Long-tailed Tits (stjertmeis) seem to be unusually common this autumn/winter. This is a species that breeds in very low densities in these parts but also seems to be an invasive visitor although I guess it could also just be that after very good breeding seasons there are suddenly many birds. I remember that it took me a couple of years after I moved to Norway in 2001 to see my first birds. Although I knew the species well from the UK (and had even written a short note in British Birds as a spotty teenager when I found that one of the birds from the 3-4 pairs on my local patch had managed to sew its own tail into the intricate nest they build and needed me to free it) I was very keen to see the white-headed scandinavian subspecies. And it is always a joy to see this beautiful bird although meetings with them are often very brief.
This autumn I have seen flocks in Maridalen, Østensjøvannet, Bygdøy, yesterday in The Botanical Gardens and today in the garden (for only the third time ever) there was a flock of 5 birds. There have also been a couple of records close to Oslo of birds with dark stripes on the head suggesting an origin outside of scandinavia.
I managed some pictures of the flock of 9 birds yesterday that I had in the Botanical Gardens but they are nothing that I will be wrintg home about even though I am willing writing to the world about them :-)
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| this is typical for most of the pictures - a ghost like creature, out of focus and at the edge of the picture |
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| sometimes though the bird did stay in the same spot long enough |
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| but then they would just come too close |
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| or even closer |
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