Creeper has turned bright red
Leaves are changing in Oslo. It has been a very warm fall so far, but soon enough it will be cold again. The creeper is one of the first plants to change color, but many others are following along now.
 Four birds, four species Feeder birds continue to dominate around the house. Here, from bottom up are: blue tit, green finch, tree sparrow and (hovering) house sparrow.  Green finch on top of a lilac bush  Abbortjenn, a small lake about three miles from the parking lot. Hiking in the forest near Bogstad is always a treat. But right now the trails are very swampy, so wear your muck boots.  View of Bogstad  Terrestrial planarian These Planaria are quite pretty, and not all that uncommon. At least along the boardwalks of Gunung Mulu National Park, on the Malaysia side of the island of Borneo.
 The common toad Bufo bufo, seen about 50 meters into the mine A photo gallery has been put up with all the pics from the Gaustad Iron MIne.
Click HERE to see the pics.  Looking out the entrance The Gaustad Iron mine is a couple-hundred year old mine on a hill above Sognsvann. Today we went over and mapped it and took a few pictuers. I will put up a gallery from the site with all the pics, but for now, a coupe shots. Of special note, the Meta menardi spider is the European Spider of the Year for 2012! You can find out more HERE 
An iron/sulpher seep in the mine provides a bit of color
There is a gate to protect the bats that hibernate in the mine during the winter
The Meta menardi spider, which is common in the mine
 Horseshoe on a fence post While birding near Sørkedalen church, found this old horseshoe on a fence post.
 Northern Myotis (Myotis septentrionalis) Previously known as the northern long-eared bat, the currently named northern myotis (Myotis septentrionalis) is a forest bat mostly of the eastern US.
This bat is easy to catch in mist nets in forests during the summer, but hard to find hibernating during the winter (where do they all go?). This creates a particular difficulty in trying to figure out whether it is common (as summer captures in particular habitats suggest) or rare (as winter surveys suggest). But certainly they are part of the great die-off of bats due to White Nose Syndrome, and their numbers are declining.  The guillemot arriving at the beach At Bogstad today, a gullemot was swimming around near the usual crowd of mallards and suchlike. But then, for reasons only it knows, it came ashore. They are quite clumsy on land, and other than to try and dry out its feathers, have no idea why it was doing this. It allowed me to get close, maybe a meter away, without any sense that it was uncomfortable or wishing to get away from me. The bird had worked its way up to the grass line when I left, and can only hope it was okay.  guillemot stretching its wings on the beach  guillemot resting on the beach  guillemot made it to the grass |
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