Norway - Oslo to Hardangervidda (17Jul2017)

We landed very late in Oslo and secured our rental car which was a little unnerving because I couldn't figure out how to put the car in park.  It was a little hybrid Mercedes with a strange shift system and the only way I could put the car in park was to open my door.  Opening the door automatically put the car in park so thats how we did it the rest of the trip.  The Nav System was all in Norwegian and it took us about 30 minutes to find someone on the street that could figure out how to switch it to English.  Norwegian is a strange language and not easy to decipher even if you can speak other romantic languages.  Finally at midnight, we headed to the city center for our hotel.  I wouldn't have had it any other way.

The hotel was a nice boutique hotel that had a breakfast spread in an old wine cellar.  As we quickly learned, breakfast in Norway was oh so good.  Real eggs, fresh baked bread, smoked salmon and coffee that puts coffee at the Hilton Garden Inn in Greensboro to shame.  While Melissa did her morning ablutions, I visited a nearby city park and started racking up the lifers.

My first bird was a juvenile Hooded Crow.  Its amazing how familiarity breeds contempt.  I was so excited to see this bird, and by the end of the trip I wasn't even giving them the time of day.

Fieldfare

Common Wood Pigeon

Adult Hooded Crow

Melissa joined me and we headed to the famous sculpture garden at Frogner Park.  Melissa was primarily looking at the sculptures while I looked at the birds, but I did soak up some of the art too.

This orgy pillar was pretty cool if you are into that sort of thing.

Common Magpie

Fieldfare

Tufted Duck I think.

Common Sandpiper

Tufted Duck with a proper tuft.

White Wagtail

Its hard enough not knowing the local adult birds but then trying to figure out the juveniles is tough.

European Blue Tit

Jackdaw!

American Lady with a Rock Dove

Tufted Duck

Black-headed Gull

We had a long haul to our next destination in the Fjords plus I wanted to stop a couple times on the way so we headed out of Oslo by noon.  A couple things about driving in Norway.  You need a Nav System because there are cameras on the side of the road that serve as tolls and I think they will send you tickets if you are speeding.  The Nav System flashes a warning every time one on the cameras is within 200 yards.  Tunnels.... Lots of tunnels.  Be ready to spend a quarter of your driving in tunnels.

About half way into our drive I told Melissa I had to stretch my legs, but truth be told I saw eBird had reports of Reed Buntings in the area.  So we pulled off and took a nice walk in a random park.  Bingo!  Reed Buntings.  The wind was crazy and the birds far off so these cropped photos are not the best but a lifer is a lifer.

I noticed half the birds in Norway had some food items stored in their bills for all the little chicks waiting for them.  That is what birding in July is going to get you.



After bagging my Reed Buntings we started our beautiful ride up to the "Vidda".  The Hardangervidda is a massive mountain plateau stretching across all of central Norway.  The habitat is amazing.  Windswept rolling hills with moss and lichen everywhere.  Probably one of the highlights of the trip for me.  I really want to go back and maybe some day run the Hardangervidda Marathon.

European Plover up in the Vidda.

Northern Wheatear

Willow Ptarmigan!!!!

Hmm, Meadow Pipit?  My Collins guide says they can be washed out but this one had very little color below.
 

A hunting shack at the end of the rainbow.

Our little Mercedes and another hunting shack.  What a beautiful and moody place.

Queen of the Vidda

Mew Gulls in a random lake in the Vidda.

Reed Bunting again!

Female Reed Bunting

Bluethroat! What a looker.  Only one I saw the whole trip.

If you zoom in you will see this guy was driving sled dogs with a training set up for summertime sledding.

The whole trip I kept telling Melissa I wanted to go back to the Vidda.  That place is special and I shall return, mark my words.  Next stop, Eidfjord!