Holiday 2013

As a full time guide you dont realy have much holiday in summer.This year i had one week in August and than you think  “what to do ?”

 

 Mountain is calling and Edvard Løfsnæs and my brother in law Martin Klocke+ Juster did a 5 days trip with us in the beautiful area of Steinfjellet in Namsskogan. We had a realy hard walk up to the cabin, to much of everything in the backpack!! TO MUCH!!! I was realy tired when we reached the cabin after 3 hours walking, if you can call the last hour walking. I was like an Adder!

But for My wife Wenche and myself it’s easy realy.

But this is a real holiday for us. It’s amazing nature, great fishing, cloudberries, birds, good wine, great friends, cold water for swimming, brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!! I’ll tell you!

 

In this area , you feel just so relaxed, hard to explain but you are just filling up your body and head with pure positiv  energy, free to get from the nature.

 

But i also have the best work you can get, after a week away you are  ready to meet new people who want to have a good time in Flatanger, to meet our nature at the coast.

 

So in this pictures you can see it’s not bad!!  Ready to meet new people in 2014. So much to do around here. 

Ole

When autumn meets winter

November again. Days are getting shorter but there is still enough light for modern digital cameras. But where to go to take your photos? In Flatanger this is the time when autumn and winter fight with each other about who is in command. Rainy days are mixed with some sun and the possibility of snowfall is never far away. This variation in weather together with the varied locations provided by nature guide Ole Martin Dahle makes for fantastic opportunities when it comes to bird photography. This year, I spent a small week in Flatanger at the end of November, - and what a week!  Demanding – yes! Fun – Yes!

The first day was after a heavy storm and it was impossible to be in the hide. A ride along the coast revealed damaged house and in two cases where small storage houses simply blown away. Some gulls stood for today’s entertainment.

The next day was in the mountains with some rain. We had both a grouse and ptarmigan as extra treats so the golden eagles where happy, as well as we.

 In the late afternoon the snow started to fall and completely changed the landscape and our photos.

The snow continued during the night and the next day everything was covered in snow. The light turned better and the snow provided both backdrop and extra motion to the situations when the golden eagles where fighting. God bless the snow! 

 A sunny day provided a golden foundation for a shot of a landing eagle or a magpie taking off. 

After another night with snowfall,  Ole Martin offered a boat trip. Well dressed we went out in dull whether. Dull weather is Gull weather so the first shot was of a young gull. A flash with some CTO filters and a white balance on tungsten light gave some interesting effects.

Further out, the sun welcomed us and there was wonderful action. For me, the most interesting thing was the snow covered islands that gave a fantastic backdrop to the white tailed eagles. 

The very last day. A heavy snow fall was forecasted by yr.no. Ole Martin stretched the limit and we went off with the boat again. The snow fall was really heavy and gave the autofocus a hard time in the vanishing light. A shot with a shutter speed of about 1/100 s provided some speed in the shot of the diving WTE.

While the falling snow made an shot of an ordinary gull an interesting picture. 

As an example of our guides outstanding dedication, a couple of purple sandpipers where spotted on a small skerrie. With no hesitation, the boat was put to the shore and we could crawl out and take some shots of this very tough little bird.

I would like to thank my company during this week for some outstanding times in the hides, on the boat and not at least during the evenings in the nice house were we lived. Thanks to Minna and Markus, Mira and Dick, Frode, Kenny, Tom and last but not least, Ole Martin for a fantastic week when autumn meets winter.

Gunnar Aus

Sävedalen, Sweden

Alarm!!

A friend called me , “we saw a sick Sea Eagle on topp of a small island, just  moving the head a litle bit, can you do something about this?” I called the police and they asked me to do the job. I know what i had to do if the eagle was realy bad. Dont like it at all but someone have to do it.

My boys Odin and Vetle was ready to help me  so in a hurry into the boat and drive about 20 min.

Beautiful day and it’s hard to go out to take a birds life when you are so into the life with the eagles like i am. I am out 140 days with this birds. We found the island and the birds, a beautiful Orcide close to the bird with Cloudberries painting the ground.

As always, my son Vetle never climb the easy way, always find something steep. A call from him “ Father, it’s lots of feathers here, looks like a nest”

Now i understand and also see, this is a young bird , the nest is on the ground so the young Sea Eagle can easy walk around away from the nest.

I throw the stick away and hade a few min with this new generation Sea Eagles. Amazing to be so close!!

 

It became a wonderfull day with the boys and eagles, again!!

Pine Martin

For many years i have been feeding Pine Martin but the logisticc have not been good. Have to think how fare to drive, how long to walk and so.

Last autum i found a nice place on my own ground and it looks very good. Could get the early morning light from 0300-0600 and the warm evening light for many hours.

So than i started feeding. Just a few days later the food was gone!! YES!! So all winter i have been feeding and the Pine Martin have been very regulary.

But i had to find out when he came for food. My good friend Zenno from Holland came over for a few week to help me. He used cameras in the trees and different thing, you ALL know that i hate this technical stuff.

But Zenno found out. The Pine Martin is there from early morning and also in lunch time. He is also back in early afternoon so this was enough.

I had to build a new hide. So this days i am doing that - and before mid June it will be my new product. I would hope it can be possible to photograph the Pine Martin from April –Sept.

Could be lots of good combination trips. Pine Martin and Seas Eagles. Pine Martin / Sea Eagles/ Musk Ox. Pine Martin/ Great Snipe/ Sea Eagles/Moose/Artic Skua............

So i am realy looking forward to have something new for my guests.

Cross fingers.

Juster

As you have seen from a blog this winter our dog Troj died.

WE desided to get a new one and we looked around and see what was possible.

We wanted a dog who could be a mountain dog and also a member of the family.

We found a place in Meråker at Fagermo kennel and they said it could be possible in late April.

They also said that is was a loooong waiting list and they were  not sure if they could promis that we could get from them.

But late March they called: - "You can have one if you are interested".

YES!!

So now the dog is here! Hard to find a name but he is named JUSTER.

 

We already loves this beauty!

Winter season is over for this time

So, after having guests from 2. Jan to 21.March this winter seson is over. But when I look outside it’s really not over, LOTS of snow in early April.

Some birds have arrived but i hope they stay away for a few more weeks, it’s hard to be a springbird in Flatanger at the moment.But it’s nice!!

This winter have been very good and i am realy happy with most of it. When you work with nature you never can guarantee what you will get. Some of the firrst days in January this year the weather went to mild and one of my guests from UK got nothing, he had only tree days and he was in the wrong hide every day. I was realy sad about this but he realy wants to come back. Also some days in beginning of March with a group from UK was bad, the first 3 days, storm, rain, mild and one of the guests said after 3 days with nothing “have you had eagles here this winter?” But that night the weather changed and they got mybe the best day this year. That’s how this life is. 

But the winter have been very good, Goshawk have been ok but he has been there early. Golden Eagles nearly every day and up to 5 birds+ two ad Sea Eagles. New Golden Eagle hide was also good but not as good as the old mountain hide, but it’s a different setting and I have seen stunning pictures from that hide.

Also done a few wintersessions with the boat and that is just great but can  be cold.

So to all guests who have been here this winter, THANK YOU! You are all just great people and you all give me lot back, i like to meet different people and that’s why this work is the best!!

No I have e few days of, have to build a hide for Pine Martin, he has been eating like a tiger all winter so now it’s time for him to pay back. It’s a wonderfull plase and i am realy looking forward to have something new for you!

In a few days i have to prepair the tents and hides for Capercaillie and Black Grouse. New people, new meetings and a new spring is knoking on the door!! Rock’n Roll. Greetings from Charlie, he is back!!

One day with the sami people.

I always hope that i can bring photographers to do a session when the Sami peole gathering the Reindeer. It’s not easy and i have done it only once before. Why is this difficult?

The Sami people do not know about the winter/weather  condition and that meens they are not sure when the Reindeer is in the fence. They have the reindeer in there only for one day.

But i know the leader of the Sami people and i am calling him every winter. Lots of photographers ask me “ is it possible to see the Reindeer when the Sami people have the animals in a fence” I must always say - we would need a lot of luck.

So 3 weeks ago i send the leader of the group an SMS, how are you doing with the Reindeer? Could you call me? Fourteen days later, a Sunday evening i got an SMS from him. “ You can come tomorrow!!” So i went down to the group of photographers i had from Reisen-in-die-nature,  Joachim Griesingers group, and asked them. “ Should we let the eagle sleep tomorrow and would you like to have a day with the Sami people?” I also said that this is just like to win in a lottery!!

I could just see how the smile got wider and wider So next day we went earlie and had a wonderful session with them. I normaly do not take pictures with my guests but in this kind of situation it’s possible and they said that they would be happy if i took the camera with me.

So with my Nikon, who is almost sleeping , i could have a great day with the Sami people and my happy guests. And with Reindeer is fun to do  so arty farty.What a day. I know a few other Reindeer owners around and i must try to get in touch about the possibilities to do this more than once. I know lots of you would like to go!! 

Have a nice week.

Ole