Birds And Birding In Norway

This weekend I visited the coast near Bergen where the first stop was Sotra. It was nice to get away from the snow and see green fields. The weather was pleasant as well, though there was a strong breeze at Hellesøy and Svellingen. So much so, it was difficult to sea-watch with tripod shake and a very choppy sea. One bird that seemed to utilize the wind was an immature White-tailed Eagle. It sailed the sky’s with the greatest of ease. A flock of 36 Great Cormorant sat huddled together on a rock, the birds on the outside, regularly getting covered by sea spray.   Small flocks of Common Eider and Long-tailed Duck bobbed on the sea. Small flocks of birds were passing by further out to sea, but tripod shake made it impossible to ID them, so maybe it was time to head for some of the more sheltered bays. At Davøy I saw both Iceland and Glaucous Gulls. It is always nice to see these species, but it is great to see them side by side. Also at Davøy an immature White-tailed Eagle flew over. The gulls seemed to take it in their stride, but 5 Grey Heron that were standing on a rock took to the wing. There were several small flocks of Common Goldeneye and Red-breasted Merganser also sheltering in the bay. Just before I left a Eurasian Sparrowhawk pressed some small passerine out of a bush. I didn’t have a chance to ID as it twisted and turned to escape the out-stretched claws of the pursuing raptor. Next stop was Tjeldstø, things seemed quiet. 4 Greylag Geese hardly lifted their head when I got out of the car to watch them. I walked along the road watching some of the commoner species like Blackbird, Great Tit and Greenfinch. On reaching the end of the road I stopped to count a flock of Fieldfare. 19 birds in all, had all these spent the winter, or could I hope that some had just flew over the North Sea from England and spring migration was starting? I also visited the neighbouring island of Askøy. Here I made my way to Herdla, one of the best localities to watch birds in the county, and I was not to be disappointed. I had no sooner set up my scope when a Great-northern Diver swam past just 30m from the shore. Further out on the fjord 1 Common Guillemot and 3 Razorbill dived none stop in their search for something to eat. Once more there were small flocks of Common Eider and Long-tailed Duck as well as good numbers of Velvet Scoters, the males splendid in their all black plumage with characteristic white wingbar and orange bill. It was late when I arrived at Herdla and the light was fading fast. On the way back to the car a flock of 20 or so Common Starling flew into their night roost. I stopped a while and listened to their chattering – a nice way to end the trip.

There seems to have been a slight increase in the number of Greenfinch flocks during the past week here at Voss, and amongst these flocks there has been small numbers of Common Redpoll, but as yet no numbers of Siskins that are worth mentioning. The highlight on Saturday was a juvenile White-tailed Eagle  that was hunting along the main river that runs through the centre of Voss. Come Saturday night it was blowing a gale and I decided to visit two of the local fjords on Sunday, you never know what could be blown in. On the way I had to drive round and over small and large branches that had been broken off trees and were lying in the road. According to the Beaufort scale then I was birding in a fresh gale. I didn’t realise how strong the wind was until I got to the river that runs into Granvinfjord, here a group of people were trying to rescue a caravan that had blown onto the river bank. As expected in this wind, Granvinfjord produced very little of interest. Next stop was Ulvikfjord, here the ferry seemed to be struggling to cross the very choppy waters. Birdlife was at a minimum, Herring Gull numbers had dropped since my last visit. Though numbers were down, they had been joined by Common Gull. They seemed content to ride out the storm by bobbing on the waves but they soon had a change of mind when an adult White-tailed Eagle (picture) flew over the fjord. It was at a great height and no threat to the resting gulls, but they didn’t take any chances, it was safer in the air than on the water.

 

Since my last outing I have kept indoors, though it has been mild we have had a lot of rain. However, the rain was not the biggest problem, the mild weather turned the heavy snow fall into thick ice and treacherous road conditions. Driving unless absolutely necessary was just not an option. Even today it was raining but most of the ice on the roads had melted but the rain had also brought with it extreme flooding to the lakes that surround Voss. I decided to check a wetland area that so far this year has been completely frozen over. Today was another kettle of fish, almost the whole marsh was under water. As I got out of the car I could hear the call of Whooper Swans. A cold wind blew from the north, the melting blocks of ice that had followed the river were piling up along the ice edge of the still frozen lake forming a huge ice pack. Amongst all this ice 24 Whooper Swans looked so at home. I had expected other waterfowl but here I was to be disappointed, only 5 Canada Geese had taken advantage of the new feeding grounds and were busy grazing on a small island that had been formed by the flooding. Not a great species list, but it’s not always numbers that matter. The sight of the Whooper’s, the ice pack and the cold wind from the north made for a truly great experience.

A slight snowfall of a few inches set a stamp on the weekend. New snowfalls always make a good photo motif, especially with the addition of birds, so with this in mind I found my bins and camera and set off. At the moment we have two uncommon members of the finch family here at Voss, a Hawfinch and a European Goldfinch. Both are feeding at bird tables but since the Goldfinch is the more interesting of the two locally, I decided to try for that. Unfortunately, the bird did not turn up during the two hours that I waited. Sunday was a cold day with temperatures under minus 10 c. In such conditions it is not uncommon with a frost mist along the waterway system that runs through Voss. Once again you can experience a great photo motif with the swirling mist. The thought of taking some photo’s of the local Whooper Swan population in the mist seemed a good idea. This time there was no problem in finding the birds but due to ice on the lakes they were so far away there was no chance of taking a good or half decent photo. The day was however not lost, I did manage to count them with a day’s total of 67.