Friday Photo #655 – Summer Harvest

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Photo: Norwegian Marshmallows – Plastic wrapped hay bales from late July grass cutting, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 23, 2025. 03:16

The grass cutting in my area was late this year, not occurring until this week. Though reading the local news, it seems the cool and wet start to this year’s summer led to a smaller yield than normal. So perhaps they waited a little longer for a bit of extra growth. Or perhaps they were just busy during the week+ or sunshine and 20˚c summer days Lofoten has experienced recently. Though now as August approaches, it looks like the weather may be shifting with more rain and wind on the forecast.

I don’t know why, but I like to photograph the hay bales each year. By the time the cut the field the wildflowers and grasses are already too overgrown for the field to looking very nice as a photographic subject itself – This from late may until late June, after which the grasses grow taller than the flowers.

I usually go out at sunrise – 03:16 in this case, and wander around the fields. There has also been a lot of fog in my area the last week, which would ebb and flow throughout the day, but occasionally clear during the very early morning hours – the ‘clouds’ in this image are from clearing sea fog, not actual clouds.

Summer still has a long way to go on Lofoten – at least another month hopefully! But with the cutting of the fields, and now the setting sun as well, it begins to feel like the inevitable turning of the seasons is upon us, and the first autumn storms are not far away. Which I’m not quite sure why, as before I moved here, August was when I usually preferred to visit, as there was at least a bit of darkness for camping. And still for some weeks, the days are longer here than anywhere on the continent during midsummer, so it’s not like it’s really dark now. Perhaps it is just the observing the slow change of seasons and light, and knowing the summers are short here in the north – so you want to hold on to the sun for a little while longer.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm
39mm
ISO 100
f11
1/50 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #654 – New Parking Regulations

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Photo: New 4-hour parking limit signs installed at Skreda rest area, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 15, 2025. 14:06

A couple weeks ago in Lofotposten it was announced that Statens Vegvesen (Norwegian road authority) was planning to install a dozen or so parking time limit signs along the E-10 in Lofoten, Driving to and from Leknes this week, I noticed one of the new signs had just been installed at the Skreda rest area, which is the marking parking location for the popular Offersøykammen hike. Parking is now limited to 4-hours.

In other locations, 2-hour limitations have already been installed – like the parking area at Skagsanden beach, a popular surf location for locals and tourists a like in winter. So I guess surf session will be quite limited.

With 20˚c weather finally arriving this week, the weather isn’t the only thing which has heated up as the usual parking chaos at Haukland beach even lead to a farmer abandoning is tractor in the middle of the road, as illegally parked cars blocked the roadway and he couldn’t drive further. I was at Haukland at 10:30 yesterday morning with my first group of cruise ship guests and the parking lot was already completely full.

The main intent of these new time limit signs is an attempt to stop every parking location across Lofoten from turning into de-facto free campgrounds, which has been the case. Part of this has also come from truck drivers who are required to take breaks by law, but find their parking areas already filled with motorhomes and camper vans staying for the night. But driving by Skreda a couple nights ago, it seemed the signs had only a little affect as a dozen or so people were still camped there at 03:00 – and its not like anyone is going out to write tickets at this hour. So, I imagine for Skreda at least, camping will continue as usual.

As always, the Lofoten communities have poor inter-island cooperation. So limiting the parking in a larger parking area like Skreda will now just push the 15-20 free-campers somewhere else and make it someone else’s problem. And then more new signs and fences will be put and and everyone will get moved somewhere else again. Until finally there is no place for anyone to park and enjoy Lofoten’s nature.

The Lofoten that existed 10 years ago is gone. The freedom to pull off alone in some quiet spot and camp for the night has been replaced with no-camping signs, fences, time limits, paid parking, full campgrounds, and, for the last few remaining free parking areas, motorhomes and camper vans packed in like sardines – defiantly not how I would enjoy things. And this then makes finding parking for hiking more difficult for everyone, locals and tourists alike. But no politician is creative enough here to come up with shuttle bus systems to relieve traffic to popular areas like Haukland beach or Fredvang/Kvalvika beach or other solutions to the growing traffic along Lofoten’s outdated narrow roads. And so Lofoten becomes a neglected victim of its own popularity to the benefit of few.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 25-120mm
57mm
ISO 100
f8
1/400 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #653 – Mountain Sunset

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Photo: Evening sun over Slettind mountain peak, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 14, 2021. 23:18

There is just over a week remaining for this summer’s midnight sun season. It has mostly been a cool and grey summer so far, though not without some nice days here and there, now it is finally looking like a longer spell of sunny and warm weather will arrive after the weekend. Maybe Leknes will hit 20˚c for the first time this year – a bit of a slow start! Though I was down in Germany over the past week, so got to experience a mini heatwave of 35˚c in Berlin at my arrival – I think I prefer Lofoten’s 12˚c!

Two weeks ago – Friday Photo #651 – I posted a similar view of this mountain, taken at almost on the same date and same time, only 3 years later that this photo – today’s image being from 2021, and the other week’s from 2024.

I’m not sure which perspective I like better. In this image the mountain is much more prominent and the sun in a better position. And perhaps the background is a little more balanced, with mountains on both sides of the frame. With next weeks forecast, there is a rough prediction for some sea fog, which I had if ff651’s image, though it did not rise up to the lake. Perhaps if the fog comes in a little higher, this could be an interesting perspective with the mountain looking like a volcano rising out of a sea of fog – though I just have to not get lost getting there in the mostly trail-less terrain and short scramble up a steep ridge,

Camera Info:
Nikon Z7 II
Nikon 14-30mm f/4
14mm
ISO 100
f10
1/80 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #652 – New Chicks

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Photo: Common gull chick stands in driveway between vehicles, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. June 30, 2025. 19:28

You are being closely watched if you are on Lofoten at the moment. Not from people or any technology, but from the local birdlife. And if you walk in the wrong location, you are likely going to be made aware of the all seeing eyes in the sky as you are dive bombed and screeched at by angry parents.

Like every year, there has been an exponential increase in the already lively bird activity in my neighbourhood. And since it’s no longer spring and horny seagull season, we are onto the next stage of life in Lofoten’s short summer: new chick season. As I’m writing this now, I can see 3 young gull chicks occasionally make an appearance on the rock outside my office window – the same rock as the photo below with the curlew standing atop.

And it’s completely normal to see a pair of gull chicks walking along the edge of the parking lot in Henningsvær or an oyster catcher family in a round a bout in Leknes so you might be attacked just walking down a sidewalk or parking your car. Nature or village, it doesn’t matter to the ground nesting birds.

Growing up in southern California I only knew seagulls as birds that liked to eat trash, steal your food if you were near the beach, and try to poop on you when riding your bike. It was an adversarial relationship between a young me and the seagulls. Little did I know, there are actually many types of birds that I would just call a seagull. And only after moving to Norway, I discovered that the various gulls don’t like each other that much either. It turns out that the large gulls that would try and steal my french fries also like to eat the young chicks of the smaller gulls. Hence the noisy nights at this time of year.

It seems there is something of a peace between several of the birds in my neighbourhood, as the oystercatchers, Curlews, and common gulls don’t seem to predate on each other’s chicks. While the larger herring gulls and black-backed gulls, along with the ravens and crows will be quick to gobble up an unguarded chick should they get the chance.

In the photo below of the curlew on the rock, there are actually 3 common gull chicks at the base. One of the gull parents sits on my sauna, keeping a watchful eye, though doesn’t seem bothered at all by the curlew; whose chicks are also somewhere wandering around in the deep grasses. When the curlew eventually leaves, a parent gull will fly down and feed the 3 hungry chicks.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3
370mm
ISO 1100
f6
1/800 Second
WB Daylight

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3
600mm
ISO 1100
f6.3
1/800 Second
WB Daylight

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