My first foreign trip of the year took me to Norway, where I spent a couple of days in business meetings. However, had a little time to check out some more rural places, adding to the 2013 list and also adding 4 species to my Norway list.
Around Gardermoen airport were the most common species seen on the trip:
1. Hooded crow
2. Jackdaw
3. Feral pigeon
The down to Halden, not far from the border with Sweden, where I added
4. Common redpoll
5. Great tit
6. Blue tit
7. Goosander
8. Goldeneye
9. Mallard
The last three were on the first bit of unfrozen water I had seen - the river running through the town centre, while the redpoll was at the top of a tree right outside my client's offices.
The next morning, a trip to Lysaker, just south west of Oslo city centre, adding
10. Greenfinch
11. Magpie
12. Siskin
13. House Sparrow
14. Herring gull
And then back to the airport via Fetsund at the top end of Lake Oyeren (where I had had a lot of success last spring), where there was rather a finch fest, with 20+ greenfinch and:
15. Goldfinch (10+)
16. Bullfinch (15+)
17. Nuthatch
And finally, being too early for my flight proved useful, as I headed a little north of Gardermoen airport to the south of a lake called Hurdalsjøen (I think), where I was disappointed to only see a few more bullfinch and blue tit, until I was leaving when a beautiful sight flew in from the north:
18. Golden Eagle*
Visible for only about a minute, it slowly flapped and soared over the bottom end of the lake and out of site over the forests
* so, 1 species not already on the 2013 list.