EARLY WINTER IN TROMSOE
Winter arrived with a bang here in Tromsoe,northern Norway, with a snowfall
of 50 cm of wet, heavy snow this last weekend. The autumn-colours had
already fallen from the birches and on the ground, and now everything is
white, the trees are bare, and the whole scene is unmistakably wintery.
I have hung out my feeders; they are free-hanging and inaccessible for the
Magpies Pica pica. But these first weeks the magpies won`t believe that
yet, and they try in different ways to get at the food. I have arranged it
this way not out of cruelty, but because the magpies would eat me out of
food in no time flat, and probably chase the other birds. As usual, the
Great and Willow Tits Parus major and P.montanus did not use many hours to
discover the feeder, and the Greenfinches Carduelis chloris have also
returned.
Otherwise, there are very few landbirds left, while in the fjords the
wintering ducks are still building up their numbers. Interesting this
winter is a group of 10-12 Grey Herons Ardea cinerea, a relative newcomer
here (First confirmed nesting on our island in 1996), that show as yet no
sign of wanting to migrate south.
The birch forest between my home and Tromsoe Museum is virtually silent,
when I walk to work in the morning; this morning no bird sounds disturbed
the plaintive and increasingly frustrated calls of a lady searching for her
dog.
We do have some newcomers, though, even now. A small invasion of Great
Spotted Woodpeckers Picoides major seems to have arrived from the taiga
forest further east (Where I saw vast numbers of these woodpeckers earlier
this year in Karelia). And last week I scored a new garden bird, when a
male Blackbird Turdus merula rummaged through the sorely neglected
undergrowth outside my kitchen window. Blackbirds do not usually nest as
far north as Tromsoe, but the last winters we have noted increasingly
regular occurrences of wintering birds, virtually all males.
Finally, although not a bird at all, I can`t refrain from telling you about
the huge Leathery Turtle Dermochelys coriacea, that came ashore a few
hundred km`s north of here, near Hammerfest. The animal collided with a
boat, and was killed by local people "to end its suffering" (although its
wounds were not in fact serious).This is the northermost occurrence of this
(or any, in fact) sea turtle. The animals feed in the Atlantic current, and
a few perish every fall when the water gets cold and come ashore in
Scotland, W.Norway and even Iceland. This is the second occurrence in
N.Norway, and the first of the pilot fishes Naucrates ductor, that
accompanied the turtle.
Walks through our woods give now bird lists of from 5-10 species. So think
of us, when you tally your large lists of wintering birds!
Wim Vader, Tromsoe Museum
9037 Tromsoe, Norway
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