FIRST
BIRDSONG IN TROMSØ IN 2007
Our weather still has not decided whether to swing for winter or not; in Oslo
the first snow of the year a few days ago rained away again the next day. But
Tromsø is almost 10* latitude further north, and this last week we have been
lucky; the lows with their mild Atlantic winds (often stormy) and lots of rain
have moved across Norway further south (or along the Norwegian Sea west of us,
giving Svalbard milder weather than we had some days) and here the
temperatures, though still high for January, have generally been around the
freezing point, and these last two days they had dropped to -9* C; now the
wind has changed again to SW and I expect milder temperatures, but still
probably snow rather than rain up here. There is maybe 40 cm of snow on the
ground, considerably less than normal, but already sufficient for the more avid
skiers. And every day is a bit lighter than the day before; we now have more
than an hour of almost normal daylight, and maybe two hours of twilight. The
sun will be back (for five minutes, if the southern skies are clear, about a
week from now, on Soldagen (Day of the sun, 21 January). The streets are, now
it is colder, less icy than during the Christmas holidays, but I still prefer
to use my grip-soles, a sign that I am getting older, no doubt. A large snowman
called Frosty (American son-in-law!) decorates the garden.
Tromsø in winter is not a specially birdy place, even less so if you, as I have
done these first two weeks, stay around the house, Tromsø Musem, a ten minutes
walk away, and the shop at Sorgenfri (=WIthout Care, probably the name of an
old summer house that has been transferred to the entire neighbourhood) down
near the shores of the sound. (As you will know by now, the sound never freezes
over, courtesy of the Gulf Stream). As every year, though, I have started a
year list, and with the arrival of a single young Greenfinch on my feeder this
morning it has climbed all the way up to 15 different birds! There hangs a tale
by this feeder: it was heavily used by tits and greenfinches till Sylvester
evening, and then everything disappeared, I suppose scared by the excessive
fireworks that also the Tromsø people feel they have to fire off that night.
And it has lasted ten days before the birds came back, in fact only this
morning, 13 January, there is again the familiar and cozy regular va et vient
of Kjøttmeis Parus major and Granmeis P. montanus (Norwegian , not english
vernacular names here to avoid the irritating accusations of obscenity, which I
have had so many times) to the tubular feeder hanging outside the window (there
are much less trees in the garden now than before, and that may be a main
reason why the Bullfinches no longer come). And this morning, when walking to
the shop in the 'window of daylight' around noon, I heard twice the 'sawing'
tee tu tee tee tu of a kjøttmeis, always the first singer of the year.
The other birds on my puny yearlist come in several categories: The first
contains the very common European Magpie, already often to be found in what was
last year the nesting tree, and Hooded Crows.The Northern Raven maybe also
belong in this category, but it is a much more uncommon bird in town even in
winter; still one hears a pair almost on every walk. A second category is
formed by the birds that are here (or are here still) because of the bumper
crop of rowanberries Sorbus aucuparia last year, now rapidly getting depleted.
Fieldfares have delayed their autumn migration and are still common, the town
was full of flocks of Bohemian Waxwings, and there are also here and there the
cozy and totally unafraid Pine Grosbeaks. (Somebody also reported a male
Blackcap in his rowans---we have a few records of this warbler, the only one of
its tribe, wintering as far north as here; they also come to feeders then and
eat raisins and grapes. The same applies to the European Blackbird I found in
Folkeparken one of the last days of 2006; I haven't seen or heard it this year,
nor have I come across the Sparrow Hawk of 31 December again). A third
category are the feeder birds, the two tit species and the Greenfinch,
hopefully soon also the Bullfinch.
The last group are the birds of coast and sea. On the shore the Hooded Crows
dominate in winter, but there are also gulls around; as yet I have seen only
Herring Gulls and great Black-backed Gulls, none of the 'white gulls' of the
arctic that also are present often in winter. Common Eiders swim in tight
flocks, with already quite a bit of displaying. Other wintering ducks here are
Long-tailed ducks and Red-throated Mergansers. There are also scoters, but in
the bad light of winter I have not been able to make absolutely sure that these
were the expected Common Scoters (There are also some Velvet Scoters around).
The last two birds are the Great Cormorant, a very common bird here ,
especially in winter, and the White-tailed Sea Eagle, also a quite regular
winter bird here, even in and around the town. I have been only once or twice
on short visits to the town centre, hence the absence on this list of House
Sparrows and feral pigeons, common enough in town, but much less here half an
hour's walk away.
The list won't grow much the coming two months. Probable newcomers will be,
apart from the ones earlier mentioned, Mallards, Grey Herons, Purple
Sandpipers, Willow Grouse and King Eiders. There are also a few Yellow-billed
Loons around, but to see those one has to drive out of town, usually. For
birding and setting up long lists, Tromsø in winter is definitely not the right
place. But what a wonderfully beautiful setting!!
Wim Vader, Tromsø Museum
9037 Tromsø, Norway
==============================www.birding-aus.org
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