Beitostølen 2024

The summer holidays continue as per tradition with a week in Beitostølen. It is unusually wet and cold so my chances of seeing butterflies are going to be limited but I have made the most of any periods of sun. There seem to be very few butterflies here though this year which I hope is just a timing issue with more to come after some warm weather but that will unfortunately be after we have left.

On the bird front we managed a dry if cold walk on Valdresflye where I was very happy to see a couple of Long-tailed Skuas which had eluded us a month ago.

On the drive up we picked up my parents from Gardemoen airport. A delayed plane and hour long queues at passport control meant we suddenly had time to kill so a dog walk at Nordbytjernet beckoned. I hoped to see the Great Reed Warbler again although no luck on that score perhaps indicates it has moved on. It did however result in a news species of odonata with a very unexpected Blue-tailed Damselfly (kystvannymfe). As it Norwegian names suggests this is a coastal species in Norway and my records appear to be the furthest inland in the country.

Long-tailed Skua (fjelljo)

Although the presence of the skuas suggests tbere are some lemmings this Rough-legged Buzzard is the only raptor seen so far

Dotterel (boltit) is always a joy to find

Here, a Temminck’s Stint and two Ringed Plover (sandlo)

The Temminck’s

The same Dotterel as above - a female (the males will be sitting on eggs)

A female Bluethroat (blåstrupe) which clearly had young nearby

A Yellow Wagtail (gulerle) just out of the nest

A male Common Blue (tiriltunge blåvinge)

And a male Alpine Blue (fjellblåvinge) - I’m not sure if the two species can easily be separated from above

From below though the Alpine Blues are distinctive

They have been the commonest butterfly up here (with over 100 at one locality)

Silver spotted Skipper (kommasmyger)

More mating Alpine Blues

Blue -tailed Damselfly (kystvannymfe)

A different individual

This was an interesting one. I assumed it was also a Blue-tailed with a strange pattern on the 8th tail segment

But here you see it must be a Variable Damselfy (fagerblåvannymfe) although quite an unusually marked one

Bug Year 2023

My interest in bugs remains focused on butter, dragon, and damselflies although any large day flying moth will also be noted. I do however remain committed to not getting a light trap and getting any more into moths 😉

2023 was a good year for butterflies. I noted 61 species with 4 being new and taking my Norway list to 71, of, I believe, 100 possible species. The new species were Northern Wall Brown (bergringvinge), Northern Grizzled Skipper (moltesmyger), Frigga’s Fritillary (friggs perlemorvinge) and Northern Grizzled Skipper (moltesmyger). In addition I finally saw Poplar Admiral (ospesommerfugl) well enough to take pictures meaning I now have photos of all the species I have seen in Norway.  I have now seen pretty much everything I could expect to just bump into so will need to make more specific butterfly trips. I still have plenty of northern species to get and at least three of these are still possible in day tips from the cabin in Bodø and there are at least five species which I should be able to get easily enough less than an hour’s drive from Oslo: Essex Skipper (timoteismyger), Scarce Heath (heroringvinge), False Heath Fritillary (mørk rutevinge), Meadow Brown (rappringvinge) and Chequered Skipper (gulflekksmyger).

I must admit that my interest in odonata wained during the year. I think this is because damselflies at least can be quite hard work and that I have also seen pretty much all I can expect around Oslo without making specific trips. I did add three species though taking my Norway list to 33 species of a possible 52 - Subarctic Darner (torvmoselibelle) gave itself up when I checked a suitable bog in Maridalen (and was able to get good enough pictures), White-legged Damselfly (fjærbeinvannymfe) when we walked along a suitable river near the cabin at Hulvik and Lilypad Whiteface (vannliljetorvlibelle) which required a specific trip to the only known site in Oslo.

My first butterfly in 2023 was on 8 April so only 12 weeks or so until my next blog post that includes a bug.

Pictures of my new species first and then some other random shots that I like

Frigga’s Fritillary (friggs perlemorvinge) 

Northern Grizzled Skipper (moltesmyger)

Northern Grizzled Skipper (moltesmyger)

Northern Wall Brown (bergringvinge)

Poplar Admiral (ospesommerfugl)

and one of those large moths that I notice - my first ever Green Forester (grønn metallsvermer)

difficult to get tired of Swallowtails (svalestjert)

or Northern Chequered Skippers (svartflekksmyger)

Subarctic Darner (torvmoselibelle)

White-legged Damselfly (fjærbeinvannymfe)

Lilypad Whiteface (vannliljetorvlibelle)

New damselfly and Kingfisher

Weather in the evenings was not conducive to Nightjars so I was unable to enjoy one from the veranda with glass of wine in hand but daytime weather was good and some nice walks were enjoyed. One to a very picturesque village by a slow moving river (really not very Norwegian at all and more like England) had me thinking odonate. I know that these types of rivers are where you have a chance of finding the very localised Common Clubtail (klubbelvelibelle) and set about looking for any dragons or damsels. I only had two dragons, one was a patrolling Brilliant Emerald (glansmetallibelle) and the other which flew past at great speed was most likely the one I was looking for but it was gone too quickly. A damselfly caught my attention and I quickly realised it was a new one for me and remembered that also scarce White-legged Damselfly (fjærbeinvannymfe) also likes this habitat and that was what it was and a new odonate was in the bag!

The river also screamed Kingfisher to me and sure enough I soon heard and then saw one as it flew back and forth along the river and I am sure there was breeding close by. As far as I know this river is not a known locality for the species but that may just be because nobody has checked before.

male White-legged Damselfly (fjærbeinvannymfe)

Brilliant Emerald (glansmetallibelle)

male Kingfisher (isfugl)

he is ringed on his right leg

probably our most intensely coloured butterfly - Scarce Copper (oransjegullvinge)

and my first Queen of Spain Fritillary (sølvkåpe) of the year

Oslo odonate June 2023

Odonate (dragon and damselflies) are a frustrating group for me. Often you need to see them very close up to be able to identify them which means taking photos and then examining them when you get home which is not really how I like to enjoy nature. On the other hand there is lots to be discovered about their distribution as there are few people with an interest for them in Norway and I have recorded a number of range expansions. Dragonflies, are due to their size, easier to find, take photos of and identify and I can now identify most of the ones I find around Oslo with my binoculars in the field. Damselflies though are so small, and many so similar, that for the blue and green ones I am reliant on taking photos (if they ever stop long enough for me to manage a photo..)

I had a bit of a revelation a few years ago with blue butterflies that a number of different species could fly together and that it was a very foolish to just assume they were all the same species as the first one you identified (which was what I had been doing…). A couple of years ago it occurred to me that the same was also true with all the blue damsels that hovered around my feet and after taking lots of photos and pouring over the pc and books and websites I reached a new pinnacle in my knowledge when a couple of days ago I found out there were 4 different species buzzing around my legs (and I took all the photos from exactly the same spot!).

I have also found a male Broad-bodied Chaser that is holding a territory and this species does seem to have become established in Maridalen after the female I photographed earlier (and another I saw in flight). The Cambridge blue colour of the male is a colour after my own heart and this is my current favourite odonate.

male Broad-bodies Chaser (blåbredlibelle)

male Northern White-faced Darter (østtorvlibelle)

male Variable Bluet (fagerblåvannymfe)

male Arctic Bluet (nordblåvannymfe)

male Azure Bluet (sørblåvannymfe)

male Spearhead Bluet (spydblåvannymfe) which is the commonest species and also easiest to identify as it has greenish (lower) eyes

no problem with this one, a Large Red Damselfly (rødvannymfe)

this one is a lot more tricky and is a female Dark Bluet (klypeblåvannymfe). A male would be much easier to identify but I cannot find any this year and the site where they occur is becoming overgrown and may become unsuitable

I thought this was a dragonfly larve eating a tadpole but have been informed it is most likely a larve of a Great Diving Beetle (stor vannkalv)

I see many dragons and damsels emerging from the water after upto 3 years of development to only be eaten by a bird before they get to enjoy their final stage. This damselfly was captured by a spider straight after emerging. The spider is I believe tetragnatha extensa (gullrandet kjeveedderkopp)