Marathon

There are many kinds of marathons.  A running race.  An extra innings baseball game.  A World Cup soccer match that ends with a penalty shoot out.  A three and a half hour long war movie that you watched to the end.  I think of my Finland and Norway blog as a marathon. 

Unlike running a marathon which, in my younger years, I failed to finish, I have nearly made it to the end of my trip.  Twenty-two posts so far with one more photo entry and perhaps an adjacent essay-style entry will finish it off.  I've really enjoyed it.  I told my best story and it may be my best trip review yet.  Of course, primarily it's all about the birds, but that's what the trip was inescapably about.    

This morning, after finishing the eider post, I switched out my header. You can tell, I was a little punch happy when I made it. 

A few additional photos to add.

Sign at the border of Finland and Russia.

The road was blocked by a locked gate.  We came here on May 26th for our afternoon coffee and cookies after seeing the White-throated Dipper (Cinclus cinclus) beneath the road bridge over a fast moving river at Jyrkänkoski.  The border was about an hour drive from there.  Just a week before our visit to the dipper site and the border, this article appeared in the New York Times:  "Russia Beefs Up Bases Near Finland's Border."  I was happy to be on the Finnish side drinking my coffee and eating cookies.

A charming, mid-morning stop for coffee and bird feeders at a restaurant in Lapland.

Resident of Lapland.

Båtsfjord harbor, Norway

One view of Båtsfjord village

Above and below:  Black Guillemot (Cepphus grylle) 

In Båtsfjord harbor where I found the Black-legged Kittiwake colony.  There were four in total.

Another view of Båtsfjord harbor across from the kittiwake colony.

The above landscape is beautiful.  Reindeer in the center.

Church

Sheep with lambs.