Finnish Predators

Finland is one of the last bastions in Europe for once prevalent predators such as brown bear and grey wolf: add the incredibly secretive and powerful wolverine into the mix and you have a trio of mammals to wet the photographic appetite. We have timed this trip to take advantage of the beautiful autumn conditions of the Taiga, it is a short season but in these northern forests the colours can be so intense. The animals themselves are looking at their finest condition as they are now supporting their winter coats. The days are shorter at this time of the year, but the light can be exquisite in the late afternoons.

We have been travelling to Finland for many years now and so our experience and knowledge is of a very high standard and for this trip, we will be working from two different bases in the remote eastern regions of Finland. By using the different bases this will offer the best opportunity to photograph all three species in beautiful autumnal conditions at this time of the year.

We will be spending a combination of days and nights in purpose-built and professionally placed photographic hides offering an array of habitats and each carefully managed to attract one or more of these iconic species. This can be a tiring trip but with the potential images, and just as important, experiences on offer its rewards will be well worthwhile as seeing these beautiful predators in these remote forests is a very special experience.

Day 1: We will fly out from our chosen destinations in the UK to Oulu airport in Finland where we will pick up our hire van for the 4–5-hour transfer to our first base of the trip. (We will send out the flight recommendations nearer the time).

Days 2 – 3: We will have the mornings to explore the general taiga forest and photograph small forest birds at a feeding station at our base before we head to the purpose-built hides for the afternoon and evenings with brown bear being our target for this first part of the trip. The bears will be busy piling on the last pounds possible at this time of year and so we will look to be photographing them in the beautiful pallet of colours that the brief Finnish autumn has to offer. We have the use of two locations that offer different perspectives to photographing this iconic predator of these northern forests. We leave the hides at dusk and back to our base for a coffee and a snack. Our main dinner will be around 2.00pm.

Days 4 – 9: We leave in the morning to transfer to a new base for the next 6 nights. Wolves are our main target at this location and our local Finnish guide has been feeding them for over forty years. During the autumnal months they can usually be reliable, but we are talking about wild wolves, and they can be so unpredictable. You should also get the chance to further photograph brown bears at this location and one of the most elusive predators of these forests, the Wolverine. We have three different hide locations to choose from at this base, situated on the Finnish/Russian border, each offering a different perspective. You will each spend a night in these different hides, and we will head to the hides each afternoon. It is not always the case but depends on the wolf activity, but you may have to spend the whole evening/night in the hides, as sometimes the activity of the wolves can be good in the early mornings. Different hides offer different opportunities and settings so there will be scope for variety to your images. One set of hides overlook a forest clearing, and the others look out over a boreal pond and then in old growth forests. You could spend up to 15 hours in these hides and so you must be prepared for this. The last few years we haven’t had to spend the whole night in the hides, but we won’t know the pattern of the wolves until we get there. There is room to lie down and sleep though in the hides. Some have heaters and good toilet facilities.

Day 10: After breakfast, we will travel to the airport for our flights home.