Big Year - Saturday night entertainment!

It has been a while since the last update. The reason is that I have been on a rather nervous trip to Turkey. Nervous because Turkey is a rather long way away from Norway should a mega bird suddenly turn up. But, timing was chosen well, and late Februrary are usually fairly quiet times for rarities. This trip was more about relaxing and getting to know the area than a birding trip, but the binoculars was of course with me as usual and my father and myself managed to take a few days up in the mountains. Turkey has amazing mounttains and very interesting bird life - especially from mid April onwards when summer migrants start to return and the snow up in the mountains melt away.

In total I got 7 lifers - meaning birds I have never seen before anywhere in the world. I managed to complete my European woodpecker (hakkespett) list, but the star for me was the incredibly beautiful Krüper's nuthatch (tyrkerspettmeis).

Krüper's nuthatch  (tyrkerspettmeis) - a long wanted lifer on my world list! 

Nuthatchess are always cool to watch, this one is a bit different than
his sister species in the way that he lives mainly on rocks. Rock Nuthatch (klippespettmeis).

Turkish mountains. This almost treeless landscape is the preferred habitat for
 Rock nuthatch (klippespettmeis). 

The day before I left back to Norway, I got an exciting phone call from the team of one of Norway's most famous TV talk-shows. They wanted Big Year to be Saturday night tv entertainment on national tv! So off I went, and made my best possible effort (birding style) to entertain the Norwegians.

Since birding is such a small hobby in Norway (only about 15 000 members in NOF, but only about 300 twitchers), some of the idea with my Big Year project is to visit different media and to bring birding as a hobby and the joy we have with it in all different forms and shapes out to the public. Hopefully, this can bring some most wanted recruitment into this fantastic activity. And in the end, the more birders, the more power, and the more we can help the birds that for some reason struggle here and there. So a big thank you to the host Anne Lindmo for devoting 10 minutes of her famous talkshow to birding! Well done!

Anne Lindmo - the tv host - and myself amongst some famous and not so
 famous people. Even though it might look like I am incredibly busy taking
photo of Anne's curly hair, we did actually talk about birds. Maybe she,
herself will end up being a birder some day....Thank you Anne for having me on your show! 

While there, getting ready for the fame of tv, I tried for a Bewick's swan (dvergsvane) which had been seen just outside Oslo the day before and early morning the next day. I was at the site at 10:15, but by then this winter rarity had flown off and I missed it by only an hour or two. This species is getting increasingly difficult to see in Norway, and best time to see it is when some migrating birds pass Norway in March. I hope some more will turn up soon....I did tick off Greylag goose (grågås) for my Big Year though.

In the weekend I've been busy guiding an English birder. We got quality birds and stunning views of king eider (praktærfugl), male Hazel grouse (jerpe) feeding in a tree, Siberian jay (lavskrike) on an arm's length and Arctic redpoll (polarsisik) together with both lesser, and mealy just for comparison. The wind was unfortunately too strong to score high on owls, but we mananged a singing Long-eared owl (hornugle) and brief views of a Hawk owl (haukugle). Little auk (alkekonge) and the long staying Water pipit (vannpiplerke) also contributed in making this weekend birding a great time. All in all, I managed 7 new species for my Big Year the last three days.

Siberian jay (lavskrike) in its typical old forest habitat. A locally common, but always
hard to find bird in the Norwegian forests. 

March is already started, and the next two weeks will be devoted to owling and maybe some woodpeckers. Spring migration has just started, with the first oystercatchers (tjeld), shelducks (gravand) and skylarks (sanglerke) already returned. From mid March onwards, the real busy times starts, and I am ready!

New birds: 7
Total: 123


-EG-

Arctic fox

A long overdue update. The summer and autumn has been very busy, and only the last weeks have I found some time to sit in front of the computer. An eventful summer, where lots of fun and challenges has made life dynamic and interesting as it always should be. However, it means that I havent had time to edit any images since April. These Arctic foxes I got to spend two days with this summer.

Safety in friends - always good not be alone when meeting challenges in life..

Black & White portrait

- EG -

The Ultimate Arctic Seamammal Experience

WildNature arrange Svalbard expedition 03-17 August 2012

Join me on a wild experience in one of the world’s last wilderness. Svalbard is famous for its pristine and wild nature, and of course for the cold scenic landscape and roaming polar bears.

On this trip we will focus on the large whales that are coming to the archipelago to feed during summer. This is one of the best places in East Atlantic to see blue whales and feeding fin whales are in good numbers. As I only work with wild animals, I never give any guarantees. However, there is a lot of things that need to go wrong if we don’t see most of the species I advertise here. Other cetacean species that we can expect to see are humpback whales (often observed in groups doing their famous bubble netting behaviour), white-beaked dolphins (often come to the boat bow riding) and of course minke whales. In the fjords we have reasonably good chance to see belugas, often feeding with a spectacular glacier setting as a back curtain. Seals are often around, and we will most likely see all of the Svalbard species (ringed seal, bearded seal, harbour seal, hooded seal and harp seal). We will spend time at some of the walrus haul out sites, meaning normally good photo oppurtunities for these weird, but fascinating creatures. Polar bears will also be on the agenda, and we will stop whenever the opportunities arises. However, keep in mind that this is not a designated polar bear trip, but is the only trip available in Svalbard that focuses on the cetaceans. The weather and ice conditions will decide where and when we go for the different localities.

While August is arguably the best time for cetaceans, it is at the very end of the breeding season for birds. Most of the bird cliffs will be more or less empty at this time. We will anyway make an effort to see most of the breeding species in Svalbard. Ivory gull, Sabine’s gull, Grey phalarope, Brunnich’s guillemot, Atlantic puffins, Little auk, Barnacle goose, Pink-footed goose, Great-, Pomarine-, Long-tailed- and Arctic skua as well as Snow bunting, Purple sanpiper and Glaucous gull just to mention a few.

Why travel with me?

I have worked 8 seasons as an expedition leader for different bird and cetacean science projects in Svalbard. I have explored most of the coastline in Svalbard in a zodiac, and hence know where to find the different species. There are probably no other tour operator that are able to show you as many species – simply because many other tour operators travel with guides that don’t have the nescessary identification skills and they don’t have the field experience. I’ve guided other photographers and film teams with great success in earlier trips.

To ensure good photo oppptunities – we will make exstensive use of zodiac whenever weather permits.

When not in the zodiac, we use a 49 feet sailyacht specially made for Arctic conditions. This is smaller than what most other people use, which means we are able to reach places that others give up. We sacrifice luxury of spaceous cabins for the intimate nature experience!  

I do have extensive Arctic field experience. This includes boat safety and polar bear safety, which is of upmost importance on a trip like this into remote areas where the nearest help might be days away.

I am an educated biologist, professional wildlife photographer and a keen birder – which all ensures a good general knowledge about behaviour and how to increase our chances to see and photograph the animals without disturbing them too much.   

Only 4 custumers allowed, means exclusive experiences and photos as well as flexibility regarding where and when to go as the group wants.

The price – no other tour operator match this price. NOK41000/person (about EUR5100) for 14 days of true Arctic experience. This price includes all guiding, all food onboard (alcoholic drinks needs to be brought onboard yourself), all fuel and boat costs.

What to bring
Warm clothes – normal temperatures 0-5 degrees C. Keep in mind that standing out on the deck of the sailboat watching the wildlife can be cold at times. You don’t want to miss the best experiences and photo opportunities because you didn’t bring enough clothes…Hiking boots for landings, and some sneakers or light shoes to use when on the boat.

Binoculars – even though the guide will constantly watch for interesting animals and birds, it makes a huge difference to watch the wildlife through your own pair of binoculars.

Camera – For clos up portraits of birds and mammals I recommend at least a 300mm lens. For more landscapes and cetacean shots, something like 70-200mm is very handy (For the last years, I almost exclusively shoot with 70-200mm myself).  Wideangle lens for land based photography can also be useful.

Personal (normal) travel insurance. No need for the extra search and rescue insurance normally needed for independent travelers in the Arctic since this is all sorted by the boat owner.

Since the price is pushed to an absolute minimum, we need 4 people to let this trip go.

Closing date – 20th of January.

Contact details for ordering or questions about this trip:

Eirik Gronningsaeter

Email: EG@WildNature.no
Cell: (+47) 95257710

Svalbard Guiding

The first week of August, I was guiding a group of photographers for a ten-day trip on Svalbard. I like going with a small group size and small boats. This way you get a much more intimate experience with the Arctic landscape, harshness and of course most importantly also the wildlife. Even though we might be a bit more vulnerable to the weather and ice, we almost always find all the things we are looking for. I have now eight years of experience working as a fieldbiologist/guide on Svalbard.


Some of the highlights the last trip were Pomarine- and Long-tailed skuas, total of 4 Sabine’s gull (3 observations), 20 ivory gulls in front of a fantastic blue glacier, Polar bear killing an Arctic fox puppy and all possible seal species on Svalbard including Harbour-, Hooded and Harp seal. We missed out a bit on the cetaceans due to bad whale searching conditions, but we managed to photograph Belugas in front of blue ice and addtionally a large flock of about 70 animals in one of the west coast fjords. A jumping minke whale was quite spectacular to see and photograph as well. The highlight of the trip happened when we had belugas, sabine’s gulls, polar bear and a spectacular calfing blue glacier in the same view at the same time! All this and more together with stunning landscapes, means only one thing – happy clients!

Watching seven polar bears feeding on a whale carcass was a memorable experience for the whole group - including the guide

 

A polar bear is close to getting crushed under falling ice

 
 

Svalbard is one of few places in the world, where you can expect to see the increasingly rare ivory gull.

 
 

Glaciers are vital to the extreme biomass productivity in many of the fjords of Svalbard. Thousands of kittiwakes feeding on amphipods is an unforgettable nature spectacle.

Minke whale breaching! On the last trip, we had about 15 sightings of this spectacular whale.

Every trip is different from the last one, so time will show what we find next time.











At the moment I am attending a scientific expedition, and although we have seen a few ivory gulls and pomarine skuas, no big surprises have be seen yet. One of the first days in the drift ice west of Spitsbergen we came across about 40 Fin whales, one Blue whale. No less than five blue whales have been seen so far on the trip. A Polar bear on a seal kill was also seen, but photographing these things from a big ship is far from ideal….

The giant of the sea! The blue whale, the world's largest animal, is a regular sight in certain areas of Svalbard. Note the embarrasing small dorsal fin and blue grey colour compmared to the more or less equally sized fin whale seen in the next image.

A flock of fin whales in the drift ice on Svalbard.

I only do guiding on chartered boats, so if you want to use my services for a Svalbard expedition you will have to book early as both my own schedule and the boat charter is allready starting to fill up for the exciting year ahead.


If you want to see sights like this through your camera lens – then you should go wild with WildNature.no!

-EG-