A day of As: Auks, Adders and Auroras

The day started off to a bad start as Gustav left us but he stayed with us all day through spirit. We were all very touched by the message you left in the guest book, the station will feel very different without you.

For us still here, the day started off as usual with migration count for Simon Jr and Thomas. As Simon put it, the 30 first minutes were punishment, for what I’m not sure, but it was out to get them. I stayed back to cleaned for the first few hours and joined for the last part.The Kittiwake (Ride) migration slowed down today with only about 2,000 individuals which was nothing in comparison of yesterday’s 10,000 but still some nice views as some flew over the beach and observation point. Some nice views of Whooper swans (Sangsvane) and Greylags (Grågås) flying right near our observation point which is always a treat especially for goose master, Thomas. A big flock of Snow bunting (Snespurv) with two Lapland bunting (Lapværling). Hiding in between them kept flying around us as they were foraging. A Great northern diver (Islom) flew by to keep Simon Jr and Thomas happy through the cold wind. Jørgen and Igor popping in to check on Thomas and Simon Jr was also very appreciated. But the highlight of the migration were the amazing views of the Little auks (Søkonge) flying in close to the beach and in between some of the visitors of the tips unaware of rare little bird flying around them.

We came back to the lighthouse slightly early as the stuffed birds from the museum are going to another home until the lighthouse’s reopening in spring. Niels Eriksen arrived around 12:30 and brought us some apples.

In the afternoon, we headed to the harbour to try and find the earlier reported Little auks (Søkonge). We had a stop on the way when Simon Jr saw a small Adder on the cycling path. The snake was very small and very late in the season to be still active. Hopefully, it goes into hibernation soon and survives the winter. Simon Jr was very excited to hold the snake like Gustav had taught him, taking over the torch from him.

Once at the harbour, we looked out but saw not much apart from the roosting Cormorant (Skarv) (116, counted perfectly by Thomas) and a few bigger auks but not the wanted Little Auk (Søkonge)! We were heading back when we saw a man with a nice camera and stopped. Right decision! Three Little auks (Søkonge) were foraging right by the side of the seabreaker. Simon Jr went right down and got some very nice shots as you can see from the picture. A Razorbill (Alk) also wanted to see what was going on which allowed for some close up shots too. The sun setting sky colours also looked very pretty against the big bright moon.

Photo: Simon Kiese 

And the day ended on a perfect evening looking at the Northern lights. Thank you to Simon Jr for showing me how photograph on my camera, which took a while to figure out but worth it!

Today’s observations on Dofbasen from observers in the area.

People: Thomas Weston, Mathilde Ducroz, Gustav Nyberg, Simon Kiesé.