June 2022 plumbed new depths in my career of birding by bike through a combination of self-imposed wounds and misfortune. The first week of the month was never going to see anything added to the yearlist as we had planned a family holiday to visit our nephew in Norway. I'm not a fan of international travel, being content to spend my holidays in the UK where there are plenty of places I have yet to visit and plenty more I am happy to go back to. But with the children getting older and developing a bit of wanderlust, every now and then I lose the family plebiscite and have to succumb to the will of the majority.
 |
| Arctic Skua - one of the cool birds I saw in Norway while missing even better ones at home |
 |
| A breeding pair of dark-morph Arctic Skua |
On arrival in Oslo I got to use my new blue passport for the first time but was disappointed to find it didn't spirit me through Norwegian immigration and in fact consigned us to a very long queue. This caused us to miss the last train of the night, for which we had already paid, and shell out over £100 for a taxi to get to our accommodation.
 |
| The Norwegians don't muck about when it comes to bridges and tunnels |
 |
| This one was on the Atlantic Highway |
Not that going to Norway was exactly a hardship otherwise - we had a lovely week in amazing landscapes, did one of the great railway journeys from Oslo to Bergen, and even saw a few decent birds. But on the day we left the UK an Eleonora's Falcon was located in my former home county of Kent - a bird which in all honesty would have tempted me into the car had it been an option! Then to rub salt in, two days later a Gull-billed Tern appeared in Weymouth - it stuck around long enough that, had I been at home, I almost certainly would have had time to cycle there for a quality bike tick. Not to worry, I would just have to redouble my efforts on my return.
 |
| Great Skua on Runde Island, a great seabird colony on Norway's Atlantic coast |
 |
| One of several breeding pairs on Runde Island |
The first opportunity to do so arose just two nights after my return when a Quail was reported within walking distance of home on Wareham Common. As I headed out there on a breezy evening (no sign of the Quail, though I did hear one on Runde Island in Norway) I thought my hayfever was unusually severe, but after a rough night it became clear I was suffering with something more than hayfever, and a positive Covid test the next morning confirmed my suspicions. 48 hours of headaches and delirium were followed by over a week of various flu symptoms, and it was the 18th of the month before I felt well enough to tentatively head out for a local bike ride.
 |
| Puffin on Runde Island |
 |
| Ring Ouzel on Runde Island |
A second local bike ride the following day repeated last year's success with 'scoping Golden Pheasant on Furzey Island from the Studland peninsula. Another attempt the following weekend to scope a bird on a Poole Harbour island from the mainland (Roseate Tern on Brownsea from Evening Hill) was much less successful. Equally unsuccessful was a mid-week ride to Weymouth one evening later in the month in the hope of seeing an Arctic Tern - though at least that meant I could get the train home and save my legs and lungs which were still not back to full strength after the enforced lay off.
 |
| White-tailed Eagle - one of at least 5 seen on Runde |
 |
| A juvenile bird looking a bit sorry for itself on a rainy day on the island |
Then June was pretty much over - a meagre 80 miles cycled, my lowest monthly total since December 2020, and just 2 species added to the yearlist, my worst month since September 2021. Still, I had survived the disease which 180,000 of our fellow citizens did not, with apparently no lasting damage, and had a great family holiday before being laid low, and for that I guess I should be grateful.
 |
| Kittiwake colony in Alesund |
 |
| Icterine Warbler - fairly common around Forde where we stayed on our last night in Norway |
