Nightjar becoming «common» and some terns

Male Nightjar (nattravn)

The Nightjar pair I mentioned in my previous post were not to be seen at the same site again although I did have a pair nearby and believe they were moving around and prospecting for a nest site although it is rather late in the season now. Nightjars proved to be rather common in the area with at least 4 territories along a 1.5km stretch which is in start contrast to up until 5 years ago when I had none on my nocturnal trips from the cabin and it is only 2 years ago that I first recorded a bird along this particular stretch. This is a species which along with Great Grey Owl seems to directly benefit for the surge in forestry work this last decade or so.

I have engaged in some sea gazing whilst having my morning coffee and usually saw nothing but yesterday two Sandwich Terns went south - this will presumably now become a species I bump into «all» the time after having waited 24 years for my first in Norway - and today a Caspian Tern went north😊. Apart from these three quality terns I only had 3 Common Terns in total during the week so definitely a case of quality over quantity.

Sea gazing from the cabin is a very comfortable affair but the area of sea that can be viewed is very narrow however I am building up a good list of birds now with these two scarce terns adding to Pomarine Skua, White-billed Diver and Surf Scoter.

Butterflies have again taken up more time than birds although I have also read a book and gone for walks and spent time with my family☺️. After a couple of days with rain it was sunny on Wednesday and it was noticeable that new species were emerging for the first time with especially Ringlet (gullringvinge) appearing in the area for the first time this trip and being numerous overnight.

Sea gazing with coffee, OJ, The Beast and a minute before 2 Sandwich Terns (splitterne) which I did not manage any photos of.

The Caspian Tern (rovterne) did however allow itself to be recorded for prosperity

A Linnet (tornirisk) flying out of this conifer by the cabin had me suspecting a nest

And sure enough there was one. The parents were very secretive when visiting the nest although the male would be perched nearby singing when the female entered with food

Summer holidays 2025

Summer holidays have begun and per tradition our first week is at a cabin south of Oslo near Hulvik. Butterflies are in short supply so far except for Queen of Spain Fritillaries (sølvkåpe) which are by far the most numerous species and in numbers I have never seen before.

Evening drives with Jr have become another tradition and our first one gave a good haul with 4 Moose including a mother and tiny calf, 3 Roe Deer, 2 Badgers and 3 unidentified small bats. I started with animals as that is Jr’s priority but on the bird front we had 2 Corncrake, 2 Quail, 5 Nightjar, 3 Tawny Owls, 2 Long-eared Owls, 3 Marsh Warblers and quite a few Woodcocks.

The best experience came as we were nearly back at the cabin when we found a pair of Nightjar seemingly nesting. It was as dark as it gets by then but I will spend more time with them and hopefully with the use of the thermal imager get an insight into their secretive lives.

Red-backed Shrikes are scare this year with just 2 males seen one of which was singing so unpaired but the other probably had a female on the nest.

This is the only picture I took of a Nightjar (nattravn) with the superzoom at 00:10. I should probably have taken some more but was concentrating on video

Male Red-backed Shrikes are scare (tornskate)

Same procedure as last year, same procedure as every year

The first week of school summer holdiays is, as always, being spent at the cabin we are so lucky to be able to use near Hulvik. No seawatching to mention and few birds although the now to be expected close encounters with Nightjars were as good as ever.

Nightjar (nattravn). Definitely one of my better efforts and taken before sunset although we were in shade at 22:34

It is bugs that are my main interest here and a 30 minute drive brought me a new dragonfly species with a single male Club-tailed Dragonfly (klubbeelvelibelle) showing along a muddy slow moving river (a habitat that is very unusual in Norway).

My first club-tailed Dragonfly (klubbeelvelibelle)

I also added a new species of butterfly to my list but didn’t realise at the time and that despite it being one of the largest and most spectacular species there is. I was walking my usual butterfly route here and only 50 meters from the car saw what I thought was a Poplar Admiral (ospesommerfugl). I can still count my encounters with this species on one hand so quickly raised my camera only to find the battery was flat. I went to my pocket for my mobile only to realise I’d left it in the car…. I jogged back to the car to remember that I had not bought the bag with a spare battery but I did have the superzoom in the car (where it always resides). Taking this (and my phone) and jogging back - who would have thought butterfly watching would be good exercise - I found the butterfly again a bit further along the path where it was sucking up some sort of sustenance. I was most interest in taking video of it but did note some markings that I didn’t remember from before and was also a bit puzzled by how blue the upperwing looked at some angles… It was only when I got home though that I looked at some images and realised I had in fact been watching a Purple Emporer (stor purpurkåpe). This is a species that was first seen in Norway as recently as 2019 and which has been recorded under 50 times since.

A bit embarassing that I did not recognise it there and then and I realise now that I thought it was a much larger species than it actually is.

Purple Emperor (stor purpurkåpe)

Look at that blue colour

And then a slight change of angle and it just looks black

This is one of those posts done on my iphone blog posts that I am sure will come out looking rather strange with different font sizes but with luck I’ll post something better later once I’m home.

Nightjars anno 2023

We are following a much liked and well trodden path and spending the first week of the (school) summer holiday at the cabin at Hulvik south of Oslo. I’ve done a bit of butterflying without seeing anything too exciting and the only birding has been a couple of nocturnal trips. We have been coming here almost annually for around 15 years and I have engaged in nocturnal trips for at least 10. Nightjars were always a species I was listening for but it was only 2 years ago that I discovered them here for the first time. Last year we also had them so I was of course expecting to find them again this year and as always I was hoping to see them before it gets too dark although that never happens as I hope.

The reason for the sudden appearance of Nightjars in the area must be because of extensive recent forestry work clearing away large areas of planted spruce and revealing more natural scattered pine trees on sandy soil which is a great habitat for Nightjars. Hotter, drier summers are probably also helping the species in Norway which is right on the northern edge of the species range.

This year my first trip with Jr on Sunday evening started off disappointingly with only a distant singing bird when we checked the area from the last two years. Finishing our trip though and not too far from the cabin we saw a female hunting along the road and stopping heard a male churrring nearby. We then had good views of the male wing clapping over us although by this time it was gone midnight and rather dark (or at least as dark as it gets in mid summer here).

Monday night it poured down with rain but I was ready to go on Tuesday night at 10pm. I was hoping that the poor conditions the previous night may have left them hungry and would increase the chance of early activity. For once I was right with a bird hesitantly churring already at 22:15 and before sunset! I managed to get my best pictures to date of the species (helped in no small part to the fact that Conor C has very kindly lent me his Canon 5D IV). I was aware that there could be a nest on the ground in the area and scanned with the thermal imager to see if I could locate the female. I didn’t but suddenly I saw an animal and there was badger walking right towards me! Unfortunately it sensed me as I raised my camera but seeing it walking along sniffing the ground highlighted the threats that ground nesting birds expose themselves to. Of course if we didn’t remove all of the apex predators (wolves and lynx) then there would be fewer badgers and foxes and more balance in nature but humans aren’t good at natural balance.

I was a happy man as I headed back to the cabin at 11pm (very early by nocturnal birding standards) but things then got even better. Getting out of the car there were juvenile Tawny Owls begging for food right by the cabin. There were 3 and their begging just got louder and louder during the course of the next hour when they didn’t seem to be fed at all. But that was not the best of it - a Nightjar flew over and then one started churring nearby!! Plus Woodcock and barking Roe Deer (which set the Beast off) and I now realise that tonight I can do my nocturnal birding from the cabin veranda with a glass of wine in hand #glambirding

First the video with Nightjars wing clapping and calling (courtesy of Jr) and churring and then the sights and sounds around the cabin with begging Tawny Owls, barking Roe Deer and Beast, flyover Nightjar (courtesy of Mrs. OB) and moonlight on the water.

Nightjar (nattravn) in silhouette

the light was still good at 22:40  (the sun was still hitting the top of the trees) and these are without doubt my best views of this enigmtic species 

Nightjar flying over cabin

Badger (grevling) after seeing me and turning away

Juvenile Tawny Owl (kattugle) at 23:50 using ISO 12800

High Brown Fritillary (adippeperlemorvinge)

A White-letter Hairstreak (almestjertvinge) from Oslo just before we left. It seems to be a very good and very early year for this species

Male Linnet (tornirisk) with a tick

Heath Fritillary (Marimjellerutevinge) which are very numerous this 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 

Parrots, Brent & Gozza

I did stare at the sea yesterday – for a whole 5 hours! There was not the quantity of birds I had hoped for despite it blowing at upto 16m/s from the south but by the time I folded up my chair I had notched up a bit of quality. A young Sabine’s Gull at a range of 2km that slowly flew off to the south would have been much more welcome if it was at a tenth of the range but I was just about able to confirm the ID as I followed it for 5 minutes. A Great Northern Diver, Puffin, a Gannet, 3 Fulmars and 11 Kittiwakes were also good local birds and the most numerous were Guillemot and Razorbills.

On the land I was sure I could hear a Firecrest calling behind my watchpoint but found only Goldcrests but a family group of 4 Parrot Crossbills showed much better.

Today I went to find Jack Snipe again with my thermal imager but the area which held 6 two weeks ago held none today suggesting that passage has been and gone. There was little else to see, in fact the only bird I picked up in the imager was a Reed Bunting, so when a message came through of a Brent Goose I thought what the heck and drove the 25 minutes to see it. It showed very well and you can wonder how it got there as it was an adult and all alone. A clearly unwell (probably sick rather than injured) Goshawk showed incredibly closely and seemed to be trying to hunt rodents/birds on the ground in the same way a Hawk Owl would.

adult male Parrot Crossbill (furukorsnebb) - a pretty large billed bird

unopened pine cones seem to be their favourite food

a juvenile male

adult female

the juv male holding a pine cone in its feet

adult dark-bellied Brent Goose (ringgås)

male Goshawk (hønsehauk). A sick bird. Judging by the rather heavy streaking I would say this is 1 2cy bird that has undergone its post juvenile moult

check out those claws

both wings drooped

but it could fly

here it was seemingly looking for prey on the ground like an owl

nictitating membranes

here it looks like there is a cell structure in the membrane unless it is a reflection of the branches of the tree