Thanks for the colour Wim,
Some stories are worth hearing more than once from a master story
teller.
Regards, Laurie.
On 10/06/2013, at 4:58 PM, Vader Willem Jan Marinus wrote:
From: Vader Willem Jan Marinus
Sent: 9. juni 2013 17:12
To: birdchat
Cc:
Subject: Full spring in Tromsø
A WONDERFUL MAY IN TROMSØ, N. NORWAY IN 2013
After the dismal summer of 2012 here in Tromsø (if you overslept one
day, you might have missed that summer) the winter 2012-2013 was
also a bit peculiar (as seems to become the norm these days): for a
long time we had frost without much snow, and then in March-April
2013 we suddenly got a whole load of snow, up to 1.5m on the ground
in mid April. But from then on our luck turned, as first much of the
snow melted slowly and regularly, thus avoiding severe flooding
(Contrary to S. Norway, and now also Central Europe), and then May
became wonderfully warm and dry, the best May I can remember in the
40 years I have lived in Tromsø. So in the end the trees became
green at the normal time after all (around 20 May) and although the
first migrant birds were 2 weeks late, the later ones arrived more
or less 'on time'. 'Hot May weather' in Tromsø is 19-21*C in the
afternoon, and I know this won't impress you much, but together with
calm weather and sun 24 hrs a day (21 May to 21 July) I can assure
you that there is no better place to be than in N. Norway in spring.
Now of course this could not last for ever, and just now we have one
of those changes that are so typical for our area. Yesterday sun and
22*C, today partly cloudy and 12*C, and tomorrow rain, northerly
winds and a maximum of 6*C.
I had my elder sister (80) and her daughter on a visit just when the
weather was nicest, and we profited by sitting in the garden till
late in the evening (there were not even midges as yet!) and
visiting several of my old haunts, that I have written so often
about. Here I'll write a little about two of these areas, both
wetlands of sorts, and both ca 35 km from Tromsø town by road. One,
the Rakfjord area, is situated on the northern part of the large and
mountainous island of Kvaløya, which is situated between Tromsø and
the open ocean. The rocks there are hard and acidic, so the
vegetation is much less luxuriant than further south, where there is
much chalk in the ground. The hills are covered with heath, often
with small birch and willow scrubs here and there; the ground
vegetation is of a variety of berry-bearing dwarf scrubs, as well as
heather Calluna vulgaris. A few weeks ago the only flowers here were
the white Cloudberry flowers, that later hopefully will develop in
the yellow berries, that Norwegians are so fond of. There are also
quite early the small pink stars of Loiseleuria , the creeping
Azalea, and now the white-pink globes of another heath, Andromeda
serpyllifolia. This is the favourite area of the Whimbrels and one
now hears everywhere their stuttering alarm calls, and their
beautiful 'song', ending in a characteristic trill. The other day, a
pair of these Whimbrels saw off a hunting Short-eared Owl, a bird
which I don't see many years, but this year already 5 times. Also
Golden Plovers are common here in the beginning of the season, but
by now many have moved to higher ground. The common smaller birds
here are Meadow Pipits and Northern Wheatears, while also here the
ubiquitous Common Gulls nest; they really live up to their name in
the Tromsø area, nesting from downtown Tromsø to the most remote
valleys. As soon as there are some scrubs, one hears the beautiful,
but somewhat melancholy song-strophes of the Willow Warbler, the
most numerous bird in Norway.
The Rakfjord elva (elv=river) runs out here, through a series of
marshes and lakes and into a very shallow, mostly tidal bay (tidal
amplitude here is ca 3m). Here there are always ducks and geese: the
geese are Greylags, of which we seem to get more and more, while the
most common duck here is probably the fish-eating Red-throated
Merganser. But also Mallards (One with pulli today), Wigeons and
Tufted Ducks are common here, and two of the lakes hold a pair of
loons, Red-throated loons in one, Arctic Loons in the other (What I
call the swan lake, as a pair of Whooping Swans has nested there for
years. They returned also this spring, but must have moved to one of
the more remote lakes.) Also here there are lots of Common Gulls,
and this year also Arctic Terns, as well as a few Parasitic Jaegers
(Only 2 pairs this year, normally there are more). Close to the road
there is a shallow round small lake, now fringed with a broad belt
of the beautiful white chandelier flower-stands of the Bogbean
Menyanthes trifoliata. These, and the sedges and Equisetum belts,
provide excellent cover for the two pairs of phalaropes Phalaropus
lobatus that nest here, and try as I might, half of the time I can't
find them at all, even if they are not at all shy. Also the Ruffs
usually disappear completely as soon as they alight, while the
Redshanks are so nervous and loud that one can't overlook them.
Snipe there are here too, but as the area is protected so one cannot
walk into the marsh, one only notes the snipes when they 'bleat'
overhead, or sit somewhere calling their monotonous ground display
call. On the shores of the sound here there are lots of Eider ducks
and Oystercatchers, also Curlews and the larger gulls, Herring and
Great Black-backed.
The other wetland, Tisnes, is on the south coast of Kvaløya, in the
chalk rich area, and it is a low-lying moraine sticking out into the
fjord. It is fully agricultural, with several farms, and all the
ground is in use as grassland; one farm has been taken in use for
horses, and that has ruined a wonderful chalk meadow, but also
provided two new ponds, that are very popular with the birds and
also close to the road, so that one can watch using the car as a
blind. Several of the fields here are extremely marshy, and now
yellow with Marsh Marigold Caltha palustris, a very common spring
flower in the Tromsø area, later several species of Cotton Grass
Eriophorum will dominate the scenery here. Tisnes traditionally is
famous for its Ruffs, their numbers have been decreasing steadily
these last decades, but this year there are quite many, with maybe
10 spectacular males, and almost as many females around. Otherwise
Tisnes is a place for ducks, and we often have rare ducks (for us)
here; as these are species that are much more common further south,
other birders are not always much impressed by our Shovelers,
Gadwalls, and Garganeys; they rather come for the wintering King
Eiders and Yellow-billed Loons (now long gone). But last year we
also had a few Avocets, and this spring no less than 3 Pectoral
Sandpipers, and later a Lesser Yellowlegs, so it is always worth to
check Tisnes. Today there were no specialties, just Mallards,
Wigeons, Teal and a single male Pintail. Also Lapwings nest here
still, another species in steady decrease in our area.
On the way back I stopped for a while at a bight close to
Kvaløysletta, where the bridge from Kvaløya to Tromsøya is. No
special birds here today, but when I sat for a while reading the
Sunday paper, I was suddenly surrounded by no less than 14 Reindeer,
not noticing me at all. What a pity then, that I have stopped taking
pictures!
I have the feeling that I have written roughly similar stories
several times before over the years. Let me know if you are still
interested in the occasional story from Tromsø.
Wim
Vader, Tromsø Museum
9037 Tromsø, Norway
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