At dusk 8 September 2012 ten dedicated birders left the marine base Haakonsvern in Bergen, western Norway on the Coastguard vessel KV Tor. The target was 20 nautical miles west off Marsteinen lighthouse (southwest of Bergen), and watch for seabirds attracted by our blend of semi-rotten Mackerel, cod-liver oil and bread. These areas have never been investigated by chumming birders before, so we were quite excited. See our route on this map.

Already when passing the outer islands along the coast the first Fulmars, Arctic and Great Skuas appeared. When we started chumming (continously throwing out portions of the fish-mixture), more and other seabirds were attracted. Fulmars were most numerous, and stayed with us all through the day, as did single or just a few Great Skuas. The star of the trip, a Sooty Shearwater, showed well on the most pelagic point. Here are the highlights of the trip:

Light-bellied Brent Goose (211 migrating) 
Black-throated Diver (1 juvenile)
Red-throated Diver (10+ migrating)
Sooty Sherwater (1)
European Storm Petrel (1)
Northern Fulmar (100?)
Northern Gannet (15)
Great Skuas (5+)
Arctic Skua (3-4)
Long-tailed Skua (2 juveniles)
Bar-tailed Godwit (8 migrating south)

Other species recorded during the day were Great Black-backed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Mew Gull, Herring Gull, Arctic Tern, Common Tern, Razorbill, Common Guillemot, Common Scooter, Common Merganser and Common Eider. Most of these were close to the coast.

All photographs were shot with a 400 mm. lens, iso values ranging from 800-2000 enabling me to use shutter speeds up to and above 1/1000 sec.

Participants (besides the crew): Lars Ågren, Dag Gjerde, Arild Breistøl, Terje Hansen, Michael Fredriksen, Egil Frantzen, Anders Bjordal, Terje Lislevand, Ragnar Vikøren and myself. Many thanks to the crew on board KV Tor for an excellent trip!

The Pasvik Valley is a tounge between Russia in the east and Finland in the west. It's longitude is about the same as Istanbul in Turkey, meaning we are as far east as we can come in Scandinavia. The habitats are a nice blend of marshes, river (that forms most of the Norwegian-Russian border), lakes and old coniferous forest. Pasvik is known for its share of eastern bird species that do not exist elsewhere in the country, and the largest population of Brown Bear in Norway lives in Pasvik.

Highlights of the day was several family groups of Siberian Jays, two Rustic Buntings, a Little Bunting, three Pine Grosbeaks, about ten Rough-legged Buzzards, twelve Cranes and lots of Siberian Tits. Some pictures from the afternoon birding and photography session 4 September 2012 follow: