Amalienhaven is a modern park donated to the capital of Denmark by the A. F. Møller shipping company in 1983. Walking along the promenade in Copenhagen to the north you will find the dazzling fountain Gefion Fountain (Gefionspringvandet), dedicated to the Nordic goddess Gefion.
At the start of Langeline is the symbol of Copenhagen, The Little Mermaid (Dern lille havfrue). This bronze statue of the character from Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale was created by Edvard Eriksen in 1913. Quite bizarrely, she was taken to Shanghai, China, in 2010 to sit in lonely state in the Danish pavilion at the World Expo; but that was just a guest visit.
Southern Frihavn in Copenhagen
Along the Promenade in Copenhagen
The quay of Langeline follows, and Europe’s busiest cruise-ship pier is to the north of this at Frihaven (Free Harbor).
One of the most architecturally interesting of the newer buildings in this area is Paustians Hus, designed by Jørn Utzon, who also desiuned the Sydney Opera House. Paustian is one of Copenhagen’s finest furniture stores; the building also houses a good restaurant.
Back to the city center Return to the city center via Kastellet (The Citadel), a fortification that has kept its old ramparts intact. Part of the area is still military property.
Churchillparken, a tiny park just south of Kastellet, provides a home for the Museum of the Danish Resistance (Frihedsmuseet), which commemorates the Danish resistance fighters of World War II. Apart from acts of sabotage against Nazi occupants, the underground group managed to get 7,000 of Denmark’s 8,000 Jews out of the country.
Along the Promenade in Copenhagen, written by Tor Kjolberg
Early risers or visitors arriving Copenhagen in the morning have plenty of cafés and restaurants to choose from located in several places across the Danish capital. Our team has tested some of them, and here are some recommendations for your breakfast in Copenhagen.
A hearty breakfast should get your day started, and an early breakfast or brunch are never far away in Copenhagen.
Cafe Bang & Jensen
Café Bang & Jensen Located in the posh end of Istedgade, this former pharmacy houses a delightful café that is very popular with the Vesterbro locals. The atmosphere is cozy and relaxed and you will feel instantly at home among quaint lamps and odd unmatched chairs.
Between 08:00 and 10:00 you can tuck into a delicious breakfast buffet. After 10:00 you can make individual brunch orders: hard- or soft-boiled eggs, organic coffee or green teas.
Cafe Europa 1989
Located in the very heart of Copenhagen, on Amagertorv, Café Europa has been inspired gtom the very best of various Eiropean café cultures; the traditional French cafe, the cake houses found in Vienna and Budapest, the Italian coffee menus and, of course, the culinary inspiration from the Spanish tapas and the Greek yogurts.
Jesper Gørtz at Lille Bakery
Lille Bakery This little café and bakery, opened spring 2018, is located inside an industrial building at Refshaleøen a little outside Christianshavn, a popular district of Copenhagen. Lille Bakery is run by a former chef at NOMA, Jesper Gørtz, which is definitely reflected in the quality and taste of the bread and food served there.
Order their bread with cheese and ham and whipped butter. The huge slices of bread leave you with the perfect option of getting more dishes to taste as a supplement.
Mad & Kaffe, Fredriksberg You’ll find Mad & Kaffe at three locations in Copenhagen, all of them located in beautiful surroundings. The cafes are decorated to suit the spirit of the local area.
There is a breakfast card where you can put together your very own breakfast board, choosing from 18 different components. Everything on the menu is made from scratch with fresh and good (seasonal) ingredients.
Mad & Kaffe Vesterbro
Mad & Kaffe, Vesterbro
When Mad & Kaffe opened in 2015 it took Copenhagen by storm. Ever since, the café has shining its light on Vesterbro.
Of you’re a brunch lover, this place should absolutely be on your bucket list. Located in one of Vesterbro’s hotspot locations, you can combine your own tasty breakfast plate by ticking the list of various breakfast possibilities. Mad & Kaffe also offer lunch and bigger meals.
Meyers Bageri, Jægersborggade This small bakery, where you can buy organic bread, freshly ground flour and cakes opens early in the morning and is often crowded. Not surprisingly since there’s only room for five people.
The Danish chef and entrepreneur, Claus Meyer, along with a baker and a confectioner runs this little delicious bakery. Especially the cinnamon rolls “kanelsnurrer” made with Valrhona chocolate is worth waiting for.
Omegn & Venner
Omegn & Venner in Torvehallerne
Omegn buys their products from farmers outside Copenhagen and sell them in their outside stall in Torvehallerne. The selection of products depend on the season, but you will always find a great variety of vegetables and fruits.
Omegn has an indoor stall in Torvehallerne and here you can enjoy some delicious local products such as hams, sausages and cheese, and make sure to try one of their beers along with it. Opens every day, except Sundays (11am) at 10 am.
Winterspring
Winterspring
Opened in March 2018, this is a newcomer in Copenhagen. Owner and manager Karina Schmitt Lund has specialized in making incredibly quality ice creams and sorbets, using ingredients and exceptional Nordic design, for which they have gained great acclaim and won international awards.
Not really a breakfast café, but a delicious ice cream before exploring the city is not a bad idea.
Wulff & Konstali
Wulff & Konstali
In this bakery located on Amager, Copenhagen South, you can mix your own brunch or breakfast from a menu. You can choose between 21 different choices with everything from freshly baked bread and pastries, eggs, bacon, waffles, chia porridge, yoghurt and granola, avocado and much, much more.
Wulff & Konstali has made delicious brunches since 2008.
Breakfast in Copenhagen
We all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and when you travel and have a full day of exploring Copenhagen in front of you, then breakfast becomes even more important. We therefore hope this little guide is helpful when you’re going to decide where to start your day in the Danish capital.
If you want to gladden your senses, take them to Aalborg in Denmark. To the architecture of Alvar Aalto, to intimate icons, glorious glass and celebratory ceramics. Experience the spirit of Aalborg.
Some people are ambivalent about the North Jutland Museum of Art. It was designed by Finland’s great designer-architect Alvar Aalto and has such an unusual form that it quickly becomes a matter of whether the architecture detracts from the art, or allows the light to come in and enhance it.
Museum of Modern Art in Aalborg. Architect: Alvar Aalto
The spirit of Aalborg
But regardless of what you think about the museum itself, it is a great place to entertain the senses. Here you will find exciting specialist exhibitions, a sculpture park and amphitheatre concerts, films, lectures and much, much more. And if there should be no special activities while you are visiting, you can experience a permanent exhibition of Danish and international art from 1900 to the present day, which is just as exciting as the architecture.
Artbreak Hotel is not a hotel at all, but a workshop gallery
Sensuous expression
Having left the museum, you can stroll down into the center of town, where you can visit Artbreak Hotel, which is not a hotel at all, but a workshop gallery. This is where artist Nils Sloth have set himself the task of challenging himself and his visitors. His expression is lively to put it mildly, and riotously colorful. In his pictures the senses are met by an almost overwhelming richness of expression.
Nils Sloth in his Artbreak Hotel
You have to stand back from his pictures to really take in the explosion of visual impressions. Figurative and abstract elements in all the colors of the artist’s palette, and using a variety of techniques all packet into the same picture, Nils works offer the eye a journey of exploration, and the possibility of getting lost in a veritable riot of sensuality.
Clear shapes His daughter became a glass-blower? Certainly not! But Lene Højlund did just that. And when she came home with a schnapps glass that she had made for her father, his opposition melted as quickly as the glass fragments she feeds into her Glaspusteriet in central Aalborg. She has been there for most of the 31 years she has been blowing glass. Mostly clear glass. Because she thinks it is important to play with and challenge the transparency of the material.
Lene Højlund in her Glaspusteriet
“It is its very transparency which is special about glass. You mustn’t spoil that. But my pieces are also intended to brighten one’s existence. Not only through the use of color, but also through humor,” she says.
At Lene’s place you will find pieces which make fine gifts both from and to 6-7 years-old. You will find that special wedding present, too. But Lene’s specialty is perhaps the gift that can be supplemented for years to come. She makes a lot of pieces which go together in series, like candlesticks, dishes, bowls, vases and serving trays. And in Lene’s glassware the light is allowed to shine through the glass and play with the colors.
From Gallery Lisbeth L in Aalborg
Unique glass beads
Lisbeth Larsen is a jewelry designer, who designs and makes unique glass beads by hand, using them in her jewellery designs together with other natural materials. No two beads are alike, and you can therefore always be sure to find an original and unique piece of jewellery at the gallery
In Nibe, just outside of Aalborg, you will find. In her Galleri Lisbeth L, she creates beautiful jewelry inspired by the colors of nature and current fashion trends.
To create the unique, and often very colorful jewelry, Lisbeth Larsen uses a special technique where glass rods are heated so they can be shaped around a steel mandrel. She then adds colors, thus forming different patterns.
Street art in Aalborg
Aalborg is perhaps best known to many for its nightlife. But the town is no less exciting by day, when it offers an abundance of culture, colors, shapes and sensuousness.
Feature image (on top): Water pavilion in Aalborg by Jeppe Hein
Large cruise ships ply the 2,000-km (1,250-mi) voyage between Bergen and Kirkenes in Norway, but for sheer intimacy it’s difficult to beat the more informal service offered by the ‘postal’ ships that serve outlying coastal communities. Cruising coastal Norway with a ‘postal’ ship is the ultimate way to have a taste of Norway.
This odyssey takes you around Norway’s breathtakingly beautiful fjord coastline, stopping over thirty times and showing you a side of Norway inaccessible by any other means of transport.
This odyssey takes you around Norway’s breathtakingly beautiful fjord coastline, stopping over thirty times
The journey begins in Bergen
The journey begins in Bergen, a harbor town founded by the Vikings almost a millennium ago, when it quickly became a vital hub, handling trade between Northern Europe and the British Isles. As you leave the port, the splendid 14th-century gabled buildings of the seafront slowly dwindle to nothing and your eyes are drawn to the wonderfully rugged coastline.
Hurtigruten MS Nordlys
Along the way you will see glorious fjords, precipitous mountains and quaint fishing villages before crossing the Arctic Circle. Here, as you approach the North Cape, you will experience the midnight sun in summer. Winter offers chance to see the Northern Lights – the ultimate light show.
The voyage is showing you a side of Norway inaccessible by any other means of transport
Cruising coastal Norway with a ‘postal’ ship
For much of the journey all eyes are fixed on the starboard side, where snow-capped mountains and fjords abound. This is until the vessel meanders between the Lofoten islands whose stark, craggy beauty hits you from both sides.
Passing the Arctic Circle
The trip gives you a true appreciation of this beautiful country and how most of its population clings to the coast. When you cross the Arctic Circle, the population becomes more thinly spread and the scenery ever more dramatic. The awe-inspiring Laksefjorden and Tanafjorden lie ahead, before the vessel reaches its final destination, the sheltered port of Kirkenes.
All photos: Hurtigruten
Cruising Costal Norway with a ‘Postal’ Ship, written by Tor Kjolberg
Since the beginning of her illustrious career, Swedish Liselott Watkins as dedicated herself to documenting “all the shades of women” in various media and different art forms. But it all began as a 25-year venture as a fashion illustrator. The Swedish illustrator has been documenting women all ger career.
Watkins is a catalyst for the female spirit and lives in the spirit of solidarity of women worldwide. She has immortalized figures of defiance, melancholy, assurance and vulnerability in glossy magazines like the New York Times, Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue.
Liselott Watkins is a catalyst for the female spirit and lives in the spirit of solidarity of women worldwide
Swedish illustrator documenting women
Her portraits are as unexpected as her most important material and instrument, and her defiant, backward-leaning women have lived on beyond most collections and trends. Her dreamed ip stylish, hard-edged characters convey both a steely confidence and the kind of nonchalance young girls always seem to be after.
Afrochick by Liselott WatkinsAbsolut Watkins
From pen and ink she tells the stories of the supposed frivolity of fashion, colored with a with that can conjure living, breathing persons. For the past years she has even been dreaming up a world outside the lines, creating an army of earthenware women by hijacking antique ceramics and using her hallmark clipped collages.
Watkins’ defiant, backward-leaning women have lived on beyond most collections and trends
The power of women as individuals
Living and working anywhere else but her homeland throughout her career, Watkins has been negotiating the power of women as individuals whose fortitude flourishes in numbers—separate souls enriched by a sense of supportive community. It’s a notion that entered her consciousness through steady exposure to culture shock.
A fashion illistration by Liselott Watkins
Liselott Watkins grew up in the countryside about two hours outside Stockholm. When she turned 17 she moved to Texas and went to art school. “From there, I went to New York, where I lived for a while; for a long time, I felt that particular sort of New York loneliness that seemed to be helped by drawing these girls. In a way, I tried to channel their sureness. It was like therapy,” she says.
A Liselott Watkins illustration for Glutton for LifeA Liselott Watkins illustration for Prada
Now she lives in Rome with her husband and two children. “This is such a female-driven society,” she says wrestling with the gender imbalance of her adopted country. “The Swedish me asks, ‘Why are these women everywhere, doing everything? Where are the men?’ But then, the whole matriarchy—helping each other, perhaps because you don’t think men are going to be there—it’s so beautiful in a way, because it’s so supportive.”
Swedish Illustrator Documenting Women, written by Tor Kjolberg
Norwegian actress Amrita Acharia of Nepalese-Ukrainian origins was born in Oslo and is best known for her roles in Game of Thrones, the ITV series The Good Karma Hospital and the Norwegian film I am Yours which landed her a nomination for Best Actress at the Norwegian Amanda Awards. Now the Norwegian actress is fully occupied by the medical drama Good Karma Hospital.
Amrita was born in 1990 to Nepalese Dr. Acharya and a Ukrainian mother, and moved to England with her parents when she was six years old and they later relocated to Norway. Thanks to her international upbringing, she speaks Nepali, Ukrainian, Russian, English, and Norwegian.
Amrita was born in 1990 to Nepalese Dr. Acharya and a Ukrainian mother, and moved to England with her parents when she was six years old
Promotion visit to Johannesburg
The brunette beauty has recently been working in Johannesburg to promote the second season of the show, in which she acts as Dr. Ruby Walker. “As an actor, it’s about making sure that you give your editors and directors options or take the direction you are given, and that you don’t just stick to one way of doing things during takes. Similarly you need to find a way to replicate takes and be able to find that moment again. This is where your personal process needs to be something that you can hold on to,” she said when visiting acting students in Johannesburg.
The feel-good series is based on creator and writer Dan Sefton’s experiences as a doctor in South Africa.
Norwegian actress in medical drama
However, the show is filmed in Sri Lanka and for the first season a crew from Cape Town worked on the production. The series follows a group of hard-working doctors in an under-funded hospital in tropical South India. Junior doctor Ruby hopes to distract herself from heartbreak and find a job in India. The show has been renewed for a third season which will start filming later this year.
The brunette beauty has recently been working in Johannesburg to promote the second season of the show
What makes the show so universally appealing is probably that it has a unique backdrop of India. While the show has some similarities with other shows such as Grey’s Anatomy, the difference is that it is nuanced with the social economical structure in India and everything else that comes with that society.
The Norwegian film ‘I am Yours’ landed her a nomination for Best Actress at the Norwegian Amanda Awards
Busy with philanthropic work
As well as being a talented actress, Amrita is also busy with philanthropic work. She’s previously taken part in the London Marathon raising money for a school back in Nepal that was affected by the 2015 earthquake.
Norwegian Actress In Medical Drama, written by Tor Kjolberg
Bartender Eguene Shashin from the first underground cocktail bar Korobok in Moscow paid a visit to Himkok in Oslo last week-end. Himkok is considered one of the twenty best bars in the world (latest rating). The Moscow Underground Bar Met World Acclaimed Bar Himkok in Oslo 24 – 27 August.
Both bars have definitely lived up to their expectations. In a way they are doing for cocktails what the two capitals’ Michelin starred restaurants have done for cooking. Eugene Shasin is considered Russia’s best barman according to Diageo Reserve World Class.
Eugene Shasin is considered Russia’s best barman according to Diageo Reserve World Class
Moscow Underground Bar Meets World Acclaimed Bar in Oslo
In addition to world famous traditional cocktails, Shasin served signature cocktails where guests could witness only 30 percent of the working process. The other 70 percent were hidden and a well- kept secret, the same way he does it at home in his Moscow bar. Kokobok cocktail bar is a part of the famed White Rabbit Family.
Acclaimed Himkok in Oslo Since opening in 2015, Himkok has developed and matured: From being on the Top 50 list, today the place has found its true identity as a Norwegian cocktail joint and climbed to position no. 20. Not Nordic – Norwegian, as co-owner and general manager Yunus Yildiz is quick to point out. Its Flavors of Norway menu is a celebration of the Norwegian craft and a tribute to the ingredients, producers and farmers of this country. Cocktails based around unique Norwegian flavors include cloudberries, seaweed, birch and even the caramelized milk cheese known as ‘brunost’.
World’s best bars
With a bar among the best in the world, Oslo joins a short and exclusive list; the only other cities with bars in the top 20 are London (6), New York (4), Singapore (2), Paris (2), Athens, Shanghai, Tokyo, Mexico City and Miami. At the top of the list is American Bar in London.
Moscow Underground Bar Meets World Acclaimed Bar in Oslo, written by Tor Kjolberg
YS Hospitality and its sister company Establishing Brands are international destination and marketing consultancies, located in Gurgaon, India. When the group wanted to expand into the Scandinavian market, it was a natural choice for them to contact Daily Scandinavian. The Indfian destination marketing company is looking to Scandinavia for outbound as well as inbound travelers.
YS Hospitality is a reputed name in the Asian Market for Networking and business development offering creative solutions and implementation support at every stage.
YS Hospitality is a reputed name in the Asian Market
What the company do YS and its daughter company Establishing Brands do are helping tourism operators to develop better understanding of market trends and agent network. The ambitious strategies and campaigns planned by the company aim to make companies’ brands and identity more visible and bring in added business traffic from the Indian and the neighboring South Asian sub-continent.
In other words, the consultancy help companies all over the world to create a platform for themselves through innovative research and development.
Looking for travelers from Asia? YS Hospitality is there to help you
The beginning
Ms. Duggal is a well-seasoned professional in the field of travel and trade for over two decades. She serves as the front figure of YS Hospitality and as such serves internationally recognized travel brands with her vast and diversified experience. Her marketing vision includes innovative ideas for product development aiming to generate more business. With a keen understanding of her clients’ business strategies and challenges combined with her innovation expertise, she gives partners the global perspective necessary in today’s destination marketing.
Interview with founder and director Ms Preeti Duggal
When Daily Scandinavian was approached by YS hospitality and realized the importance of the group’s work, we were of course curious. So curious that we contacted Ms. Duggal to find out more about how her companies can help overseas hospitality customers.
Founcer and director of YS Hospitality, Ms. Preeti Duggal
Ms. Duggal, could you please tell us a little more about yourself and the work you do at YS Hospitality? “We are providing solutions to our travel partners. We work for travel companies based in different parts of the world and help them to develop business from the Indian Market. So, our main idea at present is to develope business for travel companies based in Scandinavia which would like to have business from the Indian Market.
We have a dedicated team of people working together and each one of them is in charge of specific profiles and as such taking an ownership in the business development of a specific destination. Our IT and PR business development activities keep track of market trends which we share with each destination and advise them what is required to have a closer look on.”
YS Hospitality serves internationally recognized travel brands with its vast and diversified experience
What are your visions for the company? “YS aims to take up any challenges for any travel company based anywhere in the world. We strive to build and develop business from the Indian, Asian or any other markets that our partners wish to develop.”
We notice that you have customers all over the world, from Australia to Europe. What is the process of working with a brand? “We approach different DMCs (Destination Marketing Companies) and try to understand their needs if they are interested in the Indian market. We act as their local contact in the Indian or the neighboring markets in which they want more business from. A dedicated team under my guidance then conducts market surveys and filter out the potential clients who wish to promote that specific destination.”
The team at an Sri Lanka destination marketing event
Since you first got involved in the tourism industry, has your view on destination marketing changed? “As a destination marketing company our focus is more on having a perspective on growing any given destination by identifying the marketing trends which are required for that particular destination.
We study customer behaviors and find it very interesting and challenging to change strategies whenever a market indicates so.”
Size comparison between India and Scandinavian countries
Based on your experience, what is the main challenges for destination marketing in today’s market? Although pivotal to the travel and tourism system, the destination is widely acknowledged to be one of the most difficult products to manage and market.
“Over the coming decade, the challenges facing destination marketers are likely to be even greater with a whole host of issues likely to impact the future marketing of destinations.
We need to act as a strong unifying force that brings all component parts of the destination together to develop it further.”
“We are providing solutions to our travel partners,” says Ms. Duggal
Do you have, and if so, noticed any differences in travelers’ behavior? Yes, the travel industry has become heavily service intensive. Word-of-mouth is still a strong tool used by visitors to seek information about destinations.
There has been a shift and a comparative range regarding business and leisure travelers. To summarize, the preferences for business travelers are as follows: Location is key and so is the need to be constantly connected. Emphasize the necessity for all-inclusive amenities.
When it comes to leisure travelers, they are generally more price sensitive. Reviews and recommendations are important as well as information on packages and specials which requires extra on-site hotel facilities and other accommodation.”
Can you tell us a little about brand initiatives you have taken this year? “For us in YS Hospitality it is important to participate in various tradeshows, networking meetings, bulk emailing and launching promotional deals.”
Let your customers experience the real Asia
Your mission statement is: “We market you the right way!” How can a customer in for instance Europe or Australia benefit from your services? What exactly do you do? “We are basically a destination marketing and representation company which represents a few niche categories of international DMC’s: For Australia and Europe for instance, we are the persona of those DMC’s in India and their marketing partners. Our dedicated team works to initiate business from India or neighboring states to that destination – or you can say that DMC.”
How important is content marketing for your customers? “Travel industry marketing isn’t just about posting images, snapshots and telling stories about having fun in the sun.
There are some significant challenges when it comes to successful storytelling in this field, not to mention plenty of competition.
With the content has started to grab customer’s attention the destination is in the process of being marketed, the content must be very refined.”
Air India is considering to provide point-to-point connectivity to Scandinavian regions
What are some key learnings that you have had since you launched YS Hospitality? “As we go into different destinations to market them, we learn that everyone has a different type of client base. We have expertise to understand this and to initiate different tailor-made strategic marketing. For example, understanding the dynamics between agents working in Kenya and agents working in Europe is essential.
The Indian market has enormous potential
So, it is a continuous search to find and identify different agent networks in different destination markets.
Not only this, as we get into international assignments we are developing networks not only in India but in different countries as well. So, it is always a new leaning at every step as we develop and penetrate markets for them. We continuously understand that every given destination has a different type of client tiers.“
Thank you so much, Ms. Dugal
An YS client
What customers say Steve Galpin, Managing Director of CHR Travel in London says, “Preeti started to work for us in 2012 with the directive to expand our market awareness in India through sales and agent marketing. She has proved to be a great success for us and has worked hard to increase our business not only from India but also from other markets in Sri Lanka and Nepal. She has bought in many new clients and has proved tenacious in following up on quotations and closing business for us. We would not have achieved our current position within the South Asian market without her efforts. For anyone looking to expand their marketing efforts in India we would thoroughly recommend YS Hospitality as the best vehicle for greater success”
YS Hospitality & Establishing Brands The consultancies prioritize the requirements of their clients and serve them by giving them the best each and every time. The trust of their clients is their most valuable asset. The clients are provided with trend forecasting, strategic planning, tourism policy and destination branding to help them realize the full potential of their destinations.
The Swedish ornithologist Lars Svensson (1941) and the Israel born ornithologist Hadoram Shirihal (1962) have written the best ever Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds. Read more about Swedish ornithologist who has co-written an influential handbook of western Palearctic birds.
This handbook is sure to be the bird book publishing handbook if 2018. Eighteen years in making after extensive research, exhaustive travel two volumes on passerines are finally here. Two more books on non-passerine birds follow in due course.
This handbook is sure to be the bird book publishing handbook if 2018
This spectacular handbook is the most complete and comprehensive photographic guide to the passerines of the Western Palearctic. it contains the most up-to-date information available on bird identification covering all aspects of plumage, moult, ageing and sexing, with sections on voice and other identification criteria as well as detailed taxonomic notes.
Afghan Babbler (Kuwait)
Identification and taxonomy
Focusing on identification and taxonomy, the handbook aims to be the most complete and profusely illustrated photographic guide to Western Palearctic birds. It has a ‘birdwatcher-friendly’ approach as well as being useful for museum workers and other professionals. It includes the whole of Iran and Arabia but correspondingly shrinks coverage in the Sahara by following the southern borders of Algeria, Libya and Egypt. Any species recorded at least ten times in the region by the end of 2016 is afforded full treatment, those with fewer records being listed in an Appendix.
This spectacular handbook is the most complete and comprehensive photographic guide to the passerines of the Western Paleaecric
The passerines are divided into two volumes, with the first covering larks, hirundines, pipits and wagtails, bulbuls, accentors, robins, chats, wheatears, thrushes, prinias and cisticolas, and warblers. The second is covering flycatchers, reedlings, tits, nuthatches, orioles and sunbirds, shrikes, corvids, finches and buntings, along with extreme vagrants.
The books has a ‘birdwatcher-friendly’ approach
Time for a new handbook of BWP
The two ornithologists decided it was time for a handbook entirely illustrated with photographs. Camera standards had developed significantly in the 90s, and through the internet more and more brilliant bird photographs were shared. All species are portrayed within a large region with all plumages and geographical variation covered in photographs with brief summaries of the various subspecies that were deemed distinct enough to be upheld.
Many subspecies in most contemporary handbooks and checklists are extremely subtle or even impossible to separate from neighboring subspecies, and the authors set off to independently check the validity of all subspecies in museum collections. Applying the so-called ‘75% rule’ (meaning that at least 3/4 of all individuals should be possible to distinguish based on morphology) they ended up discarding c. 15% of all subspecies as synonyms compared to other handbooks and major checklists.
The passerines are divided into two volumes
Exceptional text and photographs
The exceptional text is backed up by a remarkable collection of more than 5,000 photographs, featuring a comprehensive range of plumages that illustrate every race and morph of each species in the region. The authors attempt to achieve what they call a ‘sensible balance’ between maintaining the status quo and adopting every new taxonomic development.
The two ornithologists decided it was time for a handbook entirely illustrated with photographs
The reader will quickly find that some of the taxa recently split by IOC (such as Stejneger’s Stonechat, Eastern Yellow Wagtail and Gran Canaria Blue Chaffinch) do not feature here as full species. Surprisingly in this context the authors split Western and Eastern Subalpine Warblers.
Swedish Ornithologist has Co-written Influential Handbook of Western Palearctic Birding Most handbooks of BWP (Birds of the Western Palearctic) were made some 20-30 years ago when it was still possible to squeeze information into one project – on distribution, population estimates, atlas, ecology, seasonal biology, behavior, voice, and so on, as well as identification and variation (but with generally only very basic illustrations and paintings, so an updated modern handbook of these issues was indeed needed. This stunning handbook will be the definitive reference for the region for years to come – no birder’s shelf will be complete without it.
Swedish Ornithologist has Co-written Influential Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds
“Few books have generated such a buzz before being published … this is one of the most important and potentially influential books of this decade. Its high standards shine through every page … A top-quality publication,” wrote Yoav Perlman in Dutch Birding
Lars Svenssson
Lars Gunnar Georg Svensson (1941)
is a Swedish ornithologist who received an honorary degree from the Uppsala University in 2004. He specializes in the identification of passerine birds. In 2008 he published a paper on the poorly known large-billed reed-warbler (Acrocephalus orinus) which “dramatically changed ornithological perception of the Large-billed Reed Warbler”.
Hadoram Shirihai
Hadoram Shirihai (1962) grew up in Jerusalem where he became fascinated with birds when he was 13 and spent much time documenting shorebird behavior, raptor breeding biology and participating in bird migration surveys. In the 1980s and 1990s, he lived in Eilat on Israel’s Red Sea coast, where he founded the International Birdwatching Center, becoming its first director.
Feature image (on top): Hadoram photographing a large group of audouins gulls in the strait of Gibraltar
Swedish Ornithologist has Co-written Handbook of Western Palearctic Birding, written by Tor Kjolberg
One hundred years after Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen sailed from Kristiania, now Oslo, Norway in wooden ship Maud with the hopes of reaching the North Pole, Roald Amundsen’s Maud has returned to Norway, its country of origin.
Maud was raised from the seabed in Cambridge Bay, Canada, over the summer of 2016 by the Maud Returns Home project. You can follow the Maud Return Home Project on Facebook:
Maud spent several years in the Arctic ice without reaching the North Pole
Queen Maud of Norway
Named for Queen Maud of Norway, she was built for Amundsen’s second expedition to the Arctic and launched in June 1916. In the summer of 1918, Amundsen departed Norway. Maud spent several years in the Arctic ice without reaching the North Pole. Running into financial troubles, he left the expedition and sold the vessel to the Hudson Bay Company in 1920, where it was used it as a floating warehouse and a wireless radio station before she sank on her mooring in 1931.
Partially above water, Maud was a longtime local landmark and tourist attraction
Partially above water, Maud was a longtime local landmark and tourist attraction. A seven-foot high structure made of rocks called a cairn now takes its place on the shore.
Roar Amundsen in fur skins
Amundsen was the first expedition leader to sail the Northwest Passage and the first person to reach the South Pole.
Maud Returns Home Initiative
In 2016 the Maud was rescued from the shallow coastal waters of Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, by a team of four Norwegians who launched the ‘Maud Returns Home’ initiative. They began their quest to recover the ship six years prior.
Here’s how the anchor winch on the half-submerged Maud — once sailed by the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen
Before leaving Cambridge Bay, the team was honored by a visit from The Mayor of Asker Municipality, Lene Conradi. She also met mayor of Cambridge Bay, Jeannie Ehaloak, and they were both taken on a tour on Maud before a memorable get together where they both praised the efforts with finally should bringing old Maud back home to Norway.
On the morning of 29th August 2017, Maud was pulled slowly out of the Maud Bay approximately 90 years after her arrival.
Maud was built in 1917 in Vollen, Asker by Christian Jensen
Preparing for a new departure from Greenland
3rd of May 2018, the crew prepared for a new departure from Greenland early June to return to Vollen near Asker in Norway where the ship was built in 1917 by Christian Jensen. Up to the time of departure the crew emptied Maud from materials and dirt to make her as light as possible. The result was four full containers on the shore that was sent by cargo ship to Norway.
Maud was raised from the seabed in Cambridge Bay, Canada, over the summer of 2016
Roald Amundsen’s Maud has Returned to Norway “It brings joy to our hearts to see Maud, still proud after all these years, see her old homeland once again.” said Jan Wangaard, who led the Maud Returns Home project. “We can hardly think of a better way of honoring Roald Amundsen and his great ship,” he added.
Maud arrived at Vollen in Asker on 18th August 2018.
Amundsen’s other polar vessels Gjoa and Fram are on display at the Norwegian Maritime Museum in Oslo. Wangaard hopes Maud will be displayed in a new museum at Vollen, the port where she was built.
Roald Amundsen’s Maud Returns to Norway, written by Tor Kjolberg
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