It has been a while since our last wildlife update, so here’s an update for the bygone summer.
After a long winter which already started in October last year, the spring was late this year. We had snow until May, and Kattfjordeidet was partly covered in white until mid-June. All of this meant that the birds arrived a little bit later and therefore also the chicks were late.
For many years we have had a big tern colony on the little island just outside Lauklines. This year the terns arrived in the end of May, and although some terns stayed here the entire summer, they did not build a big tern colony this year on the island. We do not know the reason, but we suspect that might be due to two otters that live on the island. Although charming creatures, otters are known to be quite disrespectful towards nesting birds. We see the otters often at Lauklines and almost daily we can hear them below the jetty, se the video below:
There has been a lot of smaller fish in the fjord, and this attracted different kind of wildlife here. Thousands of puffins and razorbills gathered in big groups just outside Lauklines in June and July and we have seen porpoises swimming by almost every day.
As we are now already in September, the terns have left, and we spot less migratory birds these days. It is good to start the journey towards south early. After all, many of the species have a long journey ahead, some fly all the way to Antarctica!
