SPRING IS ON ITS WAY ALSO AROUND THE BALSFJORD, S. OF TROMSØ
This is the third mail I send out in a week---retirement gives somewhat
better time. But three mails in a week about the rather scarce bird fauna
in the far north of Norway is maybe overkill, I fear! Please let me know
if you feel you now get a surfeit of Tromsø-birds and seasons, and I'll
keep silent for a while!!
Today was again a grey day, but once more with very little rain, only the
occasional drizzle. As the weather forecast is for rain and wind tomorrow,
and snow and wind the days after that, and I am alone in the home this
Easter (the family upstairs is, as more than half of the Norwegians,
somewhere in a cabin and on skiing trips this holidays), I decided to
drive inland along the long (c 100km) Balsfjord. This is a classical
Norwegian fjord, with a sill and quite deep basins, and it is special in
that is houses a local, isolated population of the Arctic small fish
Capelin Mallotus villosus (also a very important part of Artcic
ecosystems); these capelin spawn around this time a year, their eggs are
often spawned intertidally or in very shallow water, and these eggs are a
favourite food of many sea ducks, one reason why there are so many ducks
and other waterbirds in Balsfjord in Spring (The other reason is that they
wait here until the freshwater wetlands where they breed, get icefree.)
The capelin may well also be the main reason why the Balsfjord also has a
small endemic population of harbour porpoises Phocaena.
While eating my breakfast before driving out this morning, I noted for the
first time this year that pairs of Common Gulls flew around and inspected
the area around my garden---they did not land as yet; the garden is 100%
snow-covered still---, and I noted similar flights all day all around the
Balsfjord. Common Gulls are really well-named here in Tromsø, and they
nest everywhere in town, keeping the tourists awake with their incessant
calling. Also the Oystercatchers had in some cases ventured inland a
little bit, and some even were to be found on the roofs of small
buildings, areas they often use for nesting.
The drive along the Balsfjord is a long one, but the first 40km is along a
main road and is fast. Afterwards I take the secondary road along the
north shore of the cold Ramfjord (which always freezes over in winter, and
where I noted the temperature today was 4*C, against 8*C along the
Balsfjord). This is a narrow road, still full of ice and sludge (One bit
was so dangerous, that they have made a 500m tunnel to avoid it), and this
area also seems to get more snow. My first stop, as always, was at the
river mouth in Andersdalen, and also here there was that feeling of a new
season having started . Lots of active Oystercatchers and Mallards,
several Lapwings and a Curlew, and also here Starlings on the shore.
My second traditional stop is where the road traverses a forest on a steep
slope, and where I always walk a bit to listen and look for songbirds. But
when I swang out to park along the road, I was careless, and the car got
stuck in the rotten snow. Fortunately, after 10 minutes or so, another car
passed (not too much traffic here on a day like this), and they succeeded
in getting me back on the road (You won't know, but I can assure you; it
is hard to be stupid!). In the commotion, I forgot to listen for songbirds
here, but a few km further on, I stopped (very carefully this time!) for
some activity in the treetops, and this turned out to be a small group of
Bohemian Waxwings, that for all the worlds seemed to be flycatching from
treetop to treetop----only problem, I do not think there were all that
many flies to catch here now. Still, they were very busy at it all the
time I watched them.
The next stop and walk is in an area with some small woodlands (i.a. much
planted spruce) and several farms where the people feed the birds and hang
nestboxes. At the farm where I parked there were House Sparrows and
Starlings, and along the way I found the usual suspects: Great and Blue
Tits, Greenfinches, and finally also Bullfinches. No Ringed Plovers here
as yet; somebody had seen one last Thursday on the coast.
Then onwards---another 40 km--to 'the bottom of the fjord, the area where
the capelin spawns, and where all the ducks hang out, in beautiful light
in the middle of the day. There were many more ducks---predominantly
Velvet Scoters and Long-tailed Ducks---now than last time I was here, and
I also soon spotted three Horned Grebes and a Red-necked Grebe. The Horned
Grebes nest nearby in shallow lakes, but we do not know where the
Red-necked Grebes (a few are here every spring) go to nest---the nearest
nesting localities we know of are in northern Sweden, quite a bit south of
here. Still more astonishing was the presence of a single Great Crested
Grebe in almost full summer plumage; that southern bird does not belong
here at all, and I have never seen it here before. The porpoises were also
active in this area, which is where the capelin spawns
This area is a bit warmer in microclimate, and a lot of snow had melted
the last week. A local couple whom I talked to here, told me that they had
had up to 14 Yellowhammers all winter around their cabin---and I saw four
of them; this is also here a decreasing species. I drove on along the
south coast of the Balsfjord, to Storsteinnes and Tennes, but saw only
much more of the same, plus a dense flock of Common Scoters, four
Shelducks, a flock of displaying Red-breasted Mergansers, and a single
male Teal in a meltwater puddle in a field. But no Snow Buntings all day,
and the locals told me they had not yet seen any here.
Clearly the strong southerly air current that brought all the mild air to
our region these last few days, also has brought quite a number of migrant
birds, and additionally spurred the residents into feelings of spring.
Wim
Vader, Tromsø Museum
9037
Tromsø, Norway
==============================www.birding-aus.org
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