Three weeks in

This week hasn’t been so cold with temperatures around zero or just below but it has also been cloudy meaning it is dull whilst out birding and at night we have missed the fantastic show of Northern Lights that many others, and not least Jr in Tromsø, have seen.

The Pygmy Owl has been quite easy to find every day except of course on Saturday when I was guiding. It often sits high and exposed before suddenly disappearing into woodland where it can then disappear for a couple of hours before popping up on a tree top again. I believe it is now eating the rodents and birds that it spent the autumn storing in nest boxes and old woodpecker holes and is catching little new food although I have seen it clearly looking for rodents. Water Rails have also showed well including a bird feeding very out in the open and Jack Snipe have bobbed away for Norway but bird, if not photo, of the week goes to a Greylag Goose flying north over Maridalen on Thursday. Quite where it thought it was going is a mystery to me and whilst it is the only Greylag reported in Oslo this winter I was a bit surprised that when I did see an anser goose that it was not a Tundra Bean or White-front a few of which have turned up further south as a result of cold weather movements around the North Sea.

After having seen footprints and droppings in the snow for a few days it was also nice to see my first Moose of the winter in Maridalen. If the cold weather continues and especially if we get more snow then Moose should become quite reliable in the Dale.

Pygmy Owl (spurveugle) on Tuesday

changing angle - attempts at arty photos..

this female Teal (krikkand) is hanging out with the Mallards (stokkand) at Østensjøvannet but remains shy and doesn't come to bread so I wonder what she does eat

the Pygmy Owl on Wednesday

Water Rail feeding in the open

bird of the week - a Greylag (grågås) heading north

Moose

And there will be lots more of this in a later post:

Butterflies 2025 and beyond

2025 gave me 10 new species and was the year when I finally saw the northern specialities close to the cabin in Bodø that I have been hoping to see since 2019.

The northern specialities were:

Lapland Fritillary (idun’s rutevinge) 

Arctic Blue (polarblåvinge) 

Frejya’s Fritillary (frøyas perlemorvinge) 

Away from specific trips/stops added three rare species:

 

Large Grizzled Skipper (alvesmyger)

Silvery Argus (kileblåvinge)

Chequered Skipper (gulflekksmyger) 

whilst closer to Oslo I finally got to grips with 3 species I could have seen much earlier had I just made the effort:

 Scarce Heath (heroringvinge) 

False Heath Fritillary (mørk rutevinge) 

Meadow Brown (rappringvinge) 

Finally my first butterfly twitch gave me a vary rare vagrant Clouded Yellow (vandregulvinge)

The Bodø mountains also gave me the other northern specialities that  I have previously seen and I had all three of the resident Clouded Yellow Species at the same mountain locality which in itself is I imagine a unique experience but with the “normal” Clouded Yellow I saw later in the year I definitely became the only person to see all four species in the same year in Norway and who knows maybe Scandinavia.

This photo of Violet Copper (fiolett gullvinge) made me very happy as for the first time the violet colour was really obvious

I have now seen 82 of the 101 species recorded in Norway (or at least those in Artsobservasjoner) and saw 74 of these in 2025. With Jr now studying in Tromsø I can hope that visits to her in June/July will allow me to add some of those northern species that don’t occur as “far” south as Bodø but even with Tromsø as a base I will have many hours drive and walking to get to most of these species. BUT, it looks like there are enormous areas of mountain that have never been visited by someone who has any interest in butterflies so there may well be opportunities to discover new species in new places.

Here are the 19 species I am missing and where I intend to see them (this is for my own planning purposes but anyone who wants to join me in the search is welcome to contact me)

 

1.      Essex Skipper (timoteismyger) - a trip around one hour south or east of Oslo in July should easily give this species

2.      Reverdin’s Blue (lakrismjeltblåvinge) – this species occurred on islands close to Fornebu but was last seen in 2014 so that looks like an impossible species and a huge blocker for the older crowd who saw it (and in many cases collected it…)

3.      Chequered Blue (klippeblåvine) - occurs only around Halden, an hour and a half drive away - where it is very local but is also being reintroduced. It is an early flier so I will need to visit in the middle of May or earlier if it is an early spring.

4.      Niobe Fritillary (niobeperlemorvinge) – not recorded since 1997 although with its similarity to High Brown Fritillary and the variety of places with historical records there may be a chance it is rediscovered.

5.      Arctic Fritillary (arktisk perlemorvinge) – a trip is needed to Alta at the beginning of July although as there is one site where everyone goes to see this species it wouldn’t surprise me if they can be found elsewhere. There is for example a record close to Oslo although there is no photo so who knows if its good or not,

6.      Bog Fritillary (ringperlemorvinge) – a not too scarce species this species can be found within an hour of Oslo but should be easier to find in Hedmark along with Lapland Ringlet in the Osen area in the middle of June

7.      Dusky-winged Fritillary (Dvergperlemorvinge) – a super rare species that I will use Tromsø as base to see in the first half of July.

8.      Polar Fritillary (polarperlemorvinge) – has a very similar range and flying time to Arctic Fritillary so will be searched for at the same time.

9.      Map Butterfly (kartvinge) – only 6 records in Norway but 5 of these are in the last two years and all are in the far north with Finland the likely source of an expanding species. All have been first generation in the first half of July. So it will be pure luck to see one but in a decade or so they might be established including in the south where the species is expanding north in southern Sweden.

10. Glanville Fritillary (prikkrutevinge) – now only occurs now on a military island of Rauer with other populations last recorded in 2009. Access to the public is as far as I know not possible for civilians. The beginning of June is the time to see them.

11. Yellow-legged Tortoiseshell (seljesommerfugl) – a rare vagrant which did occur widely in April 2014 but since there have been 4 records although one in Oslo on 15 April 2022 does show that I need to be have it on my mind when out early in the year and check all Small Tortoiseshells I see.

12. Arctic Ringlet (disaringvinge) – a trip to Alta is again the place but for this species end of June/beginning of Juy is the time. There is a recently discovered population close to Tromsø though which I will look for (and already did half heartedly in 2025) if I have a chance.

13. Lapland Ringlet (emblaringvinge) – a trip to either Osen or the south end of Femund around mid June should do the trick or if I am birding in Pasvik then I should also see it

14. Arctic Woodland Ringlet (polarringvinge) – also an Alta species but does seem to be fairly widespread in all of Finnmark. A recently discovered population closer to Tromsø could be visited in conjunction with Dusky-winged Fritillary. End of June to mid July.

15. Rock Grayling (svabergringvinge) – a southern European species with a relict population a couple of places in southern Norway. A 3 hour drive to Treungen in the middle of July should do the trick.

16. Arctic Grayling (tundraringvinge) – another Alta species at end of June/beginning of July.

17. Clouded Apollo (mnemosynesommerfugl) – only known from a handful of sites in the west of Norway but a population discovered as recently as 2017 in Vinje, Telemark is only around a 3 hour drive away. Flies from Mid May into July with a visit at the end of June looking to be best.

18. Cryptic (Real’s) Wood White (enghvitvinge) – a species that is currently only identifiable through genetic examination of a specimen under a microscope. It has been recorded quite a few times in south eastern Norway but I would need to be with someone far more knowledgeable than myself if I were to see one with certainty.

19. Black-veined White (hagtornsommerfugl) – there is one well known population in Lærdal which is many hours drive from Oslo but they are occasionally reported in Telemark indicating a population there too. June would be the month.

 

Mid Jan

After 3 very cold days but with only a small amount of snow we then had a day with LOTS of snow on Tuesday and Wednesday whilst temperatures rose to +/- zero. Thursday was cold again although at only -5C was a relative joy to be out in but today, Friday, the forecast is for the mercury to rise over zero and lots of RAIN. Welcome to icy pavements and roads and hell on earth…

This week I have mostly been looking for snipes, rails and owls and succeeding to a good extent. Jack Snipe, Water Rail and Pygmy Owl have shown well, Common Snipe has been seen briefly but a Great Grey Owl in Maridalen has only been heard about via via but if the record is genuine then both myself and a number of others would appear to have been very close to it whilst being oblivious to its presence. Hopefully it is genuine and is refound although I so no evidence of rodents so cannot see that it will hang around one particular area for long.

I have spent a lot of time trying to film Jack Snipe feeding but that has proven very difficult and merits its own post.

A trip to Huk, Bygdøy revealed nothing unexpected except for a female Pintail feeding in the rock pools which rather surprisingly is my first record here. Three different female (but no male) Pintails have been seen in Oslo this winter – one at Østensjøvannet and upto two at Bestumkilen/Vækerø. In the last couple of weeks though only a single bird has been reported at Vækerø so whether the Huk bird was one of the other two or another bird is difficult to say.

Maridalen on Wednesday after all the snow but before the rain

the Pygmy Owl (spruveugle) has become more reliable again. Here it looks as though it is searching the ground for mice but otherwise it clearly had its eyes on birds at the feeding station

one of upto three Water Rails (vannrikse) wintering in Oslo

the open water that attracts Water Rails and snipe also often attracts Robins (rødstrupe) and Wrens

the min cruise ferry from Kiel arriving in Oslo on Thursday morning as seen from Huk. Purple Sandpipers were on the rocks and a few Velvet Scoter and Eider were diving for food. The female Pintail can be seen swimming left

the female Pintail (stjertand) feeding in the rock pools

one of six Purple Sandpipers (fjæreplytt)

the Pygmy Owl in Maridalen on Thursday. It is always easier to find it when it perches on top of a tree. Just after I took the picture it vanished but I then suddenly heard an explosion of noise from a flock of Long-tailed Tits that I had previously not been aware of so I assume it went for one of them

Long-tailed Tit (stjertmeis)

The sound of the small flock. They were still very excited a couple of minutes after they exploded into life

and my continued "hunt" for a video of one of these feeding will get its own post sometime soon

An old fashioned winter

We are now having what I expect will be the coldest spell of the winter with temperatures having fallen to -21C. In my mind it was more common with temperatures down to -20C when I first moved to Oslo 25 years ago but I don’t know if the stats will support me. When it is so cold then birding becomes uncomfortable and especially so if you repeatedly, and despite the comments of others, fail to dress appropriately. Despite being a Brit I do know very well how I should dress and successfully managed to dress two children to survive playing and sleeping outside in these same temperatures so why I am so cavalier about dressing myself correctly is a mystery to everyone. I did finally wear a hat though on Sunday when the temperatures reached their lowest.

This sort of cold is an issue for many birds and with days being so short they have to ensure they eat as much as possible in the few hours of daylight such that they can survive the long cold nights. In our garden the sparrows and Blackbirds are at the feeders a couple of hours before sunrise and take advantage of nearby street lighting to extend the hours in which they can feed. At least 8 different Blackbirds (3 adult males, 1 1^st winter male and a minimum of 4 females) use the garden feeding on bread and apples that are put out but primarily feeding on sunflower seed hearts that fall onto the ground from a feeder used primarily by sparrows (both House and Tree). Not many seeds falls down though and it has been very interesting to see how one female (I am sure it is just the one bird) has learnt to take food directly from the feeder. To start with she was able to put her feet on the feeder and whilst flapping her wings grab a single seed but after a week has perfected her technique such she is able to perch for a couple of seconds with less flapping. In addition to her getting more food she also through her flapping dislodges more seeds than the sparrows so the other, ground feeding, Blackbirds also benefit from her evolving actions.

The extreme cold seems to have concentrated the few remaining non duck water birds and the stretch of the magic stream that never freezes where I had previously seen a single Jack Snipe has now had up to two Common and three Jack Snipe and a Water Rail. These species will I believe also feed at night but even with 24 hours of feeding time there must be very little food for them to find and these are critical times.

The regular Maridalen Pygmy Owl seems to have turned its attention to birds with the layer of snow presumably making rodents more difficult to find. It tries to perch hidden close to feeders (so is rarely seen on tree tops as it often is when after rodents) and catch a tit by surprise but every time it is found by a tit they give it a huge amount of abuse often causing it to have to retreat before trying to return unseen and continue the hunt. There are only the occasional sighting of single Marsh Tits now so I wonder if one or more have fallen prey to the owl.

I spend a lot of time feeling envious at the moment. Mostly it is due to friends who have bitten the bullet and traveled to see the Azure Tit but yesterday my old birding friend from university, Will Oliver, found a Red-flanked Bluetail over the road from his house in Kent! Just look at this BOC picture he sent showing both blue tail and red flanks…😊

Maridalen on Sunday when it was -21C

on Thursday Jack and I went looking for a Hawk Owl that was reported a half hour from Oslo the previous day. We failed in that mission but did see a rainbow halo which this picture failed to capture aswell as we saw it

not quite as cool or addictive as Hawkie but you never say no when offered a dose of Pygmie

Jack Snipe (kvartbekkasin). Their plumage loses its otherwise magic camouflage capabilities when snow makes everything white. Here though it has back up into the snow in attempt to hide from me

on another day when I saw two birds. I set up the camera on the tripod to remotely film this bird expecting it to unfreeze and begin bobbing and feeding but gave up after 35 minutes when a lack of action made me fear that even if I was not visible that the camera on a tripod was visible in such away that the bird was still nervous. 

These two videos show how the bird only relaxed slightly over the 35 minutes. It did stand up but did not move away and feed. At the end you see it lowering itself again as I went to the camera and made myself visible. Note also how a close feeding Mallard (stokkand) causes no movement from the snipe. The second video is just a zoomed in and 4x sped up version of the first.

a second Jack that was less than 10m from the above bird. Note the dropping in the water

the magic stream

a wintery Maridalen