Monthly Archives: February 2015

Birds

Chaffinches had not been seen since 1980

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Bókfinka – Chaffinch – Fringilla coelebs (male)

The Chaffinch is a vagrant in Iceland and here in the Selfoss area they had not been seen since 1980. This winter there have been four to five birds in the garden most weeks since October. They have come and gone for a couple of days always returning. These photoes were taken yesterday.

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Bókfinka – Chaffinch – Fringilla coelebs (female)

In the beginning of November we had three types of Finches, a Brambling and a Siskin, but the Chaffinches are the only ones that have stayed up until now. We can not help wondering why they are here this winter?

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Birds

At last a photo of the Sparrowhawk

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Sparrhaukur – Eurasian Sparrowhawk – Accipiter nisus

At last I managed to catch a photo of the Sparrowhawk that has been lurking in the garden since the autumn. This beautiful bird is quite shy so photographing it has not been easy. Today it sat still for half a minute until it noticed me. The photo is not so bad considering the heavy snowfall and the soiled window panes.

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Sparrhaukur – Eurasian Sparrowhawk – Accipiter nisus

This is probably a young female. The Sparrowhawk is a vagrant in Iceland and has probably come here from Scandinavia.

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