Monthly Archives: May 2015
Do seals also get cancer?
We came across this Harbour Seal (Phoca vitulina) in Snæfellsnes, not far from Fjord Kolgrafarfjörður. It seems to have somekind of infection or tumor blocking the eye. We could not see that the seal was affected by this extra growth as it swam among the other seals, see earlier post.
You can not but feel sympathy for a wild animal like this one and wonder what its life must be like.
At midnight
Five Crossbill chicks
Today a male Crossbill appeared in the garden with as much as five chicks. The chicks let the father feed them sunflower seeds which they seemed to like a lot. The chicks are probably approximately a month old and possibly about 1 -2 weeks since they left they nest. Crossbills have not been seen here in the garden since the first week of April.
At the same time last year a female Crossbill appeared here with two chicks.
Yesterday we saw several Crossbills with six chicks in Grímsnes, South Iceland.
The first Redpoll chicks
We saw the first Redpoll chicks in the garden yesterday. Two chicks were looking for food in the feed leftovers from this winter. We usually see the first chicks at the same time every year.
Redpolls breed more than once every summer and the eggs are most often 4 -6 in each breeding although more than four chicks are very seldom seen.
Marsh Marigold in bloom
Despite the cold weather and late spring plants are in bloom. The Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris) is a plant you can not but notice with its beautiful bright yellow flowers. Its habitat is mostly in marshlands, on banks of ditches and cold springs.
The Pintail
The Pintail (Anas acuta) is a common duck and has a wide distribution all over the Northern hemisphere. In Iceland there are only around 500 breeding pairs, scattered all over the country including the interior.
The Pintail is a dabbling duck like the Mallard, only dipping its head in the water to find food, not the whole body.
The Knot
The Knot (Calidris canutus) is a visitor here on the way to its breeding grounds in Greenland and Northeast Canada. In the spring around 270,000 birds stop here and in the autumn their numbers are much higher. For them Iceland is the place to relax and feed on the long flight from their winter grounds in Western Europe. The photos are taken near Eyrarbakki, South Iceland.
Sanderling
The Sanderling (Calidris alba) is a small wader, quick in movements, and only a guest in Iceland in the spring. It has a stopover here in May on its way to Northeast Greenland where it breeds. Its winter grounds are in West Europe all the way south to Namibia in West Africa.
It is estimated that around 25,000 birds stopover here, mainly on the Southwest coast. The photos are taken near Eyrarbakki, South Iceland.