EARLY SPRING IN TROMSØ, N. NORWAY
A week ago I returned from a week's family holidays in Holland, where I enjoyed
full spring, in the fields the Sloe Prunus spinosissima was in full flower, and
in the orchards pear, cherries and plums were wonderfully beautiful (In my eyes
much more impressive still than the tulip fields of the west). Birds sang
everywhere, and the first ducklings were already on the water. This time of the
year the differences with my native N. Norway are most glaring: I came home to
4-5 ft of snow, 5 consecutive days of sleet, hail and now and then rain, and
temperatures just above freezing. But yesterday and today the weather has
improved, especially close to the sounds much snow has melted away, and the
road verges are yellow with the flowers of Coltsfoot Tussilago farfara, the
only flower out as yet (My garden has still c 2 ft of snow). The temperature
has 'soared' all the way to +5*C.
As this morning was almost sunny, I decided to walk to the airport, a walk of c
4-5 km on a path along a rather busy road, parallel to the sound. Compared to
Holland, there are really few birds around, few species and few individuals.
That is least apparent on the water, as there there are many places largish
flocks of Northern Eiders and Long-tailed Ducks. On the shore the Common Gulls
have returned in force; in fact there are even more now than later on, as many
territories higher up on the island are not yet snow-free. But the gulls
clearly feel that spring is in the air and there is much, although still
somewhat half-hearted, courting and displaying. Also a pair of Curlews felt the
coming spring, and broke a few times into their wonderfully evocative spring
song, again maybe not yet at full strength though. At every 100m or so along
the shore there is a pair of Oystercatchers, and in a field close by, where I
scanned in vain for Northern Lapwings (They used to nest here, but many new
houses have been built nearby), I was very surprised to find an early Golden
Plover, still silent and unobtrusive. On the larger fields of the agricultural
research station pairs of Mallards walked sedately around, keeping often to the
edge of the snowfields, and here there also was a single pair of returned
Greylag Geese, no doubt on their way to nesting on the outlying islands, where
they are common.
The number of land birds is very quickly told. There were as always lots of
Magpies---clearly also already very much with spring feelings, with much
display and also flying with sticks for the nests--- and Hooded Crows, I now
heard the House Sparrows at the local grocery shop that have hidden away all
winter, and there was a single Great Tit on my feeders today. Miraculously I
did not see or hear a single Greenfinch during my walk; usually this is by far
the most common small bird on the island. And, apart from a single pair of
Great Black-backed Gulls on a skerry, that was it! It will be a month before we
have real spring!
The one thing we have plenty of already, is daylight. A month from now we'll
have the midnight sun again; that'll help melt away the rest of the snow!
Wim Vader,
Tromsø Museum
9037
Tromsø, Norway
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