The last 5 days have been sunny and although night time temperatures can still drop to -20, daytime temperatures have been reaching up to +6 degrees and the snow has started melting.
Great Tit, Willow Tit Bullfinch and Siberian Jay are singing during the day and at dusk Tengmalm’s Owls are singing.
We were out yesterday to enjoy the warmth and sunshine
and of course we made fire, cooked coffee and grilled sausage.
Last year I failed to reach my cabin during the winter because the snow was so deep and powdery, but this year I had no problem……..because my friend Erik (who has a cabin near to mine) was there to plough the track to our cabins with his Swedish Military Valp. He has built an hydraulic plough attachment that fits on the front and is very effective at clearing the snow.
Erik ploughed to about 1km from our cabins and Erik’s family and I drove behind the plough
The final kilometre was not ploughed (making it impossible for others to drive there), we all climbed into the valp and drove through the snow to the cabins
There was 80cms of snow on the roof
and it was dark by the time I had finished removing snow. I was working following morning so unfortunately could not stay at the cabin.
On Wednesday night between 10 and 11pm there was a fantastic display of the Northern Lights; the best many people can remember here!!
I stood in my garden watching the beautiful colours and patterns in the sky, coming from every direction (even in the south). After some time I realised I should be taking some photographs but unfortunately by the time I had fetched my camera and located my Gorilla Pod the best of the display was over. However, here are the best pictures I was able to take
In this final picture the light was so bright that it is actually over exposed with a 15 second exposure!
Yesterday was the first day we have seen the sun since early December.
Today while out on a ski trip with some guests I took these pictures on Solberget hill.
Here are some pictures I took from the top of the fire-watching tower
Here is the cabin where we ate lunch
Although the sun no longer appears above the horizon, we still have dawn and dusk here. Dusk is at around 2pm just now
and dawn is at 9am. It took this series of pictures this morning when the temperature was -23 degrees.
and behind me the moon was shining over the trees
Here’s a short atmospheric video I also made.
On Wednesday we had the first snow fall of the winter here in Nattavaara By. The snow is only a couple of centimetres deep but it is better than nothing. As you can see in the picture below (taken a midday yesterday) the sun is only just appearing above the horizon now, for about 1 hour. Next week it will disappear completely for about 4 weeks.
Last week I wrote about a wooden container that my friend had made for and now I had had a go at making one myself, using some scrap pieces of wood I had lying around in my workshop. Both the top and bottom are root bur from Sallow.
I made the top by glueing two pieces of wood together, one slightly smaller to fit inside the pot
I stitched the side together with sinew, but unfortunately as you can see below the side has split when it dried.
I am working on more containers with different designs and will put up the pictures when I have finished.
I already have some shops up here that will sell my Natural Lore Fire Sets, but interestingly they prefer the plastic container because it is easier for people to carry in their pocket.
Many people here are not so happy with me just now because they feel I have brought with me weather from the UK.
Autumn here is usually a time of sun and clear blue skies, but this year from the middle of August to the beginning of October it has rained HEAVILY almost every day.
Water levels here are higher than in spring after the snow has melted and areas of forest and marsh are flooded.
The snow usually arrives in early October and although we had one day of snow on 7th October, there has been no more since. Both Hare (Lepus timidus) and Stoat (Mustela erminea) have their white winter coats now and await the snows arrival.
On Thursday myself and my friend Tommy drove to the fjälls for a fishing trip. Our destination was on the side of a river that flows into a large lake called Satihaure. We drove to where the road ended, unloaded the boat
We packed our gear into the boat and were soon on our way
There was a strong westerly wind and heavy showers. When the showers came, the wind increased and the boat was struggling in the head wind, so we decided to stop and fish for a while.
The weather did not improve and eventually we decided to make camp for the night and hope the weather improved in the morning
When we awoke the sun was shining and the wind had dropped, and so we packed our gear in the boat and headed off. Once we were out in the lake the wind began to blow again and there came some heavy rain showers. I was amazed to watch a flying Red-throated Diver carrying a fish, gradually climb in altitude and eventually disappear over a mountain top.
The water level in the lake was 5 – 6 metres below what it should normally be and Tommy was finding it not so easy to navigate avoiding the shallows and large bolders under the water.
As we left the lake and travelled up the river I had to sit at the front of the boat and give Tommy direction to stay in deep water, but eventually we could not go any further.
This trip was also my first chance to test my new Frisport lavvu (I will be writing more about it soon)
We made fire and boiled some water to make coffee (in the picture below you can see a very old Sámi fire sight in front of our fire wood)
My friend Dirk had given me a tin of Corned Beef from Germany just before I left and so with all the necessary indredients
I made corned beef hash for lunch
After lunch we began fishing and both caught several medium sized Grayling. We our way up-river fishing for a couple of kilometres.
We caught some nice sized fish
and it was good to be able to make fire, cook some coffee and grill fresh fish at the same time
MORE SOON!
This is my favourite time of year here in Lapland. Everyday there are new species of birds arriving and you just never know what you will find. Yesterday I was out for the hole day visiting different areas.
I started at a wetland area just outside Nattavaara. Before I had got out of the car I could here 2 Rustic Buntings (Emberiza rustica) singing. One came very close to investigate, but was moving all the time and I could not get a good photograph of it.
I also found a Ruff (Philomachus pugnax)
displaying or “lekking” on an island in the middle of small lake
In Dokkas there was a Tree Pipit (Anthus trivialis) singing. On the lake in Dokkas there were five Little Gulls (Hydrocoloeus minutus). There is a colony of Little Gulls which breed on the lake.
There was one male Smew (Mergellus albellus) and many Goldeneye
Another nice surprise was a pair of Common Scoter just in front of the bird tower.
I have not seen Common Scoter in Lapland before.
I cooked my evening meal at the side of Lina river just outside Dokkas
I cooked fried sausage, noodles and coffee
I made this simple fork to eat the noodles with, but splitting a piece of Alder at one end and inserting a small wedge to keep the two prongs open.
Yesterday we held the first event to help raise money for the nature center we are creating in Dokkas called Majbrasa. Majbrasa has much history but now it is a celebration of longer days and the arrival of spring, and the burning of old to make way for the new
We opened the old school in Dokkas and put information up on the walls so that people could see and read about what we are planning to do
We also had a room in the school where we served coffee, cake and hotdogs
and another room where a local family performed live music
We also had an activity for children to go out in the forest and search for items on the paper provided to them
People began arriving at 7pm
Some people purchased sausage and cooked over a small fire
others enjoyed the warmth of the brasa are went inside the school for coffee, cake and hotdogs
We left at 9:30pm and people were still there enjoying the live music
As we drove home there was a female Capercaillie standing on the road refusing to move
