Red Letter Days

Apologies for no blog yesterday, but things got fairly busy in the evening period. Yesterday was a pretty good day with 314 new birds of 11 species. Redpoll dominated with 278 but there were signs of more movement in Reed Buntings, Brambling and Meadow Pipit although so far there is little evidence of the mass movements of Meadow Pipits that we have experienced in previous years.

Today dawned still and reasonably bright but with a potential forecast of intermittent rain (which fortunately didn’t materialise). It became obvious at first light that it was a major day for Redpoll migration and as it turned out, it was a record breaking day for the site with a staggering 525 Redpoll out of a total of 641 new birds. Yesterdays suggestion of increased movement in other species was also born out with 44 Reed Buntings, 30 Brambling and 17 Meadow Pipits.

To give you an idea of the scale of Redpoll migration, here is a picture of just 2 of the nets at 5pm, showing around 30 Redpoll. 

Fortunately, with the experienced team we have, these were extracted, ringed, processed and released in short time in every round. The extreme variation in the appearance of these birds continued. And here are a few pictures showing some of the variations including some birds which would have formerly been classed as Arctic Redpoll.


Here is a picture of a typical “Mealy” Redpoll of the left and a typical “Arctic” Redpoll.

The typical smaller, recessed bill of the “Arctic” Redpoll is on the left.


Here are the undertail coverts of 2 typical “Arctic” Redpoll, with no dark centres to the feathers.

One of the most stunning birds here in Varanger is the Bluethroat. There are 2 races recognised in Europe, and this picture shows a classic adult male of the Northern “Red Spotted” variety.



You can clearly see the red spot at the base of the throat.

One of the disappointments of the trip has been the low numbers of waders in the area. Reports from locals of over 3000 waders a couple of weeks ago are now less than 100. However, your intrepid team continue to put in the effort regardless of the minimal success. We live in hope….. further reports tomorrow.


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