Dear Mark ,
As I live in Tromsø, N. Norway and my daughter in
Longyearbyen on Svalbard, I ought to be able to assist you with some of
your questions. But just now these are a bit on the general side, and seem
also to mix Iceland, N.Norway and Svalbard in one large 'Arctic' melting
pot.
Let me start with Svalbard. This is a very large and very
northerly (Longyearbyen, the capital, is at 78*N) archipelago, with very
few people and virtually no roads. Also, there are potentially Polar Bears
everywhere, which means that one can not move around in the terrain
outside the very few villages without a gun, and in practice without a
guide and often in a group (you can get a personal guide, but that is
indeed very expensive). There are daily flights into Longyearbyen from
Oslo and Tromsø (and from Russia; there are as many Russians as Norwegians
on Svalbard!), and there are hotels in and even a camping place near
Longyearbyen. Wandering around in and just outside Longyearbyen you will
in summer see many beautiful flowers and the roly-poly reindeer that eat
them, and there are Snow Buntings galore, a cheery presence. Kittiwakes,
Glaucous Gulls and Arctic Terns (you don't have to search for those:
they'll find you, around their nests!), as well as often Purple Sandpipers
in town, and Fulmars, Black and Brunnich's Guillemots, the large Arctic
race of the Atlantic Puffin, and the cozy Little Auks (Which the locals
call: Tromsøværinger (Tromsø people): they are snappily dressed, talk all
the time, but say nothing of any value!)are easily found on the
Adventsfjord, as are Common Eiders and Arctic Skuas and the odd Great
Skua. In the pools near the airport there are lots of Arctic Terns (Use a
cap, as they draw blood otherwise) and Purple Sandpipers, but often also
Red Phalaropes and Ringed Plovers, while on the saltmarshes at the bottom
og Adventsfjorden one may luck across King Eiders and will certainly find
Barnacle Geese. I have earlier written a few pieces after visits to
Svalbard, and can send them to you, if you want; they should also be in
the archives of Birding-aus. Oh yes, and I have also seen belugas in
Adventsfjorden, from my office window, at UNIS, the University satellite
in Longyearbyen.
As I said, traveling around on your own in
Svalbard is virtually impossible. But if you google 'Svalbard tourism' or
some such, you will see that there are many offers for shorter or longer
cruises, and also dog-sled and snow-scooter tours, which will bring you
out in other areas of the archipelago, and greatly increase the chance of
seeing Polar Bears, Walrus and other seals, Pinkfooted Geese, and if you
go all the way up into the ice, even Ivory Gulls (there are now and then
single Ivory Gulls also in Longyearbyen, and I have also seen Iceland
Gulls there, unexpectedly). But of course , all these cruises are
expensive, as Svalbard is complicated logistically and distances are
large.
In N. Norway there are many more puffins than on
Svalbard, and the common guillemot here is (surprise surprise!) the Common
Guillemot, while there are also Razorbills and Shags in the seabird
colonies. These are generally also here in out-of the way places and
therefore expensive to visit. The nicest one is maybe the colony on
Hornøya outside Vardø, Norway's most easterly town (E. of Moscow!); it is
not very large but very diverse, and one gets close to the birds in that
part of the colony which is open to the public (But you need a boat to get
there also here; it is not far from Vardø town, however). N. Norway also
has a much larger array of shorebirds, especially in the northeasterly
part (again Varanger and the Vadsø-Vardø area), and also the most westerly
outposts of Siberian or taiga species like the Siberian Tit, the Siberian
Jay, the Spotted Redshank, the Little Stint, the Smew, and many others.
These areas also have enormous amounts of mosquitoes (the reason for all
the nesting shorebirds)and other biting insects, and they make it somewhat
advisable to come early in the summer, before late June at least.
I hope this may be of some initial help.
Wim Vader, Tromsø Museum
9037 Tromsø, Norway
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Fra:
På vegne av Mark Branson
Sendt: 9. mars 2009 00:45
Til:
Emne: [Birding-Aus] Svalbard
I am planning a trip to Iceland and the Arctic this year to spot puffins
among other things and considering venturing to Svalbard and Tromso in
Norway to 'twitch' polar bear, guillemots, belugas etc. If anyone has
travelled to Svalbard I'd be grateful for your opinions and advice. It
looks like this trip is going to be excruciatingly expensive, but
certainly worth it.
Ta muchly,
Mark Branson
No Fixed Address.
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