The memories..

Spring is in the air

Happy spring to all you fellow northern hemisphere types. And a good autumn, monsoon or continued sunny days to the rest of you.

That's all folks.. Merry Yule!

 The days get longer and brighter 

(in the northern hemisphere)once again,- Rejoice! 

I wish you all the best of times.

Meet the birds.. December 24th

Now I like to share my memorable moment, 

and my favourite bird,- 

the one responsible for making me all feathery-eyed,- 

Behold The Coot!

For that we have to go across the pond. Although you do get them some places in Oslo, this is, for me, a true Londoner. 

I met and grew to love this angry, feisty breed there. They are funny looking, and quite aggressive, but I love them. 

One has to respect the coot, who will manke a nest on an anchor attached to a house boat in the docklands of London year after year. Or the anchor of the floating Chinese restaurant. 

I have never seen more fuss over the placement of a single stick in a nest. I watched for 20mins, and still it wasn't done.. ONE stick!

Meet the birds.. December 23rd

This is Frøydis. 

She lives by our cabin, and takes care of two little ones, 

while her dandy husband is out womanising.

We love you Frøydis! 

Meet the birds.. December 22nd

This is Brynhildr.

She is really feeling that music. 

Her wide spread wings are handy for conducting. 

Though I'm sure she wishes she had thumbs.

Meet the birds.. December 21st

This is Gulliver.

He has sorted the most important present out,- his.

He probably won't get you anything. Sorry.

Meet the birds.. December 20th

This is Pilombo.

This dear little parakeet, who was definitely NOT an Easter-chicken (according to himself), was a lovely and huge personality.

Unfortunately,- he is now the ghost of Christmas past.

"Your lip is trembling," said the Ghost. 

"And what is that upon your cheek?"

A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens

Meet the birds.. December 19th

This is Svendsen.

He has just spotted the queue 

outside Strøm Larsen. 

Luckily they have a ticket system, 

which there is also a queue for.

Meet the birds.. December 18th

Meet Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, Feste and Maria.

They are Bohemian waxwings. Waxwings are known for being particularly fond of fermented berries. 

They will confine themselves no finer than they are.. 

They sing: 

 

"What is love? 'tis not hereafter;

Present mirth hath present laughter;

What's to come is still unsure:

In delay there lies no plenty;

Then come kiss me, sweet and twenty,

Youth's a stuff will not endure."

Twelfth Night, Act 2, Scene 3

Meet the birds.. December 17th

This is Leonard the chaffinch.

Leonard wonders if you've been naughty or nice.

Meet the birds.. December 16th

This is Oddvar. 

He showed up in January 2015 He is quite shy.

I feed him apples. Oddvar likes apples. 

Meet the birds.. December 15th

This is Hansine and Knut. 

They are enjoying a little Christmas party. 

Also they prefer bread to potatoes, as a variant from their usual seeds. They can eat a lot..

Meet the birds.. December 14th

This is Runa and Claus. 

They are taking a break from the Yuletide jingles on the wireless, and instead enjoying the Strawberry King. They are loving it! :-D 

Meet the birds.. December 13th

This is Maggie. 

She has definitely NOT stolen any tinsel. Nope, it wasn't her. It was merely left by some..erm..one.. erm.. celebrating St. Lucy, and, and erm, LIGHT in these um, dark times. Oh, look over there,- Lussekatter!

Meet the birds.. December 12th

This is Patrick.

Patrick is quite the inquisitive fellow, and he sure likes his gløgg (mulled wine). So much so that his beak grows to about twice its regular size (in order to reach the liquid sweetness that gets him through the cold season).

Cheers our darling starling!

Meet the birds.. December 11th

This is Bertie. 

He is a fond memory, as there used to be lots of Eurasian bullfinches in our garden in Toppenhaug. He is appreciating a typical decoration of my childhood,- the famous dorullnisse (bog roll gnome,- it doesn't translate well). 

Most Norwegian children in kindergarten would proudly give their lucky parents these beautiful, and personal, decorations for Xmas.

Meet the birds.. December 10th

This is Gertrude.

She was enjoying herself so much in the food dish this morning, I had to wait until she was done before I could refill it. Most birds fly away when they spot me peering down at them from the window. But not Gertrude,- "Wait your turn" she seemed to say,- "I'm not yet done". 

She is a Eurasian tree sparrow. The male and female Eurasian tree sparrow look the same, they strongly resemble the more common male House sparrow. But can be recognised by their beautiful chestnut coloured crown, and the characteristic black dot on their cheek.  

Meet the birds.. December 9th

This is Bernard.
He's cooking up a feast,- although, being a robin,- he might not share.... Apparently in contrast to the known, and much loved tameness of the British robins, Continental robins are known to be shy and generally unapproachable... Chew on that if you will (I read that on the internet, so it must be true!)

Meet the birds.. December 8th

This is the ever famous vulture of Christmas, 

also known as Bob.

Bob has not visited us, but maybe he should. He and his wake of fellow vultures might need to help clean up after all the parties... I hope not too much food will go to waste this season. 

Bob says "Ho Ho freaking Ho"

Meet the birds.. December 7th

Meet Baldrick and Tintin. 

They are our tiniest guests, (of the feathered persuasion anyway). Like most tits they come one at a time, each taking just one seed, (preferably a sunflower seed), then fly off to enjoy it in their tree. (This is quite unlike the sparrows who like to just bask in the food dish and eat all the seeds they can possibly reach. A bit uncivil those sparrows...)

Meet the birds.. December 6th

This is Edmund.

He's the second bird to adapt our open window as his entrance. Although he was far from as elegant as Tensing. He had to be "escorted out" a few times because he got a bit too excited by it all. He developed the knack eventually.

Meet the birds.. December 5th

This is Manfred. 

He lives with his brothers and sisters, and likes tea and biscuits. Although it's not so important about the tea... and really bread is better than biscuits. But he is willing to jump for it.

Meet the birds.. December 4th

This is Kåre Ferdinand. He is a scheming crow. One simply cannot but be impressed by his cunningly clever ways. Respect Kåre F,- Respect!

Meet the birds... December 3rd

This is Herbert,- a European Goldfinch (stillits). He hangs out with his posse along the riverbank eating Thistle seeds. They are all very dapper (the finches, not the seeds..).

Meet the birds... December 2nd

This is Gunnar. He lives here in the neighbourhood together with Gunnvor. He tries to impress her a lot with his prancing, and puffing out his voluminous chest. I picture him being a brilliant baritone.  

Meet the birds... December 1st

And so the seasonal countdown begins once again. 

I thought I'd introduce you to some of The Monkey and my little, feathered friends.

This is Tensing. 

She is a great tit. She is the bravest one of all, and the first one to start coming into our apartment to pay us a visit (and eat her seeds there). So naturally she would be the first one to light the candle... well,- she would if she could :-)

Together

Bon appétit

Hope you all have a great weekend!

My first friend in Nairobi

Behold the crowned crane

The sea witch