Northern Finland
Taiga, taiga!
Saturday 31 May - Friday 6 June 2008 (7 days)
A short break to the fabulous taiga forests of Finland, at the best time of year for the boreal specialities. Join us for a feast of Finnish birding!
This is an unashamedly bird-oriented trip to one of Europe's prime forest wildernesses. We will be searching out the specialities in the company of a guide from Finnature, whose superb co-operative network has transformed birding in this area in the last few years.
Late May is the best time to see the northern owls, woodpeckers, and displaying grouse, and also some of the eastern forest specialities including Siberian Tit and Siberian Jay. Migrants will be pouring through the area, and arriving on their breeding grounds, with just a possibility of an early Red-flanked Bluetail. And all this on a six-night tour? Well, the nights are very short at this time of year - and we'll be making the most of the long days.
Once again we will be in the good hands of our friends from Finnature.
Late May is the best time to see the northern owls, woodpeckers, and displaying grouse, and also some of the eastern forest specialities including Siberian Tit and Siberian Jay. Migrants will be pouring through the area, and arriving on their breeding grounds, with just a possibility of an early Red-flanked Bluetail. And all this on a six-night tour? Well, the nights are very short at this time of year - and we'll be making the most of the long days.
Once again we will be in the good hands of our friends from Finnature.
Price: £ 1,695
Single supp.: £ 180
Deposit: £ 300 per person
The price is per person, and is fully inclusive of scheduled return economy-class flights London-Oulu and Kuusamo/Oulu-London, airport taxes, accommodation, all meals, minibus transport, incidental tips, and the services of the leaders.
The price excludes travel insurance, optional tip to the local guide, drinks and other personal expenses.
Manchester departures to Helsinki may be possible depending on flight schedules. Please enquire for details.
Leaders: Tim Earl and a Finnature guide
Itinerary
Days 1 - 3
We depart London mid-morning to arrive in Helsinki and connect with an afternoon flight to Oulu for a three-night stay.
The forests here are not that extensive but nevertheless attract owls. In this area they include Pygmy, Tengmalm's, Eagle, Short-eared, Hawk, Ural and Great Grey Owls. Our Finnish guide will try to find them all for us - they have actually seen them all in the same night in the past. Other birds in the forests include Hazel Grouse, Black and Three-toed Woodpeckers.
Northward migration will be in full flow at this time, with possibilities including Waxwing, Red-backed Shrike, Common Rosefinch, warblers, flycatchers, plus hordes of wildfowl and waders on the coast, and attendant White-tailed Eagles. Delightful Terek Sandpipers, in one of their very few European breeding sites, may just have arrived by this time, and Ruff will be displaying in their dramatic, colourful breeding finery.
Three nights Oulu
Days 4 - 6
Stretching in a broken belt around the northern hemisphere, the vast coniferous forest zone, generally known by its Lapp name taiga, is a wild wood of mammoth proportions and great biological riches. In Europe this great forest ribbon just stretches into Scandinavia but it is truly at its best here in the north of Finland.
Probably the best single area of taiga in Finland is at Kuusamo, next to the Russian border. This area of lakes and forested hills has long had a reputation for attracting Siberian forest birds, including Siberian Tit and Siberian Jay, the latter usually seen better in this early part of the season. This is the best place in Europe to look for Red-flanked Bluetails which sing during the early hours from the tops of conifers, but, depending on the progress of spring, we may be a little early for these. Both Little and Rustic Buntings are possible, and there is a chance of Two-barred Crossbill. Hawk Owls, at the southern edge of their range, can also be found, together with Capercaillie and Black Grouse, and we may also have the chance of visiting an Eagle Owl site.
We shall also visit some excellent Lapland "quaking" bogs, with Red-necked Grebes, Red- and Black-throated Divers on the lakes, and a good chance of the enigmatic Broad- billed Sandpiper. The peat bogs are special places, with nesting Cranes, Bean Geese, Wood Sandpiper and Temminck's Stint. We'll also listen out for the extraordinary 'hoofbeats in the sky' aerial display calls of Jack Snipe.
Three nights Kuusamo
Day 7
After a final morning at Kuusamo, we fly back to Helsinki (from Kuusamo or Oulu depending on schedules) to connect with a flight from Helsinki-London.
Accommodation: Three/four star hotels with all rooms en suite
Numbers: Max. 12 clients
Days 1 - 3
We depart London mid-morning to arrive in Helsinki and connect with an afternoon flight to Oulu for a three-night stay.
The forests here are not that extensive but nevertheless attract owls. In this area they include Pygmy, Tengmalm's, Eagle, Short-eared, Hawk, Ural and Great Grey Owls. Our Finnish guide will try to find them all for us - they have actually seen them all in the same night in the past. Other birds in the forests include Hazel Grouse, Black and Three-toed Woodpeckers.
Northward migration will be in full flow at this time, with possibilities including Waxwing, Red-backed Shrike, Common Rosefinch, warblers, flycatchers, plus hordes of wildfowl and waders on the coast, and attendant White-tailed Eagles. Delightful Terek Sandpipers, in one of their very few European breeding sites, may just have arrived by this time, and Ruff will be displaying in their dramatic, colourful breeding finery.
Three nights Oulu
Days 4 - 6
Stretching in a broken belt around the northern hemisphere, the vast coniferous forest zone, generally known by its Lapp name taiga, is a wild wood of mammoth proportions and great biological riches. In Europe this great forest ribbon just stretches into Scandinavia but it is truly at its best here in the north of Finland.
Probably the best single area of taiga in Finland is at Kuusamo, next to the Russian border. This area of lakes and forested hills has long had a reputation for attracting Siberian forest birds, including Siberian Tit and Siberian Jay, the latter usually seen better in this early part of the season. This is the best place in Europe to look for Red-flanked Bluetails which sing during the early hours from the tops of conifers, but, depending on the progress of spring, we may be a little early for these. Both Little and Rustic Buntings are possible, and there is a chance of Two-barred Crossbill. Hawk Owls, at the southern edge of their range, can also be found, together with Capercaillie and Black Grouse, and we may also have the chance of visiting an Eagle Owl site.
We shall also visit some excellent Lapland "quaking" bogs, with Red-necked Grebes, Red- and Black-throated Divers on the lakes, and a good chance of the enigmatic Broad- billed Sandpiper. The peat bogs are special places, with nesting Cranes, Bean Geese, Wood Sandpiper and Temminck's Stint. We'll also listen out for the extraordinary 'hoofbeats in the sky' aerial display calls of Jack Snipe.
Three nights Kuusamo
Day 7
After a final morning at Kuusamo, we fly back to Helsinki (from Kuusamo or Oulu depending on schedules) to connect with a flight from Helsinki-London.
Accommodation: Three/four star hotels with all rooms en suite
Numbers: Max. 12 clients