More Longyearbyen Wildlife – Part 2 – Bird Ponds

Photo of a male Long-tailed duck
Male Long-tailed duck

After our visit to the area around the Svalbard Global Seed Vault and then the walrus on the beach, we headed to the bird ponds over the road from the Longyearbyen Camping site which lies just a short walk from the Longyearbyen airport. The ponds are lovely habitat with a number of small gravel islands to provide security for breeding birds. The ubiquitous Arctic terns were in full breeding mode, courtship feeding and squabbling.

Photo of an Arctic tern with a fish for courtship feeding
Arctic tern with a fish for courtship feeding

Ringed plover and Purple sandpiper gave nice opportunities for low angle images as they foraged along the edges of the ponds.

Photo of a Ringed plover foraging along the edge of a pond
Ringed plover foraging along the edge of a pond
Photo of a Purple sandpiper foraging
Purple Sandpiper foraging

I noticed a pair of incoming Long-tailed ducks and was lucky to get a sequence of them landing.

Photo of Long-tailed ducks in flight
Long-tailed ducks

My most exciting sighting was a Red (Grey) phalarope. These are fascinating little birds and I will devote a post to it.

Photo of a Red phalarope in flight
Red phalarope in flight

This was a location I could happily spend days at.

Photos with Nikon Z9 and Nikkor Z 800mm f6.3 VR S

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