Birding Varanger in summer

The arctic summer in Varanger: The midnight sun seems to energize all living creatures and spectacular birding can be enjoyed 24/7. Displaying waders in their full breeding plumage, passerines singing and bird cliffs teeming with life is an experience of a lifetime. We hope the following blogpost provides you with both inspiration and information for your next arctic adventure. 

The flamboyant gentlemen of the tundra. 

Birding Iceland in summer - destination development in progress

Iceland is known throughout the world as the land of fire and ice. Large parts are covered by glaciers while others steam of boiling water from the ground. There are few countries where nature has such a strong presence. Then there are the birds. Rich wetlands, rivers and coastal sites are filled with amazing birdlife. A dream destination. We recently visited Iceland, invited by the good people of the Northeast Iceland Birding Trail. Together with a group of nature based tourism businesses and local communities we aim to put northeast Iceland on the map, and to develop better infrastructure for visitors and local communities. In October last year we spent 2 weeks visiting people and seeing sites. Our recent 2 week July trip was a great follow up, looking into a few new places, analysing potential of previously visited sites and, as always, meeting people who are into making new things happen!

Birding Alaska in spring - Homer & Seward

The name Alaska rings of wilderness and grand nature. At Biotope we have a thing for the northern birding. Which is why we live and bird in Varanger, Arctic Norway. However, we allways need a bit of inspiration and fresh ideas to fuel our birding passion. Since moving to Varanger a few years ago we have started a project to visit top nature destinations around the northern hemisphere.

Arkitekter med luft under vingene

Artikkel fra magasinet Arkitektur N (nr8-2014) / Article from Norwegian Architecture magazine Arkitektur N (This article about Biotope is in Norwegian, but with an English summary at the end ).

Biotope er verdens første fuglekikkerarkitektkontor. De har skapt en egen nisje for sin virksomhet ved å koble kunnskaper som vanligvis ikke møtes. Tormod Amundsen forteller om arbeidet som fuglekikkerarkitekt i Varanger:

Eagle island Smøla

Getting a grip on nature destination development  

In 2013 a group of tourism businesses and the local municipality on island Smøla (west coast Norway) asked us to work with them on developing Smøla as a nature destination. Digging in to new tasks with such a holistic approach is a privilege, and without doubt one of the most desired projects for us to work with.

Arctic architecture - new wind shelters in Kongsfjord & Båtsfjord

The northern part of the Varanger peninsula has some of the most amazing landscape in Eastern Finnmark. Two of our favourite places to go birding are the small towns, Berlevåg and Båtsfjord. Both are fishing harbours with less then 2000 inhabitants. In addition we have the village Kongsfjord and Veines with just a handful of people living there. In this weatherbeaten and wild landscape you can now find

BIRDING ICELAND - Harlequin Ducks & more niceness along the Northeast Iceland birding trail

Harlequin Ducks in Laxa river, Northeast Iceland, october 2014

Northeast Iceland - nature destination development

Biotope recently visited Iceland, invited by the people behind the Northeast Iceland Birding Trail. Naturally we were quite excited about getting this request. Iceland is well known in the birding world as one of the best places in the world to expereience birds like the stunning Harlequin Duck and the Iconic Gyrfalcon.