Bird Watching in Varanger

The species list in Varanger is unusually long, and the numbers are high all year. March and April give long days and good light — white-billed diver, king eider and Steller’s eider are common. From late April and through May, more than half a million seabirds pass the migration points every day.

May brings lekking in the scrub and red-necked phalaropes gathering. June and July are the months for divers and eagles, especially in good lemming years. In August the wader migration peaks, and in October wintering eider arrive in their thousands.

From 15 November to 1 February the polar night is too deep for it. The rest of the year we have a self-guided setup that shows you where the birds are. If you want king eider and Steller’s eider on camera, we will take you out by boat.

Hornøya bird cliff is worth a day trip from April to July, and the kittiwake colony at Ekkerøy is easy to reach.