BirdForum is the net's largest birding community dedicated to wild birds and birding, and is absolutely FREE!

Register for an account to take part in lively discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="birdboybowley" data-source="post: 3240581" data-attributes="member: 60953">We stopped at Bardvikmyra where the distant pools held 16 Red-throated Divers – a couple of which began to fly around calling and chasing each other, I guess a kind of display? 2 dark-phase Arctic Skuas did the same whilst another pair of light-phases gave good views as they sat out on the tundra and a cracking Golden Plover posed nicely next to the road.Not alot was seen en route as apparently birds still need to sleep – most inconsiderate! We had a couple of Taiga Bean Geese and Long-tailed Ducks and a male Goosander fly down a river. We traversed the narrow, winding road as it followed the rugged coastline and arrived at our northernmost destination by 2130....sun still shining! We set up and began a seawatch that lasted til 2300...not times I'm used to doing that! Quite a few auks were moving, few Arctic Skuas, gulls and Gannets too. A flock of Common Scoter settled offshore whilst a Fieldfare began singing at 2200! Offshore we also had a Grey Seal and then a feeding Common Minke Whale that led a good guessing game as to where it was going to surface next. Some of the others had what they thought was an Orca but I never saw anything other than the whale unfortunately. We were joined by 2 other cars of crazy people too and chatting to one of them who happened to be a local we found out that the boats to Hornøya leave at 0800 – result, so we began to think that it really wasn't worth driving all the way back to VJ and we could pass the time here before heading back down to catch the boat from Vardø! Dawn promptly decided it was time for sleep and crashed out in the van! So we settled in as things were still happening but as 2300 drew near everything had dried up offshore...so plan B was hatched. We'd head back and drop Dawn off at the rooms and then see what to do from there – didn't say it was a great plan! So Dawn drove us back, the sun never dipping below the horizon before rising again, the sky changing from blue to orange and back again....gorgeous.  We saw a single Red Fox out and about on the snow-covered tundra and as we passed Bardvikmyra Kev called out a raptor sitting up on a telegraph pole beside the road. Now, raptors being amazingly few and far between here we pulled up thinking, by the size of it, it must be a buzzard sp. As we stopped and focussed our bins it became obvious we were looking at a stonking Gyrfalcon!! A 1styr bird, it sat watching the world go by – and us watching it – before it got bored and flew off over the tundra. What brilliant views of a brilliant bonus bird!! And we watched it from 2345 into the new day so for saddos like me, it goes on both daylists!! <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" />That woke us all up again! A quick look over the tundra by the main road junction gave us a cracking male Willow Grouse that allowed a close approach – and a couple of Arctic Hares that didn't!! Another Willow Grouse was seen along the main road along with 2 Short-eared Owls quartering. We stopped again into Skellelv and sure enough there was the beast of a Bearded Seal hauled up on the sandbar. And what a fab boy he was too! I called him Barry. He looked like a Barry. Barry was not amused by us waking him up at 0200 and huffed and puffed for 20mins before sliding into the river and heading out to sea. Sorry Barry. We reached the hostel by 0245 and after a bit of chitchat the decision – maybe not unanimous! – was made to head back to Vardø and not grab a bit of kip.....We drove back to Vadsø where we walked out to the pond again (well, apart from Ian & Matt who stayed behind 'to do their notes'...or sleep as i call it) and were rewarded with a north Norway rarity – a male Pochard! Talking later, Dawn had actually seen it on our first visit but didn't mention it as it was just a Pochard...!. The harbour held 2o6+ Steller's still feeding in the same place and as we neared the sand-dunes near Skellelv a fantastic Long-tailed Skua flew over the road and flew languidly up over the tundra and unfortunately disappeared – but what a wake-up call, needed that!!We traversed the tunnel again and the ever-darkening sky now began to leak....oh joy! We made our way to the hide opposite Hornøya and began to 'scope the aukfest on the sea in front of us whilst trying to stay out of the increasing wind and rain. We held on for about an hour but couldn't see a poxy Brünnich's out there anywhere and with the weather down the fjord looking complete shite we reluctantly decided to head back – again! – and get some bloody sleep. Back through the tunnel, past Skellelv and we could see brighter weather coming towards us from down-fjord...oh ffs! Matt was driving by now and as I was the only other person awake we decided to swing off the road below a small cliff and get some shut-eye for 2hrs and see what the weather was doing when we woke up....At 0730ish we awoke – Jake was completely mindf*cked as to where the hell we were and was babbling incoherently! – and were treated to the sight of 7imm White-tailed Eagles soaring and playing literally a 100ft above us! The weather was now looking clearer so we set off for Vardø. Again. Through the tunnel. Again. Back to the harbour. Again. We pulled onto the pier (literally!) and found the boat that did the Hornøya run. Only problem was there was no-one around. A small sign stated that the boats didn't run until 1100 on weekends....there goes my faith in local knowledge!! Another line said that they could organise different sailing times if we phoned a number and asked. So we let Kev do that <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /> Apparently they will do other times, so long as it's at 1100 on a Sunday....hmmmm. Ok, no problem – back to the bloody hide and scoping auks: still nowt. A Barnacle Goose flew over us and some nice Purple Sands showed well on the rocky shore, a Grey Seal swam by close in and a Glauc was also seen. We found a cafe-type shop that was actually open so we sat in there for over an hour having a cheeky breakfast and counting down the minutes to the boat's departure. As the allotted hour approached I noticed that the clocks on the wall were an hour behind our watches...a quick double-check with the staff and now we had another bloody hour to wait...grrrrrr!! So I went and photographed some Purple Sands feeding below the bridge and the Kittiwake colony on the harbour buildings.Finally, the real 1100 arrived and we climbed aboard the boat, agreed a pick-up slot and handed over the extortionate £35 for the not-even-10min crossing! Hornøya was worth it though – the cliffs teem with thousands of Kittiwakes and Guillemots (with a huge amount of bridleds with them), hundreds of Razorbills, Puffins and Shags and finally we could have great views of the missing alcid: Brünnich's Guillemots, with at least 50 seen up on the cliffs above the dock. The smell and noise was tremendous and I fully urge anyone on the peninsula to go!! The only auks we couldn't find actually on the island were Black Guillemots unfortunately – could see them from the opposite shore but the path didn't go round that far! The cliffs were buzzed by Ravens and then White-tailed Eagles; the former causing havoc but the latter causing complete mayhem as the auks piled off the cliff-face...allowing  the gulls to then swoop in and grab the now unattended eggs...!We split up, and as I walked back to the dock I noticed a passerine hop onto a rock out the corner of my eye, lifted my bins up fully expecting another Mipit but was shocked to see an adult female Red-backed Shrike sitting there! I yelled to Matt but the bird flicked over the top of the rocks and just disappeared...not even time for a photo <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite3" alt=":(" title="Frown    :(" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":(" /> Matt and I then wandered up towards the lighthouse seeing a singing Bluethroat and a bonus  Red-throated Pipit on the way up. We bumped into the others coming down and they'd had Pied Fly and Redstart around the buildings – obviously some migration had occurred today!We searched but could not find any sign of them but we did find a Song Thrush, a couple of Swallows and had brief views of a pair of Twite. Out to sea we had 6 Arctic Skuas harrying the terns and showing well and another 1styr Glauc. We were dive-bombed by a protective Herring Gull but could see no marine mammals from our vantage point. We wandered back down to take in the cliff-face spectacular as time was racing by. We reached the others and had our fill of alcids and then it was time to catch the boat back...which us when Matt realized he'd left his bag and stuff up against the wall of the lighthouse.....doh!! Good thing he's young and fit coz he had to run all the way to the top (and the path is bloody treacherous with mud and guano) and back again and did it in a bloody good time...but it was all for nowt as the boat filled up with other daytrippers and we had to wait anyways....so much for time-slots!! The rain had just started again as we left the island – perfect timing!The guys wanted to grab a quick bite so I took the chance to photograph some of the cool graffiti that adorns the walls along the street and then we headed back off of Vardø for the last time. With eyes struggling to stay open (well, at least for Mall & me up front!) we finally made it back to VJ where we tumbled into the showers. Dawn had had a relaxing day and had found a nice restaurant on the main road opposite our turn-off so we went there and had a pretty damn good pizza...well, it should be for £25 for one!! Bed was never so welcome as that night after 40hrs of birding!![ATTACH]549362[/ATTACH][ATTACH]549363[/ATTACH][ATTACH]549364[/ATTACH][ATTACH]549365[/ATTACH][ATTACH]549366[/ATTACH]</blockquote>

Verification