Pushing the Boundaries RELOADED - talking at the Rutland Birdfair 2013!

In January and February 2013 me and Martin Garner went on a tour around UK, giving talks at 10 bird clubs in 14 days. What a road trip! In our different ways we both hoped to promote birding and talk about some projects that proved that birding is quite possibly the coolest enterprise ever. In all modesty. We were both amazed by all the great people we met on the road. In day time we birded nature reserves and other hotspots with old and new friends, in the evenings we where met by welcoming people at the bird clubs. I think we must have met something close to a 1000 birders on our tour! 

Since my early years as a young birder, in the 1990s, I have basically been raised on British birding litterature. One of my favourite books was the ´Rare Birds´ guide, illustrated by Ian Lewington. On the Pushing the Boundaries Tour I got the chance to see a lot of cool places, but the people we met is what really stands out! And that Brown-bellied Dipper I had to chase unexpectedly hard to find, and of course that 111-species-in-day bird race in Norfolk. Great birding, great people!

Now the RSPB (The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) have asked me and Martin to give our Pushing the Boundaries Talks on the Rutland Birdfair, at the RSPB Birders Lecture. Friday evening, first day of Birdfair. In the Events marquee. 550 seats. That is a pretty big wow! Now we hope to fill the marquee with birders, and we promise to upgrade and fine tune our talks with even better birder niceness for this event! 

From Rutland Birdfair 2012: an amazing event celebrating birds and nature. How cool it is to see so many people enjoying it. Its like the birding world migrated to the same little hotspot, for information, for inspiration and to connect. Close to 25 000 bird and nature enthusiasts visit Rutland Birdfair!

Me and Martin on tour in february 2013. Birding and bird clubbing. Check out Martins Pushing the Boundaries Reloaded intro.

Pushing the Boundaries Talk: So what is it about?!

Birds, of course. 

Some of the coolest birds on the planet actually. 

As it is for both Martin and me, birds and birding is a source of endless inspiration! For me birding has become a full time enterprise. With a twist. For four years I have now run what I think is the only bird focused architectural practise in the world. I have not heard of any other architects working full time with bird projects yet (but I hope this will improve). My Pushing the Boundaries Talk is about how me and my wife, against much "good" advice moved north to the fishing town Vardø in arctic Norway, to set up an architectural practise that worked with pro bird and nature proejcts only.

Varanger is a well known birding destination and for the past few years we have made it even more known, both internationally and locally. It has been and continues to be a great adventure being birding archtiects based in Varanger. 

Arctic birding. A small family business with a plan to make a difference.

Being a birding architect is much more then just designing buildings, it is about enganging with people! Making new things happen is a great reward. The world of birding have such a wide range of amazing people and things happening. The Birdfair itself is proof of a community of both magnitude and variety. We have bird art, bird festivals, bird sound recordists, bird science, bird identification specialists, bird tour companies, bird conservation, and so much more. We wanted to contribute to the world of birding by means of architecture. To do so we had to prove our value, by engaging with both the international birding community and by making a  solid difference where we live. Join the Pushing the Boundaries Talk and hear about this story.

Birding architecture in progress, from stealth type bird photo hides, to wind shelters to combined bird towers and outdoor amphi-theaters. We design, protoype, build and make it happen.

A lot of people see Che Guevera as a change maker worthy of iconic status, and of course mass spreading on T-shirts. We aim to make the über cool Steller´s Eider the Che Guevara of Varanger. Pro nature revolution by birding!

Bird street art: For that little arctic birding revolution we needed more birders, and being impatient, we just started making them. 

Pushing the Boundaries: Isles of Scilly & Becoming birder architects

So how do you go about becoming a birder architect? Well you start by convincing your architect girlfriend that birding really is very normal and even a very cool thing. In 2006, having just met Elin at the architect school, we just had to go somewhere exiting, to prove that not only was birding a big thing but also worth our focus as architects. Remembering how the Isles of Scilly seemed to feature in almost every page of the 1990s classic ´Rare Birds´ guide book, I figured there could be not better place to go! We spent 3 weeks in October 2007 on Scilly. A superb experience, and this is where we hatched our plans to become birder architects! 

Scilly birding: We spent a lot of time birding, and we where both amazed by the number of birders around. Like phylloscopus warblers they popped out behind every bush on the island. Walkie talkies was sparkling all over the place and the ´huit´ calls was always the latest bird info passing around. 

We even found ourselves a very cool Blackpoll Warbler, and we were both a little overwhelmed by the scenes of heavy local birder migration the following hour at the Lower Moors on Scilly. Check out the short video clip we took of birders rushing in to see ´our´ Blackpoll Warbler (a low res video, but pretty cool still). I think about 300+ people arrived within 20 minutes.  

A long story short: The Isles of Scilly proved to be a potent experience. We met a lot of great people, saw some very cool birds and places and we both agreed that we should pursue a career as birder architects. Sorted. 

We hope to see you at the Birdfair

With that brief intro I am very glad to be able to invite all birders coming to the Birdfair to join mine and Martins talks at the Events marquee on Friday at 16.15 o´clock. We promise Martins inspirational stories from the frontiers in bird id and birding and my story of how birding can change a place. It will be some cool stories of birds and people aiming to make a difference. 

From the Arctic I will present some architecture dedeicated to birders

the scenaries

the inspirational people who make things happen

and of course some very cool birds!

Grand thanks to all the good birders & bird clubs that hosted our talks in January and February, and thanks to the keen birders at RSPB for making this happen. Hope to see you all, and meet new friends, at the Birdfair this August! to be continued..

Best wishes 

Tormod A. / architect & birder, based in Varanger / Arctic Norway

Touring UK - the Iphone road movie

Pushing the Boundaries Tour - the Movie

During my 15 days tour with Martin Garner around UK, I recorded a series of video clips with my Iphone. I had a very simple idea: Instead of recording masses of video from the tour, I would simply record a few seconds long moments every now and then. So here it is - 150 moments avarage 2.8 seconds condensed to 7 minutes. A speedy glimpse of our tour around UK, visiting bird clubs, giving talks, meeting new people and birding. Not any kind of masterpiece but it gives a relatively good idea of how the tour was. It is an all Iphone production. Hope you enjoy :) 

Also check it out at our youtube chanel

A series of Iphone video fragments recorded on tour, and edited on my way home. Basic and doable during a hectic tour around Britain (Iphone screenshots above). 

Touring UK

This tour have been a fantastic experience, and a more personally engaging experience then I expected. As I have spoken of in our talks at the numerous bird clubs we have visited, I really own much of my birding knowledge and enthusiasm to English bird litterature - being practically raised on it! During this tour the highlights have been many! Meeting so many engaged birders is a privilegie. There are too many meetings to name them all, but meeting Ian Lewington certainly stands out for me. Simply because the Rare Birds book from 1991 sparked my interest in birds outside Europe. As a young birder I read this book, and studied its art in detail. It widened my horizon. Visiting Ian now and seeing his art in progress today was great. Simply amazing work! Birding with new birders all the time was fantastic too. Seeing new places and talking birds with new people non stop for 15 days was brilliant. Being in a place where phrases like "the abietinus is really the Baltic Gull of the warbler world" is part of a normal conversation is good (thats Martins phrase, by the way). I wish to thank all the bird clubs who hosted our evening talks, and all the kind birders we stayed at - grand thanks for your hospitality! During my talks I also spoke of an amazing visit to the Scilly Isles in 2008 - a trip that strengthened me an Elins ambitions to be pro bird architects. Talking to so many birders after our talks have also been a great experience. So many encouraging words and good ideas have been shared. Thanks all!

Also touring with Martin have been a brilliant experience. We connected early in 2010, when I wrote Martin a mail about a strange looking Bean Goose I had photographed in Varanger (probably an eastern type, ssp middendorfii-ish kind of bird). We have stayed in contact ever since. I really admire the openess and inquisitive approach of Martins Birding Frontiers concept. He proves over and over again that new discoveries is within reach - it is all about your own perceptions and eagerness to learn more. Being two rather entrepeneurial birder types on the road has been a great experience! Sharing ideas and fine tuning concepts over so many hours have been the on-the-road privilegie! Thanks Martin! Much more to come... Meanwhile, do check out the Birding Frontiers blog for an eyeopener in the world of birding.

Talking 

The Pushing the Boundaries Tour was an idea that me and Martin have been talking about for a while. The idea was simply to make an extended event, a tour, and share stories of birds, people, discoveries, conservation work and new and innovative approaches to birding. I have shared my story from Varanger / Arctic Norway. This is where I live and work, and run the pro bird architectural office Biotope. Varanger is without a doubt one of the worlds birding hot spots, and certainly the easiest accesible arctic birding destination in the world. In my talks I have told stories from the work with the development of this amazing destination. No birding destination just exists, it is built, with infrastructure, bird guides, local nature awareness, mapping and loads of enthusiasm from locals and visitors. During our tour in the UK I have also met several of the british birders who are contributing to the building of Varanger as a birding destination. Among them the Brewood Ringers (photo above) who have made the Nesseby Ringing Scheme possible. I have also spoken much of the locals in Varanger, and how people like Ørjan Hansen in Båtsfjord, fisherman gone bird guide, have made a great impact in Varanger and for visiting birders. I have talked about Varanger gardens, of the kind with grenades and Snow Buntings. I have also shown a series of photos of unique arctic bird life (f.ex the Phalarope story and the fighting Puffins). I am very happy for all the encouraging comments from birders we have met about our birder architecture projects - both mapping and bird hide designs. I hope to meet many of the birders we have talked to during the past weeks in Varanger at some point. Or perhaps in the UK. I will certainly be back! It has been very inspirational.

Back in Varanger

Two busy weeks on tour in UK was grand, but being back is fantastic. I made little attempt to hide my enthusiasm for Varanger in winter and early spring. February is one of my favourite birding months in Varanger. The light is simply spectacular and the birding is fantastic too. Just got back from a  walk in the harbour (photo above fromyesterday). The Stellers Eiders, King Eiders and flocks of Gulls are enjoing life in the harbour.  
The photo below is taken yesterday just after sunset at 15.00, from the mainland, with a view towards Vardø island. A pretty cool place to live, work and bird!

Thanks all! 
We are in the mood for action: next project is the Gullfest 2013!

To be continued...

Tormod A. / Biotope

Birding Britain - two weeks on the road

We have now been on road for two weeks with the ´Pushing the Boundaries Tour´. We have enjoyed some very cool birding, met so many enthusiastic birders and seen new places. For me it has been a crash course in Britain. My previous UK experiences are two early school years trips to Britain, with little birding in it. And an amazing three week visit to the Scilly Isles in 2008, which was a key ingredient in me and Elins choice to start the adventure that would lead to us setting up the Biotope office - the first ever architectural office dedicated to birding. Being on tour in Britain for these past two weeks have been an amazing experience! Below follows a few photos and thoughts as the tour comes close to and end.

We have not really had time to do that much birding on tour. We have almost met more birders then birds. I had a few target birds when I arrived UK. Two of them being the Red Grouse and the Brown-bellied Dipper. Both subspecies I have not previously seen. And what beauties! I guess a lot of people travel north, having a ´White´ Grouse on their wish list , for me seeing a red one was equally amazing. The Dipper was a bird I had to put in a little extra work to get, but finally after a checking a few kilometers of river streams I was rewarded with three of these distinctively different birds. A very smart looking bird, with its warm brown-red earth colours. Some surprises also followed. A new bird for me was Caspian Gull. So gull watching is very different in UK and Varanger. I would say watching gulls in a fishing harbor has a slightly more picturesque feel to it, but birds are birds, and a Caspian on a dump is still great! Then we invented the term Chiffchaffing, meaning looking through Chiff Chaffs trying to find a Siberian Chiff Chaff of the subspecies ´tristis´. Another great experience which Martin wrote about on his blog. 

Birding is not same same as a general interest in or love of nature, it goes slightly beyond that. You go where the birds are, and if that is not an escpecially beautifull site, you can still have an amazing experience. We have visited several dumps during our tour, and been rewarded with some very cool birding. Such as seeing the Gull variety: Caspian Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull ssp argenteus & argentatus, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Yellow-legged Gull and Common Gull, possibly even Russian type ´heinei´ Common Gull. Right photo above is of the Milton Tip in Cambridgeshire. Great birding. Left photo above is from the spectacularly beautifull fields and wetlands of the Norfolk coast. Thousands of ducks and geese winter here, and we had great views of a wide variety of species. More great birding.

UK - the homeland of birding

Meeting so many birders across UK have been a real privilege! The people we have met on this tour have all made the Pushing the Boundaries Tour a real adventure for us. Thanks to all of you! The great thing about being a birder is that you meet and connect with people, where ever in the world you go - especially in Britain. Birders make a differende - ´A force to reckoned with´ is the right frase, I feel. It has been a true inspiration meeting the digiscopers, the reserve wardens, the tour operators, the bloggers, the twitchers and many, many more! 

Thinking outside the box

Lots of birders count their species. As a birder / architect I also tick bird hides! I have already a quite large library of bird hide photos, and this has grown even more on this trip. Finding new inspiration, and always looking into how bird hide design can be improved is one of my favorite topics. It is one of the key things we work with at the Biotope office: how to improve architecture for birders. Britain probably have more hides than any other country, so in this respect it was a fruitful tour. Still, as in Norway, there is potential for improving the designs. At our talks on this tour I have shown photos and spoke of how new bird hide design can improve our birding, and even invite more people to the birding scene. 

   

On our tour we have tried a variety of hides, from the standardized box hides, to the one of a kind Titchwell hide to the simpler, but equally functional screen hides. I will make a more in-depth article on hides soon. This is a topic that is worth researching and describing much more. The amounts of hides that are build is amazing, and evidence of a birding scene with the impact and power to promote birds and nature. However this is also a frontier to be developed. To be continued…

On the road

During this tour I have filmed a series of short cuts with my iPhone. Approx 100 three to six seconds clips will be edited down to a short Pushing the Boundaries movie. To be released very soon. It is an all phone production, giving a glimpse into the tour on the road. 

It has been hectic and inspiring. Grand thanks to all the birders we have met on the road! In the end our scheme was bound to be revealed. Andrew Chick of the Lincolnshire Bird Club connected the dots, and revealed the Curlew plot :)

Well - what an adventure it has been! Need a little power-nap after this tour. Thanks all! Hope to be back soon. 

to be continued..

Tormod A. / Biotope

Pushing the Boundaries Tour - birds & people on the road

We are on the road touring the UK with the ´Pushing the Boundaries bird club talks´. So far we have given talks at 3 bird clubs / groups, and we still have the 7 to go. Already meeting so many inspirational people and seeing new places, and new birds!

For me a big highlight is close encounters with the Red Grouse - very different from our Varanger ´white´ Grouse. I expected the Grouse to be a more rare bird, but surely as Martin promised this would be an easy tick. Within an hours drive we had seen more then 100 of these beauties. The female above posed for a while for a very exited guy from arctic Norway!

They were not difficult to find...

We are also getting lots of nice feedback on our talks, and meeting all the UK birders is an inpiring experience for an arctic birder. Though the weather is not treating us nicely - by UK standards that is. Two talks have been postponed due to heavy snow. 

The definition of heavy snow...

Change of plans - UK birders are adaptable :)

The term ´heavy snow´ still have a very different meaning in Britain then in Varanger. This is a scene from the beautifull landscape above Sheffield yesterday.

I guess this is what we call heavy snow in Varanger. Drivable, but any more then this and we give up too...

Birding in the UK is different too, but birds are birds and I am certainly up for an urban Gullfest! From downtown Sheffield factory area.

Another bird highlight for me: a very stylish looking 1st winter Caspian Gull! Iphonescoped by the way. A bird yet to be seen in Varanger. I feel more prepared to see one after this experience, and after Martins Gull Masterclass on Monday 28th of January, probably even more so!

And we are also meeting other locals. A rarity in Varanger - the Robin. 

On tour : Martin Garner / Birding Frontiers & Tormod Amundsen / Biotope 

Stay tuned :)

Tormod A. / Biotope

Birds & People - touring Britain with Birding Frontiers

Birding Frontiers & Biotope presents : Pushing the boundaries tour!

For the next two weeks Martin Garner / Birding Frontiers and I, Tormod / Biotope, will tour a series of bird clubs in Britain. I am really looking forward to this little adventure! We are visiting bird clubs in the evenings and bird sites and nature reserves in day time. Surely it will be inspiring meeting many birders and seeing new places! For me Britain is the homeland of birding. Maybe it has a lot to do with the fact that most books I read growing up was bird books in English language! In Norway birding has not (yet!) become a big thing, but in Britain is seems so, well, natural. I guess it helps being a couple of millions doing it! 

Biotope is a result of my and Elins decision to work with pro nature projects. As architects and birders we saw a potential for bringing the architectural skills to the world of birding. Much too often architecture happens at the expence of nature. We wanted to be the pro nature architects, engaging in projects that highlight and promote birds and nature. When we where deciding on where to live when being pro bird & nature architects there really was little discussion. Three years ago we packed our bags and moved to the finest arctic birding destination in the world: Varanger, Arctic Norway!

The past three years have been a great adventure - of meeting people, of collaborations, of discovering, hard work - and some extraordinary birding! I will do my best to share these stories from Varanger with the birders we meet on our tour. 

Since I wrote an email to Martin some years ago asking for ID advice on an odd looking possible eastern type Bean Goose, we have stayed in touch and even collaborated on projects such as Gullfest. I cant wait to hear new stories from Martin on this tour! I am sure all who have joined a talk with Martin or gone birding with him agrees that his knowledge and enthusiasm makes good even better! Check out Martins ´Pushing the boundaries Tour´ intro, with much more details on all the places we visit, and links to the bird clubs hosting the talks. With the Pushing the Boundaries tour we aim to present engaging new stories and innovative approaches to birding.  

Below is a little taste from the coming talk by Biotope

Stories from Varanger - a nature destination in the making

Birder power!  

Birdig always bring surprises, and Varanger is the hottest place in the arctic for rarities. We are at the outer limits of Europe, and there is so much more still to be discovered. More about that on tour..

The arctic ocean is rich in fish - and birds. The local fishermen and guys at the fishery are our good friends! Like birders they appreciate productive nature. We birders may have a lot of specialist knowledge about Gulls, but these are the guys you talk to if you want to make a Gullfest! 

Birdng to the people: Gullfest 2012 - the worlds first arctic birding festival. Among a series of keynote speakers, Martin delivered inspiring talks that captivated both visiting birders and locals alike. Photos from the Gullfest base camp. 

Varanger is in the making: bird hides and wind shelters are being built at strategic sites. This is architecture dedicated to birders, both for visiting hard core birders and the nature enthusiasts of Varanger! It is also a statement of the value of the regions rich and unique birdlife. In Varanger birders are making an impact! 

By the way: There is a lot happening in the north at the moment. For those who are interested in an arctic adventure check out the Gullfest 2013 event:
Gullfest 2013 intorduction, with advice on Gullfest travel and accomodation in Varanger 

Please feel free to join me and Martin on one of the bird clubs on this tour for more stories on birds and birding.

Check out the tour map. We hope to see you at one of the bird clubs:

Follow Martin on twitter @BirdingFrontier & Tormod @BiotopeOffice for updates on the road!

Looking very much forward to meeting you all on the Pushing the Boundaries tour!

Tormod A. / Biotope

GULLFEST 2013 - introducing the arctic bird festival

We have the pleasure to invite you to take part in the worlds only arctic birding festival - GULLFEST 2013 - in Varanger, arctic Norway. Join us in Vardø, outer Varangerfjord:

Thursday the 21st to Monday the 25th of March, 2013. 

Latest news from the Gullfest organisers, pr March 1st :

We are launching a news update very soon on www.biotope.no 

Grand news: World class bird / nature artists Ian Lewington and Darren Woodhead are talking and exhibiting at Gullfest. We cant wait to see their work and take on Varanger.

More news to come with the program launch very soon!

We also just got news that the hotel in Vardø have many more rooms to offer, due to a building company just cancelling their room reservations during Gullfest. Meaning more room for birders! Welcome to Varanger and the Gullfest event. 

We also have two places left on the Taiga Adventure, the Gullfest prologue. Read more below. 

For more info on travel and accomodation check out the Gullfest travel and acco-article

Gullfest 2013 is timed to meet some of the finest birding the arctic has to offer. 

Late March in Varanger combines the best of winter and early spring birding. The huge rafts of wintering arctic seaducks are an amazing sight. A 5000 individuals strong raft of King Eiders is always breathtaking. The world rarity Stellers Eider also have their stronghold in the shallow Varanger Fjord. During Gullfest you will have great opportunities to study these beautifull birds at close range. In late March great numbers of alcids have returned to the Hornøya bird cliff and the waters around Vardø island. 100 000 seabirds make the Hornøya bird cliff one of the densest inhabitet places in northeastern Norway. Even armed with no more then a mobile phone you can do some very fine bird photography. Puffins are fighting over territories whilst Glaucous Gulls reach their peak numbers in late March. 

Gullfest - the arctic birding highlight of 2013

This event is still in its starting phase. It is an event in the making, just like Varanger itself is evolving as a birding destination. It is still a relatively small scale enterprise, and it is safe to say that every birder and nature enthusiast joining Gullfest will make a difference. We are still fine tuning the program and adding new events, keynote speakers and more. Check out coming posts on the Biotope website for more info during the coming weeks. We got more niceness planned than can be described in this introduction article.

We have widened our local collaborations, and are now very happy to have the support of the local Vardø Hotel. They will provide nice accomodation prices for Gullfest participants. They will provide room for the talks, and serve ecxellent local food at the Gullfest base camp on Hasselnes. An exhibition at the hotel will showcase art, photography and much more, specially designed for the Gullfest. More information to come soon. 

We are also collaborating with the guys at local fishery, and several of the Vardø resident fishermen. No doubt we will make a better Gullfest with the support of these great guys! They surely made the Gullfest 2012 base camp a lively place with the nearby chumming from fishing vessels. This year we will do both chumming and hopefully be able to provide trips with fishing vessels too. We aim to make a festival for the gulls too...

Tickets to the Gullfest can be bought through our friends at Vardø Hotel (contact info) from Thursday 10th of January. We have set the price at 750 Norwegian kroner (= 100 Euro / 83 GBP / 135 $). We have also been fortunate to get support from our regional Destination company Destination Varanger (www.varanger.com) and the official Northern Norway portal (www.nordnorge.com). With their help we are able to invite keynote speakers and bird guides, and they also support our ringing scheme. All effort and support will go into the making of Gullfest. Stay tuned! Still - as with Gullfest 2012 the good company and participation of everyone really makes the Gullfest a great event.

The Gullfest 2013 ticket will include the following niceness (+more being planned):

- Free admission to all the Gullfest talks / workshops. World leading birders will provide us all with new knowledge and inspiring talks.

- Free lunch at the base camp, served Friday, Saturday and Sunday (made by brilliant chef Tor Emil from Vardø Hotel).

- Free guided trip to Hornøya bird cliff

- Free use of the new photo hides in Vardø (harbour photo hide, Purple Sandpiper dedicated hide, and more)

-Free access to all base camp activities and fascilities, included the Gull ringing scheme.

-We will provide info and advice on birds to see, sites to visit, booking of accomodation, rental cars, etc. In short we will make sure that you are included and provided with the information to make this a great event for you and your friends.

-Freely Join on-site mini-workshops / talks like ´Redpolls of the Arctic´ , ´Gull identification´ and more to come.

-We will have several feeding sites set up in advance. The extent of this will be determined by how many birders that will join Gullfest, but we hope to be able to attract both passerines, gulls and birds of prey. 

-There will be additional activities that you can join for bargain prices, such as ´Dog-sled Taiga trips´, ´King Eider safaris´, ´Arctic Seaduck photography from floating photo hides´, ´High Tundra snow mobile trips´ and more to come. (Limited placecs, if you want to take part in any of these aditional activities, contact us directly on: tormod@biotope.no).

By the way: within January 10th we will post an article with more info on travel, accomodation etc. We have spent days researching the best travel options, making sure that you can travel in a very economic and convenient manner. You will be surprised to see how cheap an arctic adventure can be. We will also provide those of you who book Gullfest tickets with the best possible advice on everything from the variety of accomodation in Varanger, possibilities of travel and car rentals. More to come soon. 

- If you have proposals for events or talks or maybe something we have not thought of, please let us know. The program is still under development, and we aim to make the Gullfest a very memorable adventure for all!

Welcome to a unique winter / early spring experience in Varanger, Arctic Norway!

Vardø is the easternmost point in Norway. We are also well inside the arctic circle, far north and within the arctic climate zone. We welcome you to a true arctic birding experience, with the convenience of being easily accessible and with all fascilities and infrastructure in place. This photo was taken in early January flying over Vardø. The Barents Sea is one of the most productive waters in the world, and the perfect place for an arctic bird festival.

Vardø town seen from Hornøya bird cliff. Vardø island is separated by the mainland by the very bird rich Bussesundet. We will arrange boat trips to see the large rafts of King Eiders that typically favour these areas.  In Vardø everything is within walking distance. The Gullfest talks, dinners and evening events will be held at Vardø Hotel, with views of Vardø harbour. The hotel is the big building in the centre with many windows facing the harbour. In winter and early spring lots of birds concentrate in the inner harbour. Here they are sheltered from wind and waves and the local fishing industry always provide some scraps and leftovers for the seaducks and seals. We can promise great wildlife experiences from the dinner table! Have a look at the Vardø harbour eiders article from late February 2012.

A quick Gullfest rewind:

In mid April 2012 we arranged the first ever Gullfest in Vardø. The event was a fantastic experience. It was a mix of spectacular birding, great talks and engagement from both visiting birders and locals. Gullfest 2012 was launched in late january, and only two months later it all happened in big meet of positive pro nature energy. The event was pulled of thanks to the great contributions from all participants. Based on feedback from the first Gullfest we now aim to take off again - in a better and bigger fashion. While for the first Gullfest we had three Gull ringers we now have a team of 12 ringers that will make the Gullfest ringing scheme both very accessible and scientifically valuable. This year we will surely set the record for ringed Glaucous Gulls in mainland Norway. For those who want to closely study the wing tip patterns of northern argentatus / Herring Gulls this is the ultimate opportunity. At the Gullfest base camp we had a Lavvo (Samí-style tent) with a fireplace and warm food. We can now welcome you to a bigger and even better base camp experience! 

Gullfest 2012 made it to both local media, as well as mentions in national newspapers and even a report on one of the most popular TV shows in Norway (see the 5 min. report from  the ´Norge Rundt´ show, from the kids day at Gullfest) . In addition the event resonated with the global birding community. We hope that Gullfest 2013 will have the attention of people through the world of birding blogs and forums, and the main stream media. After all this is an event that celebrate the beauty and importance of birds, wildlife and nature of the Arctic. This is birding to people! We will make sure this event will bring something for both the wing-tip pattern enthusiasts, the eager bird photographers as well as beginning birders and nature lovers. This will be the best of arctic Norways Varanger, concentrated over a long-weekend! On Gullfest 2012 Tristan Reid of the excellent Talking Naturally podcast reported from the event. Have listen to his Gullfest report on Talking Naturally. Or check out his Gullfest blogposts on TN.

We have of course invited the birds too! They have promised to show up in massive scale. Far outnumbering people - and that is how we like it! All the photos in this new Gullfest 2013 article are taken in winter and early spring in Varanger. In daytime we will enjoy spectacular numbers of seabirds. The above photo shows a steady stream of incoming alcids from the Barents Sea. Photo taken from Hornøya, Vardø town in the background. 

By night you have good chances of seeing the magnificent northern lights / Aurora borealis. This is an experience that surely will stay with you for a very long time. The dramatic change from polar day to the polar night in Varanger is simply breathtaking. The photo above is taken during a bird photo workshop arranged in Vardø in late March 2012 (see article: Northern exposure 2012 - the Hornøya photo workshop). We cant wait to see what late March 2013 and a new Gullfest will bring...

At the centre of Gullfest is of course the rich arctic birdlife, but there is no doubt that enjoying this in the company of new and old friends, bird experts and nature enthusiasts makes everything even more rewarding. At Gullfest 2013 we will have a base camp with a Lavvo, fireplace, an exhibition, a Gull ringing scheme run by a dedicated group of ringers from both Norway and Britain. In the evenings you can enjoy numerous inspiring talks by world class birders. We are still working on the program and will release more information very soon. In collaboration with Gullfest2012-contributors like Martin Garner (Birding Frontiers) we are in dialogue with several people that undoubtedly will contribute to an unforgettable series of talks. This year we will also expand the program to include an artistic approach, with an exhibition at the hotel and even musical performances that will give you a new perpective on birds! Stay tuned to find out more about both the scientific and artistic contributors of Gullfest 2013

The birds & the birding

The great white - Early spring always sees great numbers of Glaucous Gulls in the outer Varanger Fjord. Our day record count is 3300+ birds in Vardø, but every year is different. The fisheries in the harbours in Varanger are favoured places to get close views of Glaucous Gulls. For Gullfest we have alredy booked talks by people who can provide us with a deeper understanding of these impressive arctic gulls. At our ringing scheme we plan to set the record for ringed Galucous Gull in mainland Norway. We are also working with a satellite tracking scheme, hoping that we can actually be able to follow one or several of the birds ringed at Gullfest on its coming journeys in the arctic (in collaboration with birdlife.no).

The bird cliff of Hornøya is home to approximately 100 000 seabirds. We will arrange daily trips with highly skilled bird guides to this fantastic place. Remember to bring enough gigabytes and battery for your camera! The photo opportunities are almost beyond belief. Having spent a few weeks in total at this place I am still amazed every time i visit. This place is one of few places in Europe where the high arctic seabirds Brünnichs Guillemot can be seen. During Gullfest 2012 we made this short youtube video from the bird cliff trip)

Varangers iconic species number one is the Stellers Eider. It is a world rarity that spend its winter and spring in the shallow and rich Varanger Fjord. Rafts of several hundred birds can be seen. We counted the bird life of the Varanger Fjord during 3 days in mid March 2012, and ended with a total of  4400 Stellers Eider. In addition we counted 12 500 King Eiders, 17 000 Common Eiders and 8300 Long-tailed Ducks. Prepare for a seaduck extravaganza! 

Scenes like the above can only be shot in Varanger: King eiders and Brünnichs Guillemot in flight. Join our King Eiders safaris around Vardø island. It is an amazing experience, but approaching the big rafts of King eiders is difficult. So for those of you who would like very close views of these spectacular birds we will arrange trips to the northern part of the Varanger peninsula. This will be organised as a Gullfest prologue and epilogue, as an extension of the Gullfest. In Båtsfjord harbour fisherman and nature guide Ørjan Hansen have some innovative opportunities ready for us. His floating photo hides in the harbour will provide you with stunningly close views of both King Eiders, Stellers Eiders, Common Eiders and Long-tailed Ducks! You may be lucky enough to get all these in one frame. Ørjan knows the local bird life very well. He have set stage with chumming and he will skillfully drive us around the harbour with his RIB. In addition the two specially designed floating bird hides will have these arctic seabirds within wide angle range of the hides. Bring enough gigabytes and batteries. This event in Båtsfjord costs 1500,- Nok pr person (= 166 GBP, 205 Euro, 267 $), and it will provide you with amazing photographic opportunities. Limited number of places (not entirely set), reservations for this can be made by mail to tormod@biotope.no More info to come on this event soon.

While Båtsfjord harbour will provide the close views, the waters around Vardø will provide the grand numbers. The above photo was taken from Vardø island, and show a section of a 4600 individual large King Eider rafts. In the small white frame (centre photo) alone is 285 King Eiders.

The waters of outer Varanger Fjord is one of the richest in the world. Whilst the numbers of seabirds are declining all over Norway (and Europe) the numbers of seabirds on Hornøya bird cliff is increasing. The critically endagered Guillemot has its Norwegian stronghold on Hornøya. Early spring is not only good for birds. Chances of seeing an Orca family huntig in the Varanger Fjord are very good. Like the Orcas on the photo above - a family flock regularily patrolled the waters around Vardø in mid March 2012. We really hope many birders will join the Gullfest: The more eyes and scopes, the better are the chances of seeing both Orcas and hopefully a rare gull or some other unexpected species. Varanger is a popular summer destination among birders, but the winter and early spring is very much underwatched. 

The Taiga prologue: From the 19th - 21st of March we arrange a dog sled trip into the vast taiga forest of Pasvik, south Varanger. For many of the Gullfest 2012 participants this was a highlight. There are not many species in the taiga, but they are all very exclusive! Our friend Trine Beddari, the owner of Birkhusky have set up bird feeders at their cabin in the taiga that are favoured by northeastern specialities like Pine Grosbeak, Siberian Tits and Siberian Jays. We may also be lucky to see an owl or more. On our 2012 trip we where amazed to have a Hawk Owl striking a reindeer! Admittedly the reindeer was the result of a little improvisation: a piece of fur attatched to a thin line, mimicing a mouse... In any case a stunning sight. We only have 8 places left on the 16 man taiga dog sled trip. This adventure includes two overnights at the Birkhusky B&B, dinner and lunch included, in addition to the dog sled trip. Places can be reserved by mailing to tormod@biotope.no (Birkhusky, our partner on this adventure, will handle payments when all places are reserved). The price for this additional adventure is 3575,- Nok  pr person (= 397 GBP, 490 Euro, 638 $). Have a look at what Martin Garner had to say about the taiga birding trip on Gullfest 2012. After this trip we will go  straight to the Gullfest event.

Hawk Owl striking Reindeer

The amazing Pine Grosbeak - a northern taiga speciality.

Back at the bird cliff of Hornøya the Puffins arrive in mid March and fight over territories in the slopes under the bird cliff. For those of you who thought Puffins are nice and peacefull birds, will have to reconsider their ideas of the Puffin. You usually see them from photos of summer time scenes from bird cliffs, but here you can find blood traces in the snow after the Puffin fight clubs. Life in the bird cliffs very much depend of the amount fish in the Barents Sea. Lets hope 2013 will be a good year. One thing is for sure: Varanger is the best place to be if a seabird spectacle is on your wishlist. 

At any bird rich place there are predators. In late March 2012 Gyrfalcons and several White-tailed Eagles  regularily visited the bird cliff. What an experience! See the Biotope article from March 2012: Gyfalcon versus Raven. Every year in Varanger is different - but always fascinating. We cant wait to see what 2013 will bring.

Have a look at the Gullfest 2012 Biotope articles:
GULLFEST 2012 - birding to the people!
Gullfest 2012 - presenting the event, video + trip report

Gullfest 2012 - Arctic birding adventures, the movies

Take look at Martin Garners ´Hands up´, Gullfest 2013-article

Welcome to an amazing landscape, inspiring talks, very cool birding and great company!

Welcome to Gullfest 2013 - be a part of the arctic winter & early spring birding adventure!

Buy Gullfest 2013 tickets at Vardø Hotel, from Wednesday 10th of January 
Reservervation for Pasvik Taiga Dog sled trip: mail to tormod@biotope.no 
Details to come on other activities

Stay tuned for articles to come with more details on program, talks and events. We will also post articles with travel logistics & accomodation advice very soon.

For general news and updates from Arctic Norway, follow us on Facebook or on twitter @BiotopeOffice and @Finnmarkbirding 

Feel free to use the comments field below to ask questions or give us feedback and ideas for Gullfest 2013

Check this article for more info on Gullfest travel & accomodation!


Best wishes from Varanger / Arctic Norway

Tormod Amundsen, on behalf of the Gullfest crew