Staffan Widstrand - Flatanger, Norway 01

June 20, 2008
Eagle owls, Sea eagles and summer flower colours in Sleneset and Flatanger, Norway

From the shores of a still Living Sea, I can report that the Sea eagles and Eagle owls are doing very well. Up here, along the Norwegian North Sea coast lives the most dense population of these birds in the world.
The Sea eagles living from the vast riches of the sea, and the Eagle owls living on those who live from the riches of the sea (gulls, terns, geese, ducks, auks and water voles). Through the help of very friendly guides Ole Martin Dahle from Flatanger and Frode Johansen from Sleneset we managed to see more than 25 Eagle owls and about 40 Sea eagles in a few days time. And get really close to the eagles.
It is an experience that I would recommend any person with any interest in nature to do at least once in your life. See the incredibly charismatic eagles sweep down and catch fish just beside the boat, 15 metres away! Along with a great flock of always hungry and wonderfully beautiful gulls of several species.
On land, the vegetation is bursting out in green and vivid colours from the sunshine 24hrs a day, in this Land of the Midnight sun. Flowers that are veritable gems in the warm evening light. Some of the true Wild Wonders of Europe!

Staffan Widstrand

Milán Radisics - Lake Skadar, Montenegro 03

Click on the title of the blog to watch Milán at work!

25 May 2008
The journey

Driven 13 hours. Playstation 3 feeling accompanied me through South-Serbia. Pushbikers and policemen turned up from the bushes. Not even counting the cows, sheep and fag dealers. I stopped at the very first barbecue shack because they sell the best “cevapcica”. Small rolls of three type of grinded meat in a taco with lots of onion and a special cottage cheese called "kajmak". I know it's difficult to pronounce but there is a lot simplier local name for it: “ten with onion”. Although you can't get it wrong 'cause there's no other choice anyway.

At the Montenegro border I had waited for the toll-keeper to finish his dinner in the next village and an hour later he just waved that I'm allowed to go. That's OK, at least I could experience that nighttime 4 centigrade in the Durmitor National Park feels cold enough comparing to the thirty-some at Skodra Lake. By the way Montenegro is preparing for the touristic season so they put the main road under construction but in their own way. In the Moracsa river's canyon at the narrowest bit the road is closed for 3 hours twice a day at 3 different points. Which means that this bit is closed for 24 hours, because first I wait 3 hours for opening the road, then I wait another 3 hours for the cue to move forward. Anyway, I don't want to go into details...

Fortunately I had drinks and food on me so I didn't starve to death. I hope they finish the reconstruction before the high season 'cause it's not very tempting like this. To avoid this mess on the way back I came through Bosnia but that was not adventure-free either. The toll-keepers asked me to pay some insurance to enter the country. Don't ask me why, I still don't understand myself. I was furious 'cause I didn't have any local currency and there was no ATM located among the great mountains. Finally I found 20 pounds in the deepest corner of my purse and we agreed that this is about as much as I should pay to get through the stretch of Serbian Republic found in Bosnia in safety but without any of us knowing the actual exchange rate.

Well, I can't see why they had to turn the good old Yugoslavia into so many small countries.

Milán Radisics - Lake Skadar, Montenegro 02

16 May 2008
About the lake.
Wonderful place. The biggest lake in southeastern Europe. A real transboundary lake. One half belongs to Montenegro the other half to Albania. When the carps are spanwing fishing is prohibited on this side but on the Albanian side it is not. Montenegro's anglers are unarmed while the Albanians won’t leave their guns at home.



This side is rarely inhabited, that one is overpopulated. That's why this could be a National Park and the other not. South side is rocky full of islands but the Northern shore is very swampy because of river Zeta. It's greatest speciality, 5 different biotopes can be found within 100 meters: open water, swamp, floodplain forests, deciduous forests, karst spots. The lake's surface is 370 - 550 square kilometers, avarage depth is around 5 meters and 280 species of birds can be found. One third of the Pygmy Cormorant's population of the world lives here. The Dalmatian Pelican is nesting here, which is the symbol of the National Park as well. Quite interesting that there is an island where seagulls are nesting that escaped from the tourists. In the last twenty years the terns got more common, living in 9 colonies and setting over 1.200 nests.

Sheer wild beauty.

Milán Radisics - Lake Skadar, Montenegro 01

12.05.2008
What to take with you for such an assignment? Well, I did not want to miss anything at the scene so I packed an aweful lot of stuff into my car. I even had to take the seats out to squeeze everything in. There was all sorts of things from a torch to scuba equipment just like in a flea market. I have been there before and I know the local language so I didn't expect a surprise. But there was some.
Firstly the anglers didn't know the terns the type of birds I was up to take photos of. What more, one of them tried to explain me that what I meant was the pelican and another tried to avoid me from taking photos of terns because they scrape out my eyes just like in Hitchcock's movie. Some suggested me not to go into the water because the sludge is very deep. So I had to wait another two days till Monday to meet the National Park's fellows. They were too busy to help me straight away just showed me the place of the nest and they promised to take me there by boat the next day. Finally I can take some action-photo after 3 days landscaping. So I thought.
But this is where it ended, a storm came. Wind started to blow and raining and thunders were flashing over the 1.600 m high mountains. Just about enough to cancel the next day's boating. And it was off of course because of the high waves so I went to look for anglers in the surrounding villages again. Devastating result: no one was willing to help. Reason: repainted the boat and it is still wet or didn't believe that someone wants to take photos of birds from water or didn't want to wake up early or they were just a bit lazy. Finally I could agree with a boy who had a twinkle in his eyes starting the job. From then I was taking photos of terns for 4 days from dawning to glooming. Third day I had an idea: luring the birds with tiny fish and shooting them at hunting. Easy thinking - hard managing. I had neither tiny fish nor net in my car therfore I asked for some from the local angler. I couldn't get any even though native people fish for a living. I went to the capital thinking I can get net or tiny fish there. I realized that they keep none of them. Next time I put them on my extended list. I am going to bring a net and a damn boat myself.

Orsolya Haarberg - Iceland 02

I loved Myvatn from the first day I saw it, but after a few days staying there, I could not wait to look around in the north-eastern part of the country. My eagerness does not always give the best advice, as was in this case, because some of the roads I wanted to take were still closed after winter, so my possibilities became rather limited on this trip.
Anyway, I could visit a seabird cliff that was actually a torture for our car to get close to (most roads are not designed for a 2WD in Iceland), but it was worth it.

A lovely northern gannet colony, puffins, razorbills, guillemots and kittiwakes that were breeding on the steep cliffs of the northeast coast.

Orsolya Haarberg - Iceland 01

Our ferry docked in Iceland on the 20th of May. I was sent here to take pictures of colony-nesting seabirds (puffin, razorbill, guillemot etc.), skuas, waders, harlequin duck, gyrfalcon, arctic fox, in addition to the landscapes of volcanic Iceland (geysers, steam vents), a series of waterfalls and glaciers. A very ambitious goal for a two week mission. I feel a little more comfortable after deciding to spend 3 months on the island. This is also for our own purpose, as my husband, Erlend Haarberg, came with me on the trip.

When I arrived in Iceland, nature was just awakening from its long winter dormancy. Though the trees had no leaves yet and the landscape was a dull brown, many signs told you about the oncoming summer. The migrating birds had arrived, some were already playing on the nesting grounds, others waiting on mountain heaths and agricultural fields, for the retreating of the ice at higher elevations. Thousands of pairs of greylag geese, pink-footed geese and whooper swans could be seen along the roads, ready for the highlight of the year, the rearing of the new generation.

My first destination was Myvatn, where the last sheets of ice retreated right before my arrival, and was occupied by thousands of ducks. The name of the lake has the answer why they are all here.
It is called “Midge water” for the billions of insects (midges and black flies) that are invading the lake and the surrounding area at the start of the vegetation period.

I was lucky to see (and unlucky to feel on my skin) the swarming of these insects that – according to the researchers – was the best in 2008 out of ten years.

I have never been to Iceland before, so I asked for the help of an Icelandic nature photographer, Daniel Bergmann, about the best places to visit. At lake Myvatn I met him personally. After he showed me around the lake, I jumped straight into work. I had some nice days during the first two weeks which I used for bird photography from different hides I set up around the lake.

Myvatn is a paradise for bird watchers and photographers, probably one of the best places in Europe to observe ducks. Sometimes quite special ones, like the harlequin duck or the Barrow’s goldeneye that are only breeding on Iceland in Europe. My first interest turned towards the tiny, gaudily patterned species, the charismatic harlequin duck. Compared to other ducks, this species is special for it can be found in rivers with a strong current, diving for food close to rapids and waterfalls.
This was followed by the long-tailed duck, the greater scaup, and the Slavonian grebe, that I was lucky to work with. Only the sometimes miserable weather disappointed my ambitions.

Sandra Bartocha & Claudia Müller - Italian Orchids 03

04.05.2008
Right now we are a little tired of the Monte Sacro region as we have covered most of the species in the given conditions and are a bit frustrated about the strong wind and dull light. It’s hard to fulfill the mission of WWE’s “unseen, unexpected, unforgettable” under these circumstances. We begin to question ourselves and all the work we have been capturing on our flash cards so far, although we know that we have been fighting for every picture. At home without the timely pressure we wouldn’t have dared to grab our cameras, we would have waited for better conditions.
So we decide to take a little break – there are quite a few types of ice cream that we didn’t try yet and the Illy espresso is really good. Driving the coastal road to Vieste, we suddenly discover a hillside with white and pink spots all over. We agree to take a closer look and there – in between burned branches and Naples garlic (Allium neapolitanum) we find a few orchid species that are new to us. Within seconds we are highly motivated again. Ice cream can wait.
Instead of the usual Gargano-sound (the sound mix of cow bells, cuckoos, orioles and bee eaters) we are now accompanied by the sound of crushing waves and constant traffic. We are in the middle of a cloud of salt, leek and fumes – photographing orchids … somehow a little surreal.

Sandra Bartocha & Claudia Müller - Italian Orchids 02

01.05.2008

We do like flowers … but we never came across so many orchid species before, as there are only a few species where we live. Thoughtfully we skim through our field guides, trying to address the plants by their correct name. Especially the Ophrys species are difficult to differentiate and leave us a little helpless at times. Bugs and bees fly from Ophrys tenthredinifera to Ophrys bertolonii to Ophrys garganica etc. etc. – the outcome are more than 50 different hybrids in the Gargano region alone.

For the start the exact identification doesn’t matter too much. They are in most cases quite beautiful and we dig deep into our camera bags to portray them appropriately. Tripods and raincoats are set up as sails to soften the harsh light and as fans of maximum apertures we are able to use shutter speeds from 1/250s upwards. In combination with 6 frames per second and orchids that are swinging happily in the wind (storm), the focus should be at the right spot – at least in some of the pictures. ;-)

Accompanied by the continuous sound of the Gargano cattle, we twine around stones, thistles and cowshit like fakirs – trying to picture the selected beauties in the best light possible. Bruised, scratched, sunburned and full of black and blue marks, we agree that the road to success is paved with thorns. :)

02.05.2008

We get the feeling that half of Europe is meeting here at Monte Sacro. It is a colorful blend of people … either just nature lover or real orchid freak. The freaks document all newly found species very accurately with ring flashes and are busy ticking them off in their notebooks. Unfortunately, some of them do not hesitate to place the object of desire into the best light by relocating the orchid from its original position into one with a better background. They do not understand why we carry tripods, they do not understand why we need shadow and even more so, they do not understand how we can spend 2 hours with one little orchid. After all we are just two young and inexperienced women who seem to be a little crazy.

Nevertheless, a very amiable Italian guy tried to give us a crash course into the manifold realm of Ophrys. With crimson head he swished up and down the hills – almost like a lightning-ball. “Cloooodia, Zaaaaandra, Com’on, Com’on” – “Neotineamakulatafirsttimebiscutellahybridcornutayouseehirmantiglossumtinikum”??? We regretted that we didn’t bring a dozen flags to mark the spots. Many thanks for the interesting lesson.