A whole seven days after the last day of sun we saw it again yesterday although I had to drive over an hour to experience it and its arrival was a whole three hours later than forecast - but it was all worth it in the end!
I, of course, went to Sulitjelma and hunted butterflies. I was not alone on that errand with another birder/butterer visiting all the way from Lista. Øyvind however was only having a short stop on his way even further north and only got to enjoy 5 minutes of sun before having to leave. I was able to wait it out though and when the sun did finally show for longer periods I finally, and after lots of efforts, got to see the Pale Arctic Clouded Yellow as well as is possible with nectaring individuals too close to focus on and one in the hand such that I could see the upperwing. I also got to see Northern Clouded Yellow’s upperwing so I can now «forget» about these species and concentrate my efforts on the really rare species that I am certain occur up here😊
Pale Arctic Clouded Yellow (polargulving) showing the underside of both wings
I had to take matters into my owns hands though to finally see the upperwing
This small flower rich hillside was where the previously pictured individual was flying from flower to flower. Previously when I have seen them they have barely had time to stop
Spot it?
And here another individual. It was only 50m away and was also nectaring but was not quite as easy to follow. It was a much more heavily marked individual making me wonder if one was a male and the other a female.
A second, and more heavily marked, Pale Arctic Clouded Yellow (polargulvinge)
My usual out of focus flight shot but this is actually better than normal
Again showing both wings whereas previously the forewing has been hidden
When the light shines through the wings and the forewing is raised then you can see the upper side pattern
An almost acceptable flight (take off) shot
The upper side of a Northern Clouded Yellow (mjeltgulving)
I had to pick it up and blow on it when the sun had gone behind a cloud to get it to open its wings but it flew off strongly when the sun came out again
Clouded yellow habitat and with a much larger flying object in the background
One flying by
And here the upperwing caught as it nectared
Birding has occurred too with the Surf Scoter sighted a few times and even digitally documented. Wader passage is picking up with both adult and juvenile Spotted Redshanks now moving. A male Garganey felt like a strange species to see north if the Arctic Circle but they are observed regularly enough over the years that I am sure they breed locally from time to time. Very good numbers of Common and Arctic Terns (a couple of hundred), Lapwings and breeding Lesser Black-backed Gulls were also satisfying sightings.
Arctic Skua (tyvjo) which breed on a bog nearby
Collared Doves (tyrkerdue) also surprisingly occur this far north although are rare
Garganey (knekkand) - in flight its blue forewing showed it was a male in eclipse
Adult Spotted Redshank (sotsnipe) with Greenshank (gluttsnipe)
Bar-tailed Godwits (lappspove)
And the male Surf Scoter (brilleand) showing his white nape patch..
The last few days have seen ill kids, celebrating
Norway’s national day of 17 May in very special Corona restrictions circumstances
and some trips to Maridalen and Nordre Øyeren.
Birds have been good with Wryneck and Three-toed
Woodpecker in Maridalen, male Redstart in the garden, Collared Dove in Maridalen
(MEGA), the first Tawny Owl chicks leaving the nest, singing Thrush
Nightingale, displaying Great Snipe and Long-eared Owl. The only disappointment
was that Nordre Øyeren is still not attracting any numbers of waders (or birds
generally) despite the water levels still being very optimal. There was also
been quite a clear out of resting migrant passerines in Maridalen although the
first female Yellow Wagtails are now turning up (just males before). Southerly
winds forecast from Thursday with possible rain at the weekend do however off
up the chance of something good turning up in the coming days.
the Tawny Owl (kattugle) parents are of the two colour morphs. The grey bird is; I believe, the male
youngster #1
youngster #2
youngster #3. In addition there was still at least one in the nest box. They have only been out 1-2 days but have already moved 50m
male Three-toed Woodpecker (tretåspett)
Tree Pipit (trepiplerke)
Venus at 22:14
Wood Sandpiper (grønnstilk)
Redstart (rødstjert) in the garden. The house is from the 1930's and the windows are probably original which becomes obvious when trying to take photos through them with a 600mm
Collared Dover (tyrkerdue) in Maridalen. This species is less than annual in Maridalen but the species seems to be doing very well this spring in the Oslo area
Today was a good day to visit the Botanical Garden
in Oslo. My reasoning (which differs to that of the majority of people) being
that it was cloudy and sleeting and there would therefore be nobody else there
and I could enjoy the birds on my own…
There was a nice flock of Redpolls at one of the
feeders and amongst them was a nice 1st winter / 2cy male of the
northern clinal form, aka Arctic Redpoll. This bird stood out as a much colder,
whiter bird and the large white rump and undertail coverts confirm the ID but
in my pictures it looks a lot greyer although I put this down to the light and
the poor quality of the photos. As usual there was a wide variety of plumages
and sizes amongst the redpolls and there was at least one other bird that was
probably of the arctic type but I only ever saw this bird above me in a tree
and never noticed it on the ground so it might well be that it gave a different
and less convincing impression when seen on the ground (all the birds were
frequently coming down to feed on sunflower seeds). None of the birds conformed
to the southern clinal form aka Lesser Redpoll.
There was the usual variety of other finches (9
species in total) but a single Blackbird was the only thrush I saw suggesting
that all berries have now been eaten
On the Plaza hotel there are now two Peregrines: an
adult and a 1st winter/2cy. It is normally only an adult that
winters in town with young birds migrating south to Europe and I think it is
unusual for two birds to hang out together unless they are a pair. I would
imagine therefore that these birds are a parent and young and for some reason
the parent still has a bond to its offspring.
here the bird on the left is the same one in the other pictures. The bird on the right also looks to have a very large unmarked white rump but I never noticed this individual on the ground and believe that the rump has been make to look much larger and whiter due to the feathers being fluffed up. But it could well also be an arctic
the Arctic from different angles and looking decidedly different in each one
here the pointed outer tail feathers show it to be a 1st winter / 2cy bird
A redpoll that is difficult to place and may well be an arctic - note the small bill, fairly large white rump but the streaking on the undertail coverts may be too much and the ground colour on the back may not be light enough
despite a lot of white on the rump this is a Common Redpoll - large bill and streaking on the rump and too dark on the back
this bird was very striking. The bill was small and it was generally grey rather than brown but was very straked on the rump and flanks and undertail coverts. A Common Redpoll but from where?
a well marked male Common Redpoll
Despite the white rump this must be a Common Redpoll due to it being a male (red on breast) and a male arctic would have less flank streaking and greyer back
This bird was in the garden a couple of days ago on its own. Agian it has a small bill and a white rump (athough only a narrow area unstreaked). It could well be an arctic (and the first garden record) but not for sure
a small 2cy male Sparrowhawk was unpopular
Four species of finch (Chaffinch, Brambling, Greenfinch and Redpoll) are in this picture plus a possible arctic Redpoll. I also had Hawfinch, Bullfinch, Goldfinch and Siskin so quite a good finch day
Collared Dove
the two Peregrines on the top of the Plaza Hotel plus the reflection of one of the birds which has fooled more than one birder into thinking there were even more birds. The closer bird is a 2cy and and the further bird an adult. The noticeably larger size of the youngster suggests it is a female and the adult a male (daughter and father?)
