Date: Thu, 11 Jul 1996 11:16:01
From: Harri I Hogmander
Lofoten Islands
Hi all,
John Muddeman asked about the birds of the Lofoten Islands. This is an
edited version of my reply.
I just came back from a one-week birding trip to Lofoten and Vasteralen
(the islands, especially Andoya, north of Lofoten - before the trip I
thought they also belong to Lofoten).
Here are some birds that we (Tomi Hakkari, Pia Juvonen, Lea Partanen and
me) saw on June 29 - July 4. (I have skipped some probably non-interesting
species such as Mallard.)
- Northern Fulmar - mostly far in the sea, we saw about 100 on a whale-trip
- Northern Gannet - common in Andoya
- European Shag - common
- Grey Heron - common in the southern part
- Whooper Swan - we saw 2+2 Between Andenes and Stave (Andoya)
- Greylag Goose - rather common
- Common Teal - saw it somewhere...
- Tufted Duck - rather common
- Common Eider - common
- Long-tailed Duck - rather common
- Common Goldeneye - rather common
- Red-breasted Merganser - common
- Goosander - common
- White-tailed Eagle - rather common, there were 13 eagles above the
bird-island Bleiksoya near Bleik!
- Rough-legged Buzzard - saw maybe 2; see comment about owls below...
- Golden Eagle - did not see in Lofoten, but near, should be also in Lofoten
- Peregrine Falcon - one near Moskenes in the very south
- Willow Ptarmigan - heard near Stave, should be common in the moorland
- Eurasian Oystercatcher - common
- Ringed Plover - rather common
- European Golden Plover - moorland and coast meadows
- Northern Lapwing - cultivated fields in Andoya
- Common Snipe - moorland
- Whimbrel - common
- Eurasian Curlew - less common than Whimbrel
- Common Redshank - common
- Arctic Skua - common
- Long-tailed Skua - group of 4 on the whale-trip
- Great Skua - luckily 1 on the whale-trip!!!
- Black-headed Gull - 1 in Andoya
- Mew Gull - common
- Lesser Black-backed Gull - should be seen
- Herring Gull - common
- Great Black-backed Gull - common
- Black-legged Kittiwake - common, nice road-side colonies near Moskenes
- Arctic Tern - common
- Common Tern - less common than Arctic Tern
- Common Guillemot - rather common
- Razorbill - rather common
- Black Guillemot - we saw only twice
- Atlantic Puffin - common, great colonies e.g. in Bleiksoya
- Common Cuckoo - heard twice
- We saw (or heard) no owls, maybe the rodent cycle is low this year
- Common Swift - saw maybe twice
- We saw no woodpeckers, but at least the Great Spotted should be there.
- Meadow Pipit - common
- Rock Pipit - on rocky shores, look for large pipits
- White Wagtail - common
- Whinchat - we saw only one
- Northern Wheatear - common
- Common Blackbird - saw one in Borg
- Fieldfare - common
- Redwing - common
- Willow Warbler - common
- Willow Tit - observed once
- Great Tit - rather common
- Black-billed Magpie - common
- Hooded Crow - common
- Common Raven - rather common
- Brambling - common
- European Greenfinch - common
- Twite - saw twice in Andoya
- Common Redpoll - common
- Reed Bunting - common
As I do not have my notes with me now, I may have forgotten some species
which are not so interesting to me as a Finn. We concentrated in sea
birds, so climbing up to the fabulous mountains should add some species
to the list.
We took two boat trips in northern Andoya. One to bird island Bleiksoya
near the village of Bleik (2-3 hours, 200 NOK per person), and a
whale-trip from Andenes (6-10 hours, 575 NOK (?)). I highly recommend
both! The whale safari should be booked at least some days in advance.
Harri Hogmander