There is still life in The Dale

 This last week the blog has been devoted to posts from my most excellent trip to the mountains the previous weekend. I have been out and about in Maridalen though and this post is a summary of a week’s sightings and experiences. It has been very hot and this of course means that the dragonfly season has finally started although butterflies are still rather limited in variety. One mayor butterfly find though was my second ever Green-underside Blue (kløverblåvinge) which is also the first record for Maridalen. This red listed species seems to be having a good year. This time I also managed to identify correctly in the field!!

Birding highlights have been a Honey Buzzard displaying for quite a long time over the valley plus a pair of Hobbies that seem settled and call a lot. When I first heard the call I thought it was a Wryneck until the Hobby appeared and the two species can sound VERY similar. Should they breed then it will be the first breeding, as far as I am aware, for not just Maridalen but also Oslo. Icterine Warblers seem to be here in good numbers but I have yet to see (or hear) Common Rosefinch and of the nocturnal singers I have only heard a single Marsh Warbler but then again I have only been on a single nocturnal trip.

I had previously worried for the fate of Maridalen’s Lapwings as I did not believe that the farmer at Skjerven had saved the nests as he usually does when ploughing the field. It looks like my worries were unnecessary though as he marked out a nest when sowing the field and there was clearly one family and probably two in long grass. A couple of days later I also saw a half grown youngster feeding on the field with a watchful adult nearby.

I have resisted the temptation to drive a 3 hour round trip to hear Norway’s second ever Little Crake which is singing in Fredrikstad. What would have been tempting though was to make a quick trip to Værøy where John Alsvik (one of the group who I visit the island with in the autumn) found 7 (yes SEVEN!) Blue-cheeked Bee-eatears when he visited for a few days at the beginning of June but strangely enough he had nothing else of note.

a male Honey Buzzard (vepsevåk) doing his skydance over Maridalen.

he was quite a distinctive looking bird so hopefully I will identify him again later in the year

calling, and territorial, Hobby (lerkefalk)

pair

mum Tawny Owl (kattugle)

I have only found this youngster which surprises me

spot the owl(let)

I was beginning to think the Whooper Swans (sangsvane) had failed in their breeding but the young finally hatched. Mum drooped her wings over the nest to shade the young from the sun

male Whitethroat (tornsanger)

I saw the male Eider (ærfugl) again 8 days after Jack found him. He was still feeding like a dabbling duck

marked out and saved Lapwing (vipe) nest

there were clearly young Lapwings in the long grass and this adult repeatedly dive bombed the non breeding Whooper Swan (sangsvane) pair. They clearly had enough of the abuse and flew off

my first fritillary of the hear - a Pearl-bordered (rødflekket perlemorvinge)

a Northern White-faced Darter (østtorvlibelle) - my first dragon of the year

a Norfolk Damselfly (klypevannymfe) - a very scarce species in Oslo but which seems to be established in Maridalen

Brook Lampreys (bekkenioye) - it is well worth reading up about the life cycle of this fish

half grown Lapwing (vipe)

dandelions seeds seem to be an important food source at this tme of the year - here a male Bullfinch (dompap) eating them

Green-underside Blue (kløverblåvinge) - maybe I have just overlooked this species in the past? This was flying with 4 other blues in an area I checked a lot last year but this was the only one that landed. Last year though (and a bit later in June) it was only Mazarine Blues (engblåvinge) I found in the same spot