A RARE SUNNY SUNDAY IN TROMSØ, N.NORWAY
June 2006 has been the dullest June month in history here in Tromsø, measured
by the number of sun-hours. Here we start out with an intrinsic large
advantage, as the whole month of June we have the midnight sun up here, so in
theory June could have 24x30= 720 sun hours. That of course never happens here,
with our basically Atlantic climate. The best we have done, in 1953 (before my
time here), was c 400 hours, still more than 11 sun hours every day. The worst
until now was 1975, --and I remember that well, as I was in the field for much
of the month--, with 116 hours of sunshine. But this year we beat that record
with a vengeance, and the new one is somewhere between 95 and 100 hours, I
don't have the exact number (30th of June was a sunny day, and almost spoiled
the record). And not only was it dull, it was often also chilly and windy, and
last week there was fresh snow on the top of 1270m high Tromsdalstinden, the
highest hill around, for a few days
But, as I mentioned, Friday 30 June was already a much better day, amd this
weekend was really summery, with on Sunday a temperature of c 24*C, little
wind, and almost too great a difference so suddenly after the 8*C maximum of a
few days before. But, as the Norwegian proverb asks: 'How long was Adam in
Paradise?'. Today, Monday, the temp. is back at 13*C, and rain drips from
low-hanging clouds; still little wind, though.
The people in Tromsø are very quick to profit from any summer day (we need to:
summer may be missed, if you oversleep one day!) and so yesterday, when I did
'my usual winter walk' to the airport along the coastal road, the road was full
of people walking and cycling, and in the intertidal there were people 'in
extreme summer dress' picnicking and sunning----swimming is a very quick affair
here, as the water temperature is still below 10*C! The island is full of
flowers now
in midsummer; in the forest the storkbills Geranium form a violet carpet,
while in the less nutritious areas the white Chickweed Wintergreen Trientalis
and the white 'false flowers' of Cornus suecica take over. The fields are also
white, with Cow Parsley Anthriscus, and along the road verges Buttercups
Ranunculus have taken over the yellow relay-pin from the dandelions. Here and
there stately orchids Dactylorchis appear in some numbers, most are beautifully
violet, but I found one immaculately white one among them. The air is full of
insects, although few obnoxious ones as yet (Tromsø is not badly bothered with
mosquitoes , usually), and also with flying white plumed seeds; a few are no
doubt dandelion d\seeds, but most come from the willoes that have flowered
abundantly earlier in the season. The trees flowering now are the Rowans
(Mountain Ash) Sorbus aucuparia, the flower extra abundantly this year---this
means something according to prevalent folk belief, but there are two schools;
those who say this predicts a severe winter, and those who say it predicts
little snow. We'll see who is rigt this time. here and there there are already
'late summer flowers': Cow-wheat Melampyrum, valerian and euebright Euphrasia;
I even found the first Grass of Parnassus Parnassia in flower already.
My walk is mostly through suburbia, and therefore there are no spectacular
birds to see. Also, since I came to live here 30 years ago, and especially in
the last ten years, hundreds of new houses have been built in this area, and
e.g. the curlew that always nested here, and kept watch from a light pole, is
no longer present. Somewhat surprisingly, Redshanks seem as yet better able to
maintain themselves close to people, and on my walk I regularly hear scolding
parents. Of course there are also Common Gulls, a numerous and loud townbird
here, and everywhere along the shore and on the open fields of the agricultural
field station, there are nesting Oystercatchers. Little bird song these
days---but I walked in the early afternoon, early morning would no doubt show
more of a chorus--- and those I heard the usual suspects: Fieldfare, Redwing,
Brambling and Willow Warbler, the four most numerous birds of our birch
forests; the Willow Warbler is in fact Norway's most numerous bird. As every
year, now in midsummer the Redpolls are back in force, after having been
unaccountably absent in spring; I wonder if they have a first brood somewhere
else. Hooded Crows and Magpies have recently fledged young, and in the fields
the ubiquitous Meadow Pipits sit scolding, with beaks full of food, as soon as
a crow appears close by.
This summer has been a bad one for many seabirds. A lot of the large gulls have
either not laid eggs at all this year, or the young have starved early. The
Arctic terns have nested , we think, in much smaller numbers than usual, and
now I see that also the Eiders must have had a bad season. Most females have no
young at all, but I see a few with one or two young, and only one with three,
which is much less than in a normal summer. The problem is certainly not the
dull weather (that is unfortunately common enough up here, so the birds are
accustomed to that), but rather lack of food. There is little fish in the sea,
and therefore little fishing activity and much less to scavenge for the large
gulls than in normal years. The eiders should not be bothered by that, but
hungry large gulls are a deadly danger for the small young, and I surmise that
maybe predation may have been much heavier than normal. We are still awaiting
the situation for the primary seabirds; our people are still out in the field.
Nothing special at all to report therefore today, just the run-of-the-mill town
and suburbia birds here in Tromsø in midsummer. I'll add a list of birds
seen--I diod not visit Prestvannet, so the water birds there are not on this
list.
Grey Heron Ardea cinerea
Mallard Anas platyrhynchos
Common Eider Somateria mollissima
Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus
Redshank Tringa totanus
Curlew Numenius arquata
Great Black-backed Gull Larus marinus
Herring Gull L. argentatus
Common Gull L. canus
Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea
Feral Pigeon Columba livia
White Wagtail Motacilla alba
Meadow Pipit Anthus pratensis
Tree Pipit A. trivialis
Common Starling Sturnus vulgaris
Eurasian Magpie Pica pica
Hooded Crow Corvus cornix
Willow Warbler Phylloscopus trochilus
Fieldfare Turdus pilaris
Redwing T. iliacus
Kjøttmeis Parus major
House Sparrow Passer domesticus
Brambling Fringilla montifringilla
Greenfinch Chloris chloris
Redpoll Carduelis flammea
Wim Vader,
Tromsø Museum
9037 Tromsø,
Norway
==============================www.birding-aus.org
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