This trip (June 8th to 21st) fulfilled several ambitions for us: to travel for the first time beyond the arctic circle, to visit the spectacular Lofoten Islands en route, and to sail round the North Cape of Norway into the Barents Sea and to visit Murmansk for a first taste (in our case) of Russia. For quite a few passengers (including myself) we were following the later part of our fathers' harrowing journeys on the very dangerous WW2 Russian convoys taking vital supplies into Murmansk and to Archangel.

Birding was therefore very much an incidental part of our trip, and only three of us were what one might call "serious birders" though one lady (Dawn) found the only Great Grey Shrike of the trip; in all between us we recorded 115 species of birds.

The pick of the birds seen were as follows:

Black-throated Divers
Red-throated Divers (nesting at Tromso on a fresh water lake)
Whooper Swans (on fresh water lakes in the Lofotens)
Bean Goose- a single which circled our ship, well out at sea.
Eiders - commonest on most fjords.
King Eider- only one, seen by one of the guys (David) on a day away, (a "stake out" by his regular Norwegian contact, Anders, up at Honningsvag).
Velvet Scoters, about 6 birds in company with Common Scoters on Sognefjord.
Long-tailed Ducks, seen by David on his day with Anders.
White-tailed Eagles, - seen almost daily in the north.
Rough-legged Buzzard, one near Honningsvag, north cape area.
Peregrine, one only, (and no Gyrfalcons seen at all, something of a surprise).
Willow Grouse, -several at sea level in the Lofotens.
Ptarmigan, -seen on an excursion by others.
Wood Sandpipers - a breeding pair on the freshwater lake above Tromso.
Glaucous Gull -only one, seen by David in Murmansk port.
Great Skuas, - a scatter of records on the open seas.
Arctic Skuas, - both dark and pale phase birds noted; -the commonest Skua.
Long-tailed Skua, -surprisingly only one seen by anyone. (Pomarine Skuas had already moved off further east into Russia according to Anders; -none recorded)
Puffins - common, though none have raised young on the Lofotens for the last four years.
Black Guillemot, regular in the fjords in small numbers.
Guillemot, - I didn't personally see one, though John and David did see a couple. The species is in serious decline, numbers are 90% down in the last few decades, and unless this is remedied it will be extinct as a breeder in Norway in ten to fifteen
years.
Brunnich's Guillemot ,- one only seen by David on a visit to Gjesvaerstappen Nature Reserve, some nine miles west of the North Cape cliffs. This was my only potential lifer, but I passed on this in view of the absurd cost of £129 per head (so £258 for Barb and me) for a 3 1/2 hour trip.
Hawk Owl - David was shown one by Anders, who had one staked out.
Tree Pipit - one seen only by Barb and me at Leknes, Lofoten.
Red-throated Pipits, - a breeding pair which Barb and I found on high moorland above Hammerfest in the far north.
White Wagtails - the only Wagtails of any, were all of this form; -surprisingly Grey Wagtails are just not up here in spite of streams which would appear to be quite suitable, -perhaps the winters are too harsh?
Waxwing - one seen only by Anders/ David.
Bluethroat - only two seen, one found by John, the other by me. I was walking the same Hammerfest moorland some half hour after watching the Red-throated Pipits, when I heard an attractive but entirely new song coming from some dwarf birch trees in a gully. I waited patiently for a few minutes as I had to trace the sound back to the singer as I knew it was something special, and the bird appeared high in the upper foliage, though at eye level; -a stonking Red-spotted Bluethroat!
I rated this as my "bird of the trip" as I had never before heard a Bluethroat singing.
Whinchat, -I had the only one of the trip at Eidfjord, and also the only Redstart, (though this latter was a "heard only" in the far north at Kirkenes).
Fieldfares rate a mention as they were abundant everywhere in suitable habitat (i e wooded cemeteries) feeding young. (Mistle Thrush is absent in the north and Fieldfares seem to fill that niche in Norway).
Redwings were not as abundant but they seemed to have two distinct song variations (which had me fooled for a day or two.
Warblers noted were: Sedge Warbler - the freshwater lake at Tromso; Garden Warbler, Whitethroat, Blackcap at Trondheim, Chiffchaff common south of the arctic but scarce further north.
Pride of place must go to Willow Warbler which ranges all the way to the North cape, and which I was still hearing in Murmansk (as I was sneaking a pee in some birch trees, as the public toilet was as disgusting as can be).
Arctic Warbler- David was shown one by Anders on his "away day".
Wood Warbler -one only seen by John.
Pied Flycatchers- Common in suitable habitat.
Spotted Flycatcher- scarce, I found one of only two at Geirangerfjord, early in the trip.
Siberian Tit - Anders had one coming to his garden feeders at Honningsvag. - A lifer for David.
Nuthatch - a few seen, of the northern "white-bellied" form, Trondheim, and earlier further north by John.
Great Grey Shrike- only seen and well described by Dawn Grant up at Leknes, Lofoten, who insisted it had not been a wheatear and who was delighted when she saw it in the field guide, and described it as all the time "sitting a top a bush". Our "rarities committee" of three were satisfied with her identification.
Hooded Crows -a common scourge seemingly everywhere.
Raven -a few were showing particular interest in the cod heads put out to dry on huge outdoor racks at Eidfjord amongst other places. These are ultimately crushed to powder and exported to Africa and to Japan and Portugal as a source of protein and food supplement.
Bramblings- quite common in birch plantations and looking really spanking in full black-hooded plumage. The "song" is very close to the wheeze given by Greenfinch which is also here alongside and afforded much opportunity to practise getting it wrong sometimes!
Twite - seems to totally replace Linnet in the north and we didn't record Linnet at all.
Common Redpoll - the only Redpoll sp. which we identified with confidence (couldn't tell anyway on call). I watched fledged young being fed in an overgrown cemetery of dense birch trees up at Hammerfest.
Siskin - generally abundant
Bullfinch -a couple of males of the big fat red northrn form at Nusfjord fishing village.

The passage down to Murmansk was a study in itself, - a mix of wilderness and dereliction, with wrecked boats and derelict huts and even a tank minus its turret and gun, rotting where they had been left.
Murmansk is the most populous city north of the arctic circle, but its population is in decline and is now around 300,000 plus.
We passed by Severomorsk, the main base for Russia's northern fleet, with the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznyetsov in dry dock, and several submarines and guided missile destroyers. We moored at the old grim looking fish docks with a view over the soviet era blocks of flats stretching over the hills. We spent four hours ashore visiting various sites of interest. As we had no individual visas we were in an organised group but it was worthwhile and gave me a chance to practise my Russian, telling our local guide among other things that my father had been here in WW2, the "Great Patriotic War as they refer to it.

-A very worthwhile visit, but nobody ,I suspect would want to visit Murmansk twice!