Hornøya 2024

This year I achieved one of my wildlife dreams, that was to visit Hornøya island on the far, far North of Europe. Island is known for the amount of seabirds breeding there every year. They come when winter is still very much in place, makes for interesting winter photos.

Travel and accommodation

To get to Hornøya, first you must get to the city of Vardø, which is quite remote, but have it's own airport. When I was booking my plane tickets I couldn't find any direct connection around the time I needed, so I flew from Warsaw to Oslo, stayed a night at the airport, then in the morning flew to Kirkenes with midlanding in Tromsø. Because it was winter I was able to see stunning Lofoten Islands from the air, completely covered in snow.

I needed to rent a car and drive myself rest of the way. Because Vardø is very small, there was no possibility to return the car and it had to sit in port for 5 days while I was on the island. Unfortunate, additional cost, but totally worth it. Even so that the road to Vardø is very picturesque. When I was driving there, strong winds made for absolutely stunning view of the snow constantly beings moved over the road, looking like a flowing water and with sunset in the background - it was amazing. I met one lonely beach reindeer who was patient enough only for a few shots. I also saw few willow ptarmigan near the road but they weren't as much cooperative.

When it comes to where to stay - you can either book a place in the city and travel to the island and back everyday via small ferry, or book a bed in the lighthouse, that is on the island, on top of the cliff. I chose the second option, because it didn't limit the amount of time I could spent with birds and it was a fun experience on its own. It didn't come without a small challange, which was bringing up to the lighthouse your own supply of food and drinking water in knee-deep snow and not being able to properly shower for the time staying there (you can do that after coming back in the hotel).

The lighthouse itself is very well maintained, it's not a 5 star hotel, but it has everything you need (except for drinking water). When I was booking my stay with the operator - Vardø Hotel, months in advance, it was already fully booked for the second part of March, when birds arrive from the sea. I was able to find free spot during Easter weekend (and surrounding days) and actually spent 2 nights there all alone, which I didn't mind at all. It was a bit of a workout go to up and down everyday through deep snow as wind would very quickly erase paths made before.

One additional, nice aspect - you can get nice aurora photos if your lucky (unlike me) with very low light pollution. Cost of one night in the lighthouse was 300NOK and ferry to the island was 600NOK.

According to official website - on the island you can meet several bird species. I was able to see some of them, including puffins, razorbills, shags, two species of guillemots and seagulls. Shags were pretty much always present in one place or another, while other birds would tend to appear later in the day (especially when it was very windy). And when couple of thousands of birds were circling the island before sitting down, it was one of the things that are hard to describe, such an amazing experience.

I had more than one opportunity to photograph puffins before, but this time I went during winter because I was hoping to see some puffin fights in the snow, when they fight over mating spots. Unfortunately I didn't see much action of this kind. I had one fight going on in front of me but pics ended up being blurred mess of black colour and snow flying everywhere as birds were rolling down the hill while fighting.

I loved the opportunity of being so close to those little guys, just enjoying their company. Shags were very much ignoring people, walking in between legs and backpacks (and leaving poo all over them). When I was resting near the port they woud sit right next to my leg.

Picture gallery will be slowly updated once I develop more photos.

Photography aspect, afterthoughts

This (and other similar islands) is definitely something a bird enthusiast should experience. It's also very easy from photographic point of view as you don't need camouflage or any kind of hideout, you can also manage with shorter lens because you can get so close to the birds.

During winter there is no toilet near the port (only in the lighthouse), the hideout was also closed so no shelter available.

Weather conditions during the time I were there (end of March, beginning of April) were not that easy though - strong and very cold winds were making my hands go numb quite quickly. And it's a tough spot to find, between warm gloves and being able to operate camera. Other than hands it wasn't that bad. Weather would change constantly - one moment very harsh sun, the next a blizzard. So one must be prepared for all conditions. I had also spikes on my boots, which I found helpful, but people also managed without just fine. The jacket should be something you can easily wash (or wear something poo-proof over the jacket), because if you stay in a spot where lots of birds are flying over you - you're gonna get hit by those bombs.

I have taken my tripod, but in the end, with all the baggage I had to carry on my back, I left it in the car. I ended up regretting it a little. Comparing this to my previous puffin trips, where I had taken photos mostly from the top of the cliff, on Hornøya I was shooting a lot more looking up or at least on my eye level, so with heavy lens it was very tiring. Every moment I would be waiting for bird to turn head or start flying I needed to keep my heavy equipment up, add freezing wind to this and you get grumpy very quickly. ;) Next time I will be going there I will take tripod with me for sure.

One thing that I ended up liking was the fact that during this period most of the birds would spend the night at sea, only arriving at the island during the day - so no super early waking up! But on the other hand, because of the sun position, it didn't really made sense to stay late, because the wall of the cliff, that birds sit on, would be in the shadow in the afternoon. So no photos with sunset in the background unfortunately.