Winter birding in Varanger is an Eider spectacle: Steller´s Eiders, King Eiders and Common Eiders are present in tens of thousands. They share much of the same areas, but the various species have different preferences. Typically the King eider favour the rougher seas. In general they stay further out then the Common eiders, prefering deeper waters. They also like the northern part of the Varanger Peninsula very much, with Båtsfjord harbour as a prime location to experience them at close range. The Stellers Eiders prefer more shallow waters, and have their favoured places from Ekkerøy to Vadsø and Nesseby - Inner Varanger fjord. The large rafts of Common Eiders are found mostly from Ekkerøy (mid Varanger Fjord) to Vardø, outer Varanger Fjord. However all species are found all around the Varanger Peninsula, often in semi-mixed flocks. In winter and early spring finding them is a very easy task.
Common Eiders and Steller´s Eiders surfing the waves in gale force winds, photo taken from the Biotope office 28.02.2012.
Lately we have found ourselves doing too much time working and little time birding. We have many projects going on both in Finnmark and other parts of Norway. All bird-related, of course, ranging from mapping and analysing to exhibition design and bird hide / wind shelter projects. This is why we live in Varanger: we are surrounded by spectacular birdlife, so even if the work days are long we can enjoy great nature experiences from our office window.
Photo above from Biotope office window, taken with Nikon d300s + 50mm F1.4
29 February 2012
17 February 2012
Stabbursnes Wind Shelter - bird conservation & promotion
We have designed a series of bird hides and wind shelters that will be built in 2012. We design these hides with weather conditions, sight lines, users and nature promotion in mind. We basically engage in those projects that are truly worth promoting, and Stabbursnes nature reserve and nature trail is such a project. It is situated in inner Porsanger fjord, in central Finnmark. A well known site for Norwegian birders: This is the only place in Norway where you with near 100% certainty will see the critically endagered bird species Lesser White-fronted Goose.
Birdlife Norway (Norsk Ornitologisk Forening / NOF) have for more then 20 years kept a close watch on the development of the Lesser White-fronted geese at Stabbursnes in Finnmark. One of the last breeding sites in Europe. Every year in May on spring migration
13 February 2012
GULLFEST 2012 - INFO på norsk / in norwegian
Grunnet flere forespørsler serverer vi nå all GullFest-informasjon på norsk i denne artikkelen
Due to several requests we now provide all GullFest-information in norwegian in the article below.
GullFest 2012 - Verdens første arktiske fuglefestival
Biotope har tatt initiativ til en aldri så liten innovasjon i fugleverdenen - en arktisk måkefestival: GullFest! (måke = gull på engelsk, uttales ´gøll´). Fra 13-17 April 2012 vil vi arrangere verdens første arktiske fuglefestival, med Varangers unike fugleliv som hovedattraksjon! Dette er et samarbeidsprosjekt mellom flere parter, med støtte fra Direktoratet for Naturforvaltnings Naturarv-prosjekter til Destinasjon Varanger og Vardø Friluftsforening som lokal organisator. Dette er en hybrid av et prosjekt: det er både festival, fagseminar, natur- og destinasjonspromotering og en web-event! Vi har gjennom mye arbeid fått med oss nøkkelpersoner i den internasjonale fugleverdenen. Martin Garner / Birding Frontiers er en av festivalens internasjonale medspillere. Han vil være både festivalguide samt stå for en svært spennende foredragserie. Tristan Reid fra den britiske podcasten (nettradioen) ´Talking Naturally´ (dette er BBC for fuglekikkere!) vil både holde foredrag og kringkaste på verdensveven under hele festivalen. Ellers blir det mange engasjerende foredrag, blant annet av Nils Van Duivendijk (Nederland) - en pionér innen artsbestemmelse av fugler. Han har skrevet ´Advanced Bird ID Guide´, en bok som ble en anerkjent klassiker umiddelbart etter utgivelse. På GullFest blir det foredrag og lysbildevisninger for både erfarne feltornitologer og måse- og titting-tittere (som det heter i nord)!
Det er mye snakk om nordområdene for tiden, med nye muligheter innen olje, gass og shipping. Vårt mål er å sette fugler og natur på kartet! Varanger har lenge vært kjent blant fuglekikkere som en fugledestinasjon i verdensklasse - og med god grunn. Her møter Golfstrømmen arktiske farvann, og i den østvendte og grunne Varangerfjorden finnes et yrende liv. Dette er intakt natur med fisk i havet og fugl i lufta! Bli med på GullFest 2012:
05 February 2012
Varanger in winter / early spring - info on birds, sites, accommodation
We get quite a lot of requests from birders that are planning trips to Varanger this winter / early spring. Varanger has been rated one of the top 100 birding destinations in the world - but locally no one has, until quite recently, paid any attention to these qualities, but this is improving rapidly! I very much appreciate emails and with both feedback and questions from birders, and I try to respond to all mails as best I can. To make your research a little easier, I have put together a short (or long - depending on your bird interest level..) article with some advice and on birds, sites, accommodation and more for a winter or early spring visit to Varanger (V-Fjord / Peninsula + Pasvik / South Varanger). It is based on mails I have written in reply to birder and bird photographers requests.
Above: -Steller´s Eiders - a Varanger winter / early spring speciality (digiscoped, by the way)
- Northern lights (Aurora borealis) in february, over the high tundra, Varanger
With our website we aim to present our engagements as architects and birders living in Varanger (we work on pro nature projects all over Norway). To a large extent this includes
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