Arctic Birds - Storied Pixels: Photography by Charlie and Paula

Arctic Birds

We saw many bird species around Svalbard, some of which were breeding in great numbers. The most spectacular breeding site is Cape Fanshaw on the Hinlopen Strait, where huge limestone cliffs rising vertically several hundred feet are covered with nesting Brunnich's Guillemots which number in the hundreds of thousands.

Glaucous Gull on floating ice (bergy bit).
Black-legged Kittiwake
Ivory Gull, a true Arctic species that remains in the high Arctic year-around.
We were treated to a somewhat bouncy Zodiac cruise along Cape Fanshaw to view the incredible nesting colony of Brunnich's Guillemots. There were several hundred thousand birds in that colony, including the inevitable predators such as the skuas.

Overview of Cape Fanshaw on the Hinlopen Strait.