Good end to the month

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

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