Today saw the first team depart back for the UK, but before leaving Ferg's team wrote the following summary...
Continuing on from our now distant blog entry on the 8th, it's time for us to leave, but not before we fill in the gaping hole between then and now.
Sunday 9th
It rained! .... All day! We therefore decided a chill out day at camp, on the cabin verandas was called for. Not much was seen but, as the weather cleared later, we were treated to on osprey fishing on the river and later, a waxwing calling as it flew over the camp site.
Monday 10th
Much improved weather allowed us to get the nets open and catch some birds. As it turned out, it was the best day's ringing for my team with 179 birds processed, including our star bird, a young hawk owl, caught in the woodland net. The day proved to be very fruitful for what we consider to be Pasvik specialities, with the very first bird caught a siberian jay, 8 siberian tits and 2 little buntings also ringed. Sightings included a black grouse seen on the way to the ringing site and one of several hawk owls that were seen during our time here. We set one of the Hi-flier netting systems later in the evening, close to the camp site and bounced a short-eared owl in one of the stacked nets.
Tuesday 11th
A day of variable weather; squally showers and wind, curtailed ringing activities early on but not until 86 birds had been logged for our day total, including 5 new Little Buntings and a very young Robin! Sightings included a Rough-legged Buzzard, 6 Siberian Jays at the camp site, a tit flock seen by Andy, contained 20 plus Siberian Tits and 10 plus Willow Tits. Other sightings were a small flock of Crossbills, some House Martins and Sand Martins at the ringing base.
Later in the afternoon, the group went for a jaunt up to some nearby cabins next to a lake which tested our resolve due to thousands of marauding Mosquitos! We didn't see much but the owner of the cabins told us that he had found a Great Grey Owls nest on the other side of the lake and that he regularly saw the adults flying around. Mammal sightings included a possible Beaver or Muskrat, seen by Helen. Earlier in the day, a Moose was seen swimming across the river from the Norwegian side over to the Russian mainland (one of 6 seen during our visit).
Wednesday 12th
Another miserable day greeted us as we looked out of our cabin windows but we ventured out and managed a paltry 25 birds towards the ringing totals. The weather improved slightly in the afternoon so the group went to Svanvik to do some shopping and get petrol. We ended up going for a long walk along some nature trails and we saw many migrants in the grounds of one of the nearby buildings - lots of Yellow and White Wagtails, several dozen Swallows and House Martins, lots of Redpolls, including a stonking juvenile Arctic, lots of House Sparrows and a few Tree Sparrows. Other sightings included 3 Capercaillies seen on the roadside.
Thursday 13th
A better day weather-wise but very quiet on the bird front, only 69 birds added to our totals, including 7 new Yellow Wagtails - a species that has been migrating in substantial numbers since our arrival. Interestingly, they behave differently here compared to the birds we see in the UK; it is very strange to see them foraging in the trees and mixing with the tit flocks as they move through the site. Sightings included a White-tailed Eagle, 2 migrating Sparrowhawks, 2 Robins and a few scattered Little Buntings.
In the afternoon, we went to visit the Birk Husky camping site where they have a large feeder in the garden. One of the staff members told us that a Pine Grosbeak was over-summering and was often seen feeding with the tits and siskins but we were unlucky his time. Just up the road from here is a wilderness cabin owned by Birk Husky so we were compelled to visit as they too had a feeder that we hoped to find Pine Grosbeak. Again, we were unlucky but many birds were feeding including Siberian and Willow Tit, Mealy and Arctic Redpoll, Siskins and Greenfinch. A Hawk Owl was seen and later on, a small flock of Bean Geese was watched flying over the river from Russia. We enjoyed a superb meal, in the Viking long house, of reindeer burgers, pike cakes and crab pasta, followed by home -made ice cream with cloud berries.
Friday 14th
Today was a much better day, 156 birds ringed of which 111 were Willow Warblers - the commonest species caught so far on this trip. Sightings included 7 Capercaillies, an Osprey and a Black Woodpecker.
Later, we went off for a drive down some of the local tracks to look for bears as we had been told of several sightings in recent days. Unfortunately, we didn't find any but it was interesting driving amongst the more remote parts of the taiga forest. In the evening, we collected Colin's team from Kirkenes. On the way back, we saw another Hawk Owl and a Short-eared Owl, the former, a lifer for at least one of Colin's team mates.
Saturday 15th
We took Colin's team down to the ringing site and showed them round so they could familiarise themselves with the nets and and the ringing area. By the afternoon, they were in full swing, adding more nets and boosting the ringing totals towards 200. Sightings included another Capercaillie and our first Willow Grouse.
We took some time to explore the site whilst Colin's team got on with the ringing. We found quite a lot of recent evidence of bear so we decided to set some trail cams. We will leave them out until Tuesday morning so watch this space!
Sunday 16th
As Colin's team was now in full ringing mode, we decided to see some more of the local countryside and look for bears and birds. We had no luck with the former but we we were treated to a brief view of a Gyr Falcon, 3 Rough-legged Buzzards and a family of Willow Grouse. Helen and Tim found some recent evidence of Pine Marten and more bear scats.
Monday 17th
Our last full day and a home return for Cloe due to work commitments. Today was the best day so far weather-wise - at least 27oC and wall to wall sunshine! It was difficult to believe we are inside the arctic circle! Sightings have included Black Grouse, 5 Whimbrel, a Short-eared Owl and a family party of Common Cranes.
So, that's it folks... Another year over for the Wychavon Team. It's been an incredible experience and we have seen so many new things and ringed some nice Pasvik birds. Hopefully our efforts will continue to contribute to the growing knowledge of birds and wildlife within the Pasvik and the Varanger Peninsula.
A big thank you to Tormod and Elin for facilitating such an amazing trip and for making us so welcome, as they always do. Thanks to Jonnie Fisk for providing much needed help with the ringing and entertaining us with his humour. Finally, a huge thanks to Hanna for making us feel so welcome at Ovre Pasvik Camping - I'm sure we will see you again!
Fergus Henderson, John Hodson, Tim Dixon, Cloe Loo, Helen Stace and Jamie Dixon
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