TRIP REPORT
SVALBARD, NORWAY
16 TO 24 JUNE 2015
RICHARD PITTAM, MIKE RICHARDSON & GLYN SELLORS
LITTLE AUKS
FACTS & FIGURES
S.A.S. FLIGHTS – HEATHROW TO OSLO -‐ £ 130 EACH -‐ OSLO TO SVALBARD £ 300 EACH ( 22KG LUGGAGE ALLOWANCE ) B & B IN OSLO -‐ £ 70 EACH ACCOMMODATION IN LONGYEARBYEN, SVALBARD -‐ £510 EACH ( NO MEALS ) CAR HIRE IN SVALBARD -‐ £174 EACH DIESEL & CAR PARKING – HEATHROW AIRPORT -‐ £ 46 EACH FOOD & DIESEL IN SVALBARD -‐ £ 500 EACH OLE – SWEDISH GUIDE FOR ONE DAY -‐ £ 70 EACH TOTAL COSTS INCLUDING SPENDING MONEY – APPROX. £ 1800 ISH
ITINERARY
WE FLEW WITH S.A.S. FROM HEATHROW TO OSLO – WE HAD AN OVERNIGHT STAY IN OSLO – OUR FLIGHT TO LONGYEARBYEN , SVALBARD WAS THE NEXT MORNING. RICHARD HAD BOOKED OUR ACCOMMODATION IN LONGYEARBYEN -‐ HAUGEN PENSJONAT – BASIC, BUT CLEAN & QUIET. NO MEALS WERE INCLUDED, BUT THERE WAS A KITCHEN FOR EATING & HAVING A TEA OR COFFEE. RESTAURANTS OFFERED BREAKFASTS FOR ABOUT £10 & EVENING MEALS WERE £30 ISH INCLUDING DRINKS. OUR RENTAL VEHICLE WAS A 4 X 4 JEEP – THE ROADS OUTSIDE LONGYEARBYEN ARE GRAVEL, DUSTY & QUITE A ROUGH RIDE, SO A GOOD VEHICLE IS ESSENTIAL. IT’S A PITY THE LOCALS DON’T DRIVE MORE SLOWLY, THEY KICK UP LOTS OF DUST – WE ALWAYS SLOWED DOWN WHEN DRIVING PAST PEDESTRIANS – WE COULDN’T UNDERSTAND THE RUSH – THERE’S ONLY 35 KILOMETRES OF ROADS. THE WHOLE WEEK WAS SPENT BIRDING AROUND LONGYEARBYEN & A BOAT TRIP TO PYRAMIDEN (OLD RUSSIAN MINING TOWN ), WE ONLY WENT ON THIS
TRIP TO SEE BIRDS FROM THE BOAT – TO BE HONEST, IT WASN’T VERY PRODUCTIVE, ALTHOUGH WE DID SEE LOTS OF DARK FULMARS, LITTLE AUKS, BRUNNICH’S GUILLEMOTS, KITTIWAKES, BLACK GUILLEMOTS, BARNACLE GEESE, WALRUS & BEARED SEAL – IT WAS AN ALL-‐ DAY TRIP ( 10 HOURS ). THE REST OF THE TIME WE BIRDED & PHOTOGRAPHED BIRDS AROUND LONGYEARBYEN – ALL THE SITES ARE IN A BIRDWATCHER’S GUIDE TO NORWAY – INCLUDING SVALBARD -‐ BJORN OLAV TVEIT. THERE ARE ONLY ABOUT 25/30 SPECIES -‐ SVALBARD PTARMIGAN, GREY PHALAROPE, IVORY GULL, KING EIDER, LITTLE AUK & BRUNNICH’S GULLEMOT ARE DIFFICULT TO SEE ANYWHERE ELSE IN EUROPE ALTHOUGH YOU CAN SEE GREY PHALAROPES IN ICELAND, THEY ARE MUCH MORE DIFFICULT TO PHOTOGRAPH & IVORY GULL, LITTLE AUK, BRUNNICH’S GUILLEMOT & SVALBARD PTARMIGAN ARE SOUGHT AFTER SPECIES IN SVALBARD. ALSO, IT’S NICE TO SEE & PHOTOGRAPH OTHER ARCTIC BREEDERS – ARCTIC SKUAS, BARNACLE GEESE, PINK-‐FOOTED GEESE, COMMON EIDERS, LONG-‐TAILED DUCKS, RED-‐THROATED DIVERS, PECTORAL SANDPIPERS ( 3 THIS SUMMER – POSSIBLY BREEDING ), PURPLE SANDPIPERS, RED-‐NECKED PHALAROPES, GLAUCOUS GULLS, BLACK GUILLEMOTS & SNOW BUNTINGS ARE EVERYWHERE. THERE ARE SOME NICE MAMMALS TOO – NONE OF US HAD SEEN ARCTIC FOXES ( 4 ), WALRUSES ( 2 ) , BELUGA WHALES ( 3 ) & A BEARDED SEAL. WE ALL REALLY ENJOYED THIS TRIP – THE ONLY DOWNSIDE WAS, MY GOOD FRIEND, MIKE RICHARDSON, PASSED AWAY 2 DAYS AFTER WE RETURNED FROM SVALBARD – HE WAS A REALLY NICE CHAP – I WILL MISS HIS COMPANIONSHIP & GREAT SENSE OF HUMOUR – SEE HIS FLICKR SITE – www.flickr.com/photos/wildmike/
SYSTEMATIC LIST
PINK-‐FOOTED GOOSE BARNACLE GOOSE – MOST OF THE SVALBARD POPULATION WINTERS IN THE SOLWAY FIRTH, SCOTLAND. PINTAIL – 2 ADVENTDALEN – A SCARCE BIRD IN SVALBARD COMMON EIDER – COMMON
KING EIDER – C. 15 IN TOTAL – 2 DRAKES & A DUCK SHOWED MOST DAYS ON A SMALL LAKE -‐ ADVENTDALEN LONG-‐TAILED DUCK – 1 PAIR ADVENTDALEN & 1 PAIR VASTPYNTEN SVALBARD PTARMIGAN – 3 NYBYEN & 4 PLATABERGAT RED-‐THROATED DIVER – 1 OFF VASTPYNTEN & 3 ON SMALL LAKE – ADVENTDALEN – ONE OF THE HIGHLIGHTS! SANDERLING – 1 ADVENTDALEN PECTORAL SANDPIPER – 1 POSSIBLY 2 ADVENTDALEN – SUSPECTED TO BREED IN SVALBARD. PURPLE SANDPIPER – VERY COMMON TURNSTONE – 2 VASTPYNTEN RED-‐NECKED PHALAROPE – 1 MALE ADVENTDALEN – SCARCE IN LONYEARBYEN GREY PHALAROPE – ANOTHER HIGHTLIGHT – THE FEMALES ARE STUNNING IN SUMMER PLUMAGE – WE SAW C. 20 IN TOTAL – VERY CONFIDING – C. 150 PAIRS BREED AROUND LONGYEARBYEN POMARINE SKUA – 1 FROM BOAT TRIP TO PYRAMIDEN ARCTIC SKUA – SEVERAL PAIRS GLAUCOUS GULL – COMMON – ALL ADULTS KITTIWAKE – COMMON IVORY GULL – THEY VISIT THE HUSKY DOGS’ PENS TO FEED ON SCRAPS & DOGS’ FAECES – WE CHECKED THREE TIMES EACH DAY – WE SAW 1 ADULT FOR 15 MINUTES AT 21.30 ONE EVENING – PERSEVERANCE PAYS OFF – JUST! BRUNNICH’S GUILLEMOT – COMMON, BUT NOT EASY IN LONGYEARBYEN – MAINLY FLYBYS – WE DID SEE THEM ON THEIR BREEDING CLIFFS FROM THE BOAT TRIP TO PYRAMIDEN BLACK GUILLEMOT – FAIRLY COMMON – SEVERAL PAIRS SHOWED WELL IN THE HARBOUR
LITTLE AUK – C. 5000 PAIRS BREEDING PLATABERGAT – I THINK THIS WAS THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE TRIP FOR ME – WHAT AN EXPERIENCE PHOTOGRAPHING THESE TINY AUKS – NOT AN EASY CLIMB UP THE SCREE, BUT WELL WORTH THE EFFORT PUFFIN – MAINLY FROM THE BOAT TRIP TO PYRAMIDEN SNOW BUNTING – VERY COMMON, BUT VERY SMART IN SUMMER PLUMAGE – THE ONLY PASSERINE WE SAW.
[email protected] www.glynsellorsphotography.com www.richardpittam.com www.flickr.com/photos/wildmike THIS TRIP REPORT IS DEDICATED TO MY GOOD FRIEND, MIKE RICHARDSON, WHO PASSED AWAY 2 DAYS AFTER WE RETURNED FROM SVALBARD.
IMAGES BELOW
ADVENTDALEN
ADVENTDALEN – POLAR BEARS CAN BE A
PROBLEM IN WINTER
LONGYEARBYEN FROM NYBYEN
FEMALE GREY PHALAROPE
FEMALE GREY PHALAROPE
FEMALE GREY PHALAROPE
DUNLIN
DUNLIN
IVORY GULL
IVORY GULL
FEMALE KING EIDER
A STUNNING DRAKE KING EIDER
BLACK GUILLEMOT
BLACK GUILLEMOT
ARCTIC SKUA
MALE SVALBARD PTARMIGAN
LITTLE AUKS
LITTLE AUK
LITTLE AUK
LITTLE AUKS
LITTLE AUK
LITTLE AUK
LITTLE AUKS
LITTLE AUK – TINY – 8”
IVORY GULL
IVORY GULL
DRAKE LONG-‐TAILED DUCK
DRAKE LONG-‐TAILED DUCK
ARCTIC FOX WITH EIDER DUCK’S EGG
ARCTIC FOX POISED FOR ANOTHER EGG
MALE RED-‐NECKED PHALAROPE
RED-‐THROATED DIVER
RED-‐THROATED DIVER
RED-‐THROATED DIVER
RED-‐THROATED DIVER
FEMALE SVALBARD PTARMIGAN
ARCTIC SKUA
BRUNNICH’S GUILLEMOTS
FULMAR
FULMAR
WALRUS
BRUNNICH’S GUILLEMOT
PECTORAL SANDPIPER
ARCTIC SKUA
FEMALE GREY PHALAROPE
FEMALE GREY PHALAROPE
MALE SNOW BUNTING
ARCTIC FOX AT THE LITTLE AUK COLONY
ARCTIC FOX AT THE LITTLE AUK COLONY
DUNLIN
DRAKE LONG-‐TAILED DUCK
OLD MALE WALRUS WITH ONE TUSK
DRAKE KING EIDER SHAKING WATER FROM
ITS PLUMAGE
FEMALE GREY PHALAROPE
FEMALE GREY PHALAROPE
DRAKE KING EIDER