Five years ago, a beluga whale equipped with unusual surveillance gear appeared in the waters of Norway, sparking rumors of espionage. Nicknamed Hvaldimir by locals, the whale’s strange equipment and potential connection to Russian intelligence raised many questions. But as new information emerges, a different story about Hvaldimir’s mission is starting to take shape. The […]
Tag: norway
‘Really a sad day’ as Norway votes to allow deep-sea mining in Arctic waters
Norway’s parliament has officially voted to allow deep-sea mining to go forward in the Norwegian Sea, despite warnings from scientists and conservationists that it could damage the marine environment. This result was already anticipated in December 2023 after Norway‘s minority government negotiated a deal with opposition parties to open up the ocean off Norway’s coast […]
Dunlin
I’ve seen a few pictures recently on Facebook of Bluethroats in gardens so concluded that the passage is peaking and set off to Fornebu this morning with high hopes of gaining good views (and my first sighting this autumn) of one of my favourite birds. My hopes were not to be fulfilled with there continuing […]
Nutcracker
Each August Nutcrackers descend on Oslo from the surrounding forests (where they are very anonymous in the breeding season) in the search of easy food and hazel nuts are much sought after. We have a few hazel trees in the garden which always attract Nutcrackers although they can be very secretive. This evening there were […]
Black-throated Divers back in the Dale
It’s all getting a bit too busy for blogging! The end of April is always my favourite time and at the moment it is the movement of Teal and other dabbling ducks that is occupying me with the never-ending searching for something rare in their midst. Yesterday I was at Nordre Øyeren. At this time […]
Finally in the (Norwegian) bag – White-backed Pecker
Before today White-backed Woodpecker was one of three species of regular breeder on the Norwegian mainland that I had not seen in Norway with the other 2 being Stonechat and Leaches Petrel. Norway has a very important population of White-backed Pecker but these birds are all in the west of Norway and have eluded me […]
Breeding Black Redstarts
My posts all refer to the previous day at the moment – a good sign as I am obviously being kept busy. I am really knackered by long trips and survey work so had no big ambitions for yesterday (and left early for Hedmark this morning). I ended up cycling into town to see if […]
Some eye candy and a polar brute
After yesterday’s fiasco I had to do penance to both the environment and my body and hope to regain some credit with the Bird Gods. As I had a lunchtime appointment in town with some nice cheese (courtesy of Egil Ween, one of Norway‘s top birders, Værøy regular and importer of exclusive foods) it was […]