The wail of the Great Northern Diver (Common Loon) is very familiar and is used unsparingly in the film industry. It is one of the top ten sound effects we all recognise from movies. Hear it here. Movies from all over the world seem to use its call. To the ear of the birder it sounds very silly, especially when it is used in places far from the Great Northern Diver’s habitat.
On our birding trips we often meet like-minded people. Last year we met a group of Belgian students on a birding trip in Iceland. This was in February and the weather was quite cold. The group were searching for a Hooded Merganser on Elliðavatn, a lake just outside Reykjavik.
When we found out that they were sleeping in tents we invited them to come and stay inside the next night. No Icelanders would ever think of camping in February. The group took our offer and we cooked them some traditional Icelandic lamb soup.
One of these young birding friends was back in Iceland again last week. Joachim Bertrands from Belgium and his mother, Denise, had a week here to look at birds, whales and glaciers. The bird reserve in Flói was visited on their last day and then they came for a visit. Meeting birders from other countries is always interesting.
Common Crossbills (also called Red Crossbills) are new breeding birds in Iceland. New spruce and pine forests are growing fast in many places and are now big enough to be a habitat for some new settlers like the Crossbills. The Crossbills have various colours.
The Long-tailed Duck is a common breeding bird by lakes and ponds in the interior. The breeding time is in July.
The female is well hidden on the nest while the male keeps watch not so far away. The nest is very difficult to spot because it matches the surroundings and the female stays perfectly calm. So pay attention to where you walk, tread lightly and carefully.
Dunlins (Calidris alpina) are migratory birds that usually arrive in Iceland in May. They are long distance migrants that breed in Arctic regions. The European population’s winter grounds are in Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Birds that breed in Arctic areas in Canada and Alaska only migrate to the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of North America. Some Dunlins overwinter on the south coast of Spain and Portugal.
A lot of Dunlins breed in marshlands in South Iceland. This one was in The Bird Reserve in Flói, South Iceland. The Icelandic breeding population is estimated around 270,000 birds.
We enjoy watching out for the birds in our garden and feeding them. Spring and summer are something we look forward to – the time when everything comes alive and the birds start courting and nest making. But summer time is not all blizz. Almost everyday newly hatched chicks fall prey to overfed house cats. This sketch is an interpretation of a pair mourning the loss of a young one.
The smallest Icelandic duck is the Teal (Anas crecca). It is also one of the most colorful ducks, as well as perhaps the most beautiful.
It can be seen all over Iceland, both in lowlands and highlands. It is, however, usually not easy to get close to it as it is shy and easily disturbed.
We spotted a pair of Merlins by Goðafoss. They were fighting with a Raven that was trying to get to their nest. This is the male but the female had gone back to the nest. Ravens are scavengers that do not hesitate to steal eggs from other birds’ nests if they get the chance . It did not succeed here and was forcefully driven away.
Dimmuborgir is a lava field just east of Lake Mývatn. It was formed in a huge volcanic eruption in a row of craters about 2300 years ago.
Where Dimmuborgir are now the lava flowed over a small lake, boiling the water, leading to the formation of lava pillars, some quite high. Continue reading Dimmuborgir – Dark Castles
Now in the beginning June the Slovonian Grebe shows off its beauty to attract the female. The Grebes are preparing for breeding but have not started the nest making yet.
The photos are taken by Vífilsstaðavatn, Garðabær, near Reykjavík.
