Unplanned and unexpected butterfly action

I was completely sure that my butterfly year was over and had no plans on chasing anymore species until a message last night rather changed things. Kjell who I normally see on Værøy or Jæren was down in Hvaler (in the far south-east of Norway) surveying insects and had seen 3 Clouded Yellows. This is still a real rarity in Norway and of course one of the vagrant species that I needed. It was the chance of meeting up with Kjell that was the biggest draw but a new butterfly would also be nice so I decided that I would head down there this morning. With a drive of 1hr 40min to see a vagrant species seen in passing the day before this would be my first proper butterfly twitch rather than dedicated journey.

On the drive down it was clearly hot and sunny but a rather strong wind had me slightly worried. I arrived before Kjell (and Stein) who were busy emptying moth traps and set about searching in the area where Kjell had seen them yesterday. It was an area with cabins by the sea and was clearly very productive for butterflies and was also out of the wind. One of the first species I saw was Meadow Brown (rappringvinge) which is one of those common species that occur close to Oslo but which I have been waiting to come to me rather than me go to it. So that was rather unexpectedly species 81 in Norway and there were lots of them. 82 came soon after when a butterfly that looked very similar to ones I had seen in the mountains just a month ago shot past me. It took a while before it stopped and landed on a flower but I soon had documentation of bog standard, regular, Clouded Yellow (vandregulvinge) rather than those rare northern version 😉. I had 9 sightings in total and there was clearly a male that was patrolling a territory but there was definitely one other individual and quite possibly more.

But my butterfly luck didn’t stop there. Grayling (kystringvinge) which I have only seen once before were common, I saw the regular form of Silver-spotted Skipper (kommasmyger) for the first time having previously only seen the mountain form catena around Beitostølen. I also saw my first, and a fairly late, High Brown Fritillary (adippeperlemorvinge) of the year which was a species I had to be honest forgotten about. At this point I started to get greedy and think about finding an Essex Skipper (timoteismyger) which I realised also occurred here but I should have been here a couple of weeks ago but I must leave something for next year 😉.

my first Clouded Yellow (vandregulvinge) in Norway!

and my first, and long overdue, Meadow Brown (rappringvinge). When it landed in the grass with wings closed and only the underwing showing (inset) it just disappeared

it was easier to see when the top of the upper wing was visible

and a Small Heath (engringvinge) for comparison

Silver-spotted Skipper (kommasmyger)

Grayling (kystringvinge)

and an attempt to capture the open wing

this aberration was from Fornebu on Saturday and had me at a loss until...

... I saw the underwing and it was clearly a Queen of Spain Fritillary (sølvkåpe)

Great Grey Owl!

Yesterday I had planned a trip to Kurefjorden with Anders. On the way down we received a message that a Great Grey Owl picture had just been posted on Facebook from Hvaler. The exact location was unclear but we had enough information that we decided to alter our plans and keep heading south.

An hour later and there it was! The bird gods were obviously feeling guilty about the Pine Grosbeak fiasco and had decided to reward us big time. She (or he) was just sitting there on the edge of a small clearing right by the road. We got to fill our boots big time and witnessed hunting although the actual capture of a vole was hidden from us and I failed to digitially capture the bird as I would have hoped. My main problem with the digital capture was that I was using two cameras simultaneously taking both video and stills and the three times the bird flew I was just not focused enough. Whilst we stood there a couple of other birders driving past in search of the bird were able to stop and admire it and later in the afternoon it seems that half of birding Østfold saw the bird after we sent out the exact details but no one sent out any sort of update on the bird or acknowledged the help they had been given with the location – birders really are (me included) a strange breed…

After the owl we went looking for the Water Pipit that I failed to see in January (and which hasn’t been reported for a few weeks) but the area of rotting seaweed that had previously held a plethora of birds had only a single Rock Pipit this time. Offshore there were many Common Eiders and amongst them was a strikingly pale female. Although this bird may be from a northern population/sub species I have been unable to find any clinching features and comments I have had from other people suggests these birds are not that irregular amongst groups of Eiders in southern Norway. I also believe that female Eiders become paler during the summer so this may just be a bird in early summer plumage.

We dropped in at Øra where the stench was nothing but omnipresent and birds were rather uninteresting, but we finished the day not too far away with a roadside Great Grey Shrikel which was a fitting end to a day that started with a much larger Great Grey.

There have been a number of other reports recently of Great Grey Owls along the coast a long way from their breeding areas and this strongly suggests that there is a real shortage of food in those breeding areas and that the owls have been forced to wander widely. After two good breeding years it was to be expected that 2019 would be a bottom year in the rodent cycle so looking for these displaced birds will probably be the best bet to find this species in 2019.

Great Grey Owl (lappugle) - it doesn't get much better!

these birds are nearly all feathers

when hunting it was really looking and listening intently

my flight pictures were no good as usual

here all the flight feathers look to be of the same generation which should mean it is a bird born this year

spot the birdy

I noticed how white the area under the bill was and adjusted the exposure to -2.3 stops for this artistic? shot

and in black & white

the hunting flight shot that could have been

on top of its prey

and a video grab with the rodent

Great Grey Shrike (varsler)

the pale female Eider (ærfugl)

Pipits in Østfold

I haven’t had too much to blog about this week but today I took a now rare trip to Østfold. I used to visit Østfold and especially the Kurefjorden regularly but can’t be bothered with the long drive so much these days. Today I was enticed by a Water Pipit that has been present for 10 days close to the Swedish border on Hvaler. I find Water and Rock Pipits a difficult and interesting ID problem (as I think the majority of Norwegian birders do) and I have not had enough experience with Water Pipit to feel on top of the issue. The bird in Østfold has looked to me from the photos to be one of the more difficult birds (although the ID is not in doubt) whilst a bird currently across the fjord at Mølen is a very striking bird that even dudes can identify 😉

I left early so that I was on site just after sunrise. It was cold with the temperature dropping to -13C on the drive down and the ground was frozen. This makes life difficult for insect eating birds but a large deposit of seaweed seems to be providing enough food for a number of pipits. I found a number of pipits at the expected place and counted 3 Meadow Pipits and 14 Rock Pipits but couldn’t find the Water Pipit. After quite a while when the birds had flown around a bit I suddenly found a very pale pipit which I got in the scope and felt sure was the/a Water Pipit and then immediately fired off a handful of pictures. At this point a Blackbird started screaming in some bushes behind me (I suspect a Sparrowhawk had taken it) and the pipits all took off and split into 3 groups. I waited 2 more hours and the pipits returned in drips and drabs but I did not find the pale bird or any other Water Pipit candidate again.

I looked at my pictures and did not find them to be as convincing as my scope views had been: the back had no brown tones and the streaking on the flanks was too strong although the bird was very white on the underparts. I compared with pictures of the Water Pipit that had been here and it was clearly not the same bird (which had much finer streaking on the breast) but I was still unsure as to what it was. I therefore asked a couple of friends (thx Andreas and Kjell) and the consensus seems to be that it was indeed a very tricky bird but is a Rock Pipit although perhaps the most Water Pipit like Rock Pipit that they have seen 😊

The seaweed also attracted two Robins, 2 Wrens, 5 Blackbirds and a Redwing and would be an area worth regular attention if it wasn’t an hour and a half from home.

Offshore I had a Shag, 5 Kittiwakes, 6 Teal and a Red-throated Diver although no scoters or Long-tailed Ducks.

After 3 hours it was time to leave and the drive was eventful with first a Woodcock flying alongside and then right in front of me and then 2 Smew right by the road. Both Smew were in female plumage but looked very different just like the birds that had been at Østensjøvannet in December and it wouldn’t surprise me if they are the same.

A stop in the Kurefjorden area was not as productive as I hoped but a Pink-footed Goose was with 4 Canada Geese (again I wonder if this is the bird that had been at Østensjøvannet in December) and I had a few Velvet Scoters and Great Crested Grebes. I had 11 new birds for the year which just goes to show how much more can be found in the winter when one visits good coastal locations which we just don’t have in Oslo and Akershus.

Rock Pipit (skjærpiplerke) but one that resembles a Water Pipit (vannpiplerke)

This picture was taken later and I wonder if it could be the same bird looking a bit more like a Rock Pipit although this bird also stood out amongst the other darker birds. Here the partly frozen seaweed can be seen that was attracting all the birds

the same Rock Pipit with a Robin (rødstrupe) and a Meadow Pipit (heipiplerke)

Redwing (rødvingetrost) is very rare in winter in south east Norway

Two Smew (lappfiskand). The bird on the left has a much smaller white cheek exactly as with the birds at Østensjøvannet

Kittiwake (krykkje)

and a Shag (toppskarv) on the right with Cormorants (storskarv)

 A Pink-footed Goose (kortnebbgås) with 4 Canada Geese was having trouble finding food in the snow

I'm going on a Sibe Acc Hunt

Today was the day for the big Siberian Accentor Hunt. I had delegated all family responsibilities to Mrs.OB, was up at 5am and out of the house for 13 hours. Did I find one? Of course not but I did hear a number of unidentified accentors and when I played Sibe Acc call to a couple of them they responded…….but they turned out to be of the Hedge variety. I heard the first calls when it was still dark (could well have slept 45 minutes more) and I did get myself well and truly excited thinking that I had flocks of Sibes flying over but will never know. I could actually see the site in Sweden where there has been a Sibe Acc the last few days and took a picture at 12km range which I’m sure if I blow up enough will reveal my target ;-)

So I didn’t succeed in my main target but I did find a pretty damn good bird for the parts in the form of a Little Bunting. I was riding quite high off this but felt that some of the air leaked out of the balloon when I got messages that a Desert Wheatear was at Fiskumvannet (where I was yesterday…), then a picture from Kjell M who had found a Tawny Pipit (but then again I have no chance of competing against him due to geography), then another Sibe Acc was pulled out of a net on the west coast (it is pretty embarrassing collectively for us Norwegian birders that we can’t find one in the field) and the last message was of an unidentified swift in Oslo from a birder without bins needing assistance (do any self-respecting birders ever go out without bins, or at least a superzoom in their pocket? I can see the makings of a joke there..).

So the day’s plan was to head to the island of Søndre Asmaløy right in the south east of Norway and an area which has good viz mig and a history of scarce and rare birds. I started at Håbu from 0720 to 0910 but it wasn’t until 0800 that I could see anything. There was lots to hear though from the moment I left the car with a steady, if light, passage of finches, thrushes and tits (including Long-tailed of which I must have had over 100 in the day).  Nothing too scarce here though so I headed for the area around Vikerkilen and Skipstadkilen. Here I worked hard but for a long time three Wheatears were all I had of interest. A Lapland Bunting flew over and finally I felt I had found something worthy of an October day.

Shortly after a migrating flock of Blue Tits was buzzing around in low vegetation and whilst watching them I thought I saw a small warbler fly into a bush (was probably a Goldcrest). As I raised my bins to the bush I saw a bird I immediately realised was a Little Bunting! I panicked a bit as I got my camera out of my bag and then couldn’t the bird again. I searched and searched and then decided to follow the Blue Tit flock as they were the only other birds in the area and maybe it was associating with them. A bunting flew up and away and then turned round and came back and landed in a bush where the tits were. The Blue Tits were flying out and feeding on the ground and thankfully the bunting did the same and I got really rather good views!!! It interestingly did not call once. After it flew into some bushes I retreated to send out the news and then just waited as I didn’t want to risk scaring it. The first birder arrived after about an hour and a few more after that but I left them to look (unfortunately in vain) as I was by now starving. On the way back to the car I put up two Short-eared Owls and had another Lap Bunting. Nice!

It was now 1330 and I felt I had used my luck up so instead of searching other places for Sibe Acc I decided to work my way home via a number of previously reported birds. At the Great Big Dump, Øra I had Brent and  White-fronted Goose. At Lysakermoa I had Bewick’s Swan (becoming very rare in Norway) and more White-fronts. There have been a lot of White-fronts in Norway the last few days and the ones at Lysakermoa were two juveniles. It is interesting that they had already managed to lose their parents as the Taiga Bean Geese seem to keep together as a family group until the next spring. Continuing into Akershus I had a large flock of Greylags at Hemnesjøen. I couldn’t find any Beans here (had them last week) but did find a family party of 5 White-fronts. Then at Hellesjøvannet I had a single juv White-front with Greylags. I first saw this bird in flight and it was tiny such that I got quite excited until I got to see it properly on the water. So White-fronts at four locations is certainly not something I have ever experienced before.

A very good day!

The day's undoubted highlight a momentarily photogenic Little Bunting (dvergspurv)

here in the unlikely company of Blue and Great Tit

Short-eared Owl (jordugle)

Bewick Swans (dvergsvane). The inset show an adult pair with a juvenile. To the right of the picture is the fourth bird which was a 2cy

Brent Geese (ringgås) at Øra

Scaup (bergand) at Øra. Note the left hand bird is a 1cy male (grey feathers on back)

15 White-fronted Geese (tundragås) at Øra

juv White-front with Greylags at Hellesjøvannet

family of 5 White-fronts at Hemnesjøen

2 juv White-fronts at Lysakermoa

The cloest I got (12km or so) to a Siberian Accentor although surely I must have heard one (there must thousands of them out there!)