Summer done and dusted

After two days back in what is now a rainy Oslo I feel that I have now completed my bird/butterfly/dragonfly goals for summer ´25 and can now hang up my bins and wait for September and hopefully a trip to Værøy. In the meantime I may no longer be able to procrastinate and finally do some of that decorating that has needed doing for far too many years…

On the bird front I have checked in on the Honey Buzzard nest and the female was sitting high in the nest with the head of a small white young (10 days old?) just visible although I am quite sure she was brooding another.

The Hobby pair did not make themselves known when I visited the nesting area which was also the case the last time I checked at the end of June so I wonder if their breeding has failed but more visits will be necessary to be sure.

In Maridalen, the Whooper Swan pair have two half grown young and have rather surprisingly moved close to 2km from the breeding lake to the Maridalsvannet (last year they moved the other way!). I have not seen the Mute Swan family but they were seen on 17 July still with 2 young which was about 3 weeks after hatching so I hope that they are either good at hiding from me or maybe they have moved down on to Akerselva. Lapwings look to have positively surprised and I saw a single juvenile today but on the 26th three were seen with an adult and must mean that the last brood to hatch (the 3 very small young I saw on 17 June but not since) looked to have made it.

Butterfly wise I cleared up with the three late emerging species that I had yet to see bagged in a morning. There are still a few species that I may see either by chance or with a specific visit out of Oslo but I think I am quite happy with my lot now. I have seen 71 species this year and increased my Norwegian life list to 80 of the 101 species. Of the 21 species I have not seen, 16 are resident species I can hope to see, 3 are vagrants plus 2 that are now extinct and unlikely to return unless reintroduced.

A new species of Dragonfly was at one of my favourite odonta sites in Lillomarka where the cancel has restored a bog. Keeled Skipper (småblålibelle) was not just a new species for me but a new species for Oslo.  I knew, or at least hoped, I would see one as the species had already been discovered a couple of weeks previously. Both males and females have been seen so hopefully the species will establish itself but the open areas of water in the bog are reduced year on year as vegetation takes over and the area seems to have gone over its peak. As it has a 2 year development period we may not know until 2027 if they are here to stay. For example Broad-bellied Chasers (blåbredlibelle) were suddenly very common there in 2023 but have not been seen since even though the species has a 1-2 year development period.

A visit to Svellet revealed a nice area of mud and therefore the possibility of waders without having to take the mosquito patrolled walk out to Årnestangen. There were a few species although nothing too interesting but the autumn’s first Great White Egret was noted from the car along the river just to the north.

Great White Egret (egretthegre)

female Honey Buzzard (vepsevåk) sitting high in the nest due to her sheltering young

Maridalen's Whooper Swan (sangsvane) family

a male Honey Buzzard in Maridalen today. It was clearly looking for wasps nests and flying slowly and at a low altitude. This is almost certainly the same bird I saw in Maridalen last summer and which was seen over a large area but was not "my" breeding male. With luck I will see him more and find out if and where he has his nest.

with a Swift (tårnseiler)

juvenile Lapwing (vipe)

my first ever Keeled Skipper (småblålibelle) - a very smart little dragonfly

it was eating a very distinctive looking bug but I have not yet found out its name

my first Silver-washed Fritillary (keiserkåpe) of the year was butterfly #69 for the year. I later saw Brown and Purple Hairstreaks (slåptorn- and eikestjertvinger) but failed to get photos of them

not new for the year but it is always nice to see a Swallowtail (svalestjert)