Lauwersmeer Spring Migration Birding

First thing one must do in Spring is welcome back the migrants from their winter sojourn south, their warm winter playground. What better place to welcome than Lauwersmeer practically next to the Dutch Waddensea. This is the spot where all of them gather and stage their push further North to their breeding ground. Some species havr also taken to breeding here in the Lauwersmeer itself.

Summer 2016 has passed : Solheim

Well, another season has past and the year has again come to full circle. Kids finished school by early June, sunny and warm days of the Norwegian summer kicked off almost immediately.

We opened up the almost warm period of the year with a stay at the cabin near Solheim, on the other side of Fidgeland which has slowly become the family's staple get away from home cabin breaks.  The ice was already almost 80% melted away except for some stubborn patches on the higher ground protected from the sun. The cabin itself was cozier than home, but the surrounding was slightly open for our tastes.

Not being familiar with the trekking route in the area as well as due to the still nippy weather, we did not venture to far away from the cozy warmth of the cabin. The fact that the cabin had two 60in flat screen plasma tvs made it all that difficult to get everyone peeled of the screen.

We took a short drive to an old historic route towards Tonstad and trekked for a short distance crunching ice afoot all the way to perhaps 20% of the total length of the trail. We also popped by Fidgeland to enjoy the view of Fidgeland  from another mountain on the opposite site.

Though it wasn't quite the rousing sending off of Spring and excited welcome to the summer, the change of yet another season clearly revealed in much smaller scale the subtle nuances of our changing lives  ... signs of yet another season's passed.