It's because the oil hasn't drained back into the pan from the engine yet. It's completely normal. There are a few things you should note on your dipstick. There's a low mark, and a full mark, I'm sure you have figured out. In addition, there's a notch cut out higher than the other two. Oil should be between the full mark and the top notch when the engine is warm (just after driving). It should never be above.
Many people think they know how to check their oil, but many don't realize they're doing it on a slope, when the engine is too hot or too cold or what have you. Here are to resources that will clairify it all.
http://www.ehow.com/how_103_check-oil.html
AND
The upper level is the top drilled hole, the lower level is the bottom drilled
hole, and the notch is the notch in the side of the dipstick above the upper
drilled hole.
1) Park on a level surface and stop the engine (My comment: this means the
engine has been run, i.e. not stone cold in the morning)
2) Pull dipstick out, wipe clean and re-insert
3) Make sure the dipstick is pushed fully home and the oil can symbol is the
correct way up looking from the front of the car, the symbol going left to
right.
4) Pull out the dipstick and check the oil level, if it is below the lower
level add oil to bring up to the upper level
5) If you check the oil level just after stopping the engine, wait a few
minutes for the oil to drain back into the oil pan before checking the level.
6) Just after driving or while the engine is warm, the engine oil reading may
be in a range between the upper level and the notch mark. This is caused by
thermal expansion of the oil
7) To prevent overfilling the engine, do not add any additional oil above the
upper level when the engine is cold.
What I read from that is that to check the oil level, fire the engine up for 1
minute, switch of and leave for 5 minutes then set the oil level to the top
drilled hole. Take it for a run and then once fully up to temp the oil level
should be above the top drilled hole and below or on the notch on the side of
the dipstick.
For track use I would check the oil level after the car has come off track and
has stood for 5 minutes, it should be between the top drilled hole and the
side notch.
As an important note, overfilling with oil is as bad as under filling, you put
the oil control rings on the pistons under great stress when you overfill,
this can lead to excessive bore wear.
An section taken from
http://www.gregh.co.uk/sip/sip.txt
Help - Checking Oil
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