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CABC Scandinavia Choir Tour

Day 16: Birding to the Mountains

The next morning local birder Frøde Falkenberg picked me up for three days of birding in the area! We just had a great time chatting as we made our way up to the plateau, which was that lovely habitat we came through on the train. We drove alongside a fjord and crossed it at one point on a little ferry, then arrived in the little town of Voss, where we stopped at a little woodland called Prestegardsmoen, where we tripped across a suspension bridge and hooked up with a great trail, where we had a feeding flock of Goldcrests, three kinds of tits, Robins, Nuthatches, creepers, and Willow Warblers, plus a Spotted Flycatcher. In the river we had Common Sandpiper and Gray Heron, but it started spitting on us, so we headed back to the car. A Redwing sat on top of a spruce, and I discovered that I could take great shots through Frode’s knockout scope as well! It really came in handy!

One of Norway's dozens of tunnels Fjord on the way to Voss

Typical habitat around Voss Trailhead at Prestegardsmoen Preserve

Trail and associated birdies... Spotted Flycatcher Goldcrest

Mallard View of the river

Redwing, a large thrush, taken through Frode’s scope!

So after picking up some food we headed on up (I guess this is where we made the ferry crossing), made a quick stop at Norway’s tallest waterfall (Voringsfossen; "fossen" means "waterfall"), reserved a couple of rooms at a bed and breakfast type place, and then headed out on the tundra, into what according to the AAA map was Hardangervidda National Park. Things were really quiet, but we got great looks at Wheatear, Lapland Longspur, and Bluethroat right from the car!

Road to the tundra (eventually) Huge waterfall right on the highway!

(Note the stopped tour bus...)

We have to board a ferry and cross a fjord to get to where we’re going!

Frode next to Voringsfossen, Norway’s tallest waterfall

We finally make it to the tundra!

The area is dotted with little wetlands and creeks.

Lapland Longspurs Female Northern Wheatear

The dirt road we were on was called Tinnhølvegen (the "ø" is pronounced like a guttural "ew"; Frøde tried to give me a crash course on Norwegian vowels, but I don’t think it stuck...), and we went to the end to walk along the edge of a shallow alpine lake. It was windy, nippy, and quiet, but we did kick up a Horned Lark and several Meadow Pipits, plus a Merlin trying desperately to make a meal out of one! Also had a pair of Rough-legged Hawks, but that was about it for the birdlife. We stopped at a creek where Frøde gathered water to make coffee; I was rather dubious, but he assured me it was safe! After boiling the water with this fireless propane burner, we enjoyed the free-ranging sheep (these have much longer tails than any sheep I’ve ever seen) and then headed downhill, stopping at a golf course where we picked up lots of goodies: many Yellow Wagtails in with the Whites, a couple of Twites, cooperative Whinchats posing on the poles, and a juvenile Linnet that wasn’t supposed to be there! Trying for more Twites we scared up a redpoll instead (presumably Common up here, as opposed to the newly-split Lesser).