Birdwatching

Sometimes I wake up early, around 5 am or so, and I can hear the seagulls crying in the distance. They are actually not so far away. They live along the Akerselva river, which is the river that divides Oslo east and Oslo west. Our apartment is about a five-minute walk from the river. The gulls did not live along the river earlier, but I think like most creatures, they have discovered that humans leave food about and that is the great magnet that draws them into the city. There is more food about now because there are quite a lot of newly-built apartment complexes along the river. If I close my eyes and listen to the gulls, I could imagine that I was out in a boat on the ocean, listening to them as they fly overhead. It is odd to think that they have invaded the city. I admire them, like I admire most birds. They adapt. They disappear for some years and then return when conditions are more favorable. God knows where they have gone to in the meantime. This year Oslo has seagulls, magpies, doves, pigeons and sparrows in abundance, and they are all flying about, calling to one another and looking for food to feed their families. I love watching and listening to them. Our apartment has small balconies that can be used in the case of fire, but not for much else. However, the birds love sitting there, and if we throw bread crumbs out, they are there within minutes. It has been interesting to watch the pecking order so to speak—the sparrows must wait their turn while the pigeons feast, but when the magpies arrive, the pigeons move down a rung on the ladder. The magpies rule. They are cool birds. We have watched them annoy the local neighborhood cats—pulling on their tails—and the cats take the abuse. It is seldom that we have seen a cat turn and attack a magpie. The magpies strut and hop about, calling to each other. It is interesting to listen to them ‘talk’ to each other. They shriek. The doves also call to each other, but they do not shriek like the magpies. The magpies have nested in the tree outside our bedroom window. If you are a light sleeper, you may find them a bit irritating. I am a light sleeper at times, but I do not find them irritating at all. I am glad for their presence in the city—glad for the presence of all the birds.

The pigeons are the tamest of all the city birds—they will take a piece of bread from your fingers if you offer it, and this seems to characterize them no matter where you are in the world (Trafalgar Square in London comes to mind—although feeding the pigeons there is a part of a bygone era). They are also the birds I think might one day attempt a foray into our living room. Three of them sat on the ledge outside our open living room window tonight and peered in. They are funny to watch in the wintertime—they stand outside the kitchen window ‘waiting’ for food, and a few of them have actually tapped on the glass. It is endearing. This reminds me of the swans and the Canadian geese that swim right up to our boat when we are out on the Oslo fjord in the hope of obtaining some food, which they usually get. Both of these types of birds hiss, and at times the swans have actually ‘bitten’ the boat in an effort to get our attention or to get even more food. Swans are beautiful birds. When we traveled up and down the Telemark Canal some years ago with our boat, there were many swans at nearly all the local wharfs we stopped at. When we vacationed on the island of Strømtangen some years ago, which has an old house connected to a lighthouse, we would awake in the morning to a number of swallows that sat on the edge of our bedroom window. They simply sat there and watched us as we slept. They would also fly about, swooping up and down, almost like bats, but did not fly into the room. They were also pretty amazing birds. We are not very good at identifying all of the different birds around us, so the purchase of a Norwegian bird book is in order. We’ve been talking about it for a while and hopefully we’ll get around to doing so this summer.

An ordinary Friday in an ordinary life

I am writing this post today at home (a day off from work) and listening to the birds sing outside my window. It is spring in the middle of May but the temperature is no more than about 50 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s like that over most of Europe and my husband told me that it wasn’t much warmer in NY. I always envy my friends in NY when I hear that the temperatures are in the 80s there while we sit here and feel the chill of a never-ending winter. Some people may like winter, the snow, the cold, and the feel of skis on their feet. They look forward to it. Not me. I look forward to lazy summer days, humidity, slowing down because the outside temperature is so hot that it forces you to, barbecues, hanging out with friends, being out on the boat and just relaxing in the sun. Winter is not a relaxing season. Too many pieces of clothing and accessories that need to be donned. Summer is relaxing—less clothing, sandals or bare feet, the feeling of being unfettered by excess clothing. We need summer in order to get the warmth into our bones, in order to slow down and to prepare ourselves for a new winter. I know I am this way and I am sure that there are others like me. My mother never used to complain about the weather. She used to go out walking in all kinds of weather, and was known as a great walker in the town she lived in (Tarrytown NY). I remember feeling irritated sometimes as children when she told us not to let the weather bother us. She was right, of course, but I find that I cannot just ignore the weather. I get irritated if the day is cloudy when it was predicted sunny, and cold if warm was predicted. I feel cheated out of something, I’m just not sure of what!

I have become like most Norwegians and Oslo-ites. At the first hint of a warm spring sun, they’re outside in droves. They leave work early and find their way outside to cafes and outdoor restaurants and activities. I do the same now, because I know that I cannot take the sun and warmth for granted. It may be just a one-day happening and then you need to take advantage of that immediately. Tanning salons are popular here in the winter. I have never been to one, but I am starting to understand why people use them. Thank God for the electrically-heated floors in our bathrooms—it is so nice to step out of the shower and onto a warm floor. The bathrooms are always warm. It feels great on a cold day.

But back to the birds. They carry on their business, unaffected by the temperature, the lack of fully-budded leaves on the trees, the chill in the air. They have a goal, to raise a family and by God, they are doing it, rain or shine, cold or warm. Something to learn from them, perhaps. On gray and chilly days like these, when I know that it is SUPPOSED to be warm and spring-like, I just want to go back to bed, sleep and wake up when the temperatures are behaving as they should and when spring has finally decided to appear for good.

But is this cold weather the result of global warming? Or the result of the volcanic eruptions and resulting ash clouds from Iceland? No one can really say for sure. Certainly not the weather scientists. If ever there was a pseudo-science, meteorology must be it. Critics of psychology say it is a pseudo-science, but how is meteorology any better? Just follow the weather reports for a month and you will see how wrong the meteorologists often are. You could play the stock market and win money about as often as their predictions are correct.