ASCENSION DAY QUEST; NOT A KNOT IN SIGHT
The weather forecast was right! Yesterday we woke up to several inches of
fresh snow, and last night a little more came down, so snow cover went from
almost zero back to almost 100%, albeit only temporarily: a combination of
sleet, too short sunny periods, and temperatures just on the melting side
of freezing removed much of the snow in the course of the day, and driving
carefully the summer tires were not a particular problem.
Today I was lucky, in that I enjoyed the company of my colleague amphipod
worker Jørgen, and keen young eyes boosted our day list to 56 species. I`ll
list them at the end of this message, even though they are of course mainly
the same as on earlier trips. There were many signs of rodent activity,
where the snow had disappeared, but otherwise mammal experiences were
confined to the local Harbour Porpoises, a quite piebald Snow Hare in
transition to summer pelage, and some Reindeer living dangerously close to
the main road.
Since my last Balsfjord report all ice had disappeared from the Ramfjord,
most rivers and brooks were quite swollen with melt water (and we missed
the Dippers , probably for that reason), and in the Sagvann lake there
finally were a few leads in the ice large enough to keep ducks: mainly
Red-breasted Mergansers and Tufted Ducks, both in small flocks within with
the birds were in pairs, and a few lone Goldeneyes. The two pairs of Horned
Grebes that we found were still in the fjord.
South-exposed grassy slopes now really look green, and in the forest the
ferns are unrolling. No new flowers today, though. The colder areas were
once more completely snow-covered, and the trees are still bare.
Maybe the most surprising bird of the day was a female Capercaillie,
blithely walking on the main road in a dense snow-shower. Closeby on a mire
a Wood Sandpiper defied the weather and was displaying, and today we also
saw returned Greenshanks many places---their legs are as green as the
redshanks´ are red!
Although we for once started at 07 00am (Having put my daughter with dog
and Hawfinch on the plane to Oslo) and therefore were at the first forest
site before 08 00, the morning chorus was very puny, no doubt because of
the chilly weather and the dense snow showers.The Redwings were the
bravest, the Fieldfares (present in astonishing numbers again today) mostly
seemed interested in food, and the Bramblings kept themselves largely in
flocks and sang but little. Later on the day, in a southerly exposed area,
we heard nevertheless 2 Willow Warblers sing, only nr 2 and 3 of the year
for me of this exceedingly numerous bird.
Few ducks now on the fjords, except the very numerous Eiders, still mostly
in pairs. Small flocks of Velvet Scoters and a few Common Mergansers, and
no certain Oldsquaws (Long-tailed Ducks) and Black Scoters any more. Arctic
Terns were still concentrated in large jittery flocks on small skerries.
The primary purpose of the trip was to enjoy the impressive spectacle of
the red hordes of thousands of Red Knots Calidris canutus whirling around
in perfect air-drills.We saw none at all!! Fortunately birders are not
disappointed for long; there are always so much other things of interest to
watch! And the Knots should be there for a few more weeks!
In the following list the birds seen for the first time in the area this
year have got an asterix. A very few species seen on Tuesday on Tisnes, but
not today, have been included(marked T).
Horned (Slavonian) Grebe Podiceps auritus
Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo
Grey Heron Ardea cinerea
Greylag Goose Anser anser
Shelduck Tadorna tadorna
Wigeon Anas penelope
Teal A. crecca
Mallard A. platyrhynchos
Pintail (T) A. acuta
Shoveler A. clypeata
*Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula
Eider Somateria mollissima
Velvet Scoter Melanitta fusca
*Goldeneye Bucephala clangula
Red-breasted Merganser Mergus serrator
Common Merganser M. merganser
White-tailed Eagle Haliaaetus albicilla
(beautifully picturesque in a small tree on an islet)
*Merlin Falco columbarius
Willow Grouse Lagopus lagopus
*Capercaillie Tetrao urogallus (a resident species)
Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus
Ringed Plover Caradrius hiaticula
Golden Plover Pluvialis apricaria (a lot!)
Lapwing Vanellus vanellus
Dunlin (T) Calidris alpina
Ruff Philomachus pugnax (still no fights)
Snipe Gallinago gallinago
Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus
Curlew N. arquata
Redshank Tringa totanus
*Greenshank T. nebularia (at least 10)
*Wood Sandpiper T. glareola (1, in display)
*Turnstone (T) Arenaria interpres
Common (Mew) Gull Larus canus
Lesser Black-backed Gull L. f. fuscus
Herring Gull L. argentatus
Great Black-backed Gull L. marinus
Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea
Wood Pigeon Columba palumbus
*Tree Pipit Anthus trivialis
Meadow Pipit A. pratensis
White Wagtail Motacilla alba
Dunnock Prunella modularis
? Ring Ouzel Turdus torquatus (just a flash)
Fieldfare T. pilaris (galore!!)
Redwing T. iliacus
Chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita
Willow Warbler Ph. trochilus
Pied Flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca
Willow Tit Parus montanus
Great Tit P. major
Magpie Pica pica
Hooded Crow Corvus corone cornix
Raven C. corax
Starling Sturnus vulgaris
Brambling Fringilla montifringilla (100-s)
Greenfinch Chloris chloris
? Twite Carduelis flavirostris (heard only)
Redpoll C. flammea
Bullfinch Pyrrhula pyrrhula
Snow Bunting Plectrophenax nivalis (1 late one)
* Reed Bunting Emberiza citrinella
Wim Vader, Tromsø Museum
9037 Tromsø, Norway
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