The Mountains 2023 - Cuckoo and a lot more

 Here are some more pictures and video from Friday and Saturday. Yesterday we had a fantastic trip to Valdresflye and nearby areas and I will come back to that.

I could hear 3 Cuckoos singing feom the cabin and early on Saturday morning one sang very close much to the annoyance of a Willow Warbler.  This was a truly amazing experience and I was lucky enough to film it although quite shakily.

Cuckoo (gjøk) and Willow Warbler (løvsanger) 

Here the Cuckoo was being mobbed by a Meadow Pipit (heipiplerke) but it looks like it has been speared

2 male Scaup (bergand) and a male Tufted (toppand). Scaup are becoming very scarce breeders in Southern Norway although without a female they will not be adding to the population

This group of a pair and additional male will hopefully be able to do their bit though

Siberian Jay (lavskrike). We had amazing views of a pair but my camera decide to go on strike so this was the only picture I got.
They called a lot though as you can hear in the video

A pair of Ring Ouzels (ringtrost) were by the cabin

Golden Plover (heilo)

Willow Warblers are very numerous

We had very few raptors but did glimpse this male Hen Harrier (myrhauk)

Temminck’s Stint finding food on the edge of the ice

Black-throated Divers (storlom)

Male Bluethroat (blåstrupe)

Ringed Plover (sandlo)

Temminck’s

Dunlin (myrsnipe)

Female Willow Grouse (lirype)

The lake is 937m asl and the ice was only just beginning to melt on Friday when this picture was taken although was mostly gone by Sunday afternoon