Svalbard (Spitsbergen) birds, birds, birds – day 6 & 7

Day 6

South of Edgeoya

In the pack ice looking for polar bears.
Nikon D4, Lens: 24-70mm f/2.8G, Focal Length: 24mm, Aperture: f/8, Shutter Speed: 1/250s

Plying icy waters the ship shivers and shakes as ice clonks against its steal hull.  The feeling is eerie.  I look out at the charcoal water and endless puzzle-like pieces of ice.  With white ice sculptures adrift on the sea — the setting is Daliesque.   The Arctic is loneliness, isolation, even melancholy.  But, as in all solitude, once one adjusts to the emptiness, the gloom falls away and one begins to hear the song in the silence.  One sees the beauty in the desolation.  Here turquoise pools form within the crystal flows and chunks of ice, shaved and polished, begin to resemble Henry Moore masterpieces.  Black guillemots land on the water near the ship, flashing their bright red feet, while thick-billed murres or Brünnich’s guillemots (Uria lomvia), look like airborne penguins as they fly over the ice.  Northern Fulmars, stocky, grey seabirds with ebony eyes, catch the wind and soar alongside the bow.  In the Arctic isolation means a frozen bird haven.

Tanya is looking for bears.
Nikon D4, Lens: 24-70mm f/2.8G, Focal Length: 32mm, Aperture: f/5, Shutter Speed: 1/100s

From the bridge, I watch the Arctic ice peel away from the ship, bumping and shifting as the bow navigates the endless ice garden.  Sonar continually hums, shaking the silence.  I join my passionate fellow travelers and Dan and Tanya Cox, who are co-leading the trip with Wolfgang, as we continue to pan the ice with our binoculars.

Day 7

A Northern fulmar glides over the ocean near Bellsund.
Nikon D4, Lens: VR 200-400mm f/4G, Focal Length: 400mm, Aperture: f/4.5, Shutter Speed: 1/800s

Bellsund, Varsolbukta

Today we hike up a hillside to a colony of nesting Little Auks (or dovekie Alle alle) -thousands on a rocky scree slope.  The birds perch on the rocks, their chicks or eggs tucked within the cracks.  Beyond the colony, we walk across the tundra on pillowy mosses, crossing a stream that slices between lush green grasses.  Reindeer antlers, occasionally attached to a skull, and fluffs of reindeer hair, litter the slope.  We come upon a small herd of reindeer, with four creamy-colored calves, grazing on grasses.  In most areas of Spitzbergen, there are only a few reindeer, but the abundant grasses here are able to support an entire herd.

Our photo group at the Little auk colony.
Nikon D4, Lens: 24-70mm f/2.8G, Focal Length: 70mm, Aperture: f/5.6, Shutter Speed: 1/125s

Close-up of a Little auk or dovekie.
Nikon D4, Lens: VR 200-400mm f/4G, Focal Length: 340mm, ISO 400, Aperture: f/5.6, Shutter Speed: 1/800s, tripod

Little auks sitting on a rock after returning from feeding at sea.
Nikon D4, Lens: VR 200-400mm f/4G, Focal Length: 400mm, ISO 800, Aperture: f/6.3, Shutter Speed: 1/1000s, tripod

A group of Little auks is sitting on a rock… Nikon D4, Lens: VR 200-400mm f/4G, Focal Length: 400mm, ISO 800, Aperture: f/5.6, Shutter Speed: 1/800s, tripod

…when suddenly a fight breaks out. Nikon D4, Lens: VR 200-400mm f/4G, Focal Length: 400mm, ISO 800, Aperture: f/5.6, Shutter Speed: 1/800s, tripod

Little auks fighting.
Nikon D4, Lens: VR 200-400mm f/4G, Focal Length: 400mm, ISO 800, Aperture: f/5.6, Shutter Speed: 1/800s, tripod

Little auks fighting.
Nikon D4, Lens: VR 200-400mm f/4G, Focal Length: 400mm, ISO 800, Aperture: f/5.6, Shutter Speed: 1/800s, tripod

In the evening we all gather in the ship’s dining rooms to share stories of our shore walk and past journeys.  Laughter bubbles up from a table as Bonnie tells another wild tale.  We all enjoy the challenge and humor of decoding Wolfgang’s German accent.