Wanstead Birder: What was that all about?

Sunday 16 August 2015

What was that all about?

The post about Wanstead I mean. Highly unusual, apologies, I know you don't come here for that. Watch out, as assuming work doesn't completely hammer me into the ground I might be going out on the patch a bit more. June is over, so is July, and the first migrants are about to appear. I left out a stat yesterday, that of Whinchat. It's good, very good. In the ten years I've lived here I've seen 109 of the things! 109! There are two more out there today, I could get to the Nelson. But then I'd have to hop back and they're at the furthest reaches of the patch so I'm going to give it a miss.

In far more interesting news I was recently in Norway. Only briefly, as I forgot to pack a large suitcase of money and was thus utterly destitute one cup of coffee after arrival and had to come home again. I was in Bergen, which is a lovely little town on the coast, with a small number of charming Hanseatic League buildings on the dockside and some very steep hills. I did a lot of walking, and a lot of looking longingly at seafood that I could not afford. I also saw the pelts and mounted heads of pretty much any arctic animal or bird you could care to mention. If, say, you were a dentist with a penchant for shooting beautiful animals with a bow and arrow, Norway is a place you should definitely visit. After your life-changing experience in a Zimbabwean jail of course.

So, I took a funicular up a very steep hill, walked down a very steep hill, visited some wooden buildings, wept when I saw the price of a shrimp, and went to the aquarium. The birds were somewhat secondary, but there were lots and lots of gulls, many with Norwegian rings on, and some freeze-dried in packets if you were short on time. Basically I walked and walked as an alternative to spending money on anything, and a very nice time I had too before my ankles gave in. Here are a few pictures.