Three more species in sub-zero temperatures. Us two, Mike Duckham and Pekka made an early start to target Ring Ouzel. We drove back south-east along Varanger Ffjord in bright sunshine but bitterly cold with much snow still on the ground from yesterdays falls. Can this really be the ninth of June, with the wind chill the temperature is well below freezing and five layers of clothing is not enough! Pekka does not seem to feel the cold like us soft Brits and is soon out of the van scanning a low cliff. We hear a Ring Ouzel sing and we all scan hard, there, low down on the scree, a fine male. We watch as this pibald mountain Blackbird hops from rock to rock giving its distinctive chack-chack calls. But the cold is to much and jump back into the relative warmth of the van. Happy with our new addition to the list we relax and bird our way back to Vardo. Numerous stops to search the beach and waters offshore reap great rewards. We find two White-billed Divers and five King Eiders, enjoy gorgeous Long-tailed Skuas floating over the tundra, a Red-throated Pipit is watched nesting building, just magic birding! Back at Vardo the weather has gone down hill, gone the sunshine, now sleet and an increasing wind. The main group head off for a boat trip out to an island with a seabird colony. As there are no potential new species on offer we opt to bird on our own around the harbour area. We find shelter behind some old fish factory buildings with a view of a small bay. Despite the awful weather the beach is alive with birds! Dozens of Purple Sandpiper feed frantically on the tide line almost engulfed in each breaker crashing in. Amongst them are Turnstone, Dunlin and two Rock Pipit. Just beyond the white water a gang of tiny delicate Red-necked Phalaropes manage to find food in the freezing waters. Long-tailed Ducks and Common Eider fed further out again. The rough ground just behind the beach looked ideal for Twite, which we needed. We walked towards the area and immediately saw a Twite! If only all birding was this way! The sleet was now heavier so we retreated to the hotel and got stuck into some admin. The others came back from the island soaked and bitterly cold, having seen no species we needed, whew, we made the right decision.
We headed out again, everyone, and birded the area around Vardo and the area we had been early morning. The weather was still poor and birding was hard work but we still got some great birds, Glaucous Gull, Bluethroat, leking Ruff, more King Eider and lots of cracking Lapland Buntings.
Bird species total 22859th June