Today's another glorious spring day here in north Kent so as soon as I've sent this I'll be heading out to my local woods to take in the bluebells, lady's smock and wild garlic that are currently flowering. May is undoubtedly one of my favourite months of the year but, sadly, it is over all too soon! I found myself in a local community wood yesterday. I didn't take my camera; I just needed a walk and to 'get away'. I sat on a slope under some sweet chestnut looking out and down a cleared slope which had recently been coppiced. It was still and warm. Bees and hoverflies buzzed around me and I could see an orange tip flitting from one lady's smock flower to another. The said flower is the food plant of the caterpillar of this particular butterfly and when fully formed the males are quite striking with their orange wing-tips. You can view the video clip I posted on Instagram, here.
Finland's Raptors and Grouse
At the beginning of the month, I travelled to Finland's Oulu region on the west coast to research a trip I'll be holding next year in collaboration with one of the country's longest-running and most respected nature photography tour operators - Finnature. My goal was to photograph two extraordinary raptor species - goshawk and eagle owl - and the annual spectacle of lekking black grouse. In short, the trip was a huge success with grouse action and multiple opportunities during each raptor session.
Arriving in the grouse hide at dawn, it was simply a matter of waiting....and hoping!
As they strut and show off, the males make a wonderful warbling sound. Sound recording here.
My 200-400 f/4 Nikkor came in very useful here as I was able to zoom in and out according to their proximity and whether or not I wanted to include some of their environment. The D850 was as noisy as ever and I am eagerly awaiting the release of the Z8! Arh....silent mirrorless!
Aside from how numerous they are in Finland, what makes this the perfect country for photograhing the lek is that not only are you pretty much guaranteed a thick covering of snow which adds that extra special something to the photos but it also acts as a huge reflector.
With close to a dozen birds in front of me in various stages of display and combat it was difficult to know which ones to focus my attention upon! They're incredible birds and a test for any photographer. Huge fun, too!
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Although golden eagles aren't included in next year's itinerary, Finnature offered me the chance of spending a couple of sessions in their new 'luxury' hide, and boy, wasn't it just! With so many lens-holes, I was spoilt for choice!
I wouldn't normally photograph them in April as warmer weather makes their appearance less likely and you don't get the snowy conditions of winter. However, it was too good an opportunity to miss and aside from managing a few half-decent flight images it was good to see the set-up for possible inclusion in a future trip.
A couple of afternoon/night sessions in the eagle owl/goshawk hide were eagerly anticipated and proved to be extremely rewarding with numerous opportunities for both. With two side-by-side centrally heated converted caravans, there's enough room for 7 photographers. I found them to be extremely comfortable and the 14-hour sessions very easy indeed.
Within an hour a young male arrived and a cloudless blue sky provided some beautiful backlighting.
Once darkness fell and the goshawks went off to the forest to roost for the night, I switched on the lights from the caravan to illuminate the bait site and within an hour a magnificent eagle owl arrived and subsequently stayed and fed for the next 10 minutes. It then returned at 2am for 30 minutes. It really is an ingenious set-up. A usually shy and secretive species, they've been coming here for at least the last 10 years and are so accustomed to the lights they take absolutely no notice of them, and if you nod off there's a motion sensor which activates a low beeping sound within the caravan alerting you of the bird's arrival. Genius!
It's pairing-up time for the owls and each night their calls were heard, nearby, of both sexes communicating. A wonderful experience!
As the sun rose that morning, a goshawk (this time a much larger female) appeared and fed for quite some time.
As did a youngster. A very cold morning. Notice its breath.
Returning to base for breakfast. I couldn't resist.
On the afternoon of my final session, the female came back and forth so often that she gave me plenty of opportunities to 'nail' a landing shot. That dark, forest background and rim light.....
All in all, it was, as you can see, a fabulous week and their attention to detail really was second to none. If you're at all interested in joining me next April from the 7th to the 12th and would like to view details, then please click on the links below.
Download the trip description PDF
Visit the website
Snow Bears
Wild Brown Bears of Finland in Spring
A little under two weeks later I found myself in the Suomussalmi region on the opposite side of Finland. On this occasion, I was joined by a group who would spend four 14-hour sessions in hides photographing brown bears and, much to our surprise, wolverine.
Each afternoon, following an early dinner, we were transported by snowmobile-pulled trailers the 15-minute journey through forests and swamps to our hides, quite literally, in the middle of nowhere. Our nearest neighbour - Russia!
The journey itself was fantastic and far preferable to the 30-minute walk that is required to the same hides in summer! :)
Positioned overlooking a snow-covered swamp, the gas-heated hides are spacious and comfortable enough for two persons to share.
Our first evening, and within 90 minutes, a mother and her three cubs.
Due to the deep snow, this year has been particularly difficult for the new out-of-hibernating bears as it makes getting around quite difficult for them. The image, below, shows one hauling itself from the snow.
Our first session was particularly busy with one bear (below) feeling so comfortable in our presence that it laid down and (so it seemed) fell asleep for quite some time.
On and off, there was activity through the night and such are the low light capabilities of today's cameras there's no need to stop shooting! The one below, for example, was made at 3.30am and rather than trying to freeze the action I decided to work with the conditions and induce some motion blur. With the camera set to 1/4 sec at f/4 an ISO of 16000 was still required. Yes, 16000 not 1600!
Completely unexpectedly, shortly after, a wolverine appeared! The light was so poor, I had to do a double-take but there was nothing else, I reasoned, that this blob moving across the snow could be. A quick look through my binoculars confirmed that indeed it was the elusive wolverine. Numbering around just 300 in Finland as opposed to more than 2000 bears, they must be considered a very special guest and, perhaps, even the highlight of the trip.
Given how small it occupied the frame, it was important, on this occasion, to freeze it the best I could which was only made possible by ramping up the ISO to its maximum setting of 102,400 resulting in a bullet-stopping 1/30 sec! In such situations where it's all about the pictures 'feeling' I've never been one to worry about pin-sharp pixel-free images. So long as the result was sharpish and reasonably composed I'd be happy. I only hoped the rest of the group was experiencing what we were.
Fortunately for us, it came closer still.
And, later that morning...
Over the coming days, more sightings of wolverine were to come, and in better light, too, as well as some seriously cold and snowy conditions. We had it all!
Ar -14, not only were the trees covered in frost but the bears too.
Our final session and since the bears were now just beginning to visit the larger hide in the forest we decided, as a group, to spend it there and although we had less activity than on previous occasions, we did get one very memorable encounter which produced some of my favourite images from the trip. This, I think, pretty much sums up wildlife photography. A lot of waiting for, sometimes, a few moments of activity. It's what makes it so rewarding and tempts us to return time and again.
I'm taking next year off from bear photography (though I am, on occasion, inclined to change my mind!) but I'll be doing this same trip in 2025 where I have a few places remaining. For further details, please click on the link below.
Aside from a bluebell workshop which I held earlier this week and the Yorkshire Dales at the end of this month, May will be relatively quiet though I am sure to be getting out with my camera and doing some personal work. The woods and marshes are calling.....
Until then, thank you all so much for reading this, and I look forward to sharing more news with you next time.
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