Soldagen, the day of the sun

Soldagen, the day of the sun
Yesterday, 21 January, is an important day every year in Tromsø, at 70*N in northern Norway. It is Soldagen (literally, the day of the sun; Sundays are called Søndag here), the first day when we can glimpse the sun again over the southern horizon for a little while, after two months of Mørketiden (the dark period , when the sun remains invisible all day). This last week we have had quite nice winter weather here in Tromsø, with temperatures of -8 to-10*C (It is much colder in the inland, but we live on an island and not too far from the outer coast ). The first week of January we had quite a bit of snow, but then sadly came two days of milder weather and rain, with the result that all the minor roads and paths are ice-covered and extremely slippery, so that we have to walk around with ‘brodder’ (Spikes we bind under our soles, ice cleats?), at least when you are my age. Now the weather is really nice (albeit a bit windy often; my phone says, temp: -8*, feels like -19*), but we have not got fresh snow, which is a pity (Maybe 2 ft on the ground now).
There are not all too many land birds in Tromsø in winter. When I walk from my home to the museum, usually still in the dark, most days the only bird sounds I hear are the ubiquitous Hooded Crows and Magpies; I don’t hear too well anymore, which does not help either. Now and then a pair of cozily discussing Ravens fly over, and there are often Great Tits around. They use to provide the first bird song of the year somewhere in January, but this year they were upstaged by a Greenfinch on 16 January, which once sang its somewhat peeved sounding trill at a feeding station. My year list had ‘soared’ all the way to 17 birds, with House Sparrow, Blue Tit and Willow Tit making it to the list this last week; a probably Sparrow Hawk dashed past too fast to be quite sure.
This year is special because of the bumper crop of Rowan (Mountain Ash Sorbus) berries; this has cause the Fieldfares, our most common thrush, usually migrating south in late October, to stay put and harvest this rich bonanza. I still regularly see flights of many tens of Fieldfares flying over, searching for the right trees—and there are still many berries left. Nor are they the only birds feasting on rowan berries. As each fall, we get flocks of Bohemian Waxwings (Unexpectedly, there are not more than usual this year) and smaller numbers of Pine Grosbeaks (And they ARE more prevalent this winter), and a few times I have also seen a European Blackbird, one of the more southerly bird species, that slowly make their way north and now can be found here (Blue Tit, Jay and European Robin are others)
The sun now will be up more than 10 minutes longer every day, until at the spring equinox are days are just as long as yours, wherever you live. From 21 May we then enjoy ‘the other side of the medal’, i.e. two months of midnight sun.
Wim Vader, Tromsø, Norway