Wild Brown Bear Centre - www.wbb.fi

Late last night, after two months of design and preparation, I added the final touches to the new Wild Brown Bear Centre website.

It is now a complete directory of information, regarding the services offered by the Wild Brown Bear Centre | Kuhmo | Finland. Useful pages include 'Info' & 'Hides', where it is possible to cycle through the available photography hides, in order to select a vantage point, that will maximise your chances of capturing the perfect image.  

www.wbb.fi

Summer is coming

When the hides become hotter than the sauna

Recently the temperature here has been through the roof, much like elsewhere in Europe. What makes it slightly more amazing is that one week ago today, it was -2 Degrees, and there was 10cm of snow on the ground. The high temperatures have brought about another leap of life to the landscape, although Spring was already establishing itself at the end of April, it is now well and truly here. The leaves on the aspen and birch have already opened and the vista has turned a rich green in colour. This spout of life is also reflected down nearer the bear hides, where the grasses populating the pond are beginning to saturate.

Gretel Langenscheidt

A truly inspirational character 

Last week I transferred Gretel Langenscheidt back towards Kajaani Airport. I listened intently to her stories, whether it was; tracking wild Panda's deep inside China, photographing the Spirit Bear along Canada's pacific coast, or the relatively tame trip to Wild Brown Centre last Autumn. Although the fear of the forest beast has slightly relaxed on me, hearing first person travel stories, has, and will continue to thrill me, throughout my stay here.

What Gretel has seen is more than many will, in their lifetime, and to just add a cherry on the top, the above (only the tip of the iceberg) has occurred since becoming, what society labels an 'OAP'. 

She was not only more physically able than many of the guests here, but also, by far the most positive and forward thinking individual I have met so far - during this adventure and before. It was a pleasure on her last morning to take her portrait, shown above, and I know for certain that she had a wonderful trip here.

Birds and Hoes

Two pairs of Goldeneye have been frequenting the small pond in the hide area for last 2 weeks. They are currently focused upon their mating rituals, which you can see the male acting out in the photo above. In between they dive below the surface to search for aquatic saplings. I spent about 30 minutes solidly trying to capture this 'diving' moment, to no avail, so I made a few nice images of the individuals in the water. Where they get their name from is quite self-explanatory, although the females tend to have a slightly less saturated colouring in the eye.   

The photo to the left is a very nice example of an adult male Goldeneye. He has a beautifully defined contrast between his upper and lower body, with the brightly coloured 'Golden' 'Eye' adding colour to either side of the head. An intruder male visited the ponds several times whilst this male was courting his female (Right and Above), the two broke into a fierce battle, both, submerged and on the surface of the pond. Finally ending with the intruder being chased away, fleeing from the pond.

  

In between photographing the large apex predators, you take time to see what other auxillary wildlife is around. This small Wood Sandpiper spent an hour circling the perimeter of the pond, just teetering on the edge, searching for dinner. Fortunately enough it came within 2/3m of my hide and I was able to snap a few photos of it.
 

There has also been a pair of loudly displaying Greenshank, which have been present at the side of the pond on most nights. They too offer a welcome change of subject whilst photographing the larger mammals for the duration of the night.