My flatmate and I are visiting the Norwegian peninsula of Varanger to get to know Lapland in summer and, in my case, its wildlife. After leaving Helsinki some days ago with the night train and deiving all the way from Rovaniemi, it feels like we have lost the track of time as the sun does not set in these latitudes at this time of the year.

After our stay through the Finnish Lapland, entering Varanger is such a shock, as the beautiful monotony of the flat Finnish taiga is broken by diverse habitats every few kilometers in different directions. In our visit, we first head to the highlands, where we set camp at the diversion point between roads to Berlevåg and Båtsfjord, known as Kongsfjordfjellet.
On the way up north, it is recommended to take a look at the fields around Tana Bru, the first settlement in the Varanger peninsula, as it is renowned for its owl density. A northern hawk-owl (Surnia ulula) sits in a cable, and a short-eared owl (Asio flammeus) flies on the fields towards the distance. Another predator crossed the road, a red fox (Vulpes vulpes). We made it to Kongsfjordfjellet in the magical lights of early June just past midnight. Right in the only building of the spot, a pair of redwings (Turdus iliacus) visits a nest under the roof, and a male northern wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) sits close.

Up in the mountains, small lakes scattered across the landscape host pairs of red-throated loon (Gavia stellata), greater scaup (Aythya marila), and long-tailed duck (Clangula hyemalis), always in low density. All birds I had seen before, but in very different scenarios and plumages. I kept having this feeling all throughout, also with the numerous lifers and targets I set: these birds can be found in other places, but finding them in this other-worldly scenery, showing their best nuptial looks, made all sights impressive.
Kongsfjordfjellet point is surrounded by a small lagoon where I found the biggest diversity of aquatic birds in the area. A whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus), some long-tailed ducks, a male pintail (Anas acuta) and a group of goosanders (Mergus merganser) share water with a couple of red-throated loons which occasionally come to hunt from the lagoon on the other side of the road, where they set their nest. They were all silent, but a redwing and many waders broke the mystical silence, especially from the outflow of the lagoon, a small meltwater creek.
Following the creek, I got excited to find a group of an exciting lifer, the red-necked phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus). Brightly colored females are the least abundant among the group, all of them drawing small circles as they feed on the water surface. Nuptial dunlins (Calidris alpina) and especially ruffs (Calidris pugnax) are also very attractive. Following the creek, I notice more ruff males showing different head colors — black, white with orange spots, orange with black ‘horns’… Light is not the best for pictures now past midnight, but witnessing these birds lekking is awesome! I could see the fight of some males, females watching from inside the shallow water, for a while. Exciting.

Down the creek, the bird density (and my excitement) decrease. I cast an eye to the mountains on the other side of the road. Crazy laughters announce the arrival of distant white spots, willow ptarmigans (Lagopus lagopus) coming downhill and defending their territories. Both them and the abundant Eurasian golden plovers (Pluvialis apricaria) end up standing and calling on the road. Also, from far away, the silhouette of a seabird revealed my first ever long-tailed jaeger (Stercorarius longicaudus), a dark morph, but also later some white-morph individuals showed up on the road.
The last targets to find are passerines. My first Lapland longspur (Calcarius lapponicus) flies high across the sky, although I didn’t manage to get even a testimonial flight picture. Among different pipits, I managed good looks of the flamboyant red-throated pipits (Anthus cervinus) when approaching carefully the willows they hide in. By doing so, I also observed a hiding bluethroat (Luscinia svecica).

Occasional common snipes (Gallinago gallinago) and a male Eurasian teal (Anas crecca) fly off from small puddles around me. I hear an unfamiliar, new song as I hiked up an unpaved road west from the diversion. A beautiful Lapland longspur sang from top of a cable, and let me take some recordings. Thus far I have found three of them flying very up, and only this one at eye-level view, before flying off.
I walk all the way back to our little campsite in the diversion parking after over 2.30 h of fun, not too hopeful. Once around the car, I notice yet a new, unfamiliar bird song. The bird was quite close to the road in the eBird point, but I couldn’t see it. I followed the song, getting really close to it, as I walked for 45 min up and down, back and forth the slopes of the place. A pair of common ringed plovers (Charadrius hiaticula) shows up at some point in the middle of the rock pile I walk on. Next to one of them and following the silhouette of the pile, I finally notice it. My first horned lark (Eremophila alpestris) hiding well as it sings in the open. Knowing it was right in front of me, in the open, it is incredible how difficult it has been to find it!

We only stay here for over three hours at ‘night’ (00.30 – 04.00 but light sky) before leaving for the Varanger lowlands, but I got time to find all the targets I set myself, five of them lifers. Temperatures — and especially wind chill — are below 0 ºC, so warm clothes were strongly appreciated. However, I missed rubber boots, as the snow kept melting down from everywhere and wet, boggy areas appeared out of the blue in the middle of lichen, willows and dwarf birches under my feet as I short-cutted off the limited roads. Walking with wet non-waterproof shoes is something I will avoid next time. Despite it, this short visit has been a very exciting and fruitful part of the trip!