (Pyrrhula pyrrhula), Finland, April 2015
Red Squirrel in the snow (Sciurus vulgaris), Finland, April 2015
Red Squirrel in the snow (Sciurus vulgaris) , Finland, April 2015
Red Squirrel in the snow (Sciurus vulgaris) , Finland, April 2015
Red Squirrel running in the snow (Sciurus vulgaris) , Finland, April 2015
On my last night in the Bear hide I did get an eight minute session with a young male that came through. It was so exciting seeing him it felt like my first encounter with a bear. He looked so good in his winter coat and the winter conditions really set the scene. During my time in the hide I had some wonderful conditions which would have looked amazing with a bear in the scene. Ah well that’s what takes me back to Finland time and time again. I have been running trips there now for a number of years and I am going back next winter during March and April to run a Finnish winter trip and then also do a winter bear trip. Both trips are fully booked but if you would like to put your name down for 2017 then just drop me an email. Thanks to the Antti and the guys at Finnature and to Markku and his family at Martinselkonen. See you next year. Danny.
Male European Brown Bear in the snow (Ursus arctos), Finland, April 2015
Male European Brown Bear in the snow (Ursus arctos), Finland, April 2015
Male European Brown Bear in the snow (Ursus arctos), Finland, April 2015
Male European Brown Bear in the snow (Ursus arctos), Finland, April 2015
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