Marsh Tit in Maridalen

A single Marsh Tit has now proven to be very settled in Maridalen. It hangs very closely with two Willow Tits on a couple of horse fields where they feed primarily on the floor and find food in or close to piles of manure. What they are eating though I am unsure – it could either be seeds or insects (perhaps eggs). There is only a single Marsh Tit and I have now changed my previous observation from a pair to just one as I was only focused on identify and documenting one of the birds and just assumed that the bird it was with was also a Marsh Tit but seeing how close company this bird keeps with Willow Tits that assumption was only making an ass out of you and me. I also wonder whether the initial observation of two birds can stand as two as it was initially reported as an unsure record with a photo of just a single bird.

Anyways, this bird seems settled for the winter and there is clearly an abundance of natural food although once winter sets in then I expect it will move to feeders. It calls surprisingly little, or at least gives the characteristic “pitchoo” call very sparingly whereas the Willow Tits are churring away all the time. This makes initially discovering it difficult but once the Willows are found then the Marsh Tit should not be far away.

Apart from this little bit of excitement Maridalen feels quite dead. There are no flocks of finches on the fields and the lake only has a handful of expected species (Goldeneye, Goosander and Cormorant). With it being so mild there are still quite a few Fieldfares finding worms to eat on grass fields but I am clutching at straws.

The Maridalen Marsh Tit (løvmeis) anno 2025

finding some food in the horse muck

I'm not sure if it has taken a seed or an insect egg

here the Marsh Tit is feeding with a Willow Tit (granmeis) which is at the back. Note the much white and large cheek of the Willow

this had the makings of a very good comparison of the 2 species but ended up being blurry. The Marsh is closest

here the Marsh is at the back. Note also the large white wing panel of the Willow which is muck less obvious on the Marsh

Willow

the Marsh

Marsh on manure

Willow to the left and Marsh to the right

Marsh flanked by the two Willows. In this shot the Marsh seems to have an obvious white wing panel

Willow

Willow

Willow

2 of 5 Twite (bergirisk) that stopped briefly whilst I was watching the tits

this Treecreeper (trekryper) was searching for food on spruce cones which is a behaviour I cannot remember seeing before

These 5 Bullfinches were part of an all male flock of 6 birds - again something I cannot remember seeing before

Pygmy Owl

Yesterday evening saw my fourth owling trip of the autumn and my number of species encountered has now increased to three although the target owl – Tengmalm’s – continues to elude me.

#3 was a Pygmy Owl which showed itself after sunset but before it got dark as is usual for the species. It came to me and then proceeded to hunt close to me when I also picked up a Three-toed Woodpecker which to my surprise was active so late. A Tawny Owl made quite a lot of noise in the area and twice I heard another noise which sounded owl like but I could not place to species. It is still early days so I haven’t given up on pulling in a Tengmalm’s or two in the coming couple of weeks.

A trip to Fornebu yesterday was with Yellow-browed Warbler as a specific target. Not that one had been seen there but on Sunday there had been a couple of inland records north of Oslo which had me hoping there were birds around. There were good numbers of Chiffchaff including one that looked very tristisy (but did not call) but I saw no wing bars nor heard any swiist calls.

Atempts to find more Jack Snipe have turned up blanks at both localities I had them last week suggesting birds have been moving through although birds should also turn up that will hang around at least until the first cold period.

a Pygmy Owl (spurveugle) on almost the exact same branch that I have previously photographed Tengmalm's on

see it?

an autumnal Chiffchaff (gransanger)

flocks of Pink-footed Geese (kortnebbgås) continue to head south of Oslo when the winds are favourable

this Slavonian Grebe (horndykker) has been at Fornebu for a long time now and is now in winter plumage after having arrived still in summer plumage

a flock of 5 Twite (bergirisk) in Maridalen were my first of the autumn and a quite good record of a species that is more more regular on spring passage

this juvenile Whooper Swan (sangsvane) at Fornebu is most likely the same bird that was first seen at Frognerkilen on 27th September. Normally young birds would still be with their parents and also still close to the nest site so for a lone juvenile to turn up away from a nest site so early is very unusual

Migrants and lingering Hawk Owl

We have now had two nights without frost and along with southerly winds I have been expecting a flood of migrants. Of course, that has not been the case and viz mig has been a particular disappointment with just a few flocks of Pink-footed Geese, 2 Cranes and a Kestrel. I had a real hope for a few raptors but it is clearly still too early still (and I have this “surprise” every year at this time….).

 

Despite the lack of viz mig there has been an arrival of new birds. Dunnocks and Redwings are suddenly back and singing from woodland, White and Grey Wagtail are suddenly wagging away and there are considerably more Lapwing, Mistle Thrushes, Chaffinches, Bramblings and a large Twite flock in Maridalen. Surprisingly though there are no Robins back yet but that must happen soon.

The Hawk Owl has been showing very well as it exploits a rich source of Bank Voles (klatremus) and I was very happy to be able to film it dismembering and then eating one.

 

A trip to Østensjøvannet was very birdy with lots of noisy gulls and various wildfowl with a pair of Smew being the absolute highlight.

The video I have long wanted to capture showing the beheading, entrails removing and swallowing of a vole

Hawkie on a wire

and on its way down for what ended up being an unsuccessful vole hunt

this video has a few sequences with it giving its call that I also heard frequently when it first turned up in November

male Smew (lappfiskand)

pair

and with a Grey Heron (gråhegre)

3 male Teal (krikkand)

and a close of up another bird

the Heron was not at all popular with the Black-headed Gulls (hettemåke)

Goosander (laksand) are also back

3 species of returning gulls on the ice and 2 male Goosander

Grey Wagtail (vintererle) is back in the Dale

as is Dunnock (jernspurv)

and Redwing (rødvingetrost)

and a large flock of Twite (bergirisk) is having a stop off on its migration

and the first White Wagtail (linerle) of the year

not in Maridalen and not a good picture but I cannot remember capturing Parrot (furukorsnebb) and Common Crossbill (grankorsnebb) together before

Canada and Greylag Geese in Maridalen suddenly became very alert when this fox appeared