StuartReeves
Local rarity
Thanks to the wonderful world of work, I am currently in Longyearbyen, on the island of Spitsbergen. I had this afternoon free to wander around the toown and see what I could see. The commonest bird around town, and indeed the only passerine present at this time of year, was Snow Bunting, with birds singing from rooftops, or feeding hyperactively at holes in the snow. The odd Glaucous Gull cruised by overhead, and a few Pink-footed Geese shuttled between the steep cliffs that tower over the town and feeding areas nearer the shoreline. Higher up those cliffs, flocks of Little Auks swirled like starlings, their calls faintly audible from the town. A couple of Svalbard Reindeer, smaller and shorter-legged than their mainland cousins, mooched around in the snow. Along the beach, flocks of Common Eider were joined by smaller numbers of King Eider, the colours of the males looking absurdly bright in the clear Arctic sunlight. A few Black Guillemots and Purple Sandpipers and a hybrid Glaucous-Herring Gull (aka “Viking Gull”) completed the daylist.
At 78 degrees North, Spitsbergen is the most easily accessible point in the high Arctic. The main eco-tourism season is in mid-summer once the ice has receded sufficiently to allow access to the archipelago’s northern waters, and the associated charismatic megafauna. In comparison, Longyearbyen is almost urban, but even “off-season” it is still a fascinating place, with an avifauna characteristic of its high latitudes. Also there can’t be many places this far north with ready internet access, so although there is an element of bragging to the thread title, I suspect it may be true…
At 78 degrees North, Spitsbergen is the most easily accessible point in the high Arctic. The main eco-tourism season is in mid-summer once the ice has receded sufficiently to allow access to the archipelago’s northern waters, and the associated charismatic megafauna. In comparison, Longyearbyen is almost urban, but even “off-season” it is still a fascinating place, with an avifauna characteristic of its high latitudes. Also there can’t be many places this far north with ready internet access, so although there is an element of bragging to the thread title, I suspect it may be true…
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