July
Butterflies were a big part of this year’s (and the first
for a couple of years) to the cabin in Bodø which was because I like
butterflies and they are good up there but also because the fjord at Fauske was
very quiet with much smaller concentrations of moulting seaduck worryingly suggesting
a lack of food for them. It was so bad that I didn’t really have any birds of
note bar a pair of Garganey.
Back in Oslo the only thing worth writing about was yet
another swan drama in Maridalen where this year both Mute and Whooper Swans
bred successfully in so far that they both hatched two young but neither raised
them to fledging. The Mutes seemed to have their breeding ruined by the
aggressiveness of the Whoopers and this now old and possibly mad Whooper pair also managed to lose their own young for a period.
August
The month started with the joyous sight of two downy white
heads sticking over the edge of the Honey Buzzard nest – this pair might nest
late every year and the female can’t wait to leave all responsibility to the
male but they are successful!
With Junior moving to Tromsø to study I got to visit the
city and experience the lake of Prestvannet which I have read so much about. It
is an urban lake that hosts loads of birds including a number of pairs of
breeding and very noisy Red-throated Divers. I also discovered a nice tidal bay
with waders, the Kittiwakes that breed on windowsills and purpose built “hotels”
downtown so am looking forward to many more trips to Tromsø.
Birding back in Oslo was uneventful.
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| dad Honey Buzzard (vepsevåk) with one of two young. This is the third year we have monitored this nest (and pair) |
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| a juvenile Ruff (brushane) on one of my Tromsø visits |
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| and a Tromsø Arctic Tern (rødnebbterne) |
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| the Taiga Beans returned at the end of the month. Here V8 is accompanied by his 3 young but his mate is no longer with us |
September
Yet again I had no visit to Værøy but a long weekend at
Lista for the Bird Festival reminded me what real (i.e not Oslo) birding can be
like.
Lista gave me a chance to catch up with my first Norwegian
and a long staying Ring-billed Gull which was a treat and we also witnessed vast
numbers of Coal Tits which irrupted this autumn.
Nordre Øyeren attracted vast numbers of geese during the
month that could be found on stubble fields and it was fun searching through
them for scarcer species with White-fronted and Bar-headed the best I could
manage.
As I haven’t had an Oslo list focus this year I have not visited the islands as frequently as in 2024 but a random trip to Huk in the middle of the month resulted in only my third ever Oslo Little Stint as well as my one and only Oslo Dunlin of the year.
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| Ring-billed Gull (ringnebbmåke) |
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| a rare Oslo Little Stint (dvergsnipe) |
October
There were a few predictable late migrants that kept things
ticking over such as Jack Snipe and Great Grey Shrike but once again we had no
exciting arrivals of seabirds in the fjord and there were no rare or scarce
migrants with the exception of a Turtle Dove at Fornebu. I also managed to
twitch an Oslo Caspian Gull without feeling too dirty as instead of a smelly
tip it was on a downtown pond.
Little Auks at the end of the month came in reasonable
numbers after quite a few lean years and were greatly appreciated.
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| One of quite a few Jack Snipe (kvartbekkasin) during the month |
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| a rather brave Blue Tit (blåmeis) trying to scare off a Great Grey Shrike (varsler) in Maridalen |
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| only my third Turtle Dove (turteldue) in Norway and first self found this was definitely bird of the month |
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| Little Auk (alkekonge) |
November
Regular Marsh Tits in Maridalen were a pleasant surprise as
this species is rare in Oslo and the species in decline.
A reliable Pygmy Owl also became a go to bird for a week or
so before vanishing into the forests but provided some good memories.
A few Bearded Tits had arrived at Fornebu in October and
after none were seen last year we hoped they would hang around but after being ringed
early in November they also vanished but have/will hopefully serve science in
some way.
There was one very good bird, a Pallid Swift, which I did
see but the views at 3.5km could not unfortunately count as tickable.
I did find a rarity of sorts in the form of a continental race Long-tailed Tit but whether it will cut the mustard or be considered as an intergrade that just disappears in the wash remains to be seen.
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| a pair of Bearded Tits (skjeggmeis) at Fornebu |
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| Maridalen Pygmy Owl (spurveugle) with vole |
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| one of three Marsh Tits (løvmeis) that at least temporarily were calling Maridalen home |
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| a stripy headed and therefore continental Long-tailed Tit (stjertmeis). The autumn has seen a huge irruption of LtTs into Norway and has included a few similar birds |
December
December 2025 was easily the warmest, greyest and dullest on
the bird front December in all my years in Oslo.
An Oslo Kingfisher was vying to be bird of the month until it
was trumped by a trip to Fedrikstad and a well watched Great Grey Owl.
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| Kingfisher (isfugl) in Oslo |
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| and a Great Grey Owl in Østfold. After so many sightings of singing and nesting birds earlier in the year this sighting was far less exciting than it would have been only 6 years ago |
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