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Sparrowhawk hunting
Sparrowhawk hunting Eurasian jay
Sparrowhawk
Sparrowhawk photo hide
Raven
Magpie
Sparrowhawk hunting Eurasian jay
Sparrowhawk
Eurasian Jay

Sparrowhawk action hide

       

             

Tour dates 2020:  20 -24 September (3 spots remaining)

Tour dates 2021:  Coming soon

             

Where: Marnardal (Southern Norway)

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Length: 5 days, 3 day sessions in the hide

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Tour guide: Leiv Arne Åkset

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Number of participants: 2 - 5

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Price: 8.050,- NOK (it is possible to rent the entire hide just for you, ask for the price)

           

Last date to register: 20th of August 2020

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Price includes

  • Accommodation: Cozy private rooms or a shared double bedroom.

  • Breakfast, lunch and diners.

  • Transport: All local transport, including the pick-up and drop off at Kristiansand airport. 

  • Tips for photographing the extremely fast sparrowhawks.

  • 3 Day photo sessions in the hide.

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Single room fee: Included

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Price does not include

  • Flights to and from Kristiansand airport

  • Alcoholic beverages and snacks

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Photographing from the hide

From the photo hide you will be able to photograph and experience the natural hunting behavior of the Eurasian sparrowhawk. The hawks are not baited! At the hide there is a feeding station for small singing birds, woodpeckers, Eurasian jays and magpies. In autumn sparrowhawks use this place to train their hunting skills, by chasing the smaller birds at the bird feeders. This is a true natural spectacle to witness and an extreme amount of fun to photograph. The sparrowhawks can train their hunting skills for several hours a day, giving you plenty of opportunities to get your shots. In addition to the sparrowhawks, sometimes buzzards and ravens show up at the hide as well. Please note that these are wild animals, which means that the activity will vary from day to day. Yet, the chance to succeed is very high. During the autumn season of 2019, there were only 2 days where the guests didn't manage to photograph the hawks. 

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Getting to the hide

You will be picked up at the accommodation at 06.00 in the morning and will reach the hide after a 10 minute drive. It is a 1 minute walk from the car to the hide. You will be picked up again from the hide at around 16:00.

 

The hide

It is a comfortable hide with good space for 5 photographers. There are 10 camera holes on sitting height plus 5 holes down at the floor for a low angle, so 3 holes per person. You will be sitting in comfy office chairs. There is a separate room with a toilet. If it gets very cold, it is possible to heat the hide. 

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The set-up

In front of the hide there are several perches set up for the birds to sit on. The guide can change the perches in order to create new settings. In this way you will return home with completely different images than the other guests. So you are not just copying what has already been done, which is a big issue with most other hides. The surroundings is nice and open, with the background far away. The vegetation consists for a large part out of heather, giving a beautiful background color to work with. 

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To get a good impression of how the hide, the set-up look like and the photo sessions look like, check out this video on YouTube

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Itinerary

Day 1. Pick up at Kristiansand airport. The guide will bring you to your accommodation and will give you a short introduction for the coming days. Dinner is included for this day. 

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Day 2, 3 and 4. You will be picked up at the accommodation at 06.00 in the morning and will reach the hide after a 10 minute drive. It is a 1 minute walk from the car to the hide. You will be picked up again from the hide at around 16:00 and be brought back to the accommodation. There is the possibility to do some local landscape photography after the hide sessions. This has to be discussed with the guide on location. Breakfast, lunch and diner are included for these days. 

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Day 5. The guide will pick you up at the accommodation and bring you to Kristiansand airport. Breakfast is included this day. 

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Photo equipment
It is always a matter of your own taste, with how many mm you want to photograph the birds. As main lens, anything from 400mm up to 600mm on a full frame body would be perfect. In order to get a bit more of the landscape in the images, a 70-200mm or a 100-400mm would serve right. It is possible to do some landscape photography after the hide sessions. If you are interested in this, also bring a wide angle lens. Other things you should bring, are:

  • Tripod head for in the hide

  • Plenty of memory cards

  • Plenty of batteries

  • Battery charger

  • Tripod (if you want to do some landscape photography)

  • Filters (if you want to do some landscape photography)

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Clothing

The temperature around this time of the year can still vary a lot. Bring plenty of layers so you can dress accordingly. On day time it can be somewhere between 0 and +15 degrees Celsius. 

 

The walks to and from the hide are short, but if it is raining it would be smart to have rain clothing with you so you don't have to sit with wet clothing in the hide. 

 

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Please contact us for inquiries for other dates and other questions.

Or fill in the booking form.

All images by Leiv Arne Åkset

Take a look at the results from the previous years.

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