Spring Weather 2011

[mark smyth]

17C here today - phew! brought out lots of bees and butterflies

[Panu]

+1C today, forecast for next five days says from -3 to -11.  Depth of the snow ~60 cm. The positive thing is the legth of the day, 12 h 32 min. The Rooks (Corvus frugilegus) came a week ago.

[Knud]

Maggi, you are absolutely right, given half a chance Barbara would have had a nice mixed forest growing there in a few years. Sadly, that field is not ours to plant, it is part of a public green space, about twenty minutes walk from where we live. However, it did belong to the farm my father came from, and where I have my family name from. My grandfather and his father would not have liked a forest there, they spent five decades until about 1910 clearing the fields for farming, hence the big stone walls.

Angie, interesting to hear of your friend's experience of Norway, you have to tell me, when you find out, where she lived. Many years ago now I lived four years in Scotland, in the dear green place. I really enjoyed it then, and still today I think I would find it difficult to chose one or the other, if I had the choice to make.
I too had a peek at Maggi and Ian's garden today, in the Bulb Log. Wonderful, what more can one say, other than Look (and read) and Learn.

Commiserations, Stephen, I am so glad that 'thing' missed us with half a county. Hope you get better spring days soon.

Knud

[mark smyth]

The Rooks (Corvus frugilegus) came a week ago.

Our rooks will have eggs now.

[Stephenb]

+1C today, forecast for next five days says from -3 to -11.  Depth of the snow ~60 cm. The positive thing is the legth of the day, 12 h 32 min. The Rooks (Corvus frugilegus) came a week ago.

Do your rooks migrate or just move to the coast? I know we get an influx of Jackdaws and Hooded Crows from the east in winter, but I thought rooks stayed in the same place all year?

[Stephenb]

Thanks for the weather commiserations. After 3 days the fjord is still like that, but I can hardly see it now as there's a white-out (blizzard) now as winds have turned to the North West and a Polar Low (Arctic Hurricane) is developing within the main storm  I prefer the snow as it's not so wet underfoot....Yes, Panu, it's good that the days are now longer than everyone else (apart from you!).

[Panu]

Stephen, they migrate from Southern Sweden, Denmark and western parts of Europe. Occasionally few specimens overwinter here at the landfill.

[Stephenb]

Interesting! They stay here all year.

Here's the March and February observations in Fennoscandia (you can see our isolated population which is the furthest north all year in Norway; all breeding locations are in and around the city - Trondheim):
http://www.artportalen.se/fennoscandia_birds.asp?speciesid=745&year=2011&month=3
http://www.artportalen.se/fennoscandia_birds.asp?speciesid=745&year=2011&month=2

[Panu]

For some reason both links show the present situation. And itīs snowing >:/

[Stephenb]

Panu: You probably have to select the month yourself then - it worked for me

[Stephenb]

Still the wind is raging and the snow is coming down and we are promised up to 0.5m more by Monday. I heard on the weather forecast that SCOTLAND is to blame (someone needs to be blamed) - something about a blocked high pressure system. On behalf of Norway, could I kindly ask you to clear the blockage, please.....

[Maggi Young]

Putting call in to Dynorod right now, Stephen..............

Not too sure how it  can be us blocking high pressure .... it's not that great here.Which is not what the eejit on the TV wetaher told us it would be, I'm sure....

[Stephenb]

You're turning it the wrong way The blizzard gets worse, now horizontal snow...

[Hoy]

You are living the wrong place, Stephen! We had nice weather yesterday and although we got 1cm sleet this morning it has all gone now and sun is shining Not really warm, about 6C though. You Btw you didn't mention that almost 100 roads were closed due to bad weather! (However I did some garden work) ) All the previous ice-covered lakes are now open here and boats are on the fjord.

[mark smyth]

Stephen the high pressure over us is leaving next week and bringing in rain from the south west for us.

I dont want the rain but the plants are begging and crying for water