FW: How long was Adam in Paradise?

This is a much used Norwegian expression used when things do not turn out the way you hoped for. Some 10 days ago I sent out a mail, praising the arrival of early spring,  Coltsfoot flowers, and returning songbirds to Tromsø at 70*N in N. Norway. The following days I had twice a large mixed flock of Greenfinches and Bramblings in the garden, the latter not yet in complete summer plumage. All 3 local tit species visited the feeder, and the first Chiffchaff foraged in our maple tree. 

But then the weather changed drastically and this last week it has snowed off and on every day, with freezing temperatures, so that the Coltsfoot flowers now are covered by 2 ft of fresh snow, our local gulls have retreated to the shore again , and I hear virtually no birdsong, apart from a few optimistic Greenfinches. From earlier such occasions I know that under such circumstances the returned migrants flock to the sea shore, where there is always something to find to eat. The thrushes probably feed on marine animals, while the seed eaters  keep to the floodline, where there probably are seeds to find: our local House Sparrows often forage there. I’ ve written about this (in Norwegian) some 30 years ago.

Two feet of snow on 29 April is by no means a record; in fact the local snow record was set on this very day 25 years ago, with 240 cm!  On the positive side, we have almost 22 hours of daylight by now.

Wim Vader, Tromsø, Norway