I found some Black-Legged Kittiwakes hanging out on a rock near Russia this afternoon. However  the other birds I saw given this sign made me think perhaps I should not point my super zoom camera (65x optical zoom) in their direction. Discretion is the better part of valor! We were only 200 yards from Russia at this point.

Here are some non Russian birds which were on a Norwegian rock … Black-Legged Kittiwakes.

We were birding and “not birding” a bit east of Kirkenes on the Arctic Ocean. Our guide book said to visit King Oscar’s Chappel. This church was built in 1873 to encourage Russia to leave Norwegian fishermen alone (local conflict over fishing rights). Apparently the local Norwegians wanted to have a gunboat stationed at the mouth of the river on the border. Someone in the king’s court decided that a warship would be inflammatory … they got a church instead. I suspect the Russian fisherman did not stop fishing Norwegian waters due to the new church.

Finally … one more image from yesterday … a Reindeer.

Tomorrow evening we start home to America. It will take us almost a day and a half to get from one remote part of the world to another.