Birds of the Arctic
3 Oct 26
Brunnich’s Guillemot
On my trip to Svalbard and the pack ice north of the archipelago (see blog post here and gallery here) I didn’t miss the opportunity to photograph birds. In such a barren, cold and inhospitable environment the bird life was surprisingly rich, mainly supported by the maritime ecosystem.
Black-legged Kittiwake
On deck on our ice breaker, I was on constant look out for birds flying by. On a couple of days the sea was completely flat, like a carpet, and the wonderful Arctic light danced across the surface creating beautiful colour reflections of blue, yellow, red and every shade in between. Capturing birds against this background was a treat, as reflected in the images of the Brunnich’s Guillemots (Thick-billed Murre) and the Black-legged Kittiwake. These photos look almost unnatural as if the background has been photoshopped. But, no. It was quite real and magical with the ultra-calm Arctic sea bathing in gorgeous light. Not many days were like this, with the wind prone to whipping up the sea.
Ivory Gull
The Ivory Gulls are arguably the most beautiful gull species. Their pure white plumage only punctuated by black eyes and legs and a yellow and blue bill. These little resident Arctic birds enjoy feeding on seal carcasses left behind by polar bears as well as eating fish and crustaceans.
Sabine’s Gull
Another, closely related gull which breeds in the Arctic, is the Sabine’s Gull. There are only a dozen or so breeding pairs in the north Svalbard area, and we were lucky to spot a couple flying across the boat. They have a distinct head cape, and a black figure ‘M’ on their wings. The yellow-tipped black bill and notched tail are shared only with the swallow-tailed gull of the Galapagos. They migrate to the southern hemisphere in the autumn, covering 32,000-39,000km annually which is the longest migration of any gull.
Rock-nesting Atlantic Puffin
I came across several members of the Auk family of birds. Surprisingly, including the Puffin. Puffins further south breed in burrows dug into the ground. But that is not possible on Svalbard as the ground is permanently frozen. Instead, they’ve adapted to use holes and cracks in rocks as nests. This limits their choice and they cannot be found in big numbers, unlike other Auks. The Brunnich’s Guillemot for example is in abundance, particularly around Alkefjellet (The Auk Mountain), northern Svalbard, where over 60,000 pairs breed. Observing these birds in their thousands during their breeding season was special and deserves its own blog … which will be posted soon. Other Auks I photographed were Black Guillemots, Common Guillemots, and the cute little aptly named … Little Auk (Dovekie).
Little Auk
Near Longyearbyen, the main settlement on Svalbard, there are also good opportunities to photograph birds, including Svalbard’s only songbird, the Snow Bunting. Some of the other species I photographed in, or near the settlement included the Ring Plover, Barnacle Goose, Arctic Skua (Parasitic Jaeger), Common Eider, Grey and Red-necked Phalaropes, Rock Ptarmigan, Arctic Tern, and the lovely little Purple Sandpiper.
Rock Ptarmigan
Brunnich’s Guillemot
The full list of birds photographed on my Svalbard expedition:
Arctic Tern
Arctic Skua (Parasitic Jaeger)
Barnacle Goose
Black Guillemot
Black-legged Kittiwake
Brunnich’s Guillemot (Thick-billed Murre)
Common Eider
Glaucous Gull
Great Skua
Grey Phalarope
Ivory Gull
Little Auk (Dovekie)
Northern Fulmar
Pink-footed Goose
Puffin (Atlantic)
Purple Sandpiper
Red-necked Phalarope
Red-throated Diver (Loon)
Ringed Plover
Rock Ptarmigan
Sabine’s Gull
Snow Bunting
Arctic Tern
I’m quite satisfied with my bird photography from the trip, but there are always those you don’t spot, which you wish you had. One of those is the beautiful King Eider … well, that is one reason to come back to this beautiful part of the world.
Black Guillemot
Snow Bunting
Purple Sandpiper