Is there any connection between the invasion of trumpeting bullfinches, the lerge numbers of Waxwings, Pine Grosbeaks and - maybe - Siberian tits? Was the summer of 2004 extremely advantageous, or was the autumn extremely bad?

On the bullfinch page I had a speculation that the siberian tits found in Uppsala in November 2004 could be of eastern origin. At Hammarö bird station in the district of Värmland (ca 300 km W of Stockholm) four siberian tits have been ringed in the period October 18th - November 1st. These could have been of Swedish or Norwegian origin.

But how was it on our side of the country? "Svalan" (the bird reporting system of Artportalen) contains reports of a large number of observations of siberian tits starting November 16th. All of them were from the western parts of Uppsala, c. 70 km NW och Stockholm. The latest observation if from February 1st. Birds are also recorded at two coastal bird stations: Landsort (70 km S of Stockholm on November 8th and Långsandsörarna (the Gävle bight, c. 200 km north of Stockholm) on November 9th.

Therefor the astonishment was large when it became clear that two persons in the board had been contacted regarding siberian tits in our neighbourhood. One bird had been seen December 19that Harängen, Frötuna (SO the town of Norrtälje, c. 60 km NE of Stockholm) and one bird as close as Stava (V of Åkersberga, c. 30 km NE of Stockholm) on December 12th and a week on. It has been possible to make a correct determination using determination books and photographs taken (se nedan).

Documentation of siberian tits, autumn of 2004:
Landsort
Uppsala

Stava, Åkersberga municipality (photo: Kurt Johansson)