Siberian Jay at Varanger

Tucked into the boreal forest fringes surrounding the otherwise stark, treeless tundra of Varanger, the Siberian Jay offers a welcome splash of soft grey and rust plumage against Finnmark's wind-scoured landscape. Photographing this species here, on the Winter Wildlife of Arctic Varanger holiday, means working in the far northeastern reaches of Norway, well above the Arctic Circle, where the Barents Sea shapes a dramatic setting of open fjords and coastal cliffs. April visits place you at the tail end of the Arctic winter, when light levels and conditions in this remote corner of the country are typically at their most favourable for patient photography. Bring warm layers and a flexible approach, as this is a landscape defined by its exposure and scale.