No more bookings for 2016!
OWL PHOTOGRAPHY TOURS
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When: from the 15th of May until the 30th of June
Where: You will be staying close to Elverum, surrounded by beautiful wilderness,.
Length: 6 days
Number of participants: 2-4
Price: 15.000,- NOK (+/- 1685,- Euro) per person
Included:
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Accommodation: You will be staying in a Norwegian cabin, with bathroom, kitchen, living room electricity and internet.
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Transport: You will be picked up and dropped off at Hamar train station. Transport for during your stay is included in the price. Groups of 4 persons will be picked up at the airport.
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Food: Food and drinks for during the day will be provided for you, including a fresh cooked dinner every evening.
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Informative talks about the different owl species.
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Hides: There are photo tents available, which will be used in some situations.
Excluded:
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Flight: It is the easiest to fly to Oslo Gardermoen.
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Train: From Oslo Gardermoen there is a direct train connection to Hamar.
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Pick up at Gardermoen: It is possible to be picked up at Oslo Gardermoen airport, for an extra price of 100,- euro.
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Alcohol: Alcohol is quite expensive in Norway. If you want to drink alcohol, I advise you to buy it at the airport before coming to Norway.
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Travel insurance: All participants are responsible for their own travel insurance.
How does the tour look like:
During the tours the main focus lays on the Great grey owl. Around half June, the chicks of the owls are rather big and will come out of the nest. They cannot fly or hunt yet, so they depend on the food from the parents. In order to catch enough food, the adult owls are forced to hunt also during day light. This creates the opportunity for us to photograph them while they are active. Some of the owls are not shy at all, which gives us (with some luck) the chance to make some close ups.
I work together with some researchers from the local university. We exchange information regarding the birds. They will provide nesting locations of the boreal owl and the northern hawk owl, which we will visit. The chicks will be out of the nests, but we will find them in the close surroundings. For the long eared owl, we have to drive an hour north. There is a field where researchers keep the vole population high. The long eared owls have discovered this and use this field frequently for hunting. The early mornings are the best at this location. We will use photo tents so that the owls come close. After photographing the adults hunting, we will visit the nesting sites. Hopefully some of the chicks are sitting low in the trees.
Other species which we can encounter:
Moose, roe deer, black woodpecker, great spotted woodpecker, three toad woodpecker, black grouse, capercaillie, hazel grouse, pygmy owl, crane and a great selection of small singing birds.
Camera equipment needed:
Usage of objectives of 300mm in combination with a crop camera or 500mm with a full frame camera, is advised. You might want to bring some shorter lenses for some landscape photography. Because we will be out long days, a tripod is a must. Bring enough memory cards and batteries! Batteries can be recharged in your accommodation.
Important things to bring:
Mosquito repellent, water resistant shoes, warm clothing for the early mornings and green or camouflaged clothing.
Please note:
I do not feed the owls or use any kind of bait during the tours. These are wild animals and not trained birds. We do not approach the owls closely, but let them come to us. With the great grey owls, we will sit in their hunting area. When we are behaving calm, they will not be bothered by us and can come very close. This technique has been very successful for me in the past few years and has given me some great close up shots.
Take a look at the results from the previous years.