A rarity!

This autumn has seen a very significant irruption of various tits into Norway. The timing and size of the irruptions is easiest to see by looking at numbers at coastal areas with good coverage with Lista Bird Observatory being a perfect place. Coal Tits were the first obvious arrival already at the end of August and peaking in the first week of September and which I witnessed when I was there. Blue and Willow Tits followed with a peak at the end of September and even Great Tits were clearly on the move. Long-tailed Tits came later with a peak in the middle of October.

Even around Oslo it has been easy to detect the irrupting birds with Coal, Blue and Long-tailed Tits especially obvious. I also reckon that the Marsh Tits that have turned up in Maridalen may well be associated with the irruption of the other species even if none have been registered at Lista.

It is easy to assume that all these birds have come from the north east but records of Long-tailed Tits with stripy heads of the continental race europaeus show that birds have also come from the south or south east. The white-headed race caudatus that we get in Norway is also the race that occurs east and then south east into Russia with the two races meeting and intergrading, in Poland.

Prior to 2025 there are only two accepted records of the race europaeus in Norway although there have been birds showing some characters of this race (the head stripe is not well marked enough especially around the eye) including this bird I had in Maridalen in 2016 (and which probably bred) but which are perhaps best to treat as intergrades between the two races. So far in 2025 there have been another 6-7 records with the first two on 12th October. There is some debate as to whether these birds have dark and wide enough head stripes (as well as other plumage features) to be classified as "pure" europaeus or whether they are best considered as intergrades. I do not feel qualified to pronounce on this and it is no easy decision to make but that is something that NSKF, the rarities committee will have to pronounce on. Pure or intergrades though they do show that these birds originate on the other side of the Baltic. I have checked Swedish records this autumn and rather surprisingly there have been few records in Sweden of pure birds however there have been a record number of birds reported as intergraes (an option not available in Norway).

Ever since I saw the first records on 12 October I have been trying to check every flock of LtTs I come across for birds with stripy heads. It is not an easy task as there have been lots of LtTs this autumn and also they are so quick moving that it is difficult to grill every bird. I have not seen a hint of a stripe until yesterday when amongst a flock of about 8 birds in Maridalen I saw one with stripes. Getting photos of it was more challenging and I actually think there may have been more than one bird but I did get a couple of photos of one bird which has well marked head stripes although I am sure I saw an even better marked bird. I hoped to find the flock again today but had no joy and believe these immigrant flocks are still moving around.

A Long-tailed Tit (stjertmeis) that has come from a long way to the east or south east

I am not sure if this out of focus shot is of the same bird or perhaps of another in the same flock

a Redwing (rødvingetrost) was a surprise at the end of November in a year with no berries. The white marks on the tips of the tertials show it to be a 1cy bird (born this year)

it did find a (frozen) worm but will not survive long unless it heads south