Varanger, Norway
Avian spectacles abound in Europe’s Arctic waters
VARANGERFJORD’S SEA IS simultaneously freezing and boiling. In late winter, shouldered by flowing snowscapes, the Arctic waters of the north-east Norwegian mainland are festooned with blocks of ice. But the gentle swell also fizzes and bubbles with feathered activity. Thousands of Steller’s, king and common eiders, plus long-tailed ducks, gather to feast in these rich inshore waters.
Each member of the flock whirrs forward on hurried wings, its landing triggering the frenzied flight of another, such that the whole swirling morass surges forward in what has been described as ‘the king eider vortex’. This duck is well-named: the drake’s powder-blue crown contrasts with its pistachio cheeks, orange facial shield and strawberry bill. Its manifest beauty is arguably matched by the male Steller’s eider, whose black and white attire is offset by a peachy breast and protruding green feathers on its hind neck.
Ratchet up the intensity on a boat trip to Hornøya, an offshore islet that seethes with 80,000 auks and kittiwakes, a petite gull with inkpot-dipped wings. Here spellbound birdwatchers gawp as thousands of guillemots fling themselves off ledges, rushing overhead on a blur of wings, while hulking white-tailed eagles or gyrfalcons prepare to ransack the
