AUTUMN BACK TO WINTER IN TROMSØ, N.NORWAY (69*50'N)
Of course, it could not last! October this year had been uncommonly mild,
but the last days temperatures gradually dropped towards the freezing
point, and the white cover on the hillsides came lower and lower again. And
this morning it had arrived, and everything is white again, albeit quite
slushy: it is not really freezing cold as yet. The wet snow clings to
everything, but as soon as the sun comes out---even as low in the skies as
it is these days--- the trees start dripping, and looking against the light
the birch forest looks wonderful, all dripping patches of snow and
glistening droplets of water. The paths are quite muddy still--we have had
quite an amount of rain--and the streets are slushy rather than slippery,
but that probably won't last long: one cold night and the footing will
become much more uncertain, probably for the rest of the winter. But by now
all cars have their studded-tire winter wheels on, and even some of the
more fanatic all-year round bicyclists have changed towinter tyres on their
off-road bicycles.
This is hunting season, and many of the locals walk the hills searching for
Willow Grouse and Ptarmigan, and that too becomes a risky business in this
in-between season---a few days ago one Tromsø hunter was killed nearby
after slipping and falling 100m down a hill. In tiown the situation
bird-wise has remained unchanged; the thrushes (mainly Fieldfares these
days) still throng the Rowans (Mountain Ash), and there seem to be berrries
galore for the time being. The first flock of Waxwings has also been
observed in town, and as almost every autumn, there is an unfortunate
Hoopoe around in the district; they usually starve as soon as the ground
gets too frozen for them to extract their prey animals.
The days get shorter and the nights longer, so chances of the wonderful
Aurora Borealis spectacle increase steadily, and I have wayched it several
times already during the last week. And all for free!!
Wim Vader,
Tromsø Museum
9037
Tromsø, Norway
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