May 22nd

This would show to be a day of gulls. The day started off with a Lesser Black-backed Gull ssp. intermedius (Sildemåke). This was my species number 50 on Svalbard. This bird was a two-year-old, and gave great views, and a good opportunity to photograph it. But when the bird finally flew off, my camera figured it was time to play the game on its own terms, and I didnt manage to get it to work as I wanted before the bird was far away. Maybe its time to swap the D200 with a D300 soon?

I found the Lesser Black-backed Gull at about 04.30 in the morning, and in the afternoon it was nowhere to be seen, but instead there was now an adult Common Gull (Fiskemåke) at the same location. It was rather photogenic, and I got some nice photos of it.

I then drove the normal route towards Bjørndalen and found the Tufted Ducks (Toppand) again, and then turned around and drove up the valley. When I arrived to the area around Mine 6 I slowed down the speed of the car and started looking for yesterdays Common Gull, but what caught my eye was a Great Skua (Storjo) that came flying over. Unfortunately it flew a bit too quick so I was not able to get the car stopped and the camera ready before it had disappeared off. I continued up towards the mine, and looked for Galucous Gulls (polarmåke) with color-rings. I found two gulls with rings, and in addition I found two two-year-old gulls. It is not that often that these young gulls are seen, so that was a nice ending of the day.