The cabin

The last week has been spent at our cabin close to Bodø. We have electricity but no water and live a life close to nature here. The cabin is at Vågsbotn, a bay on the much larger Skjerstadfjorden. The bay has quite a high tidal range exposing a lot of mud but I have never seen many waders here. On this visit i had to make do with 35 Oystercatchers tjeld), a couple of Common Sandpipers (strandsnipe) and a flyover Spotted Redshank (sotsnipe) although not too far away I also had Golden (heilo) and Ringed Plover (sandlo) and Common Redshank (rødstilk). One of the highlights of the fjord is the frequent feeding sorties made by Red-throated Divers (smålom) who are often very vocal. A female Red-breasted Merganser (siland) had 5 youngsters in tow and gulls were represented by single fuscus and intermedius Lesser Black-backed Gulls (sildemåke) and numerous Common (fiskemåke) and Herring Gulls (gråmåke). White-tailed Eagles (havørn) are normally a common sight here but this time we had just two sightings although a Golden Eagle (kongeørn) was my first record. In the mostly birch woodland there were Pied Flycathchers (svarthvit fluesnapper), Chiffchaff (gransanger) and Willow Tit (gran eis). Nearby farmland had Yellow Wagtail (gulerle) and Whinchat (buskskvett) amongst others and a nearby quarry has breeding Sand Martins (sandsvale). Porpoises were often to be seen cruising the bay with upto four individuals. The area definitely has lots of potential but my visits habe never been long or frequent enough. We have previously had both Long-tailed (fjelljo) and Arctic Skuas (tyvjo), Ruff (brushane) and a july sighting of Waxwing (sidensvans).