One more butterfly..... but what was it?

I started my last post by saying I thought it would be my last butterfly post of the year and I did expect that to be the case but that post in itself has spawned definitely this post and probably another in the hopefully not too distant future.

So, my last post detailed me having seen an Essex Skipper (timoteismyger) Thymelicus lineola which was new for me in Norway and also a small range expansion with it being the first record in Bærum which is the municipality immediately west of Oslo. As I hope I made clear I was very happy with this record and in addition to writing about it on the blog I had written a post on the Norwegian Facebook Group "Sommerfugler i Norge" detailing the range expansion and had reported it on the Norwegian biodiversity website Artsobservasjoner where I had even gone to the rare step of highlighting it by using the red "interesting comment" function.

This is the butterfly in question:

a Skipper (smyger) but is it Small or is it from Essex?

It was my post on this blog though that would prove to be the most important. On Friday I was rung by an unknown number from Denmark but was unable to take the call. However, the caller, John Faldborg, left a message saying that he was calling about something on my blog and that it was in my interest to hear what he had to say. Interesting stuff indeed and early the next morning John called me again and this time I (eagerly) answered. The excitement in John's voice was clear as was the fact that he had gone to the bother of finding my number and calling me rather than sending a message. The reason for his excitement? Well John was quite certain that my photo of an Essex Skipper was in face of it's twin species Small Skipper (okersmyger) Thymelicus sylvestris.

Small Skipper has never been recorded in Norway, nor Sweden as far as I can ascertain, but does occur in Denmark where it flies alongside Essex Skipper (as is also the case in England and most of Europe). Now Essex and Small Skipper are VERY alike and the safest way to separate them is the the colour of the underside of the bulbous tip to the antenna - one species is orangey and the other blackish. Given these are tiny species with a wing span of only around 25mm then it is clear that seeing the colour of the antenna tips requires a magnifying glass or good picture - which I had luckily (and unusually for me 😉 ) taken. I was aware of this difference from my forays into butterflies over 30 years ago when still living in Southern England and had noted on my photo that the butterfly had orangey tips. I couldn't remember which one of the twin species had the orange tips but that was of no consequence as we only have one of the species in Norway and that is Essex Skipper so obviously it was Essex..... For me the only ID question had been ensuring it wasn't a Large Skipper (engsmyger) Ochlodes sylvanus and that had been straighforward.

I am flattered that John finds this blog interesting enough to read and for him who lives where both species are found and need to be differentiated then the orange shouted Small Skipper. He could also see small differences in the patterning of orange and black on the wings that were better for Small than Essex. A Danish butterflying friend had also agreed with his ID (based on the one photo). The individual I found can be seen to be a female as it lacks the black sex brand on the wing that males have - had it been a male then the shape of this stripe would also have been an ID feature as it differs between the two species. You can read about the separation of the two species on the Butterfly Conservation website where it also says "Because of the similarities, the Essex Skipper has been overlooked both in terms of recording and ecological study, and it was the last British resident species to be described (in 1889)." If they took so long in Blighty to recognise it when there was so much specimen collecting going on then it is clear how difficult an ID challenge it is.

John's excited phone call definitely helped wake me up on Saturday morning far more than the coffee I was drinking and set me in motion reaching out for second, third and fourth opinions.

I was of course a bit embarrassed with myself for not having realised the significance of the orange antenna tips but can at least console myself with the fact that no other Norwegian who saw the picture on Facebook or Artsobservasjoner reacted either. And why would we? When Small Skipper does not occur here and has never appeared on any list of expected new species.

First was an email to the person responsible for the butterfly collection at the Norwegian Natural History Museum who would ultimately be responsible for accepting a new butterfly species on to the official Norwegian list. Second was this post on Twitter (X if you must) to see if there are still any decent folks (rather that right wing trolls) using it who would give an opinion.

Essex or Small Skipper?
I took this picture of what I assumed was an Essex Skipper near Oslo on Tuesday. We have a small population of Essex Skipper nearby and also it is common in southern Sweden. Small Skipper doesn’t occur in either country but both are in Denmark.
1/3 pic.twitter.com/rwPapXMsfL

— Simon Rix (@si_rix) August 1, 2026

The responses came in surprisingly quickly and my email to the Museum was forwarded to the greatest butterfly minds in the country (two other people 😀) where the response was extremely positive. Twitter also gave positive responses in terms of "well it has to be a Small Skipper doesn't it because it has orange antenna tips". One of the (three) positive Twitter responses was also as you can see from Richard Lewington who illustrated the Collins Butterfly Guide to Britain and Europe. 

So, the ID should be straightforward but there is one small fly in the ointment.

Both Per Kristian Slagsvold at the museum and @cryptidbirder on Twitter pointed me in the direction of this picture on lepiforum. It is a picture that shows an Essex Skipper with orange tips. This picture would seem to throw the whole ID feature into disarray. One might ask how can we be certain that it is an Essex? As it is a picture I assume there is no specimen or Dna but the picture is taken in Canada and Essex Skipper is an introduced species to North America (in 1910) but Small Skipper does not occur - which should make the ID certain. But this does raise more questions. 

Why is there just this one picture (that I am aware of) showing Essex with orange tips and why is it from an introduced population? In the areas of Europe where both occur (which is basically the whole range except Norway, Sweden and Finland) one can assume that any skipper photographed with orange tips will be instantly identified as Small and no further thought paid to the matter. So maybe there are more Essex Skippers with orange antenna tips but they are filed away under Small? A thorough search of Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish pictures would help here to determine whether this "abberation" does occur in Europe and I will try to do that search.

Another explanation is that the introduced North American population comes from such a small gene pool that abberations will be more likely?

I don't know the answer and neither will it be me that makes the final decision as to what I photographed. Per Kristian from the museum drove an hour today to join me to try to find it again or hopefully more (the one I photographed was so fresh that it was likely locally bred and therefore part of a population). We did not find any but as PK said - I wouldn't have driven here to search if I didn't think it probably was one. The museum collection does included Small Skippers collected elsewhere in Europe and these will be studied but I expect that without further observations, better photos from all angles and most likely a specimen or two (from which Dna can be taken) that an official decision will not be taken. However that remains to be seen which is why I wrote I hope that I will be writing a further post on this one single flutterby....

So if it is a Small Skipper (which it would without hesitation be identified as such in all countries where it is expected to occur) then how did it get here? Well butterflies do fly, warm winds have been from the south and the northern tip of Denmark isn't that far away. The day after my Skipper sighting a vagrant Clouded Yellow was seen nearby and there have been records of vagrant southern moths so it ain't an impossible record.

Two footnotes:

1. Should this be accepted as a new species for Norway then it is John Faldborg who should get all the honour.

2. The location where I saw it is only 300 metres from where I found Norway's only "wild" Long-tailed Blue although the general view seems to be that this has to be a butterfly that originated as a caterpillar in imported peas from Kenya. But we can never be sure - maybe Fornebu has some magical attraction to rare butterflies?

Back in Oslo and one more butterfly...

This will, I think, be my last butterfly post of the year so please bear with me 😊

 

Sunday and Monday saw us driving back from Bodø to Oslo with us again taking the scenic but by no means slow route via Røros and Trysil. This allowed me to see Silvery Argus (kileblåvinge) for the second time and once again they were easy to find along a road. We also drove past great looking forest bog habitat that I will have to visit in the middle of June in one of the coming years.

First full day back in Oslo and I had to take a trip to Fornebu to see my first Brown Hairstreaks of the year with two males noted. I thought this would be my last butterfly species of the year but there was a surprise in store for me. In my post from January where I listed the species I had still to see in Norway there was one species that looked like it would be easy for me to see – Essex Skipper (timoteismyger). I had been contemplating the 40 minute drive to the Drammen area to “twitch” one but had seen some new records this year showing that the species was clearly expanding to the east and I thought why should I travel to see what is quite a small, boring species when it looked like it would come to me - although not necessarily this year, or even next, but soon.

And there it was! I was watching some Small Heaths (engringvinge) when I saw a small orange butterfly perched on a grass straw. I immediately knew what it was and just managed to take two pictures before it flew off strongly in the direction of Oslo (where it has yet to be recorded) and was gone. For such a small species it had a very strong and direct flight and it is no wonder that it is such a successful colonist.

Essex Skipper becomes my 85^th Norwegian species and my third new one this year following a successful trip to the forest bogs of Hedmark in June.

Essex Skipper (timoteismyger) - my 3rd new species this year and 85th ever in Norway

a male Brown Hairstreak (slåpetornstjertvinge)

the glacier Blåmannsisen lies above Sulitjelma and is visible from close to our cabin.

male Silvery Argus (kileblåvinge)

And here is some evidence to show that I do still look at birds. This juvenile Greenshank (gluttsnipe) was just one of a surprisingly good selection of waders at Fornebu.

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..

Making the most of some sun

Thursday was forecast to be a sunny day further inland including in the mountains at Sulitjelma. I had to make the most of the day as the ongoing forecast is a bit uncertain and I may not get another chance for some good buttering.

I chose Sulis instead of Graddis in Junkerdalen because Sulis is 40 minutes less driving and has had far less historical coverage so the chance of finding something new is much higher (I dream of discovering new sites for Dusky-winged Fritillary (dvergperlemorvinge) and Arctic Grayling (tundraringvinge)). I awoke at 0430 with the disappointment of the previous night’s footy game fresh in my mind but felt energetic and excited with what the morning would bring.

On the way I stopped at Klungset to do some birding. As I noted last year something serious has happened here and numbers of Velvet Scoter are a fraction of what they used to be and I counted fewer than 100 in the whole area. A very distant male Surf Scoter was almost certainly the same as seen a month ago but I was unable to pick out the American White-winged Scoter also seen a month ago. Other good birds were King Eider, Great Northern Diver and Red-necked Grebe. Here are the two eBird checklists I made:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S372593345

https://ebird.org/checklist/S372599446

Up on the mountains the forecast cloudless skies were not evident and I had to wait patiently for the sun to come. I spent some time looking at the many alpine/arctic flowers that the area is famous for but my knowledge of plants is poor so I am reliant on taking photos and using AI to help me although I see there are often very similar species and often feel I can’t trust the answer I get well enough to register my sightings.

I am on firmer ground when it comes to butterfly ID and when the sun did shine then the butterflies flew. I had a period of around an hour when there were many individuals which would stop on flowers but as the morning drew on there were fewer to see and then they would often just zoom by.

Two of the special species of the area are Pale Arctic Clouded Yellow and Northern Clouded Yellow and I had many sightings with Northern being far commoner. I have always found these a challenge to photograph but this time did fairly well although the first mentioned remains difficult. I also got film of both species which allowed me to capture the upperwings which you otherwise never see. A couple of Moorland Clouded Yellows were also present (as I had noted last year) and the presence of all three species at the same site must be unique.

Norse Grayling, which was my first record here, and Alpine Grizzled Skipper were also special species. Fritillaries were very scarce and I had just three individuals of three species (Pearl-bordered, Small Pearl-bordered and Mountain) but nothing rarer.

The pictures are in no particular order

Northern Clouded Yellow (mjeltgulvinge) with a Scotch Burnett (fjelblodråpesvermer)

A video grab showing the uppering of a male Northern Clouded Yellow (mjeltgulvinge)

And Pale Arctic Clouded Yellow (polargulvinge)

Moorland Clouded Yellow (myrgulvinge)

An as usual out of focus picture of Pale Arctic CY

I did get to see it nectaring well if briefly

Norse Grayling (nornens ringvinge)

Alpine Grizzled Skipper (polarsmyger)

A fuzzy but rare shot of the upperwing of Norse Grayling

Another Pale Arctic Clouded Yellow. They are particularly green when seen like this

Northern CY

This moth would appear to be a rare Enthepria polata (polarbergmåler)

Looking west at 0840 when the sun came through

amongst the flower were these scarce Arnica angustifiola alpina  (fjellsolblom)

And these already flowered Diapensia lapponica (fjellpryd)

Røvika at 0615

Selfie with a Northern Clouded Yellow. This was the first butterfly I saw which started to fly just before a big cloud covered the sun causing it to land again allowing close study

Looking south towards Junkerdalen at 1250 when I left

It was a joy to find two families of Curlews (storspove) close to the cabin with males keeping their eyes on broods of 2 and 3 nearly fully grown young.