We are delighted to invite you to join us for a unique and exclusive tour up inside the Arctic Circle, in the far north of Norway and Sweden.
The land of the midnight sun confounds expectations – far from being bleak and austere, at the height of midsummer it is painted with an abundance of wildflowers at all elevations, from lowland bogs to mountain slopes. Where there is floral diversity there are, of course, butterflies – and while a week in the Arctic is not going to produce a list with a great many species, of the dozens of species on the wing there at this time of year, a great many of them will be new for those who have not ventured this far north ever before.
Foremost among them will be fritillaries – their names fire the imagination, for they include not only some extreme European rarities found at this latitude and nowhere else in the world, like the near-mythical Dusky-winged Fritillary, but also an array of regional and mythological names that firmly set the scene of the region we’re exploring. Norse mythology gives us Thor’s, Freija’s, and Frigga’s Fritillary; while the region itself lends its names to Arctic, Lapland, and Polar Fritillary.
The eponymous names continue away from the fritillaries – we’ll expect to encounter, in addition to many confiding Moorland Clouded Yellow, their Pale Arctic and Northern counterparts; Arctic Grayling and Arctic Ringlet; and Northern Grizzled Skipper.
Speaking of skippers, we may also encounter the catena species of Silver-spotted Skipper; being this far north, our week ranging between the 69°N and 70°N lines of latitude, we find a number of otherwise familiar species in novel subspecific form – including the ossiana subspecies of Bog Fritillary, and polaris subspecies of Small Copper.
Small Copper will be greatly outnumbered by subspecies stiberi Purple-edged Copper, and these are a particular delight – like all the European coppers that sport purple on their wings, the further north one goes, the more extensive the violet colouration becomes. Here in the north of Norway, their hindwings blaze with intense colour.
Colourful interest will not be restricted to the butterflies – it will be impossible to ignore the vast array of alpine flowers that bloom at this time of year, including a multitude of highly attractive and range restricted species. The intense blue starbursts of Snow Gentian compete underfoot with the snowy white blossoms of carnivorous Alpine Butterwort, the dusky pinks of Glacier Buttercup, and the rich yellow of Vanilla-scented Bog Orchid Pseudorchis straminea. While we won’t see a huge variety of orchids this far north, they make up for that in both abundance (Common Spotted Orchid fill roadside verges for mile upon mile in their countless thousands) and their exclusivity – we’ll find Alpine Dwarf Orchid Chamorchis alpina growing right alongside Vanilla-scented Bog and Frog Orchids.
It’s also impossible to miss the other wildlife of the region – not least the charismatic and fearless Long-tailed Skua, garrulous Fieldfare, and many Brambling in full breeding plumage. We may spot Moose or Reindeer, and will almost certainly find the latter’s cast antlers on the tundra while we photograph butterflies.
The entire region is bursting with life at this time of year, and we can’t wait to share it with you. Based at two extremely comfortable hotels during the week, this tour is a unique opportunity to set foot where precious few other naturalists or wildlife photographers have gone before.
