Autumn in Lapland 22nd September 2008

Cloudy, then sunny and warm in the afternoon with many mosquito's and midges.

I was out in my boat fishing early this morning but although i did actually have one bite I didn't catch anything again!

Went walking today and found fresh Reindeer droppings but no sign of any Reindeer. I thought there was a Capercallie calling from some trees but it turned out to be a Raven mimicking a Capercallie (you may have to turn your sound up to hear this!)

A nice find was a Three-toed Woodpecker feeding both on the ground and in trees. I found out when I returned to England that there had been an influx of this species into Sweden and Finland.

I removed a nice flake from a piece of granite and experimented with using it to work in the Reindeer antler to make sewing needles. Although of course not as good as flint, I was able to score through the antler to split it.

But it was very impressive for abrading the antler to shape the needles.

I continued to work with the antler in the evening by lamp light.