More Oslo butterflies

It is time for yet another butterfly (and one moth) update from recent days in Oslo. After finally seeing Poplar Admiral well at a site east of the city I have now seen one in Maridalen 😊 It seemed to be a very fresh individual but with (bird) damage to its wing and it was frequently landing on a forest road. It showed incredibly well but I do not think that the photos I took do justice to the brilliance of this creature.

A number of new species are now on the wing in Maridalen and I have seen my first Lesser Marbled Fritillary (engperlemorvinge), Dark Green Fritillary (aglajaperlemorvinge), Red Admiral, Ringlet (gullringvinge) and Northern Brown Argus (sankthansblåvinge). Today I made a trip to Sørkedalen, the valley to the west, as I had a desire to add Geranium Argus to my Oslo list. It is not a particularly scarce species but for some reason does not seem to occur in Maridalen so a little twitch was needed. It was probably just aswell I did not wait much longer as the individuals I saw were very faded and ragged. This trip also resulted in a special moth and one that I even I notice: a Green Forester (grønn metallsvermer). I have seen pictures of it before and was aware it was quite scarce but in Oslo it appears to be a genuine rarity with just 7 previous records and 5 of these were collected more than one hundred years ago!

Last night I had agreed to pick up Jr Jr from a friend at midnight (school is now finished for the summer) and used the opportunity to drive around Maridalen. Bird wise I had to make do with a begging Tawny Owl chick, 3 Marsh Warblers and a Woodcock but a female Moose with 2 very small calves and another single roadside Moose were exciting observations of a species I normally expect to encounter here in the winter.

Poplar Admiral (ospesommerfugl) - this picture is actually quite acceptable!

looks like a bird had a bite at it

Dark Green Fritillary (aglajaperlemorvinge) from below

and from above

Lesser Marbled Fritillary (engperlemorvinge) from above

and below

a Moorland Clouded Yellow (myrgulvinge) my 4th record in Oslo of a species that may be expanding

Northern Brown Argus (sankthansblåvinge)

and a Geranium Argus (brun blåvinge) showing the characteristic white like on the lower wing from the edge to the spot in the middle

but here is one that misses that line...

and a Green Forester (grønn metallsvermer)

Ringlet (gullringvinge)