June 14th

This gull is somewhat of a strange one. It has caracteristics of both Iceland (Grønlands-) and Glaucous Gull (Polarmåke). The bill seems to be a bit to long for an Iceland Gull, but the head is round with a big eye which does not fit with the average Glaucous Gull. The body of the bird is slim, so this gives Iceland Gull another point in the competition. I think this has to ba either an Iceland Gull or a hybrid between Iceland x Glaucous Gull. Any comments out there?

These two Long-tailed Ducks (Havelle) were so pretty that I just had to take some photos of them. The male has not yet managed to get all the way out of his winter plumage yet, but it does not seem to make him any less popular....

June 13th

This pair of King Eiders (Praktærfugl) have been staying in Tuedammene for quite some time, and I guess that thefemale will be lying eggs in the area pretty soon. But it is nice to have such a place where I am more or less sure of getting to see the female of this species. They are truly beautiful!

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.

June 11th

A very nice day with lots of good photos. I went out with a friend, Eirik Grønningsæter, who is a nature-photographer to try to get some nice pics of the Red-necked Phalaropes (Svømmesnipe) that have put in an appearance in the valley. When we arrived there they were very coperative, and gave great photo-opportunities at short distances. We were even granted a view of their swift, but important, matings.

I have uploaded a couple of pictures of Eirik as well. It is allways interesting to learn tecniques of the ones who know how its done.

Eirik from the first (and best ?) angle

 

Eirik from the second (and most interesting?) angle.

Before we came to the phalaropes we stopped in the dogyard, and this Ivory Gull (Ismåke) gave me the opportunity to add some pictures to my library. Even though I have gotten quite used to this species after two years up here I never get tired of studying this magnificent white gull!


A lone Kittiwake (Krykkje) that came flying by in the delta also got permission to be posted on the blog today.

To see flying and displaying Svalbard Ptarmigan (Svalbardrype) in the valley is not an everyday sight, so these two males that were competing over who could out-sing the other are also granted permission to be shown on the blog.

June 9th

Despite the fact that I did not get any photos of the really fun birds today, I did manage to get some OK pictures. First I re-found the ssp. bernicla Brent Goose (Ringås). This picture shows well the darker belly of the "dark-bellied" Brent vs the "light-bellied" Brent.

Arctic Terns (Rødnebbterne) are thought of as a menace by many people, but I still keep on my opinion that they are some of the most elegant and beautiful birds around. Hence why I have uploaded some photos of them here.

 

When I was more or less done with todays birding I became aware that the local pair of Arctic Skuas (Tyvjo) were unhappy with something in the neighbourhood. A few moments later this Arctic Fox (Fjellrev) came trotting along one of the sewage/water-lines. This was a welcome sight since it is not very often I get the oppurtunity to photograph this species in town.

June 8th

Today I managed to get some closer pictures of the Gadwall (Snadderand), but the sun was shining against me so the pictures did not become as nice as I would have liked them to be. But there is no question to which species it is. The Barnacle Goose (Hvitkinngås) in the bacground is nice for size-comparison. 

 

The three Mallard (Stokkand) males are still hanging around in the valley, and they also deserved to be put on the blog I think.

I even took the time to take some close-ups of the Common Eiders (Ærfugl) of the ssp. borealis to show theire beauty to those of you who are not fortunate enough to have them as youre closest neighbours.

The Greylag Goose (Grågås) is still hanging around, and it does not seem to have any intentions of leaving the area around town.

The Reg/Grey Phalaropes (Polarsvømmesnipe) have started to lay theire eggs, and this picture shows one of the nests, where the female is lying on teh eggs in the tussoc, and the male is stood in front of her. This nest was found accidentally when I stopped my car, so to not create more disturbance than nessecary I took a few quick photos before I left the place.

The Iceland Gull (Grønlandsmåke) that has been frequenting the delta quite regularly was there again today, and as the two first pictures show it was beeing chased around by the Glaucous Gulls (Polarmåke) in between the times it was feeding along side them.