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.

dad Honey Buzzard (vepsevåk) with one of two young. This is the third year we have monitored this nest (and pair)

a juvenile Ruff (brushane) on one of my Tromsø visits

and a Tromsø Arctic Tern (rødnebbterne)

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.

Ring-billed Gull (ringnebbmåke)

a rare Oslo Little Stint (dvergsnipe)

and a rare plastic goose

October

If September had been an anticlimax then October and the rest of the year were just a continuation on a theme.

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.

One of quite a few Jack Snipe (kvartbekkasin) during the month

a rather brave Blue Tit (blåmeis) trying to scare off a Great Grey Shrike (varsler) in Maridalen

only my third Turtle Dove (turteldue) in Norway and first self found this was definitely bird of the month

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.

a pair of Bearded Tits (skjeggmeis) at Fornebu

Maridalen Pygmy Owl (spurveugle) with vole

one of three Marsh Tits (løvmeis) that at least temporarily were calling Maridalen home

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.

Kingfisher (isfugl) in Oslo

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