Ifjordfjellet, encore

After three days in Tromsø I switched back to field-mode, to spend July at Ifjordfjellet for the fifth (!) time. This year the lemmings are around, but not in as large numbers as in 2007. In some places they have managed to destroy the vegetation completely...


And the guilty guy is here.


For a few days the winds were coming from the south, bringing along +30C; something that none of us was quite prepared. In the tundra there are no trees to make shadows to shelter... and the mosquitoes were around so clothes had to be kept on to some extent. we were quite roasted, and happily welcomed the thunders and rains that cleared the air. Some of them came us a wall, about 45 seconds after taking this photo we were showered quite thoroughly... And as I am horribly scared afraid of thunder above the treeline (due to an unlucky experience at a fjelltop when radiotracking raindeer at Kilpisjärvi in 2004) working under these clouds was no fun...


Sataa ku saavista kaatamalla. Noin 45 sekunttia kuvan ottamisen jälkeen vesiseinämä ennätti yläpuolellemme ja kasteli kaiken oikein huolella.

As we have lemmings, also the bird-activity is higher than low-lemming-years. Birds of prey eat them, so they nest in moderate numbers this summer.


Shorebirds do not get eaten as the predators have other food - and so also their numers are quite high.
Which is not cool for the poor biologist trying to make sense at the golden plovers (på norsk: heilo, på finsk: kapustarinta) territories. At one point I had five pairs shouting at me in the same place... Beautiful birds though, and I do like doing the birdtransects. It is nice to observe living animals for change; mostly I count and collect exceriments, measure traces of herbivores on plants or just simply snaptrap rodents (a politically correct way to say that they die in the traps). One of this years highlights was watching this fox being chased by long-tailed skuas.