Category Archives: Year 6

Is Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer an Impostor?!

Year 6

Don’t let young children under the age of seven learn the contents of this post! Santa’s reindeer are NOT boys!!! They’re girls!  Read on below the photos, but here are some Reindeer images I took last week near the North Cape of Norway … Nordkapp.

Yup, I learned this fact about antlers from the Norwegian locals while up in the Arctic. Apparently male reindeer lose their antlers before the winter, while female reindeer keep their antlers (postulate: to defend their young). At Christmas, only girl reindeer would have antlers.

Thus, when Santa calls out in the classic poem… Twas the Night before Christmas:

  • Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
    On, Comet! on Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!
  • To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
    Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!

He should really be saying something like:

  • Now, Diane! now, Dancer! now, Princess and Vivian!
    On, Carol! on Kristi! on, Debby and Betty!

I guess Rudolph should be named Rita!

Some Sea Eagle (White-Tailed Eagles) images from the same day near the North Cape of Norway (Nordkapp)

Red-Throated Loons in Tromso, Norway

Year 6

Molly and I just got home from the Norwegian Arctic where we bicycled toured for 16 days plus took a short trip on the Hurtigruten Coastal Ferry up to Kirkenes. Given the seven hour time difference, I was awake by 3:30 am and decided it was a good time to process my loon photographs. Here are the fruits of my wee hours of the morning efforts: (the trip back took us almost two full days)

Red-Throated Loon

Album via my Flickr Account (view images directly … 51 in total)

Red-Throated Loons

Other Norway web links from Rich and Molly:

Birding the Norwegian / Russian Border

Year 6

I found some Black-Legged Kittiwakes hanging out on a rock near Russia this afternoon. However  the other birds I saw given this sign made me think perhaps I should not point my super zoom camera (65x optical zoom) in their direction. Discretion is the better part of valor! We were only 200 yards from Russia at this point.

Here are some non Russian birds which were on a Norwegian rock … Black-Legged Kittiwakes.

We were birding and “not birding” a bit east of Kirkenes on the Arctic Ocean. Our guide book said to visit King Oscar’s Chappel. This church was built in 1873 to encourage Russia to leave Norwegian fishermen alone (local conflict over fishing rights). Apparently the local Norwegians wanted to have a gunboat stationed at the mouth of the river on the border. Someone in the king’s court decided that a warship would be inflammatory … they got a church instead. I suspect the Russian fisherman did not stop fishing Norwegian waters due to the new church.

Finally … one more image from yesterday … a Reindeer.

Tomorrow evening we start home to America. It will take us almost a day and a half to get from one remote part of the world to another.