The Bird Cliffs of Alkefjellet

On the NorthEast side of the island of Spitsbergen at a place called Alkefjellet, there are high cliffs and ledges used by birds to breed and raise chicks in the summer months. The main bird on the cliff was the Brünnich’s Guillemot and there were tens of thousands of them on the cliffs, in the air, and on the water. We toured the cliffs in the little zodiac boats, which is the only real way to tour this remote location. And yes, everyone got pooped on.

The high cliffs at Alkefjellet feature narrow ledges that the guillemots use as a nesting site. They don’t build a literal nest, but lay their eggs on the cliff ledge. These high ledges would seem inhospitable, but it does keep the birds and their young relatively safe from predators like the arctic fox, though the young can still sometimes fall prey to other birds. Both of the guillemot parents care for the single chick, taking turns going out to hunt for fish. The image below show rows Brünnich’s Guillemots lining the cliff edges at Alkefjellet.

Brünnich’s Guillemots line the ledges along the high cliffs at Alkefjellet

The guillemots are prolific divers and can stay under water for several minutes diving beyond 40 meters. Evolutionarily, they did have to retain the ability to fly so that they can nest out of reach of most predators or else they may have ended up more like the penguins on the other end of the world. But they do get the black on the back white on the belly appearance that penguins are famous for as I suppose this makes them harder for predators to see while they are diving.

When the chick is ready, the father goes down to the water and calls for the chick to jump in. The little chicks hop off the high cliffs and are able to survive the long fall to the water below and join up with dad. At this point the father begins molting and will temporarily lose his ability to fly while he grows new plumage, so the father and chick begin swimming south for the winter. I guess the mother guillemot goes off shopping and antiquing with her friends during this time.

I did enjoy seeing the birds, but my favorite part of this expedition was the landscape itself. If left to me, I could have worked on photographing the cliffs and waterfalls most of the day. The steep stepped cliffs made for the most interesting waterfalls as the glaciers slowly melted above. I often didn’t know whether to shoot wide or zoom in on details. So I did some of both.

Close-up of steps in waterfall

It was a bright gray day and it was difficult to shoot the dark cliffs without over exposing the sky. But the gray background helps the colors in the cliff to stand out. When I look at the photo below shot at 125mm, I wonder why I didn’t zoom in and focus on the bottom of the waterfall as it would have made a nice detail.

As we continued to work our way down the cliffs, I kept looking at this spire of rock shrouded by fog in the distance and hoping we’d get closer. Occasionally I’d take a photo of it as it looked so ominous.

Eventually we got there and I got to take my photos. The photo below is probably my favorite photo of the trip. The fog in front of the distant cliff providing perfect layering and depth and the bird few in at just the right moment. I do wish I had left my self a bit more room around the edges for straightening as it was difficult to get a level horizon bouncing around in a boat. I took a lot of copies of this photo and this one had the birds in a good position so I used it. Two zodiacs full of people were removed in Photoshop.

Me after a successful photo outing.

48 thoughts on “The Bird Cliffs of Alkefjellet”

    1. Fortunately the birds miss my head with the pooping. But after a while I notice poop on my jacket, then I looked around and just about everyone had poop on their jacket.

      The cliffs were the star of the show in my opinion. The birds were just there for ambience. There were so many birds, I didn’t really know where to focus, so I took a lot more broad environmental shots.

      I gave the place a 5 star review on Google.

      Liked by 4 people

      1. It’s too bad, as I understand guano is very good for human hair, adding bounce and luster. Someday I’m sure there will be a guano shampoo.

        As beautiful as your photos are, I’m starting to conclude that that area of the world is for the birds.

        Liked by 4 people

        2. I seem to remember that there was a time when Alabaster and Snowball had some birds poop on them. See how I predict the future. I’m glad you agree about guano being good for your hair. Keep looking up, your turn is coming.

          Liked by 3 people

  3. Fabulous pictures. I can imagine the awe I would feel seeing the waterfalls.
    Fun facts about the birds. I wouldn’t make it as one of the young birds having to jump off the cliff. No thanks!
    I will choose to stay off the cliffs and go antiquing like the mother birds. 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

  6. Nice Jason. And guessing there were no cliff divers? And by the way, if hadn’t cleaned your jacket well enough for the return trip home, you could send samples of the p__p to your friends and family. Also, is there maybe an updated photo for your blog that you might be posting? Nice hair, dude! SMILE……

    Like

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