Best of Finland & Arctic Norway

Northern Hawk Owl © Finnature

Finland offers the ideal gateway to experience the very best of Scandinavian birding in magnificent pristine Arctic Lapland during the vibrant spring, which fuels a spectacular explosion of Arctic life. Designed with local experts, our trip allows us to enjoy the much sought-after Arctic breeders from the vast Taiga forests and lakes to the exciting colorful tundra. In Northern Norway we will enjoy the Land of the Midnight Sun and bird the famous Varanger Peninsula cliffs alive with breeding seabirds. Helsinki provides a completely different mix of species, especially later migrants in extremely birdy estuaries, diverse agricultural areas, and lush deciduous broadleaf forest. We will experience first-hand the magic of spring advancing north followed by the mass migration of countless songbirds, shorebirds, waterbirds, and seabirds heading to this beautiful corner of Arctic Europe. Very good photographic opportunities.

Lapland is a tremendous wilderness, with a mix of stunning landscapes, home to countless birds and animals which seem to have little fear of humans. Offering many of Eastern Europe’s most sought-after Arctic breeders, highlights will include a plethora of up to eight species of breeding owls and a superb selection of woodpeckers and many lekking grouse. The boreal forests are blessed with an astonishing array of Arctic songbirds in breeding plumage, their melodious songs ringing throughout the forested valleys. Northern Norway offers vast tundra, rich fjords, and spectacular sea cliffs alive with countless thousands of breeding seabirds and wonderful sea ducks.

We will enjoy a variety of habitats from the vast Siberian Taiga forest of eastern Finland to secluded lakes and mires, remote northern tundras, and impressive sea cliffs on offshore islands off the tip of northern Norway along its famous Varanger Fjord. Here the North Atlantic drift carries the warm, rich Gulf Stream this far north, resulting in an exceptionally high biological productivity and an incredible abundance of sea life.

In spring the vast Taiga forests hold many avian treasures, including some of Europe’s most charismatic owls and no less than 5 grouse species. We will enjoy such megas as Ural Owl, Great Gray Owl, Northern Hawk Owl, Eurasian Pygmy-Owl, Boreal Owl, and more—all during the daytime! A stellar lineup of lekking grouse should include the incomparable Western Capercaillie, Hazel and Black grouse, and Willow and Rock ptarmigan. Woodpeckers include the mighty Black and elusive Eurasian Three-toed. Other specialties are Eurasian Woodcock; Siberian Jay; Gray-headed Chickadee; Blue, Crested,and Great tits; Parrot Crossbill; Bohemian Waxwing; Red-flanked Bluetail; Bluethroat; Fieldfare; Redwing; Pied Flycatcher; Brambling; Eurasian Bullfinch; and many interesting warblers and colorful buntings.

Successive ice ages and the cold climate have led to the formation of a wide range of peatland and wetland habitats. Finland is reputed to be the Land of a Thousand Lakes but, in fact, the country has tens of thousands of lakes, most of them small and shallow, excellent for abundant waterfowl, shorebirds, and raptors such as Common Crane, Great Bittern hiding in the reedbeds, Whooper Swan, an assortment of geese, Smew, Garganey, Horned and Great Crested grebes, up to 3 species of harriers, and exquisite lekking male Ruffs in their stunning breeding plumage. Several other neat breeders here on the tundra include Rough-legged Hawk, Long-tailed Jaeger, Eurasian Dotterel, Black-tailed Godwit, rare Terek sandpipers, incomparable Red-necked Phalarope, Jack Snipe, Spotted Redshank, Wood Sandpiper, European Golden-Plover, and Temminck's Stint.

A trip highlight will be our visit to the fabulous seabird colonies at Hornøya Island and their non-stop action from around 150,000 birds! The rich waters of the Barents Sea provide food and safety for seabirds and many ducks. Here we can enjoy close-up studies of Atlantic Puffins, Black-legged Kittiwakes, European Shags, Brünnich's and Black guillemots, thousands of Common Murres, and Razorbills. The skies are home to marauding jaegers, as well as immense White-tailed Eagles and, with luck, the true master of the air, the magnificent Gyrfalcon. We will search secluded bays and fjords amongst Common Eiders and Long-tailed Ducks for colorful King and Steller’s eiders; Yellow-billed, Arctic, and Red-throated loons; and both Velvet and Common scoters.

Visiting the lush south will provide opportunities for a different set of birds and some later arriving summer migrants, and hopefully some rarities, too. Highlights could include Montagu's Harrier; Gray-headed Woodpecker; Broad-billed Sandpiper; River, Icterine, Marsh, Garden, Wood, and Greenish warblers; Blyth's Reed Warbler and Thrush Nightingale (with beautiful songs); Red-backed Shrike; Citrine Wagtail; Bearded Reedling (rare); Red-breasted Flycatcher; and shy Hawfinch.

Accommodations and food good throughout; easy birding with road transport by comfortable minibus and roads mostly good; walking in general fairly easy, sometimes over uneven terrain and with only one or two fairly long walks; long daylight hours tend to result in long days in the field; mild, rather variable climate with temperatures ranging from cold (a late spring), cool to warm in central and southern Finland, generally cool to cold (especially if it's windy) in far northern Finland and Norway; generally sunny weather but in periods can alternate with rainy, overcast weather (it may even snow at higher altitudes in the north).

Capercaillie © Andrew Whittaker