The Flickr Grein Image Generatr

Great cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo) nesting in Greece last year. (And a pygmy cormorant (Microcarbo pygmaeus) to the right on one photo.)

We have had many great cormorants passing by Jomfruland island today.

And I have had two unforgettable bird experiences today - hearing a male common redstart sing for the first time (rødstjert in Norwegian), and seeing and hearing a thrush nightingale (nattergal) for the very first time.

I will pass 200 species this year by tonight or tomorrow ッ

(Storskarv (og dvergskarv til høyre på et av bildene), in Norwegian)

Check out more photos of them in the links below the line!

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Although I see and photograph new or rare bird species now and then, I can appreciate just as much (or even more) to get nice photos of well-known species - like this adorable Eurasian nuthatch (Sitta europaea).

(Spettmeis in Norwegian)

On the day with all the rare species yesterday, I found it just as great to get better photos than before of the flock of brent geese (ringgås in Norwegian).

Now I am on my way to the Jomfruland bird station. I wonder if I will pass my bird species number 200 for the year there ッ At least, I think I finally will get the thrush nightingale (nattergal) for the very first time.

My album of birds here.

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I have had this Eurasian spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) from Greece last year ready for upload all day, but I have been too busy watching too many amazing birds on Lista in southern Norway today to post it ッ

(Skjestork in Norwegian)

We got 4 new and rare species for life today; a Eurasian stone-curlew, tawny pipit, red-footed falcon and pallid harrier (triel, markpiplerke, aftenfalk og steppehauk, in Norwegian) and in total 9 new species for the year. It was also nice to get good portraits of a flock of 16 brent geese by the beach (ringgås).

After a good night's sleep at my aunt's tonight, we will go to the next birdwatching destination in eastern Norway tomorrow, with more species that we are not used to. Exciting!

My album of photos from Greece here.

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"Wasser ist die Kraft, die alles bewegt."

Today I started the day by finally hearing this year's first willow warbler (løvsanger in Norwegian) singing outside our house.

Then a friend and I went to look for more birds in the morning, and I found Rogaland county's first whinchat (Saxicola rubetra) of the year, like the male on this photo from another spring.

(Buskskvett-hann, in Norwegian)

My album of birds here.

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A lovely yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella) by some other's feeders.

They visit our feeders very rarely, and if they do so they are shy, so I only have one worse photo of them ouside our own house.

(Gulspurv in Norwegian)

Check out some more photos of them in the links below the line!

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I think the colours of this beautiful yellow male greenfinch (Chloris chloris) from Jæren, can be a nice upload for Palm Sunday and the start of Easter.

Here on our last day in Finnmark, we have the weather Norwegians call Easter weather - sunshine, blue skies and beautiful snow that starts melting a bit in the sun.

We see and hear greenfinches here as well, both in Vardø where we stay and in Vadsø where we have been on a road trip and in a boat hide today- photographing Steller's eiders and common eiders.

Now I must go out again to take some last photos from this cosy place, before we leave tomorrow morning.

(Grønnfink hann, in Norwegian)

My album of birds here.

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A red-eyed dove (Streptopelia semitorquata) - one of many dove species I've seen in Kenya.

It is the largest of the “ringneck” species of doves, and is widespread and common in Sub-Saharan Africa.

(Rødøyedue in Norwegian)

Today a friend and I spotted some doves that one only see now and then where we live- two stock doves (skogduer in Norwegian), in some trees with other doves. I had only seen one before, from a long distance last year. A nice find, and another new species for the year.

My album of photos from Africa here.

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A male blackbird (Turdus merula) like this, have been singing outside our house for a long time already this spring.

Last night we could hear it very well inside the livingroom as well after dark. Lovely!

My album of birds here.

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A male great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major), from a morning in the forest two weeks ago.

It is one of 8 woodpecker species in Norway. Now I am on my way to join a woodpecker trip together with Birdlife Stavanger. I wonder how many nice species we will find, and I hope for som new ones for the year.

(Flaggspett hann, in Norwegian)

My album of birds here.

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A European goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) on the island I'm from one month ago. Now we are on our way home from another nice visit to the island, celebrating my dad's big birthday.

The European goldfinch is native to most of Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia. It has been introduced to other areas, including Australia, New Zealand, Uruguay and the United States.

(Stillits in Norwegian)

My album of birds here.

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My first good photo of the beautiful hen harrier (Circus cyaneus). This is an adult female. The adult males are grey.

While sitting in a hide for goshawks, rough-legged buzzards and common buzzards last month (hønsehauk, fjellvåk og musvåk in Norwegian), this beauty unexpectedly came as well.

It was my first time getting this species up close, and I got goosebumps right away ツ It came down several times through the day, on different spots.

(Myrhauk hunn, in Norwegian)

My album of birds here.

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Normally you see the yellow-billed oxpeckers (Buphagus africanus) sitting on the bigger animals of Africa, feeding on bugs. I have only seen them like this and in a tree twice on my two trips to Kenya.

They are one of two oxpecker species, together with the red-billed oxpeckers.

(Gulnebboksehakker in Norwegian)

My album of photos from Africa here.

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The both adorable and greedy Eurasian nuthatch (Sitta europaea).

(Spettmeis in Norwegian)

My album of birds here.

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Eurasian spoonbills (Platalea leucorodia) in a tree in Greece.

There are some great crested grebes (Podiceps cristatus) and a pygmy cormorant (Microcarbo pygmaeus) in the background as well.

(Skjestorker, med toppdykkere og dvergskarv i bakgrunnen, in Norwegian)

My album of photos from Greece here.

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I finally met the marsh tit (Poecile palustris) for the first time (at least after starting photographing and registering birds), while visiting my parents on the island I'm from two weeks ago.

I think I have seen them when I was younger, since they are more common where I grew up. But they are rare where I live now, and I already had decided that this had to be the year that I had to find them and get them on my list and camera. But I didn't know it would happen already on my first visit home this year.

It was a regular visitor at a bird feeding station in a garden where I was allowed to go to take pictures.

It looks very similar to it's cousin, the willow tit (granmeis in Norwegian) that I posted yesterday. But I clearly see the differences after photographing hundreds of willow tits before meeting this marsh tit.

And it was interesting that there were no willow tits by these feeders, like I am used to both on that island and where I live now.

Unlike the willow tit that breeds all over Norway, the marsh tit only breeds in the lowlands in the south and north to Trøndelag. It is sparsely found in Nordland and inner parts of Eastern Norway.

It can also be found throughout temperate Europe and northern Asia.

(Løvmeis in Norwegian)

My album of birds here.

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The willow tit (Poecile montanus) is BirdLife Norway's Bird of the year 2025.

It is one of my little favourites. This one sang for a long time as it came closer and closer, one month ago.

The willow tit is a widespread and common resident breeder throughout temperate and subarctic Europe and across the Palearctic (to eastern Asia). And it breeds over most of Norway.

(Granmeis in Norwegian)

My album of birds here.

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We almost have too many hooded crows (Corvus cornix) around, but I can't help but take a photo or two of them if they pose nicely.

The species is widely distributed, found across Northern, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe, as well as parts of the Middle East.

(Kråke in Norwegian)

My album of birds here.

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We rarely see bramblings (Fringilla montifringilla) by our feeders anymore. But one autumn, before they built a new road and removed lots of our trees and shrubs, we had them here for a month. I got many nice photos of them, like this one.

Here it is in its winter plumage. During breeding, the males have a shiny black head and back.

(Bjørkefink in Norwegian)

Check out more photos of them in the links below the line!

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One year ago, it was lovely to go from winter in Norway to early and warming spring in Greece.

In Thessaloniki, some of the fruit trees had started to bloom, and the common chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita), that we still had to wait for for a month at home, was chirping.

(Gransanger in Norwegian)

My album of photos from Greece here.

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