The last half of June -14

This summer has flown by quicker than I had ever imagined. This has led to way too few pictures, but I did manage to geta few that I am pleased with. I will post them chronological, and hope that you like the pictures and my stories.

The Common Eider (Ærfugl) is a beautifull bird that I often forget to photograph. The yellow bills, the black cap and the green neck of the males make them stand out amongst other ducks. I guess that the reason for not taking more photos of them is that they are so common up here.

 

 

 

Common Eider, male

 

Glaucous Gull, adult

 The Glaucous Gull (Polarmåke) and the Arctic Tern (Rødnebbterne) are two other birds that I spend too little time admiring. Both are common around Longyearbyen, and both are declining in numbers. That is yet another reason for using more time on them. And, no matter what most people might think of them, in my eyes they are still beautifull birds!

Arctic Tern, adult

 The Arctic Skua (Tyvjo) is together with the other skuas at Svalbard the birds that have taken on the role as a raptor. Their skills in flying are amazing, and the sheer power they show when attacking, like this bird attacking a Glaucous Gull, truly amazes me!

Arctic Skua, adult female

Arctic Skua, adult

Arctic Skua

Arctic Skua attacking Glaucous Gull

I had heard from several people that they had seen Red-necked Phalaropes (Svømmesnipe) in the valley, but as usual the unusual birds that others see are eluding me. So when I got to see one I was thrilled. The bird was a bit jumpy, which is unusual for this species, but I did get at least one good photo before it flew off.



Red-necked Phalarope, female

The 29th of June gave me a view I will never forget, and luckliy I managed to get it on the camera. But I begin the day with these photos of a normal Red Phalarope (Polarsvømmesnipe) female.

 

Red Phalarope, female

 

Red Phalarope, female

 

Red Phalarope, female

 

After I had seen these female red Phalaropes, I was in for a true treat! I have seen many birds wich are gay, but this was something I had never thought I would see. All the gay birds I have seen up until now have been males trying to breed with males, but in front of me now were two female Red Phalaropes who were mating! Of the huge series of Pictures that I took I have chosen a few here wich shows two different mating attempts. If anybody can tell me that it is a male on top, please tell me. And if anybody have ever seen this in wild animals? This is definately one of the coolest encounters that I have had with any bird!

 

Red Phalarope, females mating

Red Phalarope, females mating close-up

 

Red Phalarope, females mating

 

Red Phalaropes, first mating over

Red Phalarope, first mating over

Red Phalarope, the females are at it again!

Red Phalarope, the females keep on

Red Phalarope, and then second round is over!

Red Phalarope, side by side

Red Phalarope, posing for the photographer

 The stunning performance from the two female Phalaropes was maybe more of a big deal to me than to the American woman who was joining me this day. To her the best bird was the semi-tame Arctic Skua (Tyvjo) at the camp-site. This female is so used to humans that it doesnt mind sitting a few meters away. This is teh easy way to get great photos! :)

Arctic Skua, female

Arctic Skua, female portrait

Arctic Skua, female

Arctic Skua, female

Arctic Skua, female

 The next day I couldnt find the pair of Phalaropes, only this lone female.

 

 

 

 

 

All the People I show around up here usually want to see the Svalbard Ptarmigan (Svalbardrype), the endemic subspecies of Rock Ptarmigan (Fjellrype). This pair woke me up in the early morning the day after I was out guiding and couldnt fins any!!! Typical......

Svalbard Ptarmigan, male and female

 

 

A windy day in the Arctic

I finally got to do some birdwatching again after a long winter without any activity from me. And I did get to see a couple of good birds for up here. Two adult European Herring Gulls (Gråmåke) was a nice sight. One of them flew right next to teh car and gave great views. The only bad thing is that due to the heavy winds today I didnt bother to bring my camera with me, and hence I didnt get any photos of it. Other than these about 20 Glaucous Gulls (polarmåke), 20 Kittiwakes (krykkjer) and 10 Common Eiders (ærfugl) were aobut the numbers I was expecting, but the massive number og more than 1500 Northern Fulmars (havhest) was a really nice view.

I hope for better weather soon so that the Snow Buntings (snøspurv) will arrive in numbers so that I can start the ringing-season. I have also lately seen European Blackbird (svarttrost) and Snow Bunting (snøspurv) in the neighbour-town, Barentsburg, so there are things happening now in the early spring in the High Arctic.

May 19th

Even though the wind now has blown for more than two weeks without stop, there are still some birds that manage to hang on up here. Was out for a short birding-trip today, and we actually managed to see some nice birds and animals.

For me, the biggest probably wa to find one of the adult Iceland Gulls (Grønlandsmåke) again. It was not at its most helpfull when it came to photographing, but we both got OK pics of it. For Chris I think the Arctic Fox (Fjellrev) that we saw might have been the highlight of the trip. Even though it did not come in close, we at least got some nice views of it.

Since Chris is a sea-bird-watcher, he did not miind too much when I suggested to go to Vestpynten to see what would come flying by at sea. Due to the strong wind and the cold we did this in two episodes, where the secoond try was definately the best. We agreed on that there had to have been more than 1000 Fulmars (Havhest) that flew in front, over and behind us. We felt like we were actually in the way of theire fly-way. To have these Fulmars flying at arm-length away was a mighty experience. In between these there were good numbers of Kittiwakes (Krykkje) and a few Glaucous Gulls (Polarmåke).

when we ended the birding we said "Hello" to a King Eider (Praktærfugl) which was trying to court a Common Eider (Ærful) female at Gammelkaia. Maybe it is the same guy as was in the Eider-colony last year?

Today I learnt that a four-whell-drive car is nessecary when birding in the Arctic, since a white-out and snowdrifts tend to get your car stuck in the middle of nowhere. And I again learned that watching seabirds can be great fun, as long as you have the correct company! :)

Here are some pics from todays windy birding:

This is evidence that the Arctic Foxes are stil around :)

Iceland Gull, doesnt it look nice?

"Angry" eye on the Iceland Gull.

Fulmar at seven metres distance

Fulmar at three (!) metres distance!

Fulmar avoiding collision with the photographer.

Kittiwake

Glaucous Gull

Glaucous Gull

King Eider showing off!!

King Eider showing off from the other side.

Can you spot the mistake he has done?

Wind, wind and more wind!

The last two weeks or so have been terrible regarding birdwatching. I have not seen this much snow fall down in Svalbard in such a short time-period in my three years up here. When the snow was done coming down, the wind started to pick up. And it has now been blowing for more than a week non-stop. It has actually been so bad at times that I have been found talking about planting a spruce-plantation just to calm the wind down. And my little Toyota, although it has four-wheel-drive, is no match for compacted snow and huge snowdrifts, so I havent been able to get to my gull-trap to set it for a long time either. But it has to end at some point. Spring does show an appearance at some times, and then it melts like never before, with huge puddles all over.

But enogh of the negative thinking. There are some really lovely birds around now as well, although they are difficult to find when it is an effective -20 outside the car. Snowbuntings (Snøspurv) are increasing in numbers, and the males are now singing all over. The King Eiders (Praktærfugl) and the Common Eiders (Ærfugl) are displaying and are showing proper courting behaviour. The first pair of Long-tailed Ducks (Havelle) are lying in the harbour, and the Pink-footed Geese (Kortnebbgås) have started to return up here.

I managed to spot my first Greater Black-backed Gull (Svartbak) of the year the other day, teh same day as I managed to see th "Viking Gull" again. This time I got nice fight views of it at a distance together with Chris Darby. Nice to have somebody else to share this interesting bird with.

Hopefully I will be able to get som OK shots of the birds and nature in teh days to come, but in the mean time, here are some shots that I have managed to take in the wind.

Long-tailed Duck pair

Resting King Eiders

Common Eider, ssp. borealis, note the yellow bill and the "sails" on the back

June 23rd

There is not much to report from today, and I have even less to show! An Ivory Gull (Ismåke) on a post in the dogyard did not make me want to take out the camera, I have seen it and photofgraphed a few too many times! But the years first brood of Common Eider (Ærfugl) chicks made me smile, and they were awarded some time and place on my camera.

June 21st

First of today are a couple of pictures of a local rarity: The Wigeon (Brunnakke). Even though it is a common sight at times in different parts of Europe, up here in the Arctic Ocean we are not blessed with the sight of this charming duck every day. And when it still keeps its breeding plumage I could not let an opportunity to photograph it pass!

This and the next picture shows how difficult to see the birds that are breeding on the tundra around Longyearbyen and elsewhere on Svalbard. In the middle of the upper photo lies a female Common Eider (Ærfugl), which the bottom picture clearly shows. This also shows the difference of taking a poicture with 150 mm and 500 mm zoom!

June 12th

These pictures were all taken when Eirik and I came back from the trip that was talked about in the previous blog. The King Eider (Praktærfugl) male was trying to convince the Common Eider (Ærfugl) female that the Eider male was not good enough for her. At the same time the Arctic Terns (Rødnebbterne) did not take much notice of this, and other Common Eiders were more busy keeping on their own partners.