Birds And Birding In Norway

With last weekend’s heavy rains and new heavy showers on Monday, what wader habitat that had appeared soon disappeared and flooding soon took over. Despite this I started the week with a morning trip to Prestegardsmoen and Grandane in the centre of Voss. Things were quiet with the only species of any interest being 3 Parrot Crossbill. The next stop was Gjernesmoen and I found myself wading through 5 cm of water to get out to the small island at the mouth of the River Bordalen. The bushes and small trees on the island were teaming with passerines, of these 2 Bluethroat were the most interesting but there were also Siskin, Twite, Common Redpoll, Yellowhammer and Reed Buntings as well as the numerous Willow Warblers.
On Tuesday I decided to head for the mountains and was rewarded with a Golden Eagle and a Common Redstart. This was the first Redstart I had seen in Voss this year, despite spending several hours trying to find singing males during the spring. On Wednesday I tried Gjernesmoen again, water levels had dropped and 2 Greenshank and 3 Common Sandpiper were in the area. Bluethroat numbers had risen to 6 birds and these had been joined by 4 Whinchat, all of which were in a small area of rough grassland and bushes. Thursday proved uninteresting, despite that I visited two of the local marshes, so I wasn’t full of hope when I left home on the Friday and headed for a new woodland area that I have never visited and found White-backed Woodpecker. The weekend went very quickly, but it also produced some interesting species with 2 Common Cuckoo and Common Kestrel at Herresåsen and 2 Peregrine Falcon at Granvin. Now I will have to pack my bags and set course for Falsterbo in Sweden. Next time I update my blog will be week 37. Good Birding everyone!!!