Photos from Nordland

Here are a selection of photos from around Bodø and Værøy.

11:55pm looking north from Værøy- the sun shines strongly

midnight. The sun sets (real midnight sun is restricted to a few days at the end of June at this latitude)

First some of the different Lesser Black-backed Gulls (sildemåke). First off, the fuscus from Valnes, notice the dark wings without any real border to the black wing tips.

presumed fuscus Lesser Black-backed Gull

presumed fuscus Lesser Black-backed Gull - notice how the light can change the appearance of the upperparts

Some from Værøy:

A fairly easy graellsii

An obvious graellsii in the middle with a Herring Gull (gråmåke) on the right and a darker LBBG on the left which I take to be an intermedius.

A difficult bird which could be dark graellsii or pale intermedius.

Another difficult bird which was quite small and cute so probably a female. The flight shot shows significant contract between the wing and wing tips so this is a graellsii I reckon. Also the photo was taken at 10pm so the grey back probably looked darker than it would have looked in the middle of the day.

I’ve read that the intermedius types in northern Norway might be the result of hybridisation between fuscus and graellsii. I don’t know about this but I can say that LBBG’s come in the whole range of colours up here. I also saw one dark graellsii type seemingly paired with a Herring Gull which could result in some even more difficult looking offspring.
EDIT: of course I had not considered the possibility of HEUGLINI when I wrote the original entry. I don't believe there are proven records of this sub-species in Norway but it is probably just as likely at this latitude and longitude as Graellssi

Some other pictures:

Killer Whale (spekkhogger)

3 Killer Whales including a youngster

Otter

Common Seal

Also some scenic botanical shots from Værøy

A pale Whimbrel (småspove) – Slender-billed Curlew look alike

A group of five young Pintails (stjertand)

1k Pintails - the green on the wing of the right-hand bird shows it to be a males

The lack of green shows this bird to be a female

Gannet (havsule)

Gannet and Fulmar (havhest)

Juvenile Herring Gull