Suomussalmi

NaturesLens visits Suomussalmi on small-group wildlife photography holidays in Finland, with time here planned around Brown Bear, Common Raven, White-tailed Eagle & Wolverine rather than general sightseeing. Current itineraries using Suomussalmi include Brown Bears of Finland, with photography shaped around hide, boat-based, flight & landscape & behaviour photography sessions. Suomussalmi lies in the Kainuu region of eastern Finland, close to the Russian border, within the vast belt of taiga forest that stretches across the country’s remote north-eastern reaches. This is a landscape of extensive pine & spruce forest interspersed with peat bogs, mires & small lakes, forming part of the wider boreal wilderness that characterises the borderlands between Finland & Karelia. The terrain is sparsely populated & largely undisturbed, offering the kind of continuous, undeveloped habitat that is essential for wide-ranging northern forest species, & the area has long been recognised as one of Europe’s premier destinations for observing elusive taiga wildlife from carefully positioned hides. The forests & bogs around Suomussalmi are best known for their brown bears, which move through the taiga in good numbers during the summer months & can be watched at close range from hides overlooking clearings & forest edges. Wolverine, a scarce & notoriously secretive mustelid of the northern forests, is also recorded here, its presence a testament to the wildness of the surrounding habitat. Overhead, white-tailed eagles patrol the skies, Europe’s largest bird of prey, often drawn to carrion in the vicinity of bear feeding areas. Common ravens are a frequent & vocal companion in these forests, their deep croaking calls & aerial tumbling display flights adding an atmospheric backdrop to any wildlife watching session. Curious what keeps photographers coming back? Read our piece on why photographers keep returning to Suomussalmi.