I finally made it to Svalbard! Truly a dream come true to finally visit the place of my boyhood dreams:)
It was probably a week too early and temperatures never got above 2C - but didn't get much below -2 either. But the ground was thawing out and there were plenty of birds, even though the species list was not that big and I didn't see the much hoped for Ivory Gull ismåke. The last one I saw was in Seahouses harbour back in the '80s:)
I only took my point and pray camera, the real one stayed at home. I only regretted this once (see below).
Day one was arriving, picking up a hire car and settling in. A drive up Adventsdalen gave most of the expected species with Teal krikkand, Dunlin myrsnipe, Purple Sandpipers fjæreplytt, Ringed Plover sandlo, King Eider praktærfugl, several Glaucous Gulls polarmåke, Pinkfeet kortnebbgås, Barnacle Geese hvitkinngås, Svalbar Ptarmigan svalbardrype, Snow Buntings snøspurv and Brunniche's Guillemot polarlomvi among the species noted.
Of mammals seen Beluga had to be the highlight - with a pod of them seen from coastal cliffs not far from the airport:)
The following morning we awoke to clouds of Little Auk alkekonge visiting their breeding cliffs opposite our hotel. The sound was as impressive as the views. This is one of the sights I came to see:)
We did some drive-bys in Adventdalen before catching a boat trip to Tempelfjord in the afternoon.
The area around Adventdalen again produced a lot of birds with Pintail stjertand, King Eiders praktærfugl, good numbers of geese, Red-throated Diver smålom and so on. A female Gadwall snadderand joined a male Wigeon brunnakke at Hotelneset, just down from the airport. Good numbers of Black Guillemot teist all over.
Tempelfjord produced 100's of Brunnich's Guillemot polarlomvi, lots of Fulmar havhest (mostly dark phase), Puffins lunde, Little Auks alkekonge and more.
The following day all I did was what was by now the usual routine, covering the roads along Adventdalen and popping in on Hotellneset. Snow showers for much of the day:)
Wonderful to see these birds on Svalbard - a species I grew up with as a winter visitor in NE England and regularly watch passing SW Norway on their way north:)
Back onshore the "usual round" produced plenty of birds too:) Svalbard Ptarmigan svalbardrype was again present outside the hotel along with Snow Buntings snøspurv and the usual geese.
On 24th May another boat trip, this time on a larger catarmaran took us to "pyramiden". Plenty to see on this trip too, with another Polar Bear (this time with a kill), Bearded Seal storkobbe, Ringed Seal, Belugas hvithval, Arctic Skua tyvjo, and much more. Highlight was a 2cy ROSS'S GULL rosenmåke heading north up Isfjord with Kittiwakes krykkje on the way back to Longyearbyen. A Great Skua storjo was a new species for the trip:)
Visiting the usual spots onshore gave Red-necked Phalarope svømmesnipe and the usual suspects.
On the penultimate day I didn't take any photos, it was more of the brilliant same with good numbers of King Eider praktærfugl, Red-necked Phalarope svømmesnipe and plenty more. The only new bird for the trip was a lone Herring Gull gråmåke.
The last day saw me go for some last ditch attempts to find the gull I wanted to see. I failed on this but did pick up a lovely pair of Grey Phalarope polarsvømmesnipe on the sea:) A Lesser Black-backed Gull sildemåke was the last new species for the trip too.
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