Norway in search of Knot.

 I’ve recently returned from Arctic Norway where I joined a team monitoring and trying to catch migratory Red Knot fattening up before they fly to their breeding grounds in Canada & Greenland. The journey involve4 three flights from Manchester with stops in Oslo & Tromso before arriving in Lakselv in daylight at midnight! Steve kindly picked me up and drove me the hours journey to our accommodation in Brenna. On the way I saw my 1st Mountain Hares, Elk and Reindeer of the trip. All three would become a daily sighting over the next two weeks.

Reindeer

Elk

A sleepless night ensued as the sun didn’t really set and kept me awake. I soon sorted the sleeping arrangements by clearing a windowless storage cupboard that was just big enough to lay my mattress down and let me sleep in darkness! 

My bedroom! 

Introduced to the rest of the team at breakfast the days plans were discussed with potential catching sites being surveyed and Knot flocks counted and legs checked for colour rings or flags. Incredibly we picked up birds from the Wirral that were flagged at Hoylake in 2024 as well as birds from Lancashire, the Wash and further afield from Dutch & Polish schemes.

37C at time of ringing in Hoylake in Feb 2024

 

37C in Borselve, Arctic Norway May 2026

Of course there were opportunities for observing other wildlife and White-tailed Eagles, Willow Grouse and Rough-legged Buzzard were seen daily. Lekking Ruff were seen at several sites - a real treat as full summer plunged male Ruff are incredible looking birds and rarely seen in the UK. The same plied to summer plumages Temminck’s Stints that were seen in good numbers. Displaying Wood Sandpipers was also a new experience for me. Bluethroats sang from every suitable habitat and Willow Warblers were seemingly everywhere. Willow Tits were relatively common and we’re quite different to the birds we see in the UK being very monochrome with very little buff / brown in the plumage. They are a different race than UK birds and very distinctive. 

Willow Grouse 

Later in the trip we started seeing the first migrating Long-tailed Skuas and Arctic Skuas .

Arctic Skua

We only managed one small catch of 33 Knot as they really weren’t playing ball. A roost site one day held no birds the following day. They seemed to be moving around at random unlike our winter catches in the UK where the high tide roosts are regularly in the same places.

These birds were fuelling up ready for their transatlantic migration with the heaviest birds being 200g. Around 30-40% heavier than wintering birds in the UK.

Canon netting involves lots of lying around waiting for the birds to come into the catching area. A very uncomfortable experience in the low temperatures and on rocky shorelines! The trick is to wrap up in as many layers as you can.

White-tailed Eagles were seen daily and were often perched up on rocks viewable from our accommodation. One of the birds photographed was ringed and it'll be interesting to see its history. These magnificent birds of prey are slowly colonising the UK after their reintroduction taking young from the Norwegian population. Their appearance caused panic in the waders and gulls and quite often the first sign of an eagles presence was the alarm calls of gulls or Oystercatchers. 

One day was particularly memorable for me not because of the birds but because of a close encounter with an Otter. I'd decided to walk the shoreline in either direction from our accommodation to check all the bays that we couldn't reach by car. I saw an Otter fishing but it couldn't smell me as I was down wind. It could see me but didn't seem to be to concerned apart from the snorting and tail slapping. I managed to get within a few metres of it whilst it fished and then hauled out  on a rock to eat its prey and have a snooze. 

The scenery was stunning with the mountains still having a snow on the highest passes. With almost 24 hour daylight there weren't any sunsets effects of the sun through the clouds and the cloud formations made up for it.

With the snow melt came the small alpine plants. Dwarf willows and birch were every where. Small alpine flowers such as s Rock Campion, Mountain Avens and Birdseye Primrose were beginning to flower and I learnt a lot from Steve and Rachel as they hunted in roadside ditches or rock screes for new plants! 

Dwarf Willow

Birds-eye Primrose

Rock Campion

Alpine Azalea

Mountain Avens

In total I recorded 94 species of bird in the two weeks I was there,. An amazing number considering how far north we were. The total included two new birds not recorded in the area before - Green Sandpiper and Hen Harrier. A fabulous place and a great experience working with a dedicated team studying Red Knot.

Bar-tailed Godwits

Short-eared Owl

Waxwing

Cuckoo, Hilbre

An email a few weeks ago from Liverpool University saying they were bringing a party of Evolutionary Biology students over for a field trip to Hilbre and could they visit the Obs had me juggling things around in my diary to make sure I could be there for them if no one else could make it. I'd been down to Devon for a few days to see my mum who, at 88, has just had a hip replacement, and was tired after the long journey back and didn't sleep well. Consequently I was awake at 05.30 but mooched around the garden with a brew listening to the dawn chorus for a while as I'd arranged to pick Steve up at 7.30. It turned out the students weren't prepared to get up early enough to walk across the before the high tide t 10.30 so we had the island to ourselves. It was cold but beautifully bright with clear blue skies. Not the best weather for ringing anywhere and especially not Hilbre where we generally rely on a bit of cloud and mist to bring birds down. Sure enough the first trap round was blank and apart from a single Wheatear that bombed through over our heads and a single Willow Warbler in the Obs garden there were only the local breeders around the island. Even these were strangely quiet. Steve remarked he thought there was a raptor around as the Oystercatchers seemed 'edgy' and were flying around in a tight flock calling. 

The reason soon became apparent as we walked the traps again. Another blank until we arrived at the SK. Steve called ' raptor in, move Phil' as a bird flew low in front of him towards the catching box end. I caught a brief glimpse of a blue - grey back and my immediate thought was male Merlin! However I soon realised my mistake when I spotted the tail and yelled ' its a f***ing Cuckoo' as I tried to pick it up by hand as it tried to get through the mesh of the heligoland. Safely bagged we took it back to the Obs where Steve ringed it watched by an appreciative small audience. A ringing tick for Steve but I'd been lucky enough to ring one yers ago when  I started ringing at Wicken Fen! 

It was aged and sexed as a 2nd calendar year female before being photographed and released at which point it headed straight back to the SK paddock. Celebrating with a brew we headed out again to see the Cuckoo heading off the island east before flying back over our heads and disappearing to North Wales with the strong NNE breeze behind it.

Checking the ringing records for the Obs we found this was only the 3rd Cuckoo ringed on the island in the last 40 years and only the 15th in total since the Obs opened 1957. The majority were ringed in the 60's and 70's illustrating the sad decline in this iconic species over the last few decades.

Spectacular Hilbre fall

I'd been to Hilbre with Steve on the 23rd April and thought we'd had a good day with a few Willow Warblers caught and ringed along with my 1st Redstart on the island since 2015. Compared to last year spring has been very good with a steady trickle of Willow Warblers and other species keeping the ringing totals ticking over. This female Redstart was the 2nd of the year following 3 blank years.

Roll forward 24 hours and I'm still jet lagged and tired after a full-on two weeks in Florida with all our grandchildren and children celebrating our forthcoming 40th wedding anniversary in June. Believe me the Disney experience is definitely not relaxing! 

Checking my phone I see a message from Steve asking if  I was about as Andrea had reported a big fall of Willow Warblers on Hilbre - at least 100 birds. Was I available? Next message was that Chris and Col were on their way over so  I guessed I wasn't needed. Steve then messaged to say there were at least 200 Willow Warblers on the island and it was definitely worth me getting across. 

Quickly dressing and leaving without having breakfast or having a chance to pack any food I messaged to say Id be at the Obs by 09.45.

When I arrived it soon became apparent this was going to be a very good day indeed.  Birds were arriving in off the sea all the time and the totals were slowly ticking upwards. This was turning out to be the best Hilbre fall for a number of years. Although Willow Warblers made up the majority of birds ringed (we eventually ringed 99) there was a smattering of other species with highlights being two Common Whitethroats. These allowed a good side by side comparison as they were a male and female. 

Male Whitethroat

Female Whitethroat

Male (L) and female (R) Whitethroat

Steve thought h'ed seen a male Redstart in the Blackthorn, near one of the heligoland traps and sure enough we caught it a bit later. A stunning bird.

With Chis and Col having to leave the island Steve and I carried on ringing, ably assisted by Andrea who scribed for us until the numbers started tailing right of and we stopped catching new birds. There was still time for one more surprise though when Steve extracted a Tree Pipit from the mist net in the Obs garden. The first I'd ringed on Hilbre since 2010.

An unforgettable day with 108 birds ringed  and the biggest daily total ringed on Hilbre since the last big fall of 2nd may 2012 - see here when we ringed 137 birds.