The last day of October was surprisingly good in Maridalen
and I added 3 species to my Oslo 2025 year list. With 178 species so far 2025
is a completely average year (at least according to my eBird stats) but is way
behind last years record haul.
First up was a flyover Parrot Crossbill. There are as good
as no Common Crossbills left in Oslo’s forests so any crossbill is a good bird
at the moment and get perhaps more attention than it would have last year.
Second up was a real Oslo rarity and one I didn’t see last
year – Marsh Tit. A pair had been seen on Sunday so I have had them on my radar
but it was first today that I heard their characteristic pitchuu call
and then got to see them (they look very similar to the far commoner Willow
Tits and call is by far the easiest way to tell the two species apart). They
didn’t hang around for long as they continued on their travels looking for food
but will hopefully be here all winter and maybe breed next year. Marsh Tit is a
proper and surprising rarity in Oslo despite there being established populations
only a few kilometres beyond the county line in for example Lørenskog. These
are only my third record in Oslo after a bird at Østensjøvannet in October 2017
and then a bird that spent the winter of 2018/19 in Maridalen at the exact same
spot where I saw today’s birds. It does look like the species was commoner in Oslo
in the past although I can find only a single breeding record from 2000 but
there is also a big problem interpreting the many undocumented reports many of
which I would suggest should be accompanied by a helping of salt. On that note
though I do have to admit that my attempt to document today’s sighting was extremely
poor and is barely a record shot. My excuses are that I was
walking the Beast and only had the superzoom but most embarrassingly I have now
found out that the (good) video I thought I had taken which included the call
does not exist because in time honoured fashion I clearly only pressed the
record button when I was finished so have some useless video as the camera swung from shoulder….
The current birds could of course just have wandered from
one of the close populations but given that all other species of tit are irrupting
this year then it would be no surprise if Marsh Tits are also on the move so
these could well have come from far away.
Last up and also an addition to my Norwegian 2025 lists was
a female Grey-headed Woodpecker. I initially saw her quite close but had my usual series of camera problems so didn’t manage to do her justice but with luck she
has already chosen to spend the winter in Maridalen and will turn up on some
feeders.
the pictures I got of the Marsh Tits (løvmeis) probably do count as a record shot as the one that is in focus where the bird is looking at me does show the pale spot at the base of the upper mandible and that the back of the cheek is not white but rather creamy
my best pic of the Grey-headed 'pecker is a little bit better but hardly good
my flight shots are of their usual dismal quality but it is IDable
perched a long way away where it did also call
picture of a Jay (nøtteskrike) are much better and it is also a much smarter bird
Long-tailed Tits (stjertmeis)
autumnal reflections
the Pink-footed Goose (kortnebbgås) is still with the Whoopers (sangsvane) but is a master at disappearing in the stubble
and here some footage of a pod of at least 5 Harbour Porpoises that I saw in the fjord whilst auk watching on Wednesday
a Harbour Porpoise (nise)
and 5 of them that just floated on the surface for a few seconds
The autumn arrival of auks has always been one of the
notable events of the Oslo birding calendar. The last few years though there
have not been that many and Little Auks have been more or less absent. This has
been due to a lack of strong southerly winds to push birds up the fjord which is
also the reason for a lack of almost any other exciting seabirds. This autumn
we had a small arrival of Guillemots at the end of September and probably a few
new birds since then but there are just a handful of Razorbills amongst them. These
small numbers are the result of a lack so far of any strong winds to drive the
birds north so it has been surprising to find birds on Maridalsvannet. What I
assume happens is that the birds have problems when trying to return to open
seas and end up flying higher and higher and around and around trying to find
their way out of the Inner Oslofjord and some end flying north as a part of
this endeavour. This would help explain why I found a LITTLE AUK on
Maridalsvannet yesterday despite there being no wind at all. This is my first record here and my only new species in the Dale so far in 2025.
Since Sunday there
have been a lot of Little Auks turning up on the fjord. They have been flying
north over calm seas and are clearly very lost. My theory is that storms
associated with Amy displaced many Little Auks from areas further north and
into the southern North Sea. These birds are trying to return north from whence
they came and if they were far enough east then they will end up in the Oslofjord
and if they continuing flying north despite the ever narrowing fjord they will
hit Oslo City. Yesterday morning I was watching from Fornebu and saw a steady
stream of birds arriving from the south and then flying around confused in
circles and clearly one of these birds just decided to not stop and continue
heading north before then seeing just forest and deciding Maridalsvannet would
be a good place to abort the northward flight and contemplate its choices in
life.
No other species are turning up on fjord so the movement is
restricted to Little Auks although I have a hope a Puffin may also turn up.
Fornebu is getting very quiet with just a Kingfisher to
liven things up and apart from auks Maridalen has had the first Pygmy Owls
turning up which as usual coincides with the first heavy frosts further into
the forests.
The fact I am writing about Auks in Oslo clearly means that
I haven’t travelled to Værøy. Kjell has gone up but his messages today have not
had me feeling jealous with not a wing bar or scarce bird in site. He does have
two more days though… and I wish him luck but not too much.
Little Auk (alkekonge). They do not seem to be scared of people at all and also often feed (dive) right by the shore meaning they can offer great views
look at the legs right at the back of the body
a group heading north with the Oslo - Nesodden ferry in the background
here a group flew in a circle around Lysakerfjorden and were at one point flying over land
here with the offices at Fornebu in the background
they returned to the fjord and flew right past me
before all 15 landed right in front of me. They were calling which can be heard in the video above
the Maridalen bird. Completely unidentifiable in this photo but with a landmark in the background
a Razorbill (alke)
Guillemot (lomvi) and Razorbill together
this Guillemot was hoping I had a fish for it
here it almost felt like it was performing so as to be rewarded with a fish
and my first Pygmy Owl (spurveugle) of the autumn in Maridalen
Well, I can no longer complain about the weather being too
nice as it is raining and blowing and if, maybe if, I were to venture outside
there could be a whole tree of wing bars waiting for me.
I escaped Oslo’s weather on Tuesday and Wednesday with an
impromptu visit to Tromsø to give Jr some much needed TLC. I arrived to 15cm of
fresh snow and blue skies. There is only one month left of sunshine before the
sun doesn’t rise for two whole months and even now the sun was always low in
the sky. There are still lots of rowan berries in Tromsø which is in stark
contrast to Oslo where a very poor crop was stripped from the trees by thrushes
weeks ago. There were few birds in Tromsø though. I had a good walk when Jr was
at lectures and 60 odd Waxwings was the absolute highlight and also the
commonest passerine (just 30 or so Fieldfares). On the fjord there were flocks
of Eider that were too distant for me to grill and also Long-tailed Ducks. I was
surprised to find a Curlew but otherwise the muddy bay where I had spent much
time in September was a bird free zone.
a Waxwing (sidensvans) in Tromsø
A trip to Fornebu yesterday did reveal some new and slightly
exciting birds. A Wheatear at the same spot as the Turtle Dove had been had, of
course, to be looked at properly but was just of the common variety. It is
truly late record though. A tern then caused me quite a headache. A tern close
to Oslo at the end of October has to be an Arctic but with my tern
problems from September still troubling me and the knowledge that a Common Tern
was seen (and photographed) in the same spot less than 2 weeks ago I was
determined to make sure I got the ID of this one right. In flight from a distance
it did indeed look like an Arctic but I managed to get so close to the bird
that I think I lost the bigger picture. I spent a long time with it perched
just metres from me and also fishing close by (it was snatching small fish from
the water surface) and ended up concluding that it was a 1st winter Common
Tern although the lack of a clear dark bar on the secondaries was at odds with
this but I explained that to myself by it being an advanced bird that had
somehow moulted these to adult feathers already (something that they don’t do).
Later on someone else reported the bird as an Arctic and I quickly replied that
I reckoned it was a Common…. This quickly prompted me to look at my pictures on
the PC (instead of on the back of the camera) and I couldn’t help but agree that
it must be an Arctic although I still find it to be a far from classic bird but
I think that may be because I am not used to seeing them so close at this time
of the year. The more distant flight photos are much easier to ID from.
The hope of a wing bar or two survives with a visit to Værøy
next week now on the cards. This late in the autumn there may well be no
Yellow-browed Warblers but hopefully far greater rarities from even further east.
Or most likely absolutely sweet FA.
a late Wheatear (steinskvett)
it my have been difficult for me to ID this young Arctic Tern (rødnebbterne) but it was not difficult to get close to it
if I had just had this picture from when I first saw it distantly then I think I would have never thought twice about it being a 1cy Arctic
getting a bit closer it is still fairly straightforward
with one of a number of fish it snatched from the waters surface
it was pictures like this that confused me as I expected the secondaries to be pure white but the secondaries are actually mostly hidden under the greater coverts
I also got confused by that I thought were too long legs and too much red on the bill
no real doubt what it is from this picture either
Jack Snipe are still around and the "hunt" for them remains exciting even if I use the thermal
spot Jack?
using the flash on a dull autumn day brings our far more colours
In Maridalen there are now 11 Whooper Swans with the lone subadult now seemingly having attracted a mate and today a lone Pink-footed Goose had joined them
Whooper Swans (sangsvane) the family of 4 which I am sure are the valleys long term birds
2 of the same birds
the additional 7 birds a family of 5 and the two birds below
the bird on the right which is not fully adult turned up first alone and has now been joined by this other bird
a Pink-footed Goose (kortnebbgås). There has been a widespread influx of out of course Taiga Bean Geese in Norway and beyond (including to Ireland for the first time in over a decade) so when I first saw there was a goose with the swans I really hoped that is what it would be
the field that the swans use has also been very popular with Jays (nøtteskrike) with up to 20 feeding there
