Asa at Kongsfjord Guesthouse with her Herring Gull eggs! (copyright Martin Garner)
The first couple of hours of the day were spent walking around the headland to the north of the village. Our main target was Gyr that use this area as a hunting ground from their breeding cliffs inland. Eventually it paid off and we all got some great views of this superb bulky falcon hanging and gliding in the wind by the western cliffs. We even thought we had another but it proved to be a 'tundra' Peregrine that dashed past over our heads. Actually a rarer bird here than Gyr! 3 Twite also flew over calling and around the guesthouse building Snow Buntings twittered and flitted around.
Kongsfjord with a Gyr on that distant rock - honestly!
Kongsfjord
Kongsfjord
Birding Kongsfjord
Birding Kongsfjord
Snow Buntings, Kongsfjord (copyright Martin Garner). The left hand bird is a Siberian bird of the race vlasowae
Leaving this special place was a bit of a wrench but leave it we had to because we had a date in nearby Batsfjord. On the way were yet more Snow Buntings, 2 Red-throated Divers, a couple each of White-tailed Eagle and Rough-legged Buzzard and then a Merlin dashed it's way onto the trip list. And so, to Arctic Tourist at Batsfjord http://www.arctictourist.no/ and our date with the Barents Sea - a 4 hour, 70km pelagic on an oversized dinghy out into arctic waters which quickly earned the nickname 'The Blue Fulmar Pelagic'! After donning out all in one arctic suits things began quietly in the harbour with Glaucous Gull, Black Guillemots, Purple Sandpipers and Common Eiders. Out beyond the harbour however things began to get rough and seasickness kicked in for some! We estimated the swell to be between 10 & 12 feet which made for some wet passengers! The birding was amazing though, soon we were surrounded by hundreds, if not thousands of Fulmars of which about 80% were blue phase birds varying from slightly dark to very dark. Conditions for photography were awful but between us we did manage a few decent shots. Added to that were a White-billed Diver, loads more auks including 2+ Brunnich's Guillemots and 2 Little Auks before we headed round a headland to the east and into Syltefjord. This is the home of a huge Kittiwake colony and the worlds most northerly Gannetry so we were quickly right amongst them all. Hunting the Kittiwake colony were 3 more majestic White-tailed Eagles. When we'd had our fill we motored the final 15 icy minutes back to the tiny harbour in Syltefjord and were welcomed into the boat owner's cabin for a BBQ meal and warming rum. A good job too because we were all soaked, freezing and hungry! Even the drive back round to Batsfjord wasn't without it's highlights. This was the first day of the year the road had been opened and when we drove though a cleared snowdrift between ice walls twice the height of the minibus we could see why!
Togged up and ready to go...
The 'Blue Fulmar Pelagic'
The 'Blue Fulmar Pelagic'
'Blue' Fulmar, off Batsfjord
'Blue' Fulmar, off Batsfjord
'Blue' Fulmar, off Batsfjord
'Blue' Fulmar, off Batsfjord
Black Guillemots, Batsfjord Harbour
'Blue' Fulmar, off Batsfjord
Glaucous Gull, Batsfjord Harbour
Here is a Youtube video by Hans Ueli which gives a nice flavour of of our 'Blue Fulmar Pelagic' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RXQPg0Lo7Y&feature=youtube_gdata_player
The Sytlefjord Road
The Sytlefjord Road
That night we chilled in the Polar Hotel in Batsfjord http://www.polarhotel.net/polarhotel/ (pun intended!) thinking our birding for the trip was over. But as we found out in the morning - it wasn't quite yet...
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