Blame it on the weather men

Today has been an testing day with the weather, with no forecasting service seemingly able to get anything near accurate for what actually occurs, so maybe we can't blame it on the weatherman.  Perhaps the topography of the Varangerfjord around Nesseby complicates things.  A combination of strong winds and drizzle turning in to heavy rain has greatly reduced our catching efforts today.  Its only day three and already the lack of sleep, long days and almost constant daylight make it feel as though we've been here for over a week, but at least the birds are great.  As well as the species caught in the nets, Hooded Crows, Arctic Skuas and Merlin are seen regularly throughout the day.

Despite the challenges we still managed a respectable 112 new birds.  During a short dry period we had a test run with a wader catching attempt resulting in two Dunlin being caught along with several Meadow Pipit and Bluethroat that were also feeding along the tide line.  For the latter species it proved to be another productive day with 32 new birds caught.  Many of the birds we are catching are juveniles, some of which almost look as though they've not long left the nest!  We're still catching a few adults, including a few stunning adult males with their full blue throat feathers that look even more vibrant up here in the north.  The same goes for some of the adult Redpoll too.  On the flip side to the Bluethroats increasing, today saw a notable lack of Meadow Pipit despite the same level of effort to catch them as our previous two days which saw a total of 68 birds caught.  By comparison, today we caught just four.

Bluethroat

Out on the mudflat, thousands of waders continue to feed busily with a mixture of Dunlin, Ruff, Redshank, Little Stint, Curlew Sandpiper and Oystercatcher all present.  Venture out on to the mudflats and the evidence of their feeding is obvious as the surface is littered with prints.  Harder to find is the evidence of the Merlin that is making the most of the all you can eat buffet, at least once they've caught a bird!

Nesseby Church

Dunlin

Wader prints in the mud

Tomorrow's weather is looking much better with most of the day being dry and pleasantly warm at around 20oC.  Hopefully today's weather will have held up a few birds for us tomorrow.



Totals (New Birds): Monday 8th August 2016
Reed Bunting 17
Bluethroat 32
Meadow Pipit 4
Willow Warbler 19
Redpoll 19
Brambling 8
Fieldfare 2
Greenfinch 1
Great Tit 3
House Sparrow 3
Dunlin 2
White Wagtail 2
Total 112