The Flickr Kerkinilakenationalpark Image Generatr

Some yellow beauties from a grey day in Greece last spring, on this grey Maundy Thursday morning.

But since it's not raining, I think I will go out on my bike to enjoy the day and look for some more new migratory birds on our island.

This is a plant in the spurge family, in which there are many similar plants, so I don't know exactly what species this is.

Have a nice Easter holiday!

(Plante i vortemelkfamilien, in Norwegian)

My album of flowers here.

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I love the look of all the great cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo) in their breeding plumage now, both at home and here in Northern Norway.

When breeding, they get a square patch of white on the thigh and white neck feathers. They can get this already from the first months of the year.

It's some time since I got good cormorant photos in Norway, so here is one from Greece last year.

(Storskarv i hekkedrakt, in Norwegian)

My album of photos from Greece here.

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A little bittern (Ixobrychus minutus) in Greece last year.

It is Europe's smallest heron and breeds in central and southern Europe, Africa, Madagascar and western and southern Asia. Birds from temperate regions in Europe and western Asia are migratory, wintering in Africa and further south in Asia, while those nesting in the tropics are resident.

This was my first time meeting them. They were many in this little canal, that were overflowing with tadpoles, frogs and leeches for them.

(Dvergrørdrum in Norwegian)

My album of photos from Greece here.

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Adult Dalmatian pelicans (Pelecanus crispus), with a sneaky juvenile in the middle.

I just found this and many more pelican photos on a card that I still hadn't gone through from Greece one year ago 😅

(Krøllpelikaner in Norwegian)

My album of photos from Greece 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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Last night, I posted Caspian gulls from Greece, after meeting one in Norway as well for the first time yesterday.

Another gull that is common in Greece, and that may visit Norway now and then as well - is this yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis).

I haven't met one here yet, so these are from Greece last May.

It is found in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, as well as the Azores and Canary Islands.

It was formerly treated as a subspecies of either the Caspian gull or more broadly of the herring gull, but is now a full species.

(Gulbeinmåke in Norwegian)

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

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One of the Caspian gulls (Larus cachinnans) I met on both of my trips to Greece last year. It was my first times seeing them.

Today I finally saw one for the very first time in Norway as well! I got many nice photos, both in the air and on the sea.

I know many who has seen them here before, but since they are difficult to distinguish from herring gulls, I haven't been sure until I got help today. I can spot some differences, but it's hard to be sure when you're on your own.

The Caspian gull even used to be a subspecies of the herring gull, but is now a full species.

It breeds around the Black and Caspian Seas, extending eastwards across Central Asia to north-west China. In Europe, it has been spreading north and west and now breeds in Poland, eastern Germany, southern Russia and Ukraine. Some birds migrate south, as far as the Red Sea and Persian Gulf, while others disperse into Western Europe and Scandinavia.

(Kaspimåke in Norwegian)

My album of photos from Greece here.

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A squacco heron (Ardeola ralloides) in Greece. It gets the blue beak for the breeding season.

It breeds in southern Europe and the Greater Middle East, and spends the winters in Africa.

But this past autumn, I saw it in Norway as well - as the third visit here in history.

(Topphegre in Norwegian)

My album of photos from Greece here.

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One of all the little egrets (Egretta garzetta) we met in Greece last May.

(Silkehegre in Norwegian)

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

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A spanish sparrow male (Passer hispaniolensis) in northern Greece.

They are colonial and build big stick nests, often in/under white stork nests like this one did. The similar house sparrows stayed on the ground below them.

These two species are similar in size and shape. But during breeding season Spanish sparrow males have a heavily streaked black breast and back, and a rufous crown and nape. They are duller in the nonbreeding season.

Spanish sparrow females are difficult to separate from female house sparrows, but tend to have bigger bills and paler bellies.

Spanish sparrows are found in the Mediterranean region and south-west and central Asia.

(Middelhavsspurv in Norwegian)

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

I have more photos from Greece here.

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One of the hundreds of great crested grebes (Podiceps cristatus) I met in Greece last spring.

(Toppdykker in Norwegian)

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

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We met many red-backed shrikes (Lanius collurio) in northern Greece last May.

Here is a beautiul male, sitting in a Jerusalem thorn (Paliurus spina-christi).

(Tornskate hann i Jerusalemtorn, in Norwegian)

My album of photos from Greece here.

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Great white pelicans (Pelecanus onocrotalus) with great cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo) in the background, in northern Greece nine months ago.

It was nice to see the pelicans finding food on their own during the trip in May, unlike on the first trip one year ago now, where they were fed.

(Hvitpelikaner med storskarv i bakgrunnen, in Norwegian)

My album of photos from Greece here.

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On my trip to Greece one year ago, we saw some flocks of greater flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus).

Most of them were pink, but this flock was white. Both juveniles and adults outside the breeding season can be so.

The greater flamingo is the most widespread and largest of the 6 flamingo species in the world.

(Rosenflamingo in Norwegian)

My album of photos from Greece here.

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Although I grew up having common cuckoos (Cuculus canorus) around me, and met many on my hikes in the mountains when I had a dog, I have never gotten good pictures of them.

Not even last summer, when I visited my parents for 4 weeks, with a cuckoo in the trees surrounding their garden many times during my stay.

In Greece last May, there were many of them flying around us as we sat by a canal to photograph other birds. So I took some of them as well, to have at least something of the species I know so well ツ

It is the only cuckoo species in Europe. In the rest of the world's continents, there are many cuckoo species, often colourful.

Our common cuckoo is a long-distance migratory bird found throughout Europe, North Africa and most of Asia. European cuckoos winter in parts of tropical Africa (south of the Sahara).

I look forward to hear them again, from early May.

(Gauk / gjøk in Norwegian)

My album of birds here.

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We met many common kestrels (Falco tinnunculus), also called Eurasian kestrels, in Greece last year- both by the lake, river, fields and forest.

We have them them where I live in Norway as well, and I have had them almost flying into my head in my neighbourhood- but I's always hard to take their picture.

I have shown some better than this from Greece earlier, when a kestrel was sitting on some branches by the river as we were in a boat. You can check those out in the album.

But I also wanted to show some of them in flight, and how they stay still in the air in their hunting position - which you can find in the links below the line here. (In Norway, it is the kestrel and the rough-legged buzzard (fjellvåk), who say still like that.)

The common kestrel breeds in Europe and in large parts of Asia and Africa.

(Tårnfalk in Norwegian)

My album of photos from Greece here.

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I have seen common buzzards (Buteo buteo) like this one in Norway many times, but only have one good photo- of one that sat in the snow for like ten seconds last year. I also have this and another one from more distance in Greece last year.

Today Richard and I are in a hide, where we've photographed two goshawks (hønsehauk in Norwegian) and two rough-legged buzzards (fjellvåk) by now.

We've also heard and seen a common buzzard in the air, so we really hope to get that one to pose for us as well, up close for even better photos than before.

(Musvåk in Norwegian)

My album of photos from Greece here.

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Unlike the shy black stork I uploaded from Greece yesterday, the white storks (Ciconia ciconia) were all over.

Both in the air, nesting in the villages, and like here- filling the fields when the farmers plowed the fields.

It was interesting to see all these big birds walking among the baled grass and tractor, instead of lots of gulls like we are used to in Norway.

The white stork breeds in a variety of habitats across Europe and North Africa, notably in open areas like farmlands and wetlands.

It doesn't breed in Norway, but visits us now and then.

(Stork in Norwegian)

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

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The only black stork (Ciconia nigra) I've seen, in northern Greece last May. We found it right before leaving for the airport.

I hope to see this special and shy bird again in better conditions some time.

The dark feathers turns beautiful and glossy when the sun shines on them.

The black stork occurs in eastern Europe and Asia. It has also visited Norway a few times. Some isolated populations are found in southwestern Spain and southern Africa.

Most black storks are migratory birds that winter in subtropical and tropical regions of Africa, India and Southeast Asia. The populations in Spain and southern Africa are resident birds.

(Svartstork in Norwegian)

My album of photos from Greece here.

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Last year, I photographed barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) both in Norway, Greece and Kenya.

This one collected nest materials in a pond on a dirt road in Greece in May.

(Låvesvale in Norwegian)

My album of photos from Greece here.

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