Finland 2024- Wildlife in the snow

Wildlife in the Snow

My first journey to Finland and such a beautiful one at that.

Our small photography ensemble arrives in the snowy East of Finland in the end of April. Once again, we’re privileged to call photography expert Phillip Jakesch our guide and he’s on top of everything as always. After a successful and uneventful travel and arrival in Kajaani (where they have the seemingly smallest luggage carousel in the world) we continue on closer to the Russian border.

Our first adventure starts at 3:15 am where we set out on a motorized towing sled with wagons for us to sit on (like riding a rollercoaster in the snow). We drive through a typical birch forest and across a frozen lake to get to our hideout for the black grouses. Our hiding places are quite small, just about big enough for us to sit in with candles as our only heating source. This time of year, marks the climax of the black grouse courting season, which bodes very well for us, and we are not disappointed. It is still dawn when the aggressive birds approach to perch in the birch trees. Everything is ready for the spectacular courtship ritual. The seemingly hormone-entrenched male grouses circle around each other with their torsos spread horizontally as they gurgle and cackle about. There is a permanent skirmish with lots of bouncing, circling and tussling. The cocks’s main goal is to peck their rivals into their bright red “roses,” the skin above their eyes.

In the afternoon, we continue on to the “predator hide” to observe bears. We are quite cozy in our almost luxurious wooden shed and are in the middle of setting up our equipment. Suddenly someone quietly alerts, “Wolverine!” and an obscure looking, furry animal with fluffy tail approaches us on nimble feet across the soggy snow. I have never seen a wolverine before. In Finland there are currently about 150 of these animals found in the wild. They belong to the family of the martens but they are quite a bit larger in size and could actually be considered a distinct breed of their own.

Our wolverine is a pretty large male but despite its size it nimbly manages to keep from sinking into the soft snow due to its wide paws. This animal not only has the ability to run and swim tremendous distances at once (such as nightly marathon runs) but it also excels at climbing – pretty much a jack of all trades.  Right as we start to take beautiful solo shots of our wolverine, it vanishes just to return in the company of a gigantic bear. It is simply extraordinary what we are privileged to experience here. I did not expect such a busy photo session, rushing to capture stills of the bear then to the wolverine and back again. A wonderful day in the wild. We spend the night in this hideout with a gas heater, and when I wake up at 5 am I catch a glimpse of smooth, fresh snow outside.

It’s a new day and our big bear blesses us once again with his company, his scarred appearance a testament of his battle-filled life. It starts to snow right before dusk, just as we wished it. Later on, two shy bears join us as well. Most of “our” bears hibernate in Russia due to its lower population density and the border is very close after all. In the new year they then return to Finland for food (and the occasional modelling gig). Many common ravens also seem to be fascinated by the scenery and scare off the less common eagles.

In the morning, we once again visit the black grouses since our planned capercaillie tour had to be canceled – the capercaillies unfortunately do not have a set courtship location and are thus much harder to keep track of and locate. Courting grouses remind me of a mixture between super bantamweight boxers and flamenco dancers, who only hop around themselves. At one point one of the cocks seems to have a change of heart and genuinely sets out to demolish a fellow grouse. Only after checking my footage do, I realize how serious their squabble became.

Backlit by a breathtaking sunrise we witness a mesmerizing courtship spectacle and are able to capture incredible moments of the bird fight.

It’s still early when we leave our lodgings and embark on a very speedy bus tour with our chauffeur Anssi (his own personal mileage meter counts more than 4 million km!) toward our more Northern accommodation.

In the afternoon we arrive in a smaller hideout (with very romantic candle-heating) where we spend a very rainy night. After feasting, a deeply relaxed bear chooses to cuddle up about 20 meters away from me where he remains for hours in the rain. One of my ultimate highlights. When I wake in the morning with a slight cold, I am greeted by mystical fog outside. Now the ravens really fit the scenic aesthetic.

Right after breakfast, we drive to Jarno, “The Owl Whisperer.” Jarno, like all the Finns that we met so far, is an incredibly friendly and open guy. He has been registering, observing and nurturing his large lot of various owls on his premises for several years now.

The conditions here are normally pretty much optimal for the big great grey owl, yet their lives depend on the extreme weather and its changes. In the past winter, temperatures dropped to record lows (-35°) for weeks, and as a result the owls’ narrow feet and claws were no longer able to penetrate the frozen solid snow. Hence, many a mouse was very well protected beneath its snow bunker. Jarno and his helpful neighbors have been trying to keep their owls alive ever since – by feeding them mice in a different way. Just about a week ago, a neighbor tried to feed a large great grey owl who ended up bolting with a leather glove instead. After consulting with Jarno over the phone in her panic, the owl expert simply suggested his neighbor should offer three dead mice in the snow instead of one, then the owl will surely return her glove. And just like that, the bird traded the glove for the mice. This remains a pretty unique story – even for Jarno’s standards.

We also experience a bit of bad luck on our search for owls. After a whole day of travel via car and on foot on the Finnish countryside roads, we only manage to spy two great grey owls in the far distance. A bit disappointed, we return to Jarno’s farm at dusk. However, right next to his farm an owl (who we briefly spotted earlier) perches in the trees and watches us with interest. We lie down onto our bellies and Jarno walks into the field with snow shoes to position a mouse on the snow-covered ground as bait. As he does this he converses loudly in Finnish with the shy creature and repeatedly calls “Jockooo.” It is magical to witness the trust and bond that owl and “owl whisperer” share. And just as promised, the great grey owl takes off to accept the mouse offering. With a wingspan of up to 150 cm, the owl is an impressive and commanding sight to behold. But someone with this effortless agility and stillness mid-flight longs to be with his equals. When we retire for the night with gorgeous pictures, I am exhausted and quite chilled to the bone but simply brimming with joy.

The next morning, Anssi comes to get us and we leave for the airport in Oulu. Our photographic journey is complete. The remote nature and wilderness of Finland with her incomparable wildlife have blessed me with magnificent and everlasting memories.