Eidfjord Roller
A most surprising European Roller has stayed in the inner Hardangerfjord for 14 days.
RARE BIRDS
9/18/20262 min read
The European Roller currently staying in Hordaland, western Norway was first discovered at Voss 1 September. Four days later it was relocated 50 kilometres farther east, in Øvre Eidfjord at the very end of the Hardangerfjord. I was there the following day, but arrived literally seconds too late. When the bird surprisingly was reported again last night, there was only one thing to do. Repeat the 2,5 hour drive from Bergen. This time it paid off. Early in the morning we found it perched on a power line in the middle of the village. A dip and a hit on the same bird in two weeks, no more than a mental rollercaster!
The European Roller holding its vantage point, surveying open pasture for insects and other prey. The Hardangervidda nature centre, with a grazing goat on the roof, is visible in the background.
Out of place and out of luck. The plumage was slightly ruffled, and the bird did not appear to be in top condition. Weather conditions were far from ideal for good insect activity, and the site is almost like a bottom of a funnel where everything gets trapped. In other words, the odds are not exactly in the Roller’s favour, but you never know.
We were eight birders present in the early morning, and throughout the day about ten more arrived to see the turquoise beauty. It is difficult to say when or if the bird will disappear. The question is whether it will manage to orient itself out of this system of narrow fjords and valleys.
The European Roller is a very rare species in Norway, and it is not recorded annually. The bird in Øvre Eidfjord represents only the second record ever for Hordaland, following a bird videofilmed at a coastal site in July 2014. There are 54 previous records in Norway.
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