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..

To hang em or not to hang em?

 

Do you see anything hanging on that hook?

No?

That’s because today delivered big time 😊

 

Today really did feel like a make or break day for (my) Oslo bird year. If the forecast southerly winds, cloud and showers did not deliver on 9^th May then there would be no chance of this spring having a big day especially as the forecast for the next 10 days just looks to be sun. I had been thinking of playing away and seawatching at Brentetangen followed by Kurefjorden and then Dotterel searching but in the end decided, with Jack, to keep it local and stare at the fjord at Huk from sunrise. I have only done this once before but the efforts of Per Buertange a decade or so ago proved that there was potential in it. We got there at 0450 to see that there was a fairly low, and heavy, cloud base and a decent southerly wind blowing into our faces. Now we just had to sit down, keep warm and wait to find out what the bird gods had in store for us.

the view at 05:27

For the first hour or so I was thinking that I would be hanging my bins on that hook as apart from a large flock of Common Scoter resting on the sea and a Bar-tailed Godwit (Oslo #157) that had been roosting on the rocks when we arrived there was really no sign of any movement. But then things did move. First Jack picked up a skua and a dark phase Arctic (Oslo #158) passed at relatively close range. Then we heard a Greenshank calling above us and in our attempts to find it (there were 13 of them) we saw a large flock of Red-throated Divers (60) and then over the course of the next couple of hours we had a numbers of other flocks and ended up totalling 323 birds which absolutely blasts away any previous counts from south eastern Norway. We also had migrating flocks of Whimbrel which totalled 53, a huge flock of 200 Golden Plover which flew north before turning around, 70 Velvet Scoters, 3 Guillemots and an Arctic Tern (Oslo #159). Rarest though was a flyover Red-throated Pipit (Oslo #160) which we identified on call although our views did confirm it was a pipit.. and a Great Northern Diver (Oslo #161) which is an Oslo tick tick for me, #251.

One disappointing and really strange feature of the morning was the complete lack of passerine migration with not a single Yellow Wag or Wheatear for example.

 

We packed our bags after 5 hours and then headed to Maridalen. Here it was raining and with the low cloud expectations were not low but there was little to see although a singing Icterine Warbler (Oslo #162) and Hobby (Oslo #163) heading north were notable and new for the year.

There were 30 or so Swallows feeding over the lake so we thought Østensjøvannet could be a good call for hirundines and maybe terns or Little Gulls. There were a few Swallows and House Martins but 3 Swifts (Oslo #164) were the best we could conjure up.

So I had 8 Oslo year ticks today and I am now approaching the number of species I feel are guaranteed so if I am to have a record year I need a rush of scarce and rare birds.

Arctic Skua (tyvjo) heading towards us with Common Terns (makrellterne) behind

as close as it got and despite the gloom these are I think my best pics of the species close to Oslo

60 odd Red-throated Divers (smålom) @06.59

and part of an even larger flock @08.56. The flocks were flying high and didn't seem to be sure of where to go

some of the 400+ Common Scoter (svartand) that were offshore

and ca.200 Golden Plover (heilo) that first flew north and then turned and went back south

there were good numbers of Common Terns (makrellterne) and amongst them at least this one Arctic (rødnebbterne)

some of the 70 Velvet Scoter (sjøorre) we saw

a couple of the 53 Whimbrel (småspove) we saw stopped for a rest and here this one looks tiny next to a Great Black-backed Gull (svartbak)

an early singing Icterine Warbler (gulsanger) in Maridalen

and the first Hobby (lerkefalk) of the year

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)

Long weekend cabin stay

 We are spending a long weekend at the cabin south of Oslo where we are kucky enough to be once or twice every year and from where I can engage in sea gazing from the terrace. The view is rather limited but I do have access to fresh coffee, a toilet and warmth and shelter should I need it😊. A stay at around the same time in 2021 was very succesful and of course I hoped for a repeat this year. I awoke at 04:30 this morning to find the sea covered in fog and duly went back to sleep. Awaking again at 06:45 revealed it had lifted and I set up the scope and gazed. There was precious all moving despite southerly winds and it wasn’t until 10:45 (by which time everyone else had woken up and we had eaten breakfast) that a decent bird flew by, in the form of 3 Scaup and then at 11 a skua turned up. It turned out to be an Arctic rather than the hoped for Pomarine but any skua in these parts is worth a letter home. Here is my eBird list from the terrace this morning.

Jr and I went for a nightime drive yesterday but couldn’t turn up any Nightjars (probably still too early) although Woodcock and a Tawny Owl flying over the road were good value.

The view from the terrace at 0822 as the boat from Kiel entere the inner Oslo fjord

The houses on the other side are a good 3km away and the Arctic Skua (tyvjo) is probably half way out

Just about identifiable

The area has a healthy population of Wood Warblers (bøksanger)

Marsh Tits (løvmeis) also occur