Summer holidays 2025 installment 2

Our summer holidays have moved on to Beitostølen and the mountains of Valdres. I have not birded that much with butterflies getting slightly more of my attention. Despite some periods with hot, sunny weather and an abundance of flowers there has not been an abundance of butterflies although there is the usual nice selection of species.

I made a second trip to Vågåmo to look for Large Grizzled Skipper (alvesmyger) after drawing a blank on 7 June probably because they were not yet on the wing then. When I arrived it was windy and cloudy but the weather forecast promised me that the sun would shine and sure enough it eventually did and I found my target relatively easily in exactly the same area where I had seen normal Grizzled Skippers on 7 June. The Larger cousins were noticeably larger and one individual that I spent most time watching was the same size as Mazarine Blues (engblåvinge) and also flew in a manner more reminiscent of a Blue than a Skipper.

I had 4 individuals a couple of which were laying eggs in a small roadside area which doesn’t look that remarkable and hopefully the species is more numerous and widespread than the only handfull of records every year suggest.

Large Grizzled Skipper (alvesmyger)

The view looking south whilst waiting for the clouds to move and reveal the sun

The sun about to break through

A Mountain Burnet (fjellbloddråpesvermer) on an Alpine Catchfly (fjelltjæreblom)

Mountain Fritillary (fjellperlemorvinge)

Silver-spotted Skipper (kommasmyger)

Alpine Blue (fjellblåvinge)

Mountain Ringlet (fjellringvinge)

Spot the Fieldfare (gråtrost) nest? At 1389moh this must be one of the highest ever found

Snow Buntings (snøspurv) seem to becoming commoner on Valdresflye

The view from 1527moh towards the south

And to the west