Birds

Pictures of European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) feeding their young

29 Comments / Birds, Nature, Norway Norwegen Norge, Summer /

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.

Picture of European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) feeding their young with tongue out
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 😉

Picture of European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) feeding their young
Ahh, food! The parent really makes sure that the young starling is swallowing her/his food.
…

Pictures of European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) feeding their youngRead More »

Pictures of European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) feeding their young Read More »

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

12 Comments / Birds, Coast, Nature, Norway Norwegen Norge, Sea Ocean, Seagull, Senja, Shore, Sky, Snow, Spring /

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.
Picture of herring gull (Larus argentatus)
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 😉
Picture of herring gull (Larus argentatus) taking flight
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

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

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

11 Comments / Beach, Birds, Coast, Nature, Norway Norwegen Norge, Shore, White Wagtail /

Picture of White Wagtail (Motacilla alba) bird on the beach
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 White Wagtail (Motacilla alba) bird on beach with red sand Read More »

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

7 Comments / Birds, Boatsheds, Nature, Norway Norwegen Norge, Sky, Spring /

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

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

6 Comments / Birds, Coast, Nature, Norway Norwegen Norge, Purple Sandpiper, Sea Ocean, Seaweed, Shore /


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 Purple Sandpiper (Calidris maritim) bird at the coast in Northern Norway Read More »

Privacy Policy