All posts by Örn Óskarsson

Birds

Three Slavonian Grebes

On our bird watching trip Sunday morning we saw these three Slavonian Grebes by the old dock in Eyrarbakki.

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Flórgoði – Slovonian Grebe – Podiceps auritus

The Slavonian Grebe (Podiceps auritus) is a species with an unfavourable conservation status in Europe, amber list criteria according to RSPB. The population is recovering and the population size has more than doubled in the last 25 years. The estimated population in Iceland is around 700 breeding pairs.

In the winter time the Slavonian Grebe stays in the sea, some in the ocean around Iceland and some also in Western Europe. You are most likely to see them in and around Mývatn in the North, Ástjörn in Hafnarfjörður and Reykhólar in the West. The Slavonian Grebe lives in lakes and ponds in the summer time and the nest floats on the water among the reeds.

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Birds

Ringed Black-tailed Godwits

This morning we went to the Flói Bird Reserve, not far from Selfoss. There we saw two tagged Black-Tailed Godwits (Limosa limosa). One of them was marked OW-YL and is the same bird I saw on June 2, 2013, in this same place.  Its story is known. It was tagged in  Flói Bird Reserve June 14, 2010. The other one I have not seen before and I am waiting for information about it. A lot of Black-tailed Godwits have been ringed in this area in the last few years. It seems that many of them over winter in Portugal.

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Jaðrakan – Black-Tailed Godwit – Limosa limosa

Reading for OW-YL

14.06.10        Fridland, South Iceland
06.09.10        Moëze, Réserve Naturelle, Charente-Maritime, W- France
23.07.12        Flag Creek, St Osyth, Colne Estuary, Essex, E England
07.10.12        Cudmore Grove Country Park, East Mersea, Essex, E England
02.06.13       Fridland, South Iceland
03.05.15        Fridland, South Iceland

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Jaðrakan – Black-Tailed Godwit – Limosa limosa
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Birds

Merganser and Mallard

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Toppönd – Red-breasted Merganser and Stokkönd – Mallard

The Red-breasted Merganser  (Mergus serrator) and the Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) belong to the same orders of ducks, anseriformes, and the same family, anatidae. The Merganser is a fish-eating duck, a great diver, and mostly stays in freshwater lakes. It is a migratory bird in Iceland.  The Mallard is a dabbling duck, it doesn’t dive but tips forward in the water to find food. It stays in Iceland the whole year but goes down to the shore in the winter time. Both of these ducks are common in Iceland.

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Landscape

A cold spring

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Farms in Ölfus, South Iceland, April 29, 2015.

We will probably have to wait a while longer for the summer  although the first official day of summer was last week. In the South it is more or less snowless now but the temperature went down to minus 7°C tonight and everything is still barren. In the North everything is still snow covered and the same goes for the interior.

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Veiðivötn area in the South Interior, May 1, 2015 (webcam: http://veidivotn.is/vefmyndavel.htm).
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Birds

Shorebirds

Last weekend we went bird watching down to the shore, a 15 minute drive from Selfoss down to Eyrarbakki. Lots of birds caught our eye on the way but here are a few of them.

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Lóuþræll – Dunlin – Calidris alpina

This Dunlin (Calidris alpina) was on the beach with Ringed Plovers and Sanderlings, the only one of his kind. Most of them do not arrive in Iceland until May.

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Sandlóa – Ringed Plover – Charadrius hiaticula

Lots of Ringed Plovers (Charadrius hiaticula) were on the beach, chasing the tide as it rolled in, probing the sand for small animals. They have started to arrive in Iceland but most of them come in May.

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Sendlingur – Purple Sandpiper – Calidris maritima

There were also a lot of Purple Sandpipers (Calidris maritima) but they stay in Iceland the whole year, near the shore in winter and in the interior in the summer time.

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Birds

Golden Plovers in home gardens

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Heiðlóa – Golden Plover – Pluvialis apricaria

Golden Plovers (Pluvialis apricaria) are common sight in gardens in Selfoss now. Usually they prefer the heath but when there is little to be had there they come into gardens. After the frost and wind in the last few days food is obviously scarce. Today there were some in our garden.

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The photos of these tame Golden Plovers were taken in Selfoss today. A few other bird species that also prefer heathlands were in gardens in Selfoss today, for example Oystercatchers, Redshanks and Meadow Pipits.

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Birds

Purple mountain saxifrage

Purple mountain saxifrage (Saxifraga oppositifolia) is a common plant in mountains and highlands. It has the northernmost plant habitat in the world. In Iceland is rather common throughout the country, from lowlands up to an altitude of about 1500 m. It can be found in rocks, cliffs, crevices, gravel and mountainsides.

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Vetrarblóm – Purple mountain saxifrage – Saxifraga oppositifolia

It is among the first plants to bloom. In lowlands it blooms in April but in highlands as late as June. Today the Purple mountain saxifrage was just starting to bloom in the  slopes of Mount Ingólfsfjall, just outside Selfoss.

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Birds

Seeing Wheatears made our day

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Steindepill – Wheatear – Oenanthe oenanthe

We were looking for a Gyrfalcon, which we did not find, when we came across our first  Wheatears (Oenanthe oenanthe) this spring. There were a few at the roots of Mount Ingólfsfjall, most of them males. Their winter grounds are in West Africa.  They make their nests in rocks, lava and  heathland, mostly in lowlands but also in highlands. Greenlandic Wheatears stopover in Iceland in spring and autumn on their way to their breeding grounds in Greenland. The breeding population here counts around 50,000 pairs.

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The photos were taken today.

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Birds

Celebrating The First Day of Summer

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Brent Geese in huge flocks flying in from the sea and Eiders by Ölfusá River mouth this morning

Today Icelanders celebrate the coming of summer – it is the First Day of Summer. Can you believe it? Here in the North where the weather forecast predicts frost, and snow in the north of the country, we are all hyper optimistic and wishing each other a good summer.  The folk lore says that if there is frost the night before the First Day of Summer, winter and summer freeze together, and the summer will be a good one. This happened tonight. Statistics, on the other hand, tell us that this is not correct. But this we close our ears to.

The photo was taken this morning of Brent Geese and Eiders by Ölfusá River- mouth. Brent Geese are now arriving in huge flocks, having flown over the Atlantic from their winter grounds in the British Isles. Here they have a stopover on their way to their summer grounds in North Canada.

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