Finnish Icons
Information and FAQ
Witness the stunning lekking battles of male black grouse, as they strut, call, and fight for dominance in dramatic courtship displays. You'll have access to two different lek locations, with both front-lit and back-lit setups, and purpose built low-angle hides perfect for jaw-dropping action shots.
And that's not all; we'll also spend time photographing the magnificent and secretive Goshawk at two separate sites, giving you the best possible chance at capturing this raptor in all its wild glory. Of course if we get any special visitors show up then we will make the most of them too and we have scheduled a day in the superb golden eagle hides too if there is snow around!
A typical day
The days are long and packed with photography. We leave our accommodation an hour before sunrise for the drive to the hides. Usually we are finished by 9am, so we will return for breakfast at the villa and a welcome sleep. Or after breakfast you can use the hide at the villa to photograph various birds including Goshawks and various garden birds. After lunch we will head out for the afternoon, either to the main Goshawk hide or for some other local wildlife if we get a tip off. Usually we finish mid-evening, when we will then return to the Villa for a home cooked dinner and bed before your next day's adventures begin. If we decide to do the golden eagle hide then we will take packed breakfast and lunch and head there straight after the grouse. We will likely stay there most of the day, returning to the villa for dinner and bed. On departure day you will have another black grouse session, with some free time after at the villa, before leading to the airport.
Hides
There are two very different black grouse hides. The main one where you will spend most of your time is the backlit hide (shown left). As you can see there are multiple slots for low angle and seated photography and it is very comfortable. There will be 2-3 photographers per hide at this location and you will each have space to setup two lenses, one high and one low. The fron-lit hides are smaller, here there is the opportunity to lay flat for super low angle shots. In these hides you will share with one other photographer and again have space for two setups, there are chairs to sit comfortably if you don’t wish to lay flat!
All hides are insulated and have sleeping bags for you to sit in if you are cold and simple candle heaters that are very effective. They are basic but very comfortable.
Toilet wise - due to the remote nature of the black grouse hides there are no toilet facilities however you will be provided with an emergency bucket! For this reason we will not mix sexes unless you are a couple.
Your accommodation
Your accommodation for this tour is the beautiful and charming Villa Finnature, a wonderful exclusive forest house just for our group. Bedrooms are for single or couple occupancy, with showers and toilets are shared per group of rooms and we will have our own cook for the duration preparing fresh hearty Finnish meals. It's a real home from home, and even better it has it’s own attached hide for photographing goshawks, sparrowhawks and all kinds of small birds and mammals that come to visit. It has a great sauna too!
The Guide Team
Lots of people run safaris, what separates our expeditions is the experienced guide team that we have, plus the Travel Trust Association bonding that protects your holiday money from supplier failure. Your guide for this trip will be multi award winning wildlife photographer Andy Rouse , who is an expert at these species and photographing them. He has worked in these hides many times before and is an expert at getting you in the right place at the right time.
Andy Rouse
Andy has won over 34 major international awards, been a pro for nearly 25 years and has led photographic expeditions all over the world. He prides himself in only offering the very best destinations, and has built a reputation as one of the best photographic safari guides in the world. Put simply, if you book a WildBunch safari, you can rest assured that you will be guided by one of the best in the business. Andy’s safari’s are always packed with fantastic opportunities, expert guidance and a drive to get the very best for his clients, as well as being a lot of fun - you are on holiday after all!
Andy shoots with the Sony A1 Mark II, but rest assured no matter what system you use, Andy will be able to help you get the most from your system and yourself.
Away from work he is a proud husband, Dad and West Ham fan!
Frequently asked questions
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In terms of fitness this is a very easy trip. You will need to be able to carry your kit across a field with sometimes uneven footing but the distances involved are fairly short (around 300m), please ask us directly if you are unsure. The golden eagle hide is a 10 minute walk along a level forest track. If we do the Great Grey Owls then you will be walking along a road or through or field. In short anyone with average fitness can manage this trip.
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It might be snowy, it might rain. It might be sunny it might be cloudy!! We cannot tell. It can be -12C or 5C, it all depends. All hides have some form of basic heater.
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Comprehensive pre departure information will be provided 3 months before departure. This will cover photo kit, clothing, visas, tips and anything else you need to know.
For the grouse they can be variable in location but a 600mm lens will be too tight for most shots apart from single bird portraits. So a 200-600, 100-500, 150-400 will be perfect for this. The goshawks are perfect for a 300mm reach. If we do golden eagles then they will be further away and you will need at least 500m to get a nice shot. So it's not a difficult ask this one. You will need decent tripod heads for this trip.
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The tour is based in Oulu, Finland. There are regular flights that connect through Helsinki from all of Europe and beyond.
We appreciate that for a lot of you, you have your own frequent flyer memberships and preferences. So, as we do for all our safaris, once you book we will tell you when and where you need to be and give you some flight recommendations.
We will then arrange pickup's etc to the team hotel if necessary, or transfers at the airport if you are coming direct. This is now standard policy for all of our safaris.
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We will have 6 photographers on this trip so that you will have maximum opportunity to get those great shots.
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Hide sessions can be tough so you must be able to sit still and quiet for a few hours. Hopefully there will be enough wildlife action to keep you entertained!
Our tours are inclusive, anyone is welcome irrespective of race, religion, gender or sexual orientation. You don’t even need to be a photographer! We just ask that you come with a smile and a love of wildlife.
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It’s important that you understand that whilst we guarantee that everyone will do their very best to get you the very best in photographic opportunities we cannot guarantee photographable sightings. As stated this tour has a very high success rate, but nature and wildlife can be unpredictable. All black grouse images in this brochure have been taken on two morning hide sessions in 2025, whilst the others have been taken over the past two years.
It is extremely important that you understand, that whilst Andy and Jari will do their absolute best for you throughout this tour to get you the very best pictures, nature can be unpredictable, as can the weather. You must come with these realistic expectations, we do not make false promises with our tours. What we can promise is that the team will work 150% to give you the best chances and best experiences possible. That is absolutely guaranteed!
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We have scheduled 4 morning black grouse sessions and 2 afternoon hide sessions for goshawk plus an ad hoc golden eagle session if the weather allows it. If anything else presents itself we will take full advantage of it don’t worry. Trust me this will be well enough!
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Vegetarian and vegan are simple for us.
We can usually cater for most dietary requirements so please get in touch with any questions and we will be happy to help.
Travel Trust Association
Now we know that there are a lot of people out there offering photographic tours, however rest assured that this safari is backed by the Travel Trust Association (TTA). The TTA is an independent trade organisation of tour operators that we are proud members of. The TTA provides guarantees for your booking with us in two forms.
The first is that all monies are deposited to a trustee managed trust bank account and any payments to / from them have to be authorised at several levels.
Secondly your booking is protected by the TTA Safe Seat Plan and Supplier Failure Cover, both of which are insurance policies to protect your money from fraud and supplier failure.
We include the costs of these policies automatically in your booking fee, so that you can have total financial confidence in us, and your booking with us, as a trusted and reputable tour operator.
Further details of our TTA membership can be found by clicking here.
