Rare Visitors & Unexpected Wildlife

We have seen one Pallid harrier the last couple of years. The pallid harrier (Circus macrourus) lives and breeds across the open steppes, semi-deserts, and grasslands of central and eastern Eurasia (including Kazakhstan and southern Russia).

Mandarin ducks visit Vesterålen some years. Other years there are no observations. In the wild, mandarin ducks live in East Asia (including China, Japan, Korea, and Russia), and have feral populations in parts of Europe.

We have seen one Great white egret in Vesterålen the last couple of years. Great white egrets live in warm and temperate wetland habitats across the Americas, Africa, Asia, and southern Europe. They stay near shallow fresh or salt water, including marshes, lakes, ponds, and mudflats, and build stick nests high in trees.

We see 1-2 walruses each summer in Vesterålen. Walruses live in the cold waters of the Arctic and subarctic regions. They spend most of their time in shallow coastal areas, pack ice, and sea ice where they can easily dive to the ocean floor to find clams and other food.