A flock of 41 goldfinches landed in a tree in front of where I am sitting writing this this afternoon. This is the largest flock I’ve recorded here […]
Birds / Spring
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Suddenly it’s spring
With the huge shift in temperature this week, spring is suddenly here and several bird species are now singing in the garden: blue tit (blåmeis), great tit (kjøttmeis), […]
Birds
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Redpolls on nettle
As I’ve written before on this blog, nettles (Urtica spp.) are important food plants for birds, both due to insects and their larvae feeding on them in summer […]
Birds
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Marsh Tit pair
There was a pair of marsh tit (løvmeis) in the garden one day this week and they showed some interest in a nest box. Hoping for first time […]
Birds
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Magpie song
I heard a magpie “singing” this morning outside the front door. It has been desribed as a low-pitched, slightly chirping giggle and is in my experience most often […]
Birds
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Helping Yellowhammers
The yellowhammer (gulspurv) has been showing a worrying decline in Europe (some 40%) and almost 20% in 10 years here in Norway where it is a breeding bird […]
Birds
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Regulus regulus in the garden
Nice to know that I can still hear the very high pitched call of the goldcrest (fuglekonge) aka Regulus regulus. That’s what alerted me to their presence in […]
Birds
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Mallard in the Bay
The biggest flock of mallard (stokkand) this winter were in the bay this morning, about 180 birds. A single slavonian grebe (horndykker) was also diving further out and […]
Birds
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New species seen from the house
Most days recently there’s been a resting flock of about 120 mallard (stokkand) below the house. Today, I noticed one that was signficantly smaller: a teal (krikkand)…a new […]
Birds
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Is feeding birds a good thing?
Feeding birds in winter isn’t necessarily a good thing and at least one study has shown that birds lay lower numbers of eggs when fed well, perhaps due […]
Birds
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Good times for Jackdaws
With mild weather continuing and no significant frost so far in December and none forecast in the long-term forecast, it’s good times for Jackdaws (kaie) that feed mainly […]
Birds
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Snow and fieldfare flock
A small flock of fieldfares (gråtrost) turned up in the garden today after a small snowfall. They were feeding on a few remaining guelder rose / krossved (Viburnum […]
Berries / Birds
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Blackcap on Elderberries
A female blackcap (munk) feeding on ripe elderberries (svarthyll; Sambucus nigra). With no heavy frosts so far well into November, two flower clusters have appeared on the tree! […]
Birds
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Bullfinch Nettle Feast
A group of seeding nettles strategically placed in view of a living room window provides a little entertainment in winter ( no, I didn’t plant them, but I […]
Birds
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Tawny owl in the garden
I’ve only heard tawny owls in the garden a few times over the year, although there are a few breeding pairs in this part of Norway. Last night […]
Birds
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Fieldfare migration
With Covid a long way from being over, I’m wishing I was a bird! We probably won’t be visiting family in the UK this winter and this morning […]
Birds
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Canada Geese
Apart from a small resting flock of 5 birds seen resting in the bay in early March 2017 I’ve never seen Canada Geese (Kanadagås) in the bay before […]
Birds / Fjord views / Sun
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Autumn on the way
It felt really autumny early this morning with geese moving, cranes (trane) calling in the distance and fog hanging over Stjørdal. Post Views: 145
Birds
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Young basking robin!
Wishing my oldest and favourite son, Robin Arne Barstow, a very happy 37th today…..with a young basking robin (rødstrupe) in the garden Post Views: 151
Birds
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Spotted flycatchers on the perch
This is another example where an untidy garden attracts wildlife. One of my Manchurian walnuts died last winter and rather than cutting it down, I decided to leave […]
Birds
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Wren in the indoors forest garden
With warm weather and the balcony door open, yet another bird species found its way into my indoors forest garden this evening , hunting for flies on the […]
Birds
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Magpie bathing
Yesterday, a magpie (a young bird I think) decided to visit our living room (aka indoor forest garden) and had to be shown the way out again….making it […]
Biological control / Birds / Brassica
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Biological control
I registered 3 great tit (kjøttmeis) territories and 1 blue tit (blåmeis) pair in the garden this year and both have raised young. One of the young great […]
Birds
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Siberian Nutcracker feeding young in the garden
I’ve written several times of our new breeding bird species, Siberian Nutcracker (nøttekråke), that is colonising the forests around Trondheim as a new breeding species as a result […]
Birds / Nut trees
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Pinus cembra shedding
A week ago I noticed my oldest Pinus cembra was full of male flowers (pictures at the bottom) and yesterday it was shedding pollen as you can see […]