Better late than never!

19/09/16

With our final day of ringing looming on our Pasvik project for this year, the team were looking to make the most of our last day. An early start was needed to make the most of the day and we continued ringing at our Nyrud site until just shy of midday.

As we have come to expect from the slowly diminishing returns at this site as migrants leave the area, the day totals remained fairly low, however we were happy to catch a good mix of species, with no obvious ‘prominent’ species. Reed Buntings and Great Tits made up the bulk of the catch, unsurprisingly, however it was a very happy moment to finally find 3 Redpolls sitting in the net. A long overdue addition to the trip list, considering how many were caught by the other team at Nesserby earlier in the autumn (and how many were present on our trip up there a couple of days previously!). Better late than never. A male Brambling added a dose of colour to the day list however the probable highlight was the trapping of a 3^rd control Russian Great Tit! Again an adult male, and again from the same ring sequence as the previous 2 the day before! Interesting stuff!

 Totals for Nyrud on our final day are below.

Reed Bunting	8
Great Tit	6 +1
Common Redpoll	3
Willow Tit	2
Dunnock	1
Brambling	1
Totals	21 +1

Vaggetem

As has become the norm, once returning from Nyrud, we arrived back at our cabins and the feeder net was opened, and today it proved far more productive than our ringing in the morning, with good numbers of Great Tit and Greenfinch caught among the hoards now visiting the feeders. A fine male House Sparrow was the only one caught from a flock of around 15.

Great Tit	13
Greenfinch	9
Willow Tit	2+1
House Sparrow	1
Totals	25+1

2 immature Red-Crested Pochard proved to be the highlight from our birding during the day, floating around on the river north of Vaggetem. A very unusual sighting within the arctic circle for this usually southern and eastern species, apparently the first record since 2005! Following one distant individual Moose swimming across the river earlier in the trip, it was great to see a pair feeding in a field close to the road on the drive to Nyrud this morning. Their huge size simply defies belief when you see them up close, phenomenal animals! We have been finding tracks and scat very commonly every day spread widely across Pasvik, so despite their size they are obviously very shy!  2 White tailed Eagles flew along the river at Nyrud this morning, giving some great views. They are much more common on the Varangerfjord and these 2 were only the 3^rd and 4^th seen during our 12 days in Pasvik.

From Russia with love!

18/09/16

We were back on the ringing site by 6:30am this morning following another night of cold conditions and a hard frost on the ground. The temperature gauge read -2.5 as we drove to the ringing site. As the sun broke the horizon though, the temperature quickly rose and the nets were open.

A Black Woodpecker had been heard calling next to one of our net rides just after opening the nets, and to everybodys immense excitement, on the next net round, a huge bird was brought back to the ringing table. The Black Woodpecker!

It was a new bird species for the head ringer, so for his first Black Woodpecker to be in the hand was pretty special! It isn’t very often these birds are caught, and even then usually by random chance, so being able to admire its huge size and spectacular crown colour and iris up close certainly made most peoples day!

What a bird! Huge!

Almost as exciting as a male Black Woodpecker however were 2 Great Tits….  Not because of their scarcity, but because 2 of the 8 we caught today were bearing Russian rings! Needless to say, we were doubly excited to get 2 control birds, both adult males, and both from the same ring sequence!

Although we can see Russia from our ringing base, these are the first Russian controls for the project. Hopefully some of the Great Tits we have ringed will make the return journey!

After having been our most numerous species a week ago, the numbers of Reed Buntings here have dropped dramatically, and only 2 were caught today. With these stragglers now starting to filter south, there is a real feel that passerine migration is drawing to a close before the winter up here in the Arctic.

Totals are below:

Nyrud

*Black Woodpecker	1
Great Tit	4 (+2)
Greenfinch	4
Bullfinch	2
Willow Tit	2 (+2)
Reed Bunting	2
Totals	15 (+4)

Vaggetem

Great Tit	4
Greenfinch	3
Willow Tit	1
Totals	8

It was a good morning for Grouse on our drive over to Nyrud this morning, with a party of 2 young Capercailie and 6 lekking Black Grouse, not bad considering the hunting season has commenced. An exploratory journey into a new area of the Pasvik National park revealed some superb habitat, however we could only find 7+ Siberian Jays and a few Crossbill Sp. The family of Cranes are still present just down the road from the campsite, with 6 present this evening!

Road Trip

17/09/16

Today one of our team members headed home, and as a result, we decided rather than driving the 100km to the airport and then turning around, we would continue north around the fjords and across the tundra, through Varangerbotn and across to our other ringing site at Nesseby. From this, as well as seeing lots of interesting species, was to check how migration was evident at this site, to allow for an active comparison with our current ringing at Nesseby.

Our journey up took longer than expected, with many scenery photos, viewing locations and emergency stops for crossing Reindeer. A foray across the border into Finland added a country tick to a few peoples ‘lists of places visited’ before we made the journey back east. Once at Nesseby, good numbers of Arctic and Common Redpoll were in evidence, a species that is almost lacking in Pasvik currently. Other than Meadow Pipits and Reed Buntings, all seemed quiet here too on the passerine front, hinting that many of the migrant have already gone from the north.

Some excellent birds were seen on our roadtrip though, multiple White-Tailed Eagles (including a stunning view of a bird carrying prey at Nesseby!) and hundreds upon hundreds of seaducks. By far the most numerous on the inner varangerfjord were Red- Breasted Merganser and Common Eider, with lesser numbers of Long-Tailed Duck and Common Goldeneye

White-Tailed Eagle- Nesseby

Reindeer roadblock

Old Blokes Pipit!

16/09/16

Another early start at the ringing site at Nyrud, again slightly delayed by overnight rain. Although a day with only 24 birds, it was great to experience a real mix of species, and again, pull another Varanger rarity from our nets.

As with the Yellow-Browed Warbler earlier in the week, we managed to find another 1^st for Southern Varanger this morning in the form of a stunning Olive-Backed Pipit! We had commented earlier in the week how good the habitat looked for the species on passage, so it was good to know another of our theories had come true!

Right on typical ‘OBP’ form, as soon as the bird was released it melted away into the pine and spruce woodlands. However, we were able to admire this stunning bird, with its strong supercillium, bright green rump and unmarked undertail coverts.

Olive-Backed Pipit looking stunning! (CR)

Willow Tits made up the bulk of todays catch, with a Tit flock having found its way into the woodland net, including a couple of retraps from previous years. 2 each of Great and Siberian Tit found their way into the net and a stunning adult Fieldfare added variety to the days list.

*Olive-Backed Pipit	1
Willow Tit	8 (+3)
Reed Bunting	8
Siberian Tit	2
Greenfinch	2
Great Tit	2
Fieldfare	1
Totals	24 ( +3)

Back at Pasvik camping, the feeder nets were opened and a total of 9 birds were caught. As has become the norm, Great Tits made the bulk of the catch. A single Greenfinch also found its way into the net, however we still have a good number of finches that we could possibly ring before we leave.

Great Tit	8
Greenfinch	1
Totals	9

The team again decided to look for grouse this afternoon, particularly the elusive Hazel Grouse.,. No luck with these diminutive grouse, however it proved productive with 2 male Capercaillie found, Parrot Crossbills, and a great flock of 50+ Waxwings, the latter giving prolonged views, feeding on Bilberry from the floor.

Waxwing- feeding on insects above the rest of the flock on the floor. (CR)

Capper!

15/09/16

We were back on our ringing site at Nyrud this morning. We had planned on an early start, but overnight rain dragged out into the morning and so we didn’t leave camp until 5:30/6am. We opened 13 nets around the site and stayed on site until nearly midday. As has been clear from our last few ringing sessions here, few birds were active within the woodlands and scrub and the small numbers of birds caught is a general reflection to the density of species at this current time.

Late on in the session a large Siberian Tit flock neared the ringing site, however of the c40 birds within that flock, only one was caught, a retrap from last years trip at the site.

A Song Thrush was a new addition to the birds we have ringed this year, a smartly plumaged juvenile while Reed Bunting again made the bulk of the catch.

Below are the totals from Nyrud today.

Reed Bunting	7
Meadow Pipit	2
Willow Tit	1
Song Thrush	1
Great Tit	1
Siberian Tit	(1)
Totals	13 (+1)

A short session back at our basecamp at Pasvik Camping (http://pasvikcamping.no/ ) this evening gave a total of 2 birds. This was due to the lateness in the day, with most of the activity having died off. Totals below:

Willow Tit	1
Great Tit	1
Total	2

Our visit to Pasvik this year has combined with the opening of the grouse hunting season here in the far north. Even before the official opening of the season, we had noticed low numbers of Grouse, so following a tip off about a good site to find grouse, the team headed to Jordanfoss. Following a couple of hours in superb habitat, we manged to find 3+ Capercaillie, rather ungainly all feeding in the tops pine and spruce trees!

A male Merlin was hunting around the ringing site this morning, as was a Great Grey Shrike, which was hunting Meadow Pipits on the Russian side of the river. Another Great Grey Shrike today was involved in a fight with a Siberian Jay, which made for an amusing sight as they circled through the trees together. A family party of Cranes have become a regular fixture of our day lists, while during the last few days, a few 'Northern' Bullfinch have been seen.

Crane family party (AW)

'Northern' Bullfinch  (AW)

We will be out at dawn tomorrow at the ringing site, hopefully for another bumper day. We then intend to spend the afternoon looking for Hazel Grouse!

Siberian Shrooms

14/09/16

The group were unable to ring at our Nyrud site this morning, so we again concentrated on ringing at our basecamp at Pasvik camping. Here the team managed a very respectable total of 30 birds visiting our increasingly large feeding station (with the addition of some fatballs and some extra feeders). Great Tits continue to predominate, however we are still managing seeing good numbers of both House Sparrow and Greenfinch, so hopes are still high for more of these species.

A White Wagtail was a new bird for our ringed on site list.

Totals are below

Great Tit	13
House Sparrow	7
Greenfinch	6
Willow Tit	2
Brambling	1
White Wagtail	1
Totals	30Totals are below:

We were back on our main ringing site at Nyrud this evening in an attempt to catch some pre roosting Thrushes. This was mainly targeted at Fieldfares and Redwings. Despite a few hours effort, the majority of the flocks managed to avoid the nets, however we did manage a single Redwing as the very final bird caught and ringed.  Another Robin managed to find its way into the nets, a scarce bird up here. To add to the variety, a Willow Warbler and a single Great Tit were caught, providing us with 4 birds caught, of 4 species.

Totals are below.

Robin	1
Redwing	1
Willow Warbler	1
Great Tit	1
Totals	4

The team spent a while birding away from the site today, with one of the main highlights being a brief view of a Three-Toed Woodpecker, located while trying to find a drumming Black Woodpecker, a superb couple of additions to the day list. A walk from the campsite at to the nearby lake provided a few Great Grey Shrikes, Waxwings and good numbers of Siberian Tits. A male Blackcap and a Garden Warbler were located along the same path, proving that migrants are still present within the forests of Pasvik

Siberian Jay eating mushrooms! (SJ)

Yummy! (AW)

Siberian Tits were very confiding today (AW)

With the leaves falling from the trees, a number of birds nests are being exposed, including this Fieldfares nest.

We return to the ringing site at Nyrud tomorrow, and we are hopeful for a decent catch.

Hawk Owl!

13/09/16

A quiet day on the ringing front due to our ringing site being temporarily unusable. We expect to return to the site tomorrow afternoon at the earliest to rest a number of nets ready for a good bash on Thursday.

We however opened the net at our basecamp, which proved quite productive with a good array of Finches. A flock of House Sparrows have now found the feeders, so we were happy to find that a few of these had found their way into the feeder net. Although not a particularly notable thing back home, the birds up here are significantly different in size, shape and bulk to ‘our’ birds, so made for a very interesting catch. On all birds caught, there were very obviously dark centrered undertail coverts, a very striking feature, and one I have not noticed being so prominent on birds back home.

Massive House Sparrows! (CR)

Wannabe River Warbler undertail coverts! (CR)

The Greenfinch flock continues to build, and a variety of plumages were seen in the birds caught. Interestingly, we are observing no retraps in the finch flocks here, with very few ringed birds being sighted, showing that some movement in occurring.

Great Tit	9
Greenfinch	4
House Sparrow	3
Brambling	1
Totals	17

As a result of our main ringing site being unringable, the team drove north on a shopping trip, and also to visit a couple of local nature centres/ park visitor centres, where a number of feeding stations provided good views of a number of the common species up here. A Hawk Owl was seen by 1 carload of the group, but unfortunately disappeared just before the other had arrived. Obviously, it had been showing well!

Hawk Owl (AW)

A few of the group visited a couple of sites early this morning scouting areas within the park for ringing sites after an interesting opportunity arose, perhaps leading to increased and more widespread ringing within the park in future years. On this early morning venture, they saw a flock of Willow Grouse, Great Grey Shrikes and a number of Redpoll, including this stunning male Mealy.

Willow Grouse (AW)

Male Mealy Redpoll (AW)

This evening, the group scouted some habitat around a outdoor activity centre, with adjacent feeding station, where a Red Squirrel was giving point blank views, and some interesting variations were noted in the local Willow Tits compared to the birds we have been catching in Pasvik. These birds show prominent apricot flanks, rather that our cold ‘silver’ Willow Tits we have been finding. 

Willow Tits showing apricot/ peachy flanks (AW)

Red Squirrel (HH)