Back to the Longyearbyen Dog Yards

tony
March 9, 2025
Arctic / Bird Photography / travel / Wildlife
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Photo of sled dogs resting in the Longyearbyen dog yards — Sled dogs resting in the Longyearbyen dog yards

Embarkation was scheduled for the afternoon of the day after our exploration of Longyearbyen wildlife activities but our ship was still en route so we had most of the day free. A return visit to the dog yards seemed a good option as there were plenty of photographic opportunities and it was a convenient walk, allowing a brief return for lunch before another visit while awaiting the arrival of our ship, the Polar Front.

First stop was a small pond at the edge of the road that allowed a nice low perspective on a Purple sandpiper feeding on emerging midges.

Photo of a Purple sandpiper plucking a freshly emerged midge from the surface of a small pond — Purple sandpiper plucking a freshly emerged midge from the surface of a small pond

Crossing the road to the fiord side allowed numerous opportunities on Common eider and Barnacle geese. One of the first subjects that caught my eye was this lovely Common Eider duck on a calm patch of water.

Photo of a Common Eider duck — Common Eider duck

Changing my position slightly let me get a clear reflection to push the water to white as a high key image.

I then got a sequence of her as she left the water and waddled along to a larger pond where there were more ducks resting and flying in to land.

There was regular traffic of landing ducks giving plenty of opportunities to practice flight shots.

Photo of a Common Eider drake in flight low over the water — Common Eider drake in flight low over the water

The first aim is to get a sharp image in a pleasing pose but it is always nice to try for something a bit more like this image of a flying drake and a resting duck.

Photo of a Common Eider drake in flight passing a duck at rest on the water — Common Eider drake in flight passing a duck at rest on the water

The other common subjects are Barnacle geese with many resting, flying in and some on nests.

Photo of a Barnacle goose at rest. Keeping low and utilising out of focus foreground helps concentrate attention on the bird. — Barnacle goose at rest. Keeping low and utilising out of focus foreground helps concentrate attention on the bird.

Photo of a Barnacle goose on the nest — Barnacle goose on the nest

A little further along were a collection of courting Arctic terns which offered some nice flight opportunities against the distant snow streaked hills.

Photo of an Arctic tern in flight — Arctic tern in flight

Photo of an Arctic tern coming in to land — Arctic tern coming in to land

While photographing we were keeping an eye out down the fiord for the approach of our ship, the Polar Front, which made an appearance right on schedule. Excitement ramped as our adventure entered it’s next phase.