Slowly but steady

This week has mostly been office days, but a few short trips in the local area have ensured my list to be growing virtually every day. Northern goshawks seems to be showing off well during the start of the new year, and I have seen 8 different birds already in the 2014. It became part of my list already 1st January.

5th January

Short trip to Buvika just outside Trondheim to look for ducks, and maybe some late shore birds as frost and snow is still absent for this winter. Highlight were three River otter (oter) babies playing in the sea. I always love to see this animal, that luckily has become very common along the coast of this part of the country. They always seem to be in a good mood, and if you don’t see them feeding on some fish they just caught they will be busy playing. The best part about them is that they seem to be dominant over the American mink (mink) which is an introduced species (escapes from mink farming industry) and it seems like the otter is the most efficient way to eradicate the mink from our country. The American mink is a big problem for many of our seabird populations, as it is an efficient predator on eggs and chicks in the nesting season. So hands up for the otter! The only two new birds for the year were House sparrow (gråspurv) and Greenfinch (grønnfink).

New species: 2

Total: 49

6th January

Birding the river where I live, in hope of finding a rare gull or something else fun. Of course, a hunting goshawk (hønsehauk) was seen almost immediately. More interesting, and new for the year, was a glimpse of Norway’s national bird – Dipper (fossekall). The dipper was swimming around in the river, diving for aquatic invertebrates as they often do this time of the year. This is one of very few birds which doesn’t have hollow bones – exactly because he wants to be a better diver.

New species: 1

Total: 50 (hooray!)

The local dipper,, that lives outside my garden.

 7th January

Again birding the river. Treecreeper (trekryper) in the neighbour’s garden was the only new one.

New species: 1

Total: 51

9th January

Went searching for some forest specials today. A friend and myself went to a forest just outside Trondheim in hope to find something interesting. First thing we noticed (actually after walking for half an hour or so) was that we didn’t hear any bird sounds at all. Total quietness! Winter birding in the forests in Norway is never easy, and with this in mind we didn’t loose faith. Thy who search shall find. An hour or so later, we were chasing the sound of a drumming woodpecker. Not any woodpecker, but the sound clearly belonged to the Norwegian woodpecker I most rarely see – the Three-toed woodpecker (tretåspett). This bird, I normally only see a couple of times each year. Not only because I rarely walk in the forest (contrary to most of my friends’ beliefe), but also because this species is highly dependent of old forest. Something which is unfortunately less and less abundant in this world – Norway included. Afer some chasing up and down the hills, we finally managed to figure out that the bird didn’t actually move as much as we thought, but that there were in fact two different individuals that made us run back and forth thinking it was the same bird moving a lot….A tiring experience (but I guess needed after Christmas feast), but I feel we won the battle at the end. These two rivals (the drumming woodpeckers), finally met as well, and then we were there to observe it. The two males had a long and hard territorial fight, and they sat on the same trunk showing off to each other. Having a drumming competition, wings flapping and chasing each other through the forest. We observed this very interesting behaviour for more than an hour, before we decided to leave the rivals to themselves. Ticking new birds is not only about making the longest list, but I hope to see many interesting behaviours and learn more about the birds I tick off like this during the year. Great!

I don't see you, you don't see me. But I am drumming loudest in the forest here.

Searching through the forest for more forest special yielded a few parties of Crested tits (Toppmeis), which was also new for the year. Arriving back to the car, there was a nice surprise in the form of a Hawk owl (haukugle) waiting for us in a treetop next to my car. This bird (like any owl I guess) is certainly one of my favorites in the Norwegian fauna, and this winter it seems to be a small influx of them – at least in the southern half of the country. Needless to say, I enjoyed the owl very much.

New species: 3

Total: 53

Not the best picture I have ever made I admit, but
the shape of a hawk owl in a tree top is always a
 highlight during a birding trip.

10th January

Again searching the harbour area in town for any interesting gulls. None seen. Saw a few Rooks (Kornkråke) and an unusual (for this part of the country) wintering Wood pigeon (Ringdue). This is the good thing about the early season birding, that even on days I don’t necessarily find any rare birds I anyway add species to my list.

The coming week, I will do some birding at the coast. Of course, unless something better turns up….

New species: 2

Total: 55

-EG-

Kick off!

For a while now, I haven’t done much birding. Not because I didn’t feel like it, but because I wanted to save the energy until my Big Year was starting. I had planned the start well, and at midnight I was going to celebrate with some friends and film the spectacular fireworks in my home city going off as a great opening picture on this blog. Some mallards outside where I live usually get a bit spooked from it, so this was going to be my new year’s bird and the opening of Big Year already at 00:01. But…

Day 1 – 01.January

Got a call from a friend yesterday. There was a Hume’s leaf warbler (Blekbrynsanger) seen not far from his house. His house is 650 kilometers away, so my quiet celebration plans had to be changed and the painful truth of what it takes to do a Big Year had already proved itself. So here I was - at first light (actually a bit before) ready at a narrow ditch borderd with reed beds at Klåstadkilen, Larvik in south-eastern Norway. A few friends and myself walking up and down all day looking for the Hume’s leaf warbler. A very rare bird indeed in Norway with less than 20 records of this Siberian gem. Most of them turning up in late October, so this was not only rare, but also a very unusual for the time of the year. I was searching all day, and probably walked the 600m length of the narrow channel at least 10 times. It was said to be skulky – hiding a lot in the grass – so careful searching and focused to find this bird ment that I didn’t see much else this day. I didn’t even see the Siberian guest. Yes – you read the words correctly. My Big Year started off with a dip….First bird of the year was a Blue tit (Blåmeis), but the top bird of the day amongst my 31 bird species seen was a Great grey shrike (Varsler).

Klåstadkilen, Larvik 1st January. Its only so many times you can walk along
 a ditch bordered with reeds, fantasizing about a hume's leaf warbler....

Day 2 – 02. January.

I spent the night at a friend’s place not far from where the Hume’s should have been. I felt my luck had changed a bit, as a message about a Water pipit (Vannpiplerke) came in yesterday evening only 30 minutes drive from my where I stayed. The weather though didn’t exactly look promising with forecast of 30+ mm of rain. Basically it was going to be pouring down all day. Add a little bit of wind on top of it, and you are up for a nice day outing. Again, I was ready at first light, or slightly before. I was carefully scanning all the pipits in the area while I gradually got soaked by the rain and wind. At the end I was so wet, that I could just as well taken a swim in the ocean and not got any wetter (yes I have gore tex and all that fancy shit, but it doesn’t help when you do regular birding at the windy coast of Norway and it get salt spray in it. In my experience, Gore tex and its look alike garment is great and waterproof for the first half year – after that its useless for anything but keeping the wind outside. People that mostly walk in the city and pretend they are “outdoorsy” will tell you its great though….).

3 hrs searching and no Water pipit, a couple of Meadow pipits (Heipiplerke) was the only new birds of the year to be seen. I left the place thinking this year is going to be a lot of fun….Tried a little bit for the Hume’s warbler again. Needless to be said, I didn’t find it. Went further north to look for a real long stayer. An American black duck (Rødfotand), that is somewhat disputed about wether it’s a hybrid or not, (Myself being in favor of the hybrid category I guess, but time will show what the Norwegian Rarity Committee will say as they are currently revising all records of this extreme rarity in Norway) has been wintering for 12 years near Tønsberg. As far as I know, this bird is only the 3^rd ever to be accepted by the committee so far. I got there – rain was still pouring down. Actually even a bit more than earlier, if that is even possible. But there it was – Between 40 or so Mallards (Stokkand) a male American black duck. I actually saw this bird a the day after it turned up the very first time, so it was kind of a déjà vu. My luck had turned and this whole trip wasn’t going to be a vaste of time and money anyway. A big bonus there was a beautiful male Smew (Lappfiskand) – a semi rare bird in Norway that definitely is easiest to see during winter (as with the black duck). Then it was dark. Daylight hours are short this time of the year in Norway, with birding light from about 09:30 – 15:30.  7 new species today. Total 38 species.

Day 3 – 03 January

An overnight stay at a friend that I hadn’t seen for 1,5 years. I already start to see the benefit of catching up with old mates during my Big Year! Today was going to be challenging, as I wanted to try to see a Kingfisher (Isfugl) near the Swedish border in Halden. It is there for its 3^rd winter, but is using a rather long stretch of the river and many people have gone home empty handed trying to see this bird. But to see it now, ment that I would save myself for (probably) several attempts later in winter. I live about 600km away from this site, so to see it already now would mean a big relief. Parked my car, and 5 minutes later the unmistakable calls were heard slightly downstream from where I was standing. I quickly found the bird, beautiful as always. This is one of the more exotic birds in Norway, with iridescent blue back and bright orange underparts. Its breeding population in Norway is 1-3 pairs only – a real rarity. Despite being there for its 3^rd winter in the same river, it hasn’t yet been found breeding in Halden.  

There had also been reports of an Iceland gull (Grønlandsmåke) in Halden the last day. A rare bird on this side of the country, and a scarce winter visitor to my home area in western Norway. I went to the nearby supermarket to buy bread, and before long, a very nice 1^st winter Iceland gull was feeding only a few meters in front of me. Today – everything was going ridiculously easy and my spirit for the remaining Big Year is again as high as ever. It is going to be a fun year!

Halden is very near one of a handful places in Norway that regularly hosts Bearded tits (Skjeggmeis), so as I was in the area I did the half an hour drive to Øra. A walk along the channel yielded at least 20+ bearded tits heard, but only one male seen flying over the vast reed bed vegetation. A stunning bird, but unfortunately very difficult to see well at this locality. Nevertheless, another of the birds best seen in winter added to my list. After watching a male Goshawk (Hønsehauk) hunting feral pigeons during an impressive acrobatic flights from the both of them the daylight was yet again gone and it was time for me to head back home.

9 new species today. Total 47 species.

If you look long and hard on this very cropped picture, you might be lucky
to spot the amazingly colourful kingfisher I saw in Halden (Tip: look just to
 the left of the big pole in the water).

1st winter Iceland gull braging about his wingspan.

White like an angel.

-EG-

The Ultimate Arctic Seamammal Experience

WildNature arrange Svalbard expedition 03-17 August 2012

Join me on a wild experience in one of the world’s last wilderness. Svalbard is famous for its pristine and wild nature, and of course for the cold scenic landscape and roaming polar bears.

On this trip we will focus on the large whales that are coming to the archipelago to feed during summer. This is one of the best places in East Atlantic to see blue whales and feeding fin whales are in good numbers. As I only work with wild animals, I never give any guarantees. However, there is a lot of things that need to go wrong if we don’t see most of the species I advertise here. Other cetacean species that we can expect to see are humpback whales (often observed in groups doing their famous bubble netting behaviour), white-beaked dolphins (often come to the boat bow riding) and of course minke whales. In the fjords we have reasonably good chance to see belugas, often feeding with a spectacular glacier setting as a back curtain. Seals are often around, and we will most likely see all of the Svalbard species (ringed seal, bearded seal, harbour seal, hooded seal and harp seal). We will spend time at some of the walrus haul out sites, meaning normally good photo oppurtunities for these weird, but fascinating creatures. Polar bears will also be on the agenda, and we will stop whenever the opportunities arises. However, keep in mind that this is not a designated polar bear trip, but is the only trip available in Svalbard that focuses on the cetaceans. The weather and ice conditions will decide where and when we go for the different localities.

While August is arguably the best time for cetaceans, it is at the very end of the breeding season for birds. Most of the bird cliffs will be more or less empty at this time. We will anyway make an effort to see most of the breeding species in Svalbard. Ivory gull, Sabine’s gull, Grey phalarope, Brunnich’s guillemot, Atlantic puffins, Little auk, Barnacle goose, Pink-footed goose, Great-, Pomarine-, Long-tailed- and Arctic skua as well as Snow bunting, Purple sanpiper and Glaucous gull just to mention a few.

Why travel with me?

I have worked 8 seasons as an expedition leader for different bird and cetacean science projects in Svalbard. I have explored most of the coastline in Svalbard in a zodiac, and hence know where to find the different species. There are probably no other tour operator that are able to show you as many species – simply because many other tour operators travel with guides that don’t have the nescessary identification skills and they don’t have the field experience. I’ve guided other photographers and film teams with great success in earlier trips.

To ensure good photo oppptunities – we will make exstensive use of zodiac whenever weather permits.

When not in the zodiac, we use a 49 feet sailyacht specially made for Arctic conditions. This is smaller than what most other people use, which means we are able to reach places that others give up. We sacrifice luxury of spaceous cabins for the intimate nature experience!  

I do have extensive Arctic field experience. This includes boat safety and polar bear safety, which is of upmost importance on a trip like this into remote areas where the nearest help might be days away.

I am an educated biologist, professional wildlife photographer and a keen birder – which all ensures a good general knowledge about behaviour and how to increase our chances to see and photograph the animals without disturbing them too much.   

Only 4 custumers allowed, means exclusive experiences and photos as well as flexibility regarding where and when to go as the group wants.

The price – no other tour operator match this price. NOK41000/person (about EUR5100) for 14 days of true Arctic experience. This price includes all guiding, all food onboard (alcoholic drinks needs to be brought onboard yourself), all fuel and boat costs.

What to bring
Warm clothes – normal temperatures 0-5 degrees C. Keep in mind that standing out on the deck of the sailboat watching the wildlife can be cold at times. You don’t want to miss the best experiences and photo opportunities because you didn’t bring enough clothes…Hiking boots for landings, and some sneakers or light shoes to use when on the boat.

Binoculars – even though the guide will constantly watch for interesting animals and birds, it makes a huge difference to watch the wildlife through your own pair of binoculars.

Camera – For clos up portraits of birds and mammals I recommend at least a 300mm lens. For more landscapes and cetacean shots, something like 70-200mm is very handy (For the last years, I almost exclusively shoot with 70-200mm myself).  Wideangle lens for land based photography can also be useful.

Personal (normal) travel insurance. No need for the extra search and rescue insurance normally needed for independent travelers in the Arctic since this is all sorted by the boat owner.

Since the price is pushed to an absolute minimum, we need 4 people to let this trip go.

Closing date – 20th of January.

Contact details for ordering or questions about this trip:

Eirik Gronningsaeter

Email: EG@WildNature.no
Cell: (+47) 95257710