SPITSBERGEN TOUR REPORT - Birdquest

fearlessly when we got too close to their nests and pretty little Snow Buntings were singing from the
rooftops. Purple Sandpipers and Dunlin foraged along the shoreline, where we also found several
cute Long-tailed Duck and a few Glaucous Gulls.
In mid afternoon we boarded the M/V Professor Multanovskiy, our floating base for the next week,
settled into our cabins and assembled in the bar for our first of many briefings by the Oceanwide
Expeditions staff (Rolf, Elke, Rico and Charlie). At about 6 p.m., we weighed anchor and were off,
cruising west out of the Isfjord amongst really spectacular snow-covered mountain scenery. Another
briefing (this time on safety matters), the mandatory lifeboat drill and the excellent dinner, prepared
by our New Zealand and Malaysian chefs, took up much of the evening. With 24 hours of daylight,
there was still plenty of time for sea-watching from the decks as we moved out of the fjord into the
open sea. Here, we familiarized ourselves with the commoner seabirds of Spitsbergen: Northern
Fulmars, almost entirely of the dark ‘blue’ morph typical of high latitudes, dashing Arctic Skuas,
dainty Black-legged Kittiwakes, and the four common auks, Brünnich’s Guillemot, Black Guillemot,
Little Auk and Atlantic Puffin.
Next morning, we were anchored off the little island of Blomstrandhalvøya, and after an interesting
briefing on how to avoid being eaten by a Polar Bear and how to get in and out of a zodiac, we
landed at this rich coastal tundra environment. Here, as at many of our landing sites, we split into
three groups: a group of ‘amblers’ who could potter along slowly looking at the birds and plants, a
group of ‘hikers’, who could head up the nearest mountain to enjoy the view and a group of very
well equipped photographers, which we soon nicknamed, “the paparazzi”. The only restriction was
that with each group there should be a guide armed with a rifle – just in case we would encounter an
unfriendly Polar Bear. We had a look at the remains of an ill-fated marble mine plant, but the main
attraction here was the resident pair of extremely elegant Long-tailed Skuas, that posed so very well
for us. Rather shy Red-throated Divers inhabited the pond and a Pink-footed Goose had built its nest
on top of a crag. Several pairs of Barnacle Geese were breeding on an islet and a cracking male Rock
Ptarmigan was overlooking his territory from the top of a boulder. An excellent selection of colourful
and interesting flowers like Purple Saxifrage, Arctic Bell Heather, Hairy Louseworth, Mountain Avens
and the tiny Polar Willow were also much appreciated. Several Reindeer of the small and short
legged Svalbard race were grazing nearby.
In the afternoon we visited the interesting scientific community of Ny Ålesund, the northernmost
village in the world, containing the northernmost shop and post office on our planet. Here, we
learned about the exploits of Amundsen, Nobile and Ellsworth in their attempts to reach the North
Pole by airship, and checked out the ponds, creeks and shoreline for birds. One of the highlights was
the friendly female Arctic Fox with her seven adorable pups, but the splendid adult Ivory Gull in its
immaculate white finery really stole the show. A pair of Common Ringed Plovers tried to lure us
away from their nest and hordes of Little Auks were circling high over the nearby mountain which
holds the northernmost cable car in the world. The rarest bird was found by Alan as he showed us a
vagrant male Common Blackbird at the dog kennels. Probably the northernmost Common Blackbird
ever !!
After another scrumptious dinner we cruised into the Kongsfjord and ended the day by admiring the
amazing Kongsvegen glacier at close range. The high and imposing ice cliff showed patches of
different magical hues of blue and hundreds of Black-legged Kittiwakes and Northern Fulmars were
bathing in the meltwater. Three Bearded Seals were loafing on the ice shoals.
In midmorning we arrived in the huge Liefdefjord on the northern coast of the archipelago. The
mirror-like sea reflected the spectacular surrounding snow-covered mountains, but as soon as we
2 Birdquest: Spitsbergen 2007