SUMMER FLASHES FROM VESTERÅLEN
High summer here at 70*N, although everything is on the late side this
year, since May and June have been chilly and rainy. The second family
wedding this year (this time daughter Marit with her American Michael)
brought several family members from Holland to Tromsø, and after the
wedding we made a short trip to the islands of Vesterålen, SW of here, and
just north of the more famous Lofoten islands. We being Riet and I, my
sister Nel and my brother Jan Willem, the first days also accompanied by
his son Gabe and his partner Erica. They are not birders, so the trip was
along the lines of general sightseeing mostly---the Vesterålen have a lot
of spectacular scenery and are a pleasure to show off, at least when
low-hanging clouds do not cover most of the mountains, as happened all too
often the first days
We left in rainy weather, across the island of Senja, and the second
morning we took a ferry from there to Andøya, the northernmost island in
Vesterålen, across the wide and deep Andfjord. The day before the ferry had
been canceled because of untoward weather, but we were lucky and had a calm
crossing, enlivened by a steadily increasing number of swimming and diving
Puffins around the ship, the closer we got to Andenes. So finally everybody
believed me, when I told them that Puffins are in fact the most common
primary seabirds along the Norwegian coast. (Black Guillemots are quite
common too many places, but they are coastal and not colonial, so you never
see them in really large numbers.) I had planned a route along the outer
west coast of Andøya, but it still was raining more or less hard for much
of the day, so we only stopped for a lunch in the dunes---before the rains
started in earnest---, and a dripping walk along the pier at Nordmela, a
place where there is an off-shore colony of Gannets, just visible in the
gloom.
The flowers, however, are fortunately always visible, and there N.Norway
is richly endowed. All the meadows and fields are a riot of colours (with
Buttercups, Cow Parsley Anthriscus and Storkbills Geranium often
dominating, while many roads are verged by a shining yellow ribbon of
'Bacon and Eggs' (Birdsfoot Trefoil Lotus corniculatus) and various other
clovers. On fallow and grazed fields and hilly terrain the white
of Chickweed Wintergreen Trientalis and Dwarf Cornel Cornus suecica often
cover large areas. Near shore calcareous shell sand and fish manure make
for a most fertile environment, and many plants grow to a spectacular size,
even the dandelions.
The third day we were lucky and had glorious sunny weather---not too warm,
but the sun has even here tremendous force---, and we decided to visit the
outer coast of the large island of Langøya, where strange mountain
formations oscillate with flat marshy areas and most promising wetlands
(hard to drive past, in fact!). We lunched at the coast, in a broad bay
with a sandy beach close to the high rounded bird islands (Nykane) of
Nykvåg. A Common Sandpiper protested every time we came near the car on the
parking place and clearly had a nest nearby, Oystercatchers and Redshanks
were around as nearly everywhere here, and Meadow Pipits sang over the
grassy slopes. On the water dapper Black Guillemots fished, dipping their
heads down into the water regularly, which has led to the local name of
'Per Drikkar' (=Peter the Drinker) for this species in some areas of
Norway; the same movement was copied by a lone fishing Red-throated Merganser.
After lunch we proceeded to the pictoresque fishing village of Nykvåg, one
of these places where Kittiwakes nest right in the centre of the village
and can be watched at extremely close quarters, a spectacle (both visually
and orally) sure to interest also non-birders. These gulls had mostly
small young (most pairs only one this year, but the occasional pair had
two), and we were interested to note that on the most shaded ledges
apparently the young had not yet fledged. As the weather was still very
beautiful---although there were threatening clouds gathering-- we decided
to walk up the hill, in order to get closer to one of the 'Nykene',
Fuglenyken, where we had glimpsed a White-tailed Sea Eagle panicking the
puffins that nest there in their tens of thousands. So, after obtaining
permission, we walked uphill first through a meadow full of high flowers
(White Wagtails protested near the houses, and young Starlings and
Fieldfares flew around), and then, having crossed a fence, through a grazed
field with sheep, again speckled with Dwarf Cornel, until we had a free
view to the bird mountain offshore.To our right Kittiwakes nested on some
steep mountain sides, with a few pairs of Herring Gulls above them near the
tops, and around us Wheatears scolded.
We now saw several eagles on or over the colonies, and the panicked puffins
looked like a bee-swarm around the island, while thousands also rested on
the water around or circled the island ; I found a few Razorbills and
several Shags among them. A Peregrine further augmented the panic, and
there were also Ravens nesting there, apparently. Meanwhile, the
threatening skies grew steadily closer, and a gusty wind made itself known
now and then (It would pour down again all night, in fact). Apparently,
this caused very favourable thermal conditions, as suddenly eagles began to
appear in the skies above the island everywhere, circling steadily higher,
until we finally counted no less than seventeen of these most impressive
'flying doors' overhead. Although these 'sea eagles' are nowadays quite
common again on our coasts, such numbers are still a special treat, only to
be savoured close to large and active seabird colonies, where the eagles
are assured of a regular and plentiful food supply. It is especially
gratifying, therefore, when such a spectacle comes one's way, just when you
are showing off your area to visitors!
There is one other snapshot from our days in Vesterålen that I want to
share. The last two nights we stayed in private cabins on a farm in
Grytting, on the low eastern shores of Langøya, not far from the airport of
Stokmarknes. We had again flowering fields, with a few willow copses, all
around us, and between us and the stony coastline, and in the mornings we
heard, in addition to the ubiquitous Willow Warblers, also a Reed Bunting
stammer, and a Sedge Warbler pour out his ever enthousiastic scratchy song.
A Common Gull on the roof shrieked its ownership of this territory to every
passing gull, and a crippled Whimbrel came to forage in the sunny arctic
nights on the mowed lawn around the cabins. A few hundred yards away there
were shallow pools, where both Common Gulls and Arctic Terns nested, where
Oystercatchers and Redshanks panicked as soon as I came too close, but
where the Spotted Redshank I had heard from the cabin, made itself
invisible afterwards. There were several pairs of anxious Ringed Plovers,
trying to lead me away from their chicks, as well as two pairs of colourful
Turnstones, that instead relied on their rapid-fire scolding to deter me.
On my approach several ducks flew up and away, against the light, but I
recognized al least Mallards, Teals and Wigeons, as well as a flock of at
least twenty Northern Lapwings, already gathered for their early migration.
At sea there were Eiders with young (not so many this summer, it seems to
me) and Red-throated Mergansers, and of course Herring and Great
Black-backed Gulls. Just a few small pools at a place where we happened to
stop over, and a further proof of the 'birdiness' of so many areas in these
beautiful Vesterålen islands.
Wim Vader,
Tromsø Museum
9037 Tromsø,
Norway
--------------------------------------------
Birding-Aus is now on the Web at
www.birding-aus.org
--------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message 'unsubscribe
birding-aus' (no quotes, no Subject line)
to
|
