Photos from Northern Norway: A photo blog » Birds

Picture of Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) bird on birch tree log

Thomas Laupstad — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:34:36 +0000

Taken with Olympus E500 digital camera October 19th 2008. Click image for larger view.
Here I have photographed a beautiful Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) bird. This is the first time I have ever photographed a woodpecker as they are pretty rare and often fly off before you are able to take a good photo. The Great Spotted Woodpecker is one of our biggest woodpeckers and it is the most common woodpecker bird in Europe. The Great Spotted Woodpecker is about 25 cm long and weighs 70–90 g.
In the winter the bird eats seeds from spruce and pine trees, and some bark beetles. During the summer it mainly eats insects, but the Great Spotted Woodpecker is also known for breaking into nests and eating the young birds.

Check out my other photos of Norwegian birds here.

Information about the picture:
Camera: Olympus E-500 digital SLR camera
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/2000)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 300 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Lens: Olympus Zuiko Digital 70-300mm F4.0-5.6
Location: Fjellstrand in Nesodden, Akershus in southeast of Norway

Pictures of European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) feeding their young

Thomas Laupstad — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:02:25 +0000

The starling couple that I photographed and blogged about in this post laid eggs in the birdhouse on our barn this year too. Here is some pictures that of the starlings feeding their young.

Taken with Olympus E500 digital camera June 6th 2008. Click image for larger view.
It seems like this young starling was really excited to get a taste of the delicious bug. Notice the tongue sticking out

Ahh, food! The parent really makes sure that the young starling is swallowing her/his food.

The young starling waits for more bugs to arrive. If you click on the image to view it large you can see a cute little feather on the head of the young starling.
I wonder how the other young birds are able to get food when this one is blocking their access to feasting on bugs..

This parent starling seemed a bit worried about my presence, but a few moments later it fed the larvae to a hungry young starling.

Trying to reach each other..

The young birds are now out of the birdhouse and the starling couple lays on a second batch of eggs.
I want to thank the starlings for posing for me and keeping down the bug population in the neighborhood

Information about the pictures:
Camera: Olympus E-500 digital SLR camera
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/500)
Aperture: f/8
Focal Length: 300 mm
ISO Speed: 200 and 400
Lens: Olympus Zuiko Digital 70-300mm F4.0-5.6
Location: Laupstad (Andørja), Troms in Northern Norway

Pictures of Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus) on the coast in Northern Norway

Thomas Laupstad — Tue, 20 May 2008 09:16:14 +0000

Here are a couple of pictures of Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus) that I captured last weekend while collecting seagull eggs on some skerries on the coast in Northern Norway (a post about the egg collecting is coming in a few days so stay tuned).
Herring gulls live here in large numbers and the sounds of the gulls are to me very typical for summers in Northern Norway.

I love the curious expression of the herring gull in the first picture.

Taken with Olympus E500 digital camera May 11th 2008. Click image for larger view.

In the next picture the gulls got a bit too nervous by me coming so close and are taking flight to escape the evil human

Taken with Olympus E500 digital camera May 11th 2008. Click image for larger view.
Check out my other seagull pictures here. I love these birds!

Information about the pictures:
Camera: Olympus E-500 digital SLR camera
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/800)
Aperture: f/8
Focal Length: 300 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Lens: Olympus Zuiko Digital 70-300mm F4.0-5.6
Location: West coast on Senja, Troms in Northern Norway

Picture of White Wagtail (Motacilla alba) bird on beach with red sand

Thomas Laupstad — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 09:32:32 +0000

Taken with Olympus E500 digital camera April 25th 2008. Click image for larger view.
The cute white wagtail (Motacilla alba) birds are back! It is so nice to see new birds almost every day as it gets warmer and warmer. All the new birds are a good reason to go outside with a camera and capture some pictures.
The white wagtail is personal favorite of mine because of the way the bird hunt insects. The wagtail usually walks around and then suddenly fly up in an irregular way to catch some kind of yummy insect. They are very fascinating to watch and I’m thankful that they keep the fly population down.
I love the red color on the sand corns on this beach. I’m not sure why the sand is so red, but it looks very different from the other beaches around.

Check out this picture from last spring of a white wagtail sitting on a stone. Maybe it is the same bird?

Information about the picture:
Camera: Olympus E-500 digital SLR camera
Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture: f/7.1
Focal Length: 300 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Lens: Olympus Zuiko Digital 70-300mm F4.0-5.6
Location: Ånstad (Andørja), Troms in Northern Norway

Picture of European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) couple on boatshed roof

Thomas Laupstad — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 16:22:48 +0000

Taken with Olympus E500 digital camera April 25th 2008. Click image for larger view.
In this picture you can see an European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) couple sitting on the roof of an old, decaying boatshed. Starlings are a sure sign that the spring has arrived here in Northern Norway so these birds are a very welcome sight.
From as long as I can remember starlings has been breeding in the same nest box on our barn and each spring they sit on the barn-roof singing. It is so nice to listen to the starlings mimicking other birds as the starlings are masters of mimicking. When I was a kid I used to try to get the starlings to mimic me whistling. I think I was able to do it once

Check out my other bird photos here.

Information about the picture:
Camera: Olympus E-500 digital SLR camera
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/800)
Aperture: f/7.1
Focal Length: 300 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Lens: Olympus Zuiko Digital 70-300mm F4.0-5.6
Location: Laupstad (Andørja), Troms in Northern Norway

Picture of Purple Sandpiper (Calidris maritim) bird at the coast in Northern Norway

Thomas Laupstad — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 18:24:46 +0000

Taken with Olympus E500 digital camera March 17th 2008. Click image for larger view.
The Purple Sandpiper (Calidris maritim or Erolia maritima) is a small shorebird (about 22cm) that live on the coast here in Northern Norway. While many birds migrate to warmer climate during the winter this bird stay here throughout the winter.
The Purple Sandpiper eat mainly eat insects and mollusks, but when I came across this bird it was feeding on some algae on the rocks. The plumage is a great camouflage among all the seaweed and dark rocks. Often I’m not able to spot these birds before they get frightened and take flight.

This species is very tame so I was able to get very close with my rowboat to get a picture of the Purple Sandpiper. I still wish I had a lens with better zoom to get an even closer look.

Take a look at my picture of a Long-tailed Duck that I photographed last winter.

Information about the picture:
Camera: Olympus E-500 digital SLR camera
Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 150 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Lens: Olympus Zuiko Digital 40-150mm F3.5-4.5
Location: Laupstad (Andørja), Troms in Northern Norway

Picture of seagull (Herring gull) on seawall with snow covered forest as background

Thomas Laupstad — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 16:58:56 +0000

Taken with Olympus E500 digital camera March 17th 2008. Click image for larger view.
I was out rowing, for the first time this year, when I saw this herring gull (Larus argentatus) standing on a seawall. Had to take a picture of the seagull with the snow covered forest as background.
Let me tell you that it is not particularly easy to take photos from a small and rocky rowboat. Especially when you are trying to zoom in on a bird.

Here is another picture of the seawall.

Information about the picture:
Camera: Olympus E-500 digital SLR camera
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/800)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 150 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Lens: Olympus Zuiko Digital 40-150mm F3.5-4.5
Location: Laupstad (Andørja), Troms in Northern Norway

Picture of Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) couple sitting on roof pipe in Northern Norway

Thomas Laupstad — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 19:09:10 +0000

Taken with Olympus E500 digital camera April 18th 2007. Click image for larger view.
I’m a big fan of seagulls so that is why they keep popping up on my site all the time
In this picture you can see a Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) couple sitting on a roof pipe watching over the neighborhood.
These birds have a highly developed language and I have been trying to understand what the different seagull cries mean. I believe I understand most of the cries and I know when there is a danger coming or food to be found. Knowing the different seagull cries can be helpful when you are out fishing on the sea and look for the same fish shoals that the seagull feeds of.
The seagulls also have some special cries for warning each other about white-tailed eagles (sea eagles) approaching. Those cries can be helpful if you want to observe or photograph eagles.

Check out another picture of roof sitting bird. This time a photo of a raven.

Information about the picture:
Camera: Olympus E-500 digital SLR camera
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/640)
Aperture: f/8
Focal Length: 150 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Lens: Olympus Zuiko Digital 40-150mm F3.5-4.5
Location: Ånstad (Andørja), Troms in Northern Norway

Picture of wave and seagulls sailing on strong wind in Northern Norway

Thomas Laupstad — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 00:37:32 +0000

Taken with Olympus E500 digital camera February 15th 2008. Click image for larger view.
We had another day with strong winds from the northwest, but today I dared taking my camera outside for a few photos of the great waves.
In this picture you can see some seagulls sailing on the strong winds. It looked like the seagulls were enjoying themselves and had no problems with the extreme conditions. I’m guessing they were hanging around looking for snacks that the ocean was throwing ashore.
After a big storm like this it’s fun to go for strolls along the coastline to see if the waves have washed up anything cool. Might go for one of those strolls tomorrow and of course I will bring the camera

If you want to have a closer look of our seagulls have a look at this picture.

Information about the picture:
Camera: Olympus E-500 digital SLR camera
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/640)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 150 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Lens: Olympus Zuiko Digital 40-150mm F3.5-4.5
Location: Laupstad (Andørja), Troms in Northern Norway

Close up picture of young European magepie bird (Pica pica) sitting in Norway spruce tree

Thomas Laupstad — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 20:46:23 +0000

Taken with Olympus E500 digital camera June 26th 2007. Click image for larger view.
In this picture you can see a young European magepie (Pica pica). This bird had just come out of its nest. It was not the slightest afraid of humans and thus I was able to get very close to take some photos.
The magpies are plentiful here in Northern Norway and are known to steal shiny objects like glasses or silverware. Not sure if there is any truth to this or maybe it is just a legend?

Here is some other bird photos.

Information about the picture:
Camera: Olympus E-500 digital SLR camera
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 150 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Lens: Olympus Zuiko Digital 40-150mm F3.5-4.5
Location: Laupstad (Andørja), Troms in Northern Norway