Emergency stopping for a bug

This year hasn’t been that good for butterflies yet with lots of rain and when there is sun it is often windy. I have consequently not spent much time searching for them but as with all things with wings sometimes they come to you. Yesterday whilst driving in Maridalen I saw a large black and white butterfly flutter in front of the car. For the first time (that I can remember at least) I emergency stopped for an insect although it soon transpired I had all the time in the world. The butterfly, which was a Poplar Admiral (ospesommerfugl) was attracted to the road and was clearly finding something good, probably salt, on the tarmac. It managed to avoid death at the hands of passing cars, although all slowed down as they were clearly interested to see what I was up to, and it kept landing and showing itself off from all angles. Whilst this was happening a Swallowtail flew over although unfortunately did not stop. So arguably the two most spectacular Norwegian butterflies at the same time and in the Dale 😊

 

Poplar Admiral (ospesommerfugl). Only the fourth time I've seen one and by far and away the most cooperative. They are famous for being attracted to dog sh*t but seems tarmac roads are just as attractive

I paid a visit to Østensjøvannet yesterday hoping that the rainy weather might have produced something (a Black Tern turned up at Årnestangen at the weekend) but as with all my rain fuelled visits this spring there was not even a Swallow to see. Something is clearly up with the lake with there being no insects hatching and therefore no Swallows, terns or most importantly gulls to feed off them. I reckon that this is the reason that Black-headed Gulls, which used to breed here in a colony of many hundreds of pairs, have now more or less completely abandoned the lake for breeding. It did look like there were two nesting pairs though which was a surprise although whether they can raise young is another thing.

Even if there were no insect eaters, a couple of male Gadwall in eclipse plumage were most unexpected.

male Gadwalls (snadderand) in eclispe

Coot (sothøne) parent and young

when at Østensjøvannet it is rude not to take a picture of a Great Crested Grebe (toppdykker)

Maridalsvannet has been having lots of hatching insects over the last few weeks with many Common and a few Black-headed Gulls hawking them. There have also been Common Tern which today peaked at 6 birds which I am sure is a record here. There have also been lots of Swifts, Swallows and House Martins and the odd sighting of Sand Martin. Today there three birds including a pair mating on wires right above my head. I never saw them visiting potential nest holes although they have previously bred in holes between stones on a nearby bridge.

I did foolishly have another nocturnal outing last night but with nothing to show for it I think this must be my last of the year, in Maridalen at least.

mating Sand Martins (sandsvale)

Swallows (låvesvale) collecting nesting material. The bird on the left is ringed. It is quite late to be nest building

I haven't been able to make much out of the ring not even which country 

Marsh Warblers (myrsanger) have become quiet as they pair off

there are now two Pink-footed Geese (kortnebbgås) at Maridalsvannet. At least one of them is paired to a Greylag and maybe both

These two Mallard (stokkand) chicks are very different

the Great Northern Diver (islom) is going strong

and yet another video of it

First Lapwing brood in Maridalen

We are now heading to the time of the year when I spend as much time looking down as I do looking up. The days are getting hotter and sunnier, migration is winding down and butter and dragonflies are emerging.

After a surprise Cuckoo in Maridalen – a silent bird that just appeared in a bush in front of me for 10 seconds – I am only missing Common Rosefinch from the common migrants. It does feel strange to have not heard a Cuckoo yet but next weekend I am travelling with Conor to Valdres again and there we should hear many although there is still so much snow in the mountains it will be interesting to see how far spring has come.

A pair of Common Scoter resting on Maridalsvannet on Thursday were a typical late migrant but otherwise there has hardly been a bird to see on the water. The Lapwing situation is confusing. On Thursday there were just two females sitting but on Friday morning I got a message from Halvard that there was female with three young. When I got there later in the morning I could just see 2 females sitting on nests but then in the afternoon I had the female with 3 young and a bird on a nest so I am unsure if there is a brood plus 2 nests or 1 brood and 1 nest – time will tell. Whilst I was watching in the afternoon I saw the sitting female fly off the nest to go and feed. She had to fly to another field as the nesting field is extremely dry with presumably little food. When she flew off, her mate who had been standing about 50m away then flew up and flew over and around the nest as though he was protecting it.

3 Lapwing (vipe) young with mum

the still sitting bird

Common Scoter (svartand) pair

my first Cuckoo(gjøk) of the year

a healthy looking but thin Fox. With it not being a rodent year then foxes will struggle to find food for their young and birds will make up a higher proportion of their catch

there seems to be breeding in both Goshawk (hønsehauk) territories in Maridalen. In one I could not see a bird on the nest but the nest rim had a lot of white feathers on it and at the second (pictured) they are using a new nest which also had a lot of white feathers and I eventually managed to see a head sticking up

a return visit to Østensjøvannet allowed a distant picture of the Pochard (taffeland)

The Wryneck (vendehals) pair is still active in Maridalen and I do not know if they have started nesting

the other bird (probably female) in the pair

this male Yellow Wagtail (gulerle) in Maridalen was either a late migrant or a bird thinking of breeding (the marsh it was on seemed a suitable nesting site). It has an interesting plumage with a weak supercilium and a bold subocular patch so is not a typical thunbergi but what it is I cannot say

a shameful and unsuccessful trip to Østensjøvannet to year tick a piece of plastic did see a Coot (sothøne) danceoff

Red-backed Shrike (tornskate) in Maridalen eating a beetle

this singing Whitethroat (tornsanger) popped up right in front of me. This was at Østensjøvannet but the first bird has also appeared in Maridalen. They always appear later in Maridalen as the slightly higher altitude means that vegetation takes a week or so longer to develop

And some butterflies

a female Orange-tip (aurorasommerfugl)

my first fritillary of the year, a Pearl Bordered (rødflekketperlemorvinge)

and a Dingy Skipper (tiriltunge smyger) in Maridalen. Now that I have got used to how small these skippers are and how early they fly I am finding more and more of them

I also took pictures of day flying moths but will resist showing them