A Field Guides Birding Tours Report
THE NORWEGIAN ARCTIC: SPITSBERGEN & THE SVALBARD ARCHIPELAGO 2024
July 2-14, 2024 with John Coons guiding
We enjoyed eleven days of birding in the High Arctic, about as high in the arctic as anyone gets. If you enjoy putting on cold weather gear, waterproof pants, and calf-high rubber boots in July then this is a dream trip. Actually, it was not that cold overall, with temperatures above freezing throughout the trip. And even a stiff wind doesn't feel as cold when you are looking at Polar Bears and Ivory Gulls.
After meeting in Oslo and flying to Longyearbyen on the island of Spitsbergen, we had a day to wander around and bird this most northerly of "real" towns in the world before boarding Plancius for our circumnavigation of Spitsbergen, with stops at a few other islands in the Svalbard archipelago. Sailing out of Longyearbyen and Isfjorden, we had our first encounters with Atlantic Puffins, Black Guillemots, Thick-billed Murres, and groups of Dovekies. From the north end of the island we traveled further north to cruise the pack ice. We reached our furthest north point in the pack ice at 81º 14', which is about 660 miles further north than Point Barrow in Alaska, roughly 1000 miles north of the Arctic Circle. and 590 miles from the North Pole.
We had many great sightings during our time on the ship and land. It is hard not to put Polar Bear at the top of the list, and we had encounters with seven different individuals. The mother bear and cub on the small island gave us our best view. In the pack ice we had nice views of at least six Ivory Gulls, perhaps the most special arctic bird of all. Other highlights included all those Pink-footed Geese with goslings in Longyearbyen, colorful male King Eiders, breeding plumaged female Red Phalaropes, Parasitic Jaegers with a tiny chick on the tundra, Atlantic Puffins perched on a rock ledge just above us, flocks of tiny Dovekies, a surprise Sabine's Gull on an ice floe, Red-throated Loon on a nest, and singing Snow Buntings. The huge nesting cliff at Alkefjellet was home to our estimate of over 100,000 Thick-billed Murres. The most out-of-place bird was a Northern Gannet that circled over us at Torellneset.
Of course the mammals beyond the Polar Bears were also stars, with a few encounters of giant Walruses on beaches, Belugas, Humpback Whale, and an Arctic Fox hunting along the edge of the bird cliff at Alkefjellet.
The staff and crew of Plancius looked after us well and kept us nourished with nice meals throughout. It was wonderful traveling with all of you and hope to see you again soon.n
KEYS FOR THIS LIST
One of the following keys may be shown in brackets for individual species as appropriate: * = heard only, I = introduced, E = endemic, N = nesting, a = austral migrant, b = boreal migrant
Anatidae (Ducks, Geese, and Waterfowl)
PINK-FOOTED GOOSE (Anser brachyrhynchus)
A quite locally distributed goose in Europe, we saw at least 180 on the lake at Sundneset. But, we had out best views in the valley just above the town center of Longyearbyen where we got quite close to some with chicks feeding on the tundra next to the road.
BARNACLE GOOSE (Branta leucopsis)
We saw many of these during the week. I believe we had them at just about every landing we made. Lots of these were around Longyearbyen and the chicks had grown significantly between our visits before and after sailing on Plancius.
KING EIDER (Somateria spectabilis)
A handful of these were encountered with most of them males. Our closest views were of two males and a female on the lake at Sundneset. This in one of the most colorful birds we saw.
COMMON EIDER (NORTHERN) (Somateria mollissima borealis)
We saw these every day except when we ventured north to the pack ice. There were a good number in Longyearbyen and many of these had chicks.
LONG-TAILED DUCK (Clangula hyemalis)
A few were seen on about three of our days with the best looks being at about five individuals at Sundneset.
Charadriidae (Plovers and Lapwings)
COMMON RINGED PLOVER (Charadrius hiaticula hiaticula)
We only encountered a few of these during our time on Svalbard. Our first was at Ny Ålesund and our best view may have been at Faksvegan.
Scolopacidae (Sandpipers and Allies)
RED PHALAROPE (Phalaropus fulicarius)
We had our first fly overhead at Ny Ålesund then we had great looks at two nicely plumaged females at the birdy pond at Sundneset. This is another of the more colorful birds on Svalbard.
RUDDY TURNSTONE (Arenaria interpres interpres)
Dave and Suzi saw a single individual fly along the beach when we were all walking to the Walrus colony at Torellneset. This is a rather uncommon species on Svalbard.
DUNLIN (Calidris alpina)
Our only sightings were near the Dog Town in Longyearbyen where we found at least three individuals that were all in breeding plumage with reddish backs and black bellies. This is a very handsome shorebird.
PURPLE SANDPIPER (Calidris maritima)
This was the most commonly seen shorebird by far. We mostly saw them on beaches but a few were encountered in the tundra where they were likely nesting nearby. We heard a few in display flights. This species is named for the non-breeding plumage so ours were essentially gray.
Stercorariidae (Skuas and Jaegers)
LONG-TAILED JAEGER (Stercorarius longicaudus)
A quite rare bird in Svalbard, Dave saw a flying individual near Skjeggbreen glacier in Wahlenbergfjorden. When we were sailing out of there one flew off an ice floe near the ship.
PARASITIC JAEGER (Stercorarius parasiticus)
We saw this species most days when we got to shore as well as when they were chasing Arctic Terns or kittiwakes in a usually successful attempt to get them to drop their fish. We spotted a pair with a few day old chick that was essentially a gray ball of feathers.
GREAT SKUA (Stercorarius skua)
About 4-5 were seen during our expedition. Our first was flying past at Ny Ålesund when we did our first landing. We also scoped one that was resting on the mud flat near Texas Bar.
Alcidae (Auks, Murres, and Puffins)
ATLANTIC PUFFIN (Fratercula arctica)
Throughout the expedition if one put in some time on the decks a few Atlantic Puffins would be seen flying past the ship or swimming. On our final full day on the ship we saw a handful that were perched on a cliff ledge at Skansbukta.
BLACK GUILLEMOT (MANDTII) (Cepphus grylle mandtii)
Seen daily in small to medium numbers with large numbers seen overall. We had good views of those on the cliffs at Alkefjellet.
DOVEKIE (Alle alle)
One of the specialty birds of the High Arctic and one of the tiniest of seabirds. These were also seen on many days but we encountered more in some of the fjords where we were likely closer to inland nesting colonies. On our last afternoon in Longyearbyen we saw several hundred circling high above the cliffs at the upper end of Longyearbyen.
THICK-BILLED MURRE (Uria lomvia)
This was the most numerous species we encountered. There were, seemingly, always flocks passing the ship. We made a gross estimate of at least 100,000 individuals on the extensive nesting cliffs at Alkefjellet!
Laridae (Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers)
BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE (Rissa tridactyla)
The most commonly seen gull during the trip, this dainty gull was seen each day. We saw nesting colonies on the higher cliffs in a few places and had great close views at groups perched atop ice floes during zodiac cruises.
IVORY GULL (Pagophila eburnea)
Certainly the main highlight bird of this trip and the High Arctic overall. We saw at least six individuals from the ship as they were flying amongst the pack ice well north of 81º N latitude. This all white gull with black legs and eyes and a greenish bill has been declining in numbers for the past few decades but still seems to be doing okay in the Svalbard region.
SABINE'S GULL (Xema sabini)
What a surprise! A single beautiful adult with a solid very dark gray head (appearing black) and yellow-tipped bill was perched on an ice floe with a group of Black-legged Kittiwakes right next to the ship as we were near the pack ice. It flew as we came alongside showing the classic dark "W" pattern in the wings.
GLAUCOUS GULL (Larus hyperboreus)
Seen daily. With no regularly occurring raptors on Svalbard this large gull fills that role. This is the main predator of murre chicks on nesting cliffs and baby eiders as well. We saw a handful sitting on nests at Alkefjellet.
ARCTIC TERN (Sterna paradisaea)
Another bird we saw daily. Many were perched on ice floes and rocks during the trip. We also got close to a few nesting colonies where we got dive-bombed by the adults as we walked the roads near the nests.
Gaviidae (Loons)
RED-THROATED LOON (Gavia stellata)
We had very nice views of a bird on a nest at the pond near the Dog Town outside of Longyearbyen and were there when its mate flew in from the fjord. At Sundneset we saw another pair on the freshwater lake.
Procellariidae (Shearwaters and Petrels)
NORTHERN FULMAR (ATLANTIC) (Fulmarus glacialis glacialis)
Another species we saw every day from the ship. There probably wasn't more than a few minutes of birding from the deck when there was not a Northern Fulmar passing. At Bjornhamna it was cool to see the hundreds of fulmars nesting high up on the cliff.
Sulidae (Boobies and Gannets)
NORTHERN GANNET (Morus bassanus)
It was a huge surprise to see this large bird flying up the coastline and circling over the Walrus haul out at Torellneset. This is a very rare bird for Svalbard and this is the furthest north sighting recorded in eBird for this species.
Calcariidae (Longspurs and Snow Buntings)
SNOW BUNTING (Plectrophenax nivalis)
The only passerine we saw on Svalbard and the only one to expect. We heard their wonderful song on several occasions. In Longyearbyen they were perched on rooftops but outside of the town we mostly saw them in rocky areas where they could get into nest sites amongst the rocks where Arctic Foxes could not reach them.
MAMMALS
BELUGA (Delphinapterus leucas)
We had two encounters with this smallish white whale with each pod having about five individuals. With no dorsal fin, this species is adept at swimming under ice.
COMMON MINKE WHALE (Balaenoptera acutorostrata)
There were a couple of sightings of this species, one of the smallest of the baleen whales, early in the trip, but you had to be on deck or looking the right way out the lounge windows to see them.
HUMPBACK WHALE (Megaptera novaeangliae)
A single individual surfaced a few times in Hornsund near the end of our trip. It never gave us a great view but its distinctive humped back showed well the few times we saw it roll.
ARCTIC FOX (Vulpes lagopus)
Our only sighting was along the bird cliff at Alkefjellet. We saw one of these fragile looking foxes along the edge of the Thick-billed Murre and kittiwake nesting colony. With so many birds present there are invariably some that make mistakes by landing in the open where a fox is ready to pounce.
POLAR BEAR (Ursus maritimus)
We saw a total of seven Polar Bears, the quintessential Arctic creature! These were all seen from the ship with the best views being the mother bear and cub on the island of Gyldénøyane in Wahlenbergfjorden that we got a pre-breakfast announcement for at about 6:30 am. We had pretty good views of another walking about on the rocky slopes of Svea Island where the Polars Bear's white coat contrasted nicely with the blackish rocks.
WALRUS (Odobenus rosmarus)
We had great views of this iconic species. Our first were a few on a beach with one swimming that we saw quite well from the zodiacs in the Hinlopen Strait. Then we approached a large number, perhaps 80 individuals, at a haulout at Torellneset where a few swam in closer to have a look. Some of these had very long tusks. The following day we saw about 50 at Kapp Lee. It's tough to estimate numbers of these behemoths when they are lying in a big pile on a beach.
HARBOR SEAL (Phoca vitulina)
We saw a few basking in the sun on a beach near Ny Ålesund. This species seems to be one of the more social of the pinnipeds.
RINGED SEAL (Phoca hispida)
We saw at least one of these smaller pinnipeds in the pack ice.
HARP SEAL (Phoca groenlandica)
This is likely the seal we saw in the pack ice that was bobbing up with its head out of the water. We didn't get much of a look.
BEARDED SEAL (Erignathus barbatus)
We had pretty good views of a handful of these large pinnipeds loafing on floes in the pack ice at the northern reaches of our expedition. From a distance they resemble a giant sausage. The long stiff whiskers are what gives this species its name. This is the second largest, to Walrus, of the pinnipeds in Svalbard.
CARIBOU ("REINDEER") (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus)
This subspecies of Caribou is endemic to Svalbard and has shorter legs than those found in areas where there is deeper snow in the winter. We saw these on many occasions during our landings and right in Longyearbyen as well. These are called Reindeer throughout Europe but that term in North America is usually reserved for domesticated Caribou.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
Here is a list of birds at least some of us saw around the hotel near the Oslo airport.
Common Wood-Pigeon
Great Spotted Woodpecker - seen by Paul at the hotel
Eurasian Magpie
Eurasian Jackdaw
Eurasian Blue Tit
Great Tit
Eurasian Skylark
Western House-Martin - seen from the airport gate
Willow Warbler
Common Chiffchaff
Eurasian Wren
Song Thrush
Redwing
Eurasian Blackbird
Fieldfare
European Robin
Eurasian Tree Sparrow
White Wagtail
Common Chaffinch
European Goldfinch
Totals for the tour: 26 bird taxa and 11 mammal taxa