After an early start from Sofia at 4am to get the flight and three flights i finally made it Tromso. The last flight was very picturesque. Spectacular views were revealing ever so often.
The temperature at Tromso was about 14 degrees which is much better than last year’s 5 degrees. I got a car from Budget which seems to e rather nice VW Polo. It is fairly new and full with electronics. The first location for the survey work is about 180 km to the south of Tromso so i had to go. These two and a half hours driving were rather exhausting considering the early start. Luckily it was still early so i arrived on time. I remembered the site quite well from last year so it wasn’t difficult to find it. En route i got some supplies from the groceries and quickly set up the tent. Temperature had dropped down a bit but that was no problem. After a short chat with my girlfriend at about 19 o o’clock i sneaked into the sleeping bag for another early start.
The alarm rang at 3 a.m. Well i better get used to this because it will be my schedule for the rest of the month. This time the sleep was enough so no problem getting up. I was keen to do my first route. At night there was quite some bird activity around my tent suggesting that all the birds are waiting for me. A pair of Willow Grouse, Redwings, Dunnock, Bramblings and the numerous Willow Warbler were around. A Common Snipe was also zooming around. It was time to get up.
Common Tern © Iordan Hristov
At the very first point i had a Bluethroat which is a great beginning. The usual suspects were everywhere: Redwings, Willow Warblers and Bramblings. Other than them i found a Merlin, Golden Plover, Whimbrel more Willow Grouses and my greatest delight for the morning : a pair of Waxwings which let me approach them so much that i regretted leaving my camera behind. Well the most important is that i managed to do the job. The weather wasn’t helping me me much with its occasional clouds of rain and snow. Luckily it wasn’t raining that often so i managed to do the job.
I spent the rest of the day birding and taking pictures in the area. Some of highlights that are common here include Common Scoter 20+, Common Eider Duck 10, Pied Flycathers, and 10 Goldeneyes.
Eider Duck Somateria mollissima © Iordan Hristov
male Eider © Iordan Hristov
Eider Ducks © Iordan Hristov
Common Gull © Iordan Hristov
Common Eider © Iordan Hristov
The weather continued to be fairly miserable with clouds of rainfall and wind. It is time to get ready for tomorrow. See what the weather is going to be like. I will see this at 3 a.m.