Photo: Common gull chick stands in driveway between vehicles, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. June 30, 2025. 19:28

You are being closely watched if you are on Lofoten at the moment. Not from people or any technology, but from the local birdlife. And if you walk in the wrong location, you are likely going to be made aware of the all seeing eyes in the sky as you are dive bombed and screeched at by angry parents.

Like every year, there has been an exponential increase in the already lively bird activity in my neighbourhood. And since it’s no longer spring and horny seagull season, we are onto the next stage of life in Lofoten’s short summer: new chick season. As I’m writing this now, I can see 3 young gull chicks occasionally make an appearance on the rock outside my office window – the same rock as the photo below with the curlew standing atop.

And it’s completely normal to see a pair of gull chicks walking along the edge of the parking lot in Henningsvær or an oyster catcher family in a round a bout in Leknes so you might be attacked just walking down a sidewalk or parking your car. Nature or village, it doesn’t matter to the ground nesting birds.

Growing up in southern California I only knew seagulls as birds that liked to eat trash, steal your food if you were near the beach, and try to poop on you when riding your bike. It was an adversarial relationship between a young me and the seagulls. Little did I know, there are actually many types of birds that I would just call a seagull. And only after moving to Norway, I discovered that the various gulls don’t like each other that much either. It turns out that the large gulls that would try and steal my french fries also like to eat the young chicks of the smaller gulls. Hence the noisy nights at this time of year.

It seems there is something of a peace between several of the birds in my neighbourhood, as the oystercatchers, Curlews, and common gulls don’t seem to predate on each other’s chicks. While the larger herring gulls and black-backed gulls, along with the ravens and crows will be quick to gobble up an unguarded chick should they get the chance.

In the photo below of the curlew on the rock, there are actually 3 common gull chicks at the base. One of the gull parents sits on my sauna, keeping a watchful eye, though doesn’t seem bothered at all by the curlew; whose chicks are also somewhere wandering around in the deep grasses. When the curlew eventually leaves, a parent gull will fly down and feed the 3 hungry chicks.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3
370mm
ISO 1100
f6
1/800 Second
WB Daylight

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3
600mm
ISO 1100
f6.3
1/800 Second
WB Daylight

Photo: Meadow of yellow buttercup – smørblomst flowers overlooking Nappstraumen, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. June 17, 2025. 22:53

The Summer Solstice is tomorrow here in Norway, and with that, the official start of Summer. Although realistically, I consider all of June to be Summer here on Lofoten – Basically once the fields are green and full of flowers. It is in these next couple weeks, from the 2nd half of June into the first weeks of July that Lofoten is at its most vibrant and colourful stage of the year – all underneath the 24 hour shine of the Midnight Sun.

Many are hoping for a repeat of last year’s incredibly warm and sunny summer, but so far the Lofoten’s is remaining on the cooler and greyer side of things, with many days of misty clouds over the past weeks and only a handful of days even reaching 15˚C. Although this is not abnormal, a coolish June. And in fact, June has basically the September, 9.7˚C and 9.4˚C, respectively. It is only the months of July and August where the islands reach an average higher than 10˚C. With the new travel trend of ‘coolcation,’ Lofoten will generally always be a good place to escape the burning sands of southern European beaches.

On the brighter side, it looks like the sun will make a nice appearance for tomorrow’s Solstice and might even stick around the rest of the weekend! Hopefully it’s enough to dry out my overgrown lawn, with is about a month overdue for it’s first mowing of the summer, as I spend the end of May and the first half of June down in Scotland, mostly on Shetland and Orkney photographing puffins and gannets.

I had not actually intended 2 photos this week – usually I save for when I’m trying to illustrate some change in conditions or something. The second photo (below) is what I planned to post, to show the nice misty clouds over the mountains of Himmeltindan, Mannen, and Veggen, as they rise in the distance from Vestvågøy. But as I just got back home this week, the field has already become a little overgrown as the grasses begin the grow higher than the flowers, making the foreground a little busy.

The above image caught my eye better once I sat at the computer to look for an image to edit. It doesn’t really show what I wanted to illustrate or write about for this week, but I think it’s a better image overall.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm F/4
75mm
ISO 500
f5.6
1/160 Second
WB Daylight

Photo: Misty clouds hang over distant mountains rising over Nappstraumen, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. June 17, 2025. 22:52

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm F/4
70mm
ISO 500
f5.6
1/160 Second
WB Daylight

Photo: Summer sea fog approaching from the north, Myrland, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. June 4, 2021. 21:42

The sea fog, or fog monster, as I generally refer to it is the ruin of many summer evening BBQs and camping plans each year. Within a very short period of time, what is a nice summer day can suddenly drop in temperature as the fog arrives, cloaking the landscape in a layer of cool, misty grey. Above the fog, it still remains a nice summer day, but if you had not already made the plans to be at 400-500 meters, the normal highest elevation of fog, you will be stuck in the grey.

Sea fog occurs when warm air passed over cold water, quickly reaching its saturation point. For Lofoten, this is most often in early summer, but can occur later in the summer as well. The fog is quite difficult to forecast, but a warning sign that it might arrive will be a forecast for a nice sunny day with a slight northern wind – this is a prime recipe for fog along the northern coast of Lofoten.

I can often watch from my house as a wall of grey begins to approach from the north. Usually quite gradually at first, but once the fog near, it can be a quick change from sitting outside in a t-shirt and shorts to rushing to find a fleece and jacket, and then probably just going inside all together.

These two photos today are taken just 12 minutes apart. That’s all the time it takes to go from nice BBQ weather an mountain views, to barely being able to see my neighbours’ houses.

Camera Info:
Nikon D810
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
70mm
ISO 100
f10
1/60 Second
WB Daylight

Camera Info:
Nikon D810
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
24mm
ISO 100
f10
1/60 Second
WB Daylight