Yesterday was time to start chipping away at that list and a
trip to Hedmark was in order to search for Lapland Ringlet (emblas ringvinge)
and Bog Fritillary (ringperlemorvinge). I chose yesterday as it was forecast to
be warm but cloudy with periods of sun. I thought this would be better
than a very sunny day as the butterflies were more likely to rest when the sun
went behind a cloud and allow me to get photos rather than them just flying
around manically.
I had an early start from Oslo and arrived at my chosen bog
by 0930. I then began to doubt my strategy as there was rather a lot of cloud
in the sky and no immediate sign that the sun would shine. It was warm though
and moths were flying around. I thought that I might scare some butterflies up
if I walked around and succeeded in seeing a Northern Grizzled Skipper
(moltesmyger) which was only me second sighting ever. A couple of fritillaries
also flew past quite slowly but frustratingly did not land within sight of me.
I needed sun and eventually I could see that there would soon be a large gap in
the clouds - and that did the trick.
Suddenly there were quite a few fritillaries on the wing.
The first ones that I managed to identify were Pearl-bordered (rødflekket
perlemorvinge) but most just zipped by. I did have my butterfly net with me
although I am normally equally as (un)successful with it as I am at scratching
on tree trunks and managed to net one. And, it was the first of my targets - a
Bog. Things then became easier and I saw a number of them and got photos and it
was probably the commonest butterfly there. I also had some more skippers and
then a giant of a butterfly - a Baltic Grayling (juttas ringvinge).
Again this was only my second ever sighting and in total had probably 4
individuals which frequently landed on tree trunks.
I was still missing my second target species but after 2
hours I saw another dark butterfly but it was smaller than the graylings and it
kindly landed and allowed photos. Embla in the box - the day was working out
entirely to plan 🦋🥳.
I had good time to continue further east and check out some
flower rich road verges where I have stopped a couple of times before including
in July last year for Silvery Argus (kileblåvinge). I was a bit shocked to see
that the verges had been scraped to dig drainage ditched but did find some
untouched areas and here found a couple of Chequered Skippers (gulflekksmyger)
which again and for the third time was only my second ever sighting and they
were mint individuals. A few Violet Coppers (fiolett gullvinge) were past their
best but were probably the rarest butterfly of the day although it is a species
I have been lucky enough to see a few times before.
Yesterday takes me to 84 species of butterfly in Norway and
leaves me just 17 to get.
And birds? Well, there were some but nothing to write home,
or on this blog, about.
the first target to fall - Bog Fritillary (ringperlemorvinge). The line of white circles at end back of the underwing are diagnostic
from above it looks like a Small Pearl-bordered (brunflekket) but note how the black spots bleed into the triangular markings and this appears to be diagnostic
this one got me very excited and I was thinking a Friggs Fritillary but turned out to be an abberation of Bog. Unfortunately I did not get any pictures of the upperwing but we can see some of it and it is mostly dark and on the underwing it is much darker than normal
and target #2 - Lapland Ringlet (emblas ringvinge). I only has this one individual with a bit missing from its wing
and my second ever sighting of Northern Grizzled Skipper (moltesmyger) and much better than my first
and my second ever sighting(s) of Baltic Grayling (juttas ringvinge) - a large butterfly that has a 2 year syklus
waiting for the clouds to move
the forest bog when the sun was shining - this type of habitat must be very common but rarely visited by anyone with an interest/knowledge
of butterflies so many of the species may be far more widespread than the handfull of annual records suggest
and my second ever Chequered Skipper (gulflekksmyger) which was a much more satsifying sighting than my first last year which was so late and faded that it was barely recognisable
and the rare Violet Copper (fiolett gullvinge)
a tiny orchid growing on a roadside verge - Early/Northern Coralroot (korallrot)
The final part of the summer holiday is beginning and for the first time since 2022 I will be back spending time at the cabin outside of Bodø, north of the Arctic Circle. Jr and I drove up starting from Oslo at 08:55 yesterday and we covered 1281km in 23 hours and 50 minutes with less than an hour of that used for sleep but including 5 stops for birding/butterflying and dog airing. When you drive north through the night in the middle of the summer it never gets dark and that helps keep tiredness as bay although once we got to the cabin we felt it.
Apart from the stops the drive up was extremely bird and animal free with the total of big/interesting species observed (excluding Cranes which are getting almost too common) being 2 Common Buzzard, 3 Kestrel, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Raven, 1 Fox, 1 Hare and 4 Moose. This is an appalling total!!
The stops were for Apollo butterfly which was a quick success, Pallid Harrier which was a dip although a male Hen Harrier did show, Ørin in Trøndelag for waders which was also a dip, Saltfjellet on the Arctic Circle where Red-necked Phalaropes and Ruff were good but no raptors or Long-tailed Skuas and finally 35 minutes from the cabin Klungsettvika where they were alarmingly few sea ducks but hopefully my stop was too fleeting and further visits will deliver more.
At the cabin a pair of Common Gulls has nested on the roof and two large young are still there with the parents guarding them - it will be a noisy stay!
Apollo butterfly - a beautiful beast of an insect
A bit more distant
There were also a couple of Hummingbird Hawk Moths (dvergsvermer)
Saltfjellet looking south
My first ever Lesser Teatblade orchid (småtveblad) which were tiny
Red-necked Phalaropes (svømmesnipe)
The view from the cabin and I have already seen Common Porpoise (nise) and Arctic Skua (tyvjo)
Our summer holidays are far from over but part 2 at the cabin in Bodø is over and I am writing this whilst we are driving back south.
The time at the cabin ended with a new, and my 66th Norwegian species of, butterfly when I again visited the alpine habitats around Sulitjelma and found a species I have long wanted to see - Northern Couded Yellow, which is orange on the upperside and impossible to miss as it flutters over the tundra. It was also much more approachable than the Pale Arctic Clouded Yellow which I again found and despite it quickly disappearing over the mountainside I manged OK pictures of it on the ground hiding in grass.
A quick stop on Saltfjellet as we crossed the Arctic Circle revealed the strange sight of 14 noisy Long-tailed Skuas and 2 Arctic Terns flying around high up seemingly catching flying insects.
Northern Clouded Yellow (mjeltgulvinge)
The undersidenwoth the sun shing through and showing the orsnge colours
The underside
A much better picture of a Pale Arctic Clouded Yellow (polargulvinge)
Golden Plover (heilo)
With the Blåmannsisen glacier in the background
Wigeon (brunnakke) duckling
Wigeon mum
Whooper Swan (samgsvane) family
6 Long-tailed Skuas (fjelljo)
Long-tailed Skua and Arctic Tern (rødnebbterne)
Female Bluethroat (blåstrupe) who clearly had young nearby
False musk orchid (fjellkurle)
habitat of Northern Clouded Yellow
Vanilla scented bog orchid (Fjellhvitkurle)
This balloon was floating over the cabin at 130,000 ft (39.6km) and is the size of a football stadium with an instrument to measure cosmic rays hanging under it. It was launched from Sweden by NASA. more info here https://sites.wustl.edu/xlcal/home/
