One week passed and one more day of sun experienced

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..

Waiting for the birds to come

Whilst at the cabin I received reports of both Pomarine and Long-tailed Skuas that should have been heading my way but without me managing to see them although I did find another Arctic Skua and a Black Guillemot (both rare in these parts).

On Sunday morning a male Surf Scoter was reported from further south and was heading north towards me. I had a hope of seeing it but no real expectation of actually succeeding. When a few hours later I found a flock of scoter resting on the sea I of course had to grill them. It was long range and terrible light and the birds were sleeping but then a porpoise surfaced right by them and they all stuck their heads up nervously and voila - one had big white areas on its head😊. This is a real blocker on the Akershus county list with just one prior single observor (but photographed) record which has now been supplemented by my single observor and NOT photographed record.

Butterflies are always a focus when we are staying here and I thought I had added Wood White to the area list but have retracted that observation as I didn’t get a photo and subsequently had some confusing small Green-veined Whites. Dingy and Grizzled Skipper and Green-underside Blue were the undoubted highlights with only 2 other species noted - Brimstone and Orange Tip.

I added Icterine Warbler to my year list and a Red-backed Shrike singing in a neighbouring garden was a true surprise as I failed to see any on the usual clearings (probably still too early).

A Spotted Flycatcher (gråfluesnapper) in the garden

An Arctic Skua (tyvjo) harrying a Common Gull (fiskemåke)

Red-backed Shrike (tornskate) singing in a neighbouring garden

We had many sightings of Porpoises (nise)

A Grizzled Skipper ( bakkesmyger)

A Dingy Skipper (tiriltungesmyger)

A couple of Slow Worms (stålorm) mating under a bush in the garden

This picture was supposed to document the Surf Scoter (brilleand)..

Green-underside Blue (kløverblåvinge)

More from the Cabin

I’ve had a chance to got through some more pictures from the summer.

One morning I visited a bog where I have seen that Arctic Skuas breed and I hoped to ascertain whether they had young. I never actually saw any young but the fact that one adult did a distraction display whilst the other dive bombed me (causing me to fall to the ground) was a good enough confirmation 😉

 

most of the Arctic Skuas (tyvjo) I see around Bodø are dark morphs like this one

this one was heading for my head

whilst this one was playing injured

Here are also a couple of pictures and a video of the Surf Scoter from my final visit.

the male Surf Scoter (brilleand) showed really well in the scope but good pictures were not possible

a juvenile Wheatear (steinskvett)

Holiday update

Time for a blog update!

We are now at our cabin near Bodø, north of the Arctic Circle. It is sunny at times and 15C feels nice here but we came a week late for the really good weather although it may get up to 20C next week.

Birding wise our trip up was uneventful although the lack of raptors was noteworthy with just 3 Kestrels and a Peregrine noted on the whole 1200km trip!

I did have a some good butterfly action at one stop and have also had a good session today near the cabin. I have plans (weather permitting) to have a trip to search for some of the northern specialities that can be seen in the mountains on the Swedish border.

I made trips to the fjord near Fauske yesterday evening and very early this morning but was a bit disappointed. There were over 1000 ducks (500 each of Velvet Scoter and Common Eider with a few Common Scoter and Long-tailed Ducks) but this year nearly everything is very distant. I did find the male Surf Scoter which was discovered a couple of weeks ago but for the second year running I can’t find Knobby. A female King Eider was a new bird (normally there are 1-2 males) but there were no interesting divers or grebes.

I am blogging from my phone so apologise for any formatting issues. I also can’t embed videos so you will have to clink on the links.

I have also spent some time looking at orchids and as usual when I am here just get confused. I’ve definitely seen 4 different species/hybrids/forms/morphs but maybe as many as 9. Maybe this year I’ll get to the bottom of it and maybe even blog about it.

A video of the Surf Scoter https://youtu.be/Wa_R4NJSMm8

And of a Musk Ox we saw on the drive up https://youtu.be/PnQIyHs9KkM

Male Surf Scoter (brilleand) probably a returning bird (although not seen every year)

For the first time Pied Flycatchers still have young in one of the nest boxes rather than them already having fledged by the time we get here

Not often I see a male Moose

And now some butterflies...and a dragonfly...and a moth

Mountain Burnet (Fjellbloddråpsvermer)

Brilliant Emerald (Glansmetallibelle)

Cranberry Fritillary (myrperlemorvinge)

Northern Brown Argus (sankthansblåvinge)

Moorland Clouded Yellow (myrgulvinge)

Purple-edged Copper (Purpurgullvinge)

Dewy Ringlet (Fjellringvinge)

Another Moorland Clouded Yellow that has survived an encounter with a bird