EASTER WEATHER IN TROMSØ, BUT STILL FULL WINTER
In Norway the Easter holidays for all school children lasts 10 days, and
many adults also take free almost as long. Anyway, both Thursday, Good
Friday and next Monday are all helligdager (= 'holy days' = official free
days ), and traditionally very many Norwegians go skiing in the mountains
during this week. 'Easter weather' is then the sort of weather which
everybody wishes for at Easter; sun, frost, and lots of snow on nthe
ground.And that is the weather we have had these last days in Tromsø, N.
Norway. Clear skies, last night ten dgrees (C) frost, and during the day
the sun warms considerably so that the temp is around freezing, and feels
even warmer; and there is still more than 1 m of snow on the ground. Today
there was also little wind, so altogether the weather was so nice that I
skipped the museum today (Oddly enough I still have a pricking conscinece
on such s+days, even though I have been officially retired for more than a
year), and drove once more out to the coast and the island of
Hillesøya---there at the coast there is less snow, so one can walk around
off road without skis, something which is impossible here on the island.
The roads also get somewhat more easy to drive, although many bits still
are ice-covered and sudden braking therefore a bad idea. So this time I
drobv\ve the shortest route to the coast , across the island of Kvaløya.
The scenery is fantastic now; all the mountains are dazzlingly white in
the sun, especially above the treeline, whch here is as low as 200m. I say
'mountains', but in reality these are maybe rather hills, most of them are
less than 1000m high. But they sure look like mountains to me, because
they start at sea level, are quite steep, and as I said, the treeline is
as low as 200m a.s.l.. (But it all depends on the eyes that see, and what
you are used to, I suppose; last year our guide in Bhutan told me:
Everything below 4500m we call foothills!)
The road across Kvaløya is a very interesting and varied one; that large
island is heavily indented by fjords from all sides. I start across the
large bridge from our island of Tromsøya to Kvaløya, and then drive along
the sound through an area, where there has been a lot of building the last
decades. At the village of Eidkjosen we cross over 'eidet' (the pass, here
less than 1 km !) to the next fjord, the Kaldfjord, which in spite of its
name, never freezes over. Aftre a few km we turn left, and climb to the
next pass, at c 200m a.s.l., but feeling quite alpine, as we here are at
the tree line. In summer one often sees reindeer here, but now there are
parked cars and ski tracks---this is a U-shaped vaqlley with steep hills
on both sides, very popular with skiers. This 'eidet, Kattfjordeidet, is
maybe 6 km long and leads to a third fjord , Kattfjord, the innermost part
of which is usually frozen over. The road meanders along the shore of this
fjord, with a long detour around a narrow sidefjord, with the
characteristic fjord-fishing village of Sjøtun. Then one continues along
the Kattfjord, until it opens up close to the outer coast and the
landscape changes character (there is a 700m long tunnel here, the gateway
to the outer coast). The twin islands of Sommarøy and Hillesøy lie outside
Kvaløya itself, connected by a long and narrow bridge. Sommarøy is a
bustling fishing village (sea fishing this time), while Hillesøy still has
lots of nature areas, and a high hill (350m) with a radar on top.It is 60
km to Sommarøy from Tromsø along this road, and 75 km along the coastal
road 'around Kbvaløya'.
Most of the time I had little chance to look for birds; the roads are
narrow and often icy still. But I do not think there ARE all that many
birds here either in winter; Kaldfjord and Kattfjord have much less
wintering waterbirds than the sounds around Tromsø and the Balsfjord, and
I never saw the wintering flock of Grey Herons, that others have reported
from here. But as I said, the scenery is often breathtaking: Compared to
my last trip there were still more Oystercatchers now, and i also saw the
first Common Gull pairs in the intertidal. Eiders often, here and there a
few pairs od mallards, and once a displaying pair of Red-breasted
Mergansers, always a fun sight.
On Hillesøya I have my traditional walk around a low-lying, heath-covered
are, where much of the snow has blown off the higher areas, and filled the
lower ones. The main colour of the heath is the darkronzy green of
Empetrum, but there are also lots of more vivid green Juniperus,
horizontal trees here were it often blows a lot.
No new birds on the island during this walk, but this time the sea was
more wuiet and the scattered Black Guillemots more easily visible. On an
outlying skerry two immature White-tailed Sea Eagles were harassed by a
pair of Northern Ravens, too far away to seen what the swuabbles were
about, and at sea a small flock of kittiwakes flew past.
On the way back, along the coastal road, I stopped as usual on Tisnes, but
here it still was full winter, and no Common Gulls had arrived in the
colony as yet. However, the roof of a small boathouse was festooned with
Starlings, I counted 24, I suppose just arrived. Besides a single one also
today on the shore of Tromsøya this morning, these are the first ones I
have seen here this year.
Also in my garden I had a pleasant surprise this morning, as a small flock
of Redpolls visited my feeders for a while, again the first of the year
here. But these birds often winter locally, the just are extremely mobile,
and come and go in an erratic manner.
And still not a single Snow Bunting!!
Wim Vader, Tromsø Museum
9037 Tromsø, Norway
PS. I add the few birds that I did see today.
Cormorant, Shag, Mallard, Common Eider, Long-tailed Duck, Red-breasted
Merganser, Common Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull,
Oystercatcher, Curlew, Purple Sandpiper, White-tailed Sea Eagle,
Northern Raven, Hooded Crow, Magpie, Starling, Great Tit, Greenfinch,
Redpoll
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