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 birding...

         Norway

 







Dipper Cinclus cinclus ©Terje Kolaas http://www.northernbirding.com

Norway stretches 1800 kilometers in a north-south direction, and while the coastal areas are humid and surprisingly warm in winter, this is not the case once you move inland. The fjordlands and mountains in the west, woodlands in the east and arctic conditions in the north probably makes Norway one of the most diverse countries regarding habitats.

Some of the best places to go birding in southern Norway are located along the south-western coasts between Lista and Stavanger. Lista Bird Observatory is one of the largest and definitely has the best coverage of Norwegian bird observatories, and is located in Farsund commune south of Flekkefjord. This area is good for anything, including raptors and shorebirds. Further west, just south of Stavanger, there is the Jaeren wetland system. There is lots of good wetland- and coastal birding here. Both Lista and Jaeren are best during migration, and so hold few or none of the Scandinavian specialities. If you visit Oslo, then the northern parts of the lake Öyeren to the east of the city is well worth a visit, particularly in spring and early autumn.

The best mountain birding in southern Norway is at Hardangervidda. Sought-after species such as Gyr Falcon, Great Snipe, Temminck`s Stint, Red-necked Phalarope, Horned Lark, Bluethroat and Lapland Longspur all breed here.

Woodlands in the east and central part of the country hold a variety of owls and woodpeckers, most easily found in early spring. Woodland birding can be difficult - it is all about finding the right spots and it helps if you can identify birds from songs and calls.

Seabird colonies are scattered all around the coasts of Norway, but auks are scarce breeders south of the famous bird island Runde near Ålesund. Other large seabird concentrations are in the Lofotan islands, and Röst in particular, as well as along the Varanger peninsula. Birding the arctic along Varanger and in Pasvik is probably the most spectacular birding Norway can offer, the seabird migration in May is astonishing and arctic specialities such as Steller`s Eider, King Eider, Brünnich`s Guillemot, Siberian Tit and Siberian Jay are easily added to a trip-list together with lots of other good birds.

Birding is still a minority pastime in Norway, with a few hundred active birders and around 5,000 members of Norsk Ornitologisk Forening the Norwegian BirdLife International partner. Lots of good birds go undetected, we are only able to cover a tiny fraction of the thousands of islands along the coast each autumn, when eastern rarities turn up almost everywhere.

This page brought to you in association with:
The Norwegian Birding Route

 

 

  contributor

 

Alf Tore Mjøs
Norsk Natur Informasjon - NNI
(Birding Norway)
contact@birdingnorway.no
http://www.birdingnorway.no/

  numbers

 
Number of bird species:463

  useful reading

 

Books, CDs etc

Most areas in Europe are adequately covered by Europe wide fieldguides etc. See the Fatbirder Europe page...

  useful information

 

National Bird


Dipper Cinclus cinclus

Proact


Coordinator: none (why not apply?)
see http://www.proact-campaigns.net/coordinators
Members: 16
Join us at http://www.proact-campaigns.net/team

  clubs

 

Dalane Lokallag NOF

http://www.mhs.no/artman2_4/publish/index.shtml
Observations, activities etc. (in Norwegian)

Finnmark County NOF

http://www.geocities.com/egnter/e_finndex.htm
The Norwegian Ornithological Society (NOF) is the society for birding and bird protection! At the moment we have approximately 6.000 members all over Norway. Except for Sogn og Fjordane there is a department in every county. In addition there are 57 local groups. All groups and departments arrange both meetings and excursions. They also take part in a variety of projects for information and bird protection. Several birding magazines (mostly in Norwegian) are published...

Norsk Ornitologisk Forening avd. Nord-Trøndelag

http://www.nofnt.no/
Nord-Trøndelag er et fylke med et meget variert fugleliv. Vi har noen av landet beste lokaliteter fra kysten, via fjord ferskvann, skog og myrer til høyfjell...

Norsk Ornitologisk Forening avd.Oslo & Akershus

http://www.naturnett.org/nofoa/
Norsk ornitologisk forening er en landsomfattende organisasjon for alle fugleinteresserte. Foreningen arbeider for å øke kunnskapen om fuglelivet og verne om fuglene og deres livsmiljø. Vi er altså fylkesavdelingen for Oslo og Akershus, og består pr. idag av ca.650 medlemmer. Dersom du ønsker å vite mer om oss kan du klikke på deg rundt på våre sider. Her vil du bl.a finne ut mer om medlemsbladet vårt, ulike prosjekter vi driver, hvordan du kan bli medlem mm...

Norwegian Ornithological Society - Norsk Ornitologisk Forening

http://www.naturnett.org/nofoa/
Seminarplassen 5, N-7060 Klaebu. +47 72 831166; fax +47 72 831255; norornis@online.no
The Norwegian Ornithological Society (NOF) is the organisation for bird protection and conservation in Norway! NOF has about 6000 members. The members constitue the societys backbone, and by becoming a NOF-member you will give us a hand in protecting the birds, and you will appreciate the offers and information NOF gives you...

Norwegian Rarities Committee:

http://www.nskf.org/
The website is only in Norwegian...

  observatories

 

Akerøya Bird Observatory


Akerøya Bird Observatory, located on the east side of the Oslo fjord in the south-east of Norway. Latest observations, ringing results and pictures.

Jomfruland Fuglestasjon

http://jomfruland.no/birding/
Now in both Norwegian & English! Jomfruland Bird Observatory is situated at the north tip of the island of Jomfruland. Making up the outer coast line in this section of the gulf of Skagerak, the island consists largely of boulderes only. Migrating birds follow the coast line, and pass the northern tip both in spring and autumn. Add some scenic and varied nature, and this makes up an extraordinary experience for the nature lover...

Slettnes Bird Observatory

http://www.geocities.com/egnter/e_finndex.htm
The station is run by World Wildlife Fund - Norway...

Turoy Bird Observatory

http://www.zoo.uib.no/turoy/ind_en.php
Turoy Bird Observatory is located on the outer coastline NW of Bergen, half an hours drive from the city centre. We have ringed birds on this site in 1993 (end of September-October) and from the end of July in 1995-98. We use around 30 mist nets placed in different vegetation on the eastern part of this small island. On Turoy we do not trap large numbers of typical ringing station species such as goldcrest and tits, instead our target species are storm petrel, meadow pipit, Sylvia-warblers and thrushes. We borrow an old school house from the local people, who have been very cooperative and given us their permission to erect mistnets almost wherever we like.

Utsira Bird Observatory

http://home.no.net/utsira/e_start.html
Utsira is a small island 24 km southwest of Haugesund. It`s geographical site and size makes Utsira an unique place in Norway. Utsira is the site which has the most records of birds new to Norway. Utsira Bird Observatory was formally established the autumn of 1992.

  reserves

 

Wetlands

http://www.ramsar.org
Norway presently has 37 sites designated as Wetlands of International Importance, with a surface area of 116,369 hectares...

  trip reports

 

Travelling Birder
http://www.travellingbirder.com
The Travellingbirder.com birding trip report search engine guides you to 7,000+ birding trip reports on the Internet. You can search for trip reports from a specific country and time of year. Not all these reports are in English. So, if you can’t find the trip report you want on this Fatbirder page… give them a try!

2001 [June] - Ignacio Yúfera- Veranger

http://www.birdtours.co.uk/tripreports/norway/Varanger/Varanger2001.htm
From a birder`s point of view, the Varanger Peninsula is a fantastic place. In five and a half days of birding I saw 74 species, maybe not a lot in terms of numbers but being my first time in Northern Scandinavia, almost every bird was a big thrill. Although some of the species listed below can be seen in Spain and Southern Europe in winter, here they were all in full breeding plumage. Of my target species I only missed Yellow-billed Loon Gavia adamsii and Snowy Owl Nictea scandiaca (apparently this hasn`t been a good year for the latter)...

2003 Jelger Herder - Svalbard

http://www.digitalnature.org/svalbard2003.html
Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, located about midway between Norway and the North Pole. Svalbard lies between 74° North and 81° North latitude. The climate is mild for the high latitude, this is because of the warm sea current that flows around the west coast...

2003 [April] Martin J Pitt

http://www.surfbirds.com/mb/trips/finland-mp-0403.html
The North of Finland and its easy access to Varanger mean that this area of Europe has relatively simple access to some of the most specialised species on the European (and Western Palearctic) list. It has therefore become a firm favourite of the birder`s itinerary and many reports have concentrated on a trip in June or even later in the summer.

2003 [July] - F. Simpson - Arctic Norway

http://www.fssbirding.org.uk/finlandnorway2003trip.htm
This report documents the sightings on a two week whistle-stop birding tour of Finland and north-eastern Norway from the Baltic Sea to the Arctic Ocean (and back) via the Central Lakeland, Oulu Province, Koillismaa Region, Lapland, Varangerfjord, Karelia and the South Coast. For the most part the notes are copied straight from my notebook and reflect the shorthand nature of observations written in the field...

2003 [June] Gerry Griffiths - Finland and Norway Tour

http://www.birdtours.co.uk/avian-adventures/finland/finland.htm
...Further on we took a short detour towards Toivoniemi where birds were in short supply compared to previous visits. A Wood Sandpiper flew up from the edge of the roadside while a little further on, 3 male Ruffs were lekking right on the edge of the road...

2003 [June] John van der Woude

http://home.kabelfoon.nl/~trogon/Scand2003/text.html
Late May, early June seems to be the ideal time for a birding visit to northern Scandinavia. Wintering birds like Steller`s Eider are still present, summer birds like Red-flanked Bluetail and Rustic Bunting have arrived (early June); and residents like Gyr Falcon and owls have nestlings while others are defending their territories...

2004 [August] - Janne Aalto - Lofoten

http://koti.mbnet.fi/caligata/lof.html
Like always when we have crossed the Norwegian border we haven`t seen almost any birds before the view to the sea had opened. Now we reached the sea near Narvik and right away we saw some birds but much more interesting were the beautiful views! Mountains were rising straight from the azure-blue sea, and even the weather was really good - 25 degrees and no wind at all! We really started to think that winter jackets and hats and other winter clothes wouldn`t be so necessary on this trip...

2004 [July] - Lutz Lücker

http://www.birdtours.co.uk/tripreports/scandinavia/scand5/scan-july-04.htm
...The usual Arctic Divers near Höbäcken car park S of Hudiksvall. No Lesser white-fronted Geese there. They were to arrive 2 days later….First displaying Woodcock near Lycksele at 7 pm...

2004 [July] - Massimiliano Dettori - Spitzbergen

http://www.travellingbirder.com/tripreports/default.php
I have been in Spitzbergen only for a week in mid July 2004. The main reason of my trip was nothing scientific but to twitch some artic bird species. I travelled with a friend of mine, Alberto, who is not really interested in birds. Unfortunately we could not have the possibility to have a boat trip to the northern part of the island (Ny-Alesund) as we planned, so I could not add to the list species as Long-tailed Skua or Sabine`s Gull...

2004 [July] - Stephen Burch

http://www.stephenburch.com/trips/norway/norway.htm
A business trip arranged at short notice to Trondeim gave me this opportunity for a follow-up to my earlier brief experiences of northern birding in Sweden in 2002...

2004 [June] - Avian Adventures

http://www.birdtours.co.uk/avian-adventures/finland/fin-nor-2004.htm
...Our morning was spent walking around and enjoying simply fantastic close encounters with all of the species: comical-looking Puffins, delightful Black Guillemots and aggressive Shags, all at almost touching distance...

2004 [March] - David Walker - Varanger Fjord, Northern Norway

http://www.kentos.org.uk/Trip%20Reports/Varanger.htm
In 1992 Birding World published a short article on winter birding in Northern Norway describing huge numbers of Steller`s and King Eiders along with Gyr Falcons and Brunnich`s Guillemots, White-tailed Eagles and Siberian Tits. Since then I have harboured a desire to make such a trip but have always been under the impression that the costs would be prohibitive...

2005 [May] - Stephen Burch

http://www.stephenburch.com/trips/norway05/norway05.htm
Another business trip, this time to Bergen, gave me the chance to visit this site in central Norway within reasonable reach of Bergen. It is reputed to be good for both White-backed and Grey-headed Woodpecker...

2007 [July] - Lutz Lücker

http://louiscrex.skyrock.com/
...cock Ptarmigan (Lagopède alpin) (Alpenschneehuhn) and a female Dotterel (Pluvier guignard) (Mornellregenpfeifer) in my study area, 2 Black-throated Divers (Plongeon arctique) (Prachttaucher) on the Lake at km 4 of the Batsfjord road with 2 LTS. In Bärbel's area we spot the PSP and another Dotterel (Pluvier guignard) (Mornellregenpfeifer). Still no nest...

  local guides

 

Bird Watching In Norway - The 2003 Holiday Program

http://www.birdwatching-in-norway.com/
I have developed a range of short break, holidays here in Norway. The holidays are timed through the year from April to July, offering the visiting birder a range of itineraries and locations through southern Norway. Where possible, the holidays are based on flights with Ryanair from London and Glasgow, to such destinations as Sandefjord and Haugesund. Not only will these flights open up birding opportunities in the south and west of Norway, they give you the chance to obtain cheap air tickets. The holidays are based in friendly hotels, motels and mountain lodges, I have secured good rates for the coming season, making these trips great value for money with some as low as £284 per. person pluss the costs of your return fare to Norway. It is also possible for you to arrive by boat and take your own car. After joining me on one of my bird watching trips, you can pick up your own vehicle and explore Norway on your own.

Birding Norway

http://www.birdingnorway.no/
Are you visiting Norway for birding? Then you have come to the right place! Birding Norway is a brand new offer for those who don`t want to waste any time searching for the best birding sites.

Birding Pal

http://www.birdingpal.org/Norway.htm
Local birders willing to show visiting birders around their area...

Ecotours Norway

http://www.eco-norway.com/eco-norway/main.asp?cat=0&lang=no
Ecotours Norway offers specialised tours for birdwatchers and eco-tourists. We combine unique activities with bird observation, and arrange tours into many unknown habitats. See our autumn-tours with Siberian Jay, Tree toed woodpecker as the highlights. Crane dance in April and the Black grouse display in springtime, are also among the favourites....

Eirik Grønningsæter

http://www.wildnature.no
...guiding in Møre& Romsdal, Norway... see also: http://www.wildnature.no/guiding.htm

Finnature

http://www.finnature.fi/
Finnature offers travel arrangements and itinerary services for groups in Finland, Norway and Estonia, Highly trained English speaking birding guides, Brown Bear watching and photography opportunities, Wildlife and landscape photography tours and Wildlife photos and lectures.

Grouse Expeditions

http://www.grouseexpeditions.com/
We are specialised in birding tours but in addition we have included fishing tours to some of the forgotten wild waters of northern Scandinavia and some adventure tours. Another activity is the part for photographers, we have several hides on breeding or displaying sites for various animals and can arrange something for most other species according to demand...

Northern Birding

http://www.northernbirding.com
If you`re a passionate photographer or a dedicated birdwatcher this is the site for you! We`ll help you find and photograph Norway`s most exclusive birds! Northern Birding offers pre-arranged birding- and photo tours or custom made trips for you or your group.

Northern Birding - Terje Kolaas

http://www.northernbirding.com
Guided tours with base close to Trondheim. Coast, fjords, boreal forrest and high mountain species. Day-trips, weekend-tours and target tours. Offers photo-hides for some of the scandinavian specialities...

  mailing lists

 

Fugler.net

http://www.fugler.net/
Diskusjons grupper - Her er det mulig å diskutere litt av hvert. Det kan være observasjoner, artsbestemming, ringmerking, turer og mye mer. Du kan spørre om hjelp om du lurer på noe. Tipse andre om ting. Eller bare komme med en mening. Bruk siden aktivt, det er deg den er til for! The site will soon have an English version.

Scandinavia

mailto:sakseid@ifi.uio.no
To post to list:sakseid@ifi.uio.no.
List contact:Bjorn Einar Sakseid
Mailing List – Discussion Group Send your request to join the mailing list for Norway, Sweden and Denmark (and automatically receive EuroBirdNet postings)

  other links

 

Birding Between Borders - Morten Günther`s Homepages

http://home.online.no/~egnter/
Welcome to my Northern homepage from Sør-Varanger, Norway! This website contains information about my favourite interests; ornithology, birding, scouting and nature preservation.

Birding in Norway

http://www.birdwatchnorway.com/
Norway—the land of the midnight sun. Known for its mountains, fjords and rugged scenery. Bird watching in virtually untouched nature is always exciting, be it Norway’s premier Arctic birding location, the Varanger Peninsula or the Pasvik Valley. However, one does not have to travel to beyond the arctic circle to enjoy watching Norway’s bird life...

Birding Sites

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/worldwidebirdsites/Norway.htm
The land of the midnight sun; what the holiday brochures don`t tell you though, is that it is also the land of the mosquitoes, and believe me there are plenty of them. Norway has a large variety of habitats, ranging from broad-leafed deciduous forests in the south, to Arctic tundra in the north. In between you will find a country that contains 455,000 lakes, 42 sizeable rivers and 9 of the world`s 20 highest waterfalls...

Birds in Hordaland - Fugler i Hordaland

http://cyberbirding.uib.no/nof/
County birding news, the best birding sites, galleries, mailing list, local rarities comittee and much more from Hordaland county on the western coast of Norway. Norwegian only...

Birds of the Veranger Peninsula

http://www.tommy777.addr.com/Varangerpage.htm
The scope for this site is to give interested birders some information about this unique birding area of Europe. During the months of June and July there are always a lot of visiting birders here, both Norwegians and foreigners with telescopes is a common sight along the road. During the other ten months of the year however, the picture is somewhat different. There are only a very few birders in the area, and it goes without saying that this is not nearly enough to cover the area adequately...

Birdwatching in Norway - Eddie Chapman

http://www.birdwatching-in-norway.com
Thank you for looking in on my homepage. If you are a bird watcher, I am sure you will find something of interest, especially if you are visiting Norway. For your information, my home page is divided into two main sections. Bird watching in Norway covers all the counties. The counties are then broken down into municipal councils areas. As one would expect with such a large site, not all areas are covered, but Bird Watching In Norway is being continually updated. If however you need specific information on a certain area, please feel free to send me an e-mail. For some areas you will also find a section covering latest observations.

Fuglenytt fra Hordaland - Norwegian Cyberbirding

http://cyberbirding.uib.no/
A very nicely presented site with excellent photos and observations...

Fugler (Birds)

http://www.fugler.no/
Looks like all sorts of goodies - mostly just in Norwegian.

Fugler.net

http://www.fugler.net/
Latest observations

LRSK Ostfold

http://home.online.no/~pe-johan/
Den Lokale Rapport og Sjeldenhetskommitè for Østfold.

Natural Born Birder

http://www.naturalbornbirder.com/
In 2006 I will start what seems to be a unique project within Norway - the daily systematic counting of migrating of seabirds as they head north up the Norwegian coast. At present there is no external funding whatsoever but I just had to do it anyway..... Most birders have thought about doing something like this - I am actually doing it. This website will present the the results...

NetNatur

http://www.netnatur.dk/
Catch all nature site.

Norwegian Birding Route

http://www.norwegian-birding-route.com
The Norwegian birding route has been created to cover a selection of regions in western Norway that are not only good for bird watching, but also offer a wide range of cultural experiences. To start with, you will be staying at holiday homes that are connected to farms. This way, you will get the chance to experience unique accommodation as well as meet the owners. They will only be to pleased to tell you about their local area...

Norwegian Gull Page

http://cyberbirding.uib.no/gull/
Another excellently presnted page - Lots of pictures of gulls in Norway. Different age, races, hybrids and so on...

Ole Johannes Myrvoll's birding site

http://birding.piczo.com
Ole Johannes Myrvolls birding site; Photos, Observations etc.

Ornitologi

http://dyn.startsiden.no/kategorier/hobby_og_fritid/friluftsliv/ornitologi/?links=1&cat=
Pekerne i denne kategorien passer for deg som liker å observere fugler i sitt naturlige miljø...

Robin Johanssons Birding Diary

http://home.no/clay-burn/
Species lists for regular birding outings - in Norwegian

Sveinung Hobberstad`s Homepage

http://www.sveinunghobberstad.net/index_eng.htm
Since I was a little kid I have been interested in birds. Then I liked to look after nests, and as many kids I had a little collection of eggs. Later I always have been interested, but when I was young I was not very active. In 1993 I heard about the local Ornithological Society, and become a member there. Next year I was elected to the local council. I have been there since, most of the time as leader. I like very much to look at the birds in wild, but I also use much time ringing birds. Since 1998 I also had nursed many injured birds...

Where to go birding in Finnmark

http://home.online.no/~egnter/finnmark.htm
Finnmark - the northernmost county in Norway covers more than 48 000 km2. With only 48 000 inhabitants there should be plenty of space for everybody. The most important towns are Alta (9600 inhabitants); Hammerfest (6500); Vadsø (4700) and Kirkenes (3300).

Øygarden Birding

http://oeygardenbirds.blogspot.com/
Norwegian BLOG

  artists

 

Digiscoping from Norway

http://home.no.net/agu/
Excellent photographs and ID puzzlers...

Gallery - Natur specialisten

http://www.naturspesialisten.no/index.php?c=2&kat=galleri
Bird photos from Norway and WP

Gallery - Norwegian Cyberbirding

http://cyberbirding.uib.no/
Lots of pictures of both rarities and more common birds from Norway.

Gallery - Uvanlige fugler i Norge - Gallery of Rare Birds in Norway

http://www.naturamedia.no/funo/bild.htm
Just that… some [excellent for the most part] photographs of rarities that have turned up in Norway.

Photographer - Christain Tiller

http://www.fuglebilder.no
Digital Images of Rare and Unusual Norwegian Birds...

Photographer - Eirik Gronningsaeter

http://www.wildnature.no/
am a keen birder based in Norway, taking up wildlife photography as a hobby. My aim with these pages is to encourage others to get out into nature and discover the treasures and diversity in it...

Photographer - Jonas Langbratens

http://home.no.net/jonaslan/
Photogallery - Her vil du finne bilder av fugler og øvrig natur. Har du noen tips/kommentarer eller spørsmål til siden, er det bare å ta kontakt med meg på.

Photographer - Michael Bingley

http://www.michaelbingley.com/
Throughout much of the year I`m available to guide and assist visiting wildlife/photo enthusiasts in Oslo`s forested surroundings...

Photographer – Terje Kolaas

http://www.naturspesialisten.no
Over 500 Western Palearctic bird species - mainly from Scandinavia, besides Israel, UAE, Spain, Morocco, Croatia etc…

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