Favorites and finale

In the first couple of days Nigel Redman told us that, at the end of the trip, he would ask each trip participant to list their top five favorite birds seen on the trip.  So, we should be thinking of this as the days go by. I think this may be a Rockjumper tradition and I like it for big trips like Finland and Norway.  

My list:

5.  Tied:  Ortolan Bunting and Red-throated Pipit

4.  Smew 

3.  Boreal Owl

2.  Dotterel 

1.  King Eider

I don't know what the group final tally was, but I do remember that the first place bird was King Eider.  I'll add the rest when the trip report becomes available.  After writing all of this, I might have switched places with Dotterel and King Eider on my list.  But it doesn't matter. Both are great birds. 

My favorite photos

Singing an operatic aria.  Puffins doing cute things - impossible!   

Dotterel on nest in the middle of the tundra (and photo very slightly to the right).

This male Dotterel is here on Kaunispää Fell, a vast tundra landscape, by himself to incubate his eggs and raise his young.  If I understood Anttu correctly, this was his third breeding season in this location.  The further north we traveled, we saw many birds migrating to their arctic breeding sites, many in Siberia, but this Dotterel was my favorite.  The distance he flew to get here and his success reminds me of the hard lives that birds have.  I'll be checking in with Anttu next year to see if he is back for another year.

When I returned from the trip and downloaded my photos, I immediately deleted about two-thirds of them.  I continue to enjoy all that I kept for one reason or another - especially those that I included in my blog entries.  But, honestly, it seemed to me that none of the photos were really good.  There was always something - distance, lighting, angle, camera settings, being rushed, whatever it might have been - that seemed to thwart a really good image.  I will probably always be challenged by my deficient digital IQ.  I did select four photos, three of them already included in prior entries and one additional that I didn't have a place for.

My "best" photos

I've always wanted a photo like this, but never thought it would be a Boreal Owl!

Things lined up quite well for this Red-throated Pipit photo.

The Common Eider and King Eider swimming together is very appealing.

 

Bright and colorful photo of the Eurasian Wigeon (Mareca penelope), a handsome duck.

For anyone interested:  Finland and Norway eBird trip report.  All of the eBird entries were compiled by our Finnish guide, Antero Topp, with Finnature Touring.