All posts by Örn Óskarsson
Over the Rainbow
This rainbow appeared after a rain shower around noon today. Notice that on the inside the sky is brighter than on the outside. Such a perfect rainbow brings to mind Judy Garland´s song “Over the Rainbow” from the Wizard of Oz.
Baird´s Sandpiper
For the last few days a juvenile Baird´s Sandpiper has been seen in Bakkatjörn in Seltjarnarnesi /Reykjavík. It is a vagrant in Iceland. This is a tame bird that is easy to observe from a short distance as it searches for worms in the in the mud.
The Baird´s Sandpiper is a rather uncommon breeding bird in the Artic regions of East Siberia, Alaska, Canada and in Northwestern Greenland. Its winter grounds are in South America.
Baird´s Sandpiper is seen once in a while in Europe. In Iceland it has been spotted eight times, first in 1994.
Last night
Even Icelanders do not expect to see the Northern Lights until winter but last night’s clear skies sported these beautiful colours. Forecasts say that in the next few nights Northern Light activity will be high. The best time to see them is usually around midnight.
Meadow Pipits migrating
Meadow Pipits have now gathered in groups and roam the countrysides in search of food. They are eagerly preparing for the long journey to their winter grounds in South Europe and Africa. Most of them will leave in the coming week when flying conditions over the Atlantic are favourable. The groups are exceptionally big now which indicates that breeding was very successful this summer.
In the South Interior last week Meadow Pipits were by the thousands, bigger groups than we have seen before. They were eating berries, larva and spiders, all of which seemed in abundance. This Meadow Pipit was in Veiðivötn, South Iceland.
Sandpiper enjoying life
The summer has been exceptionally good in Iceland and its effects can be seen in both fauna and flora in the interior. Golden Plovers, Ringed Plovers and Purple Sandpipers are common breeding birds in the highlands and for them life has been good. Breeding was very successful and when summer is coming to an end bigger groups than in recent years can be seen all over the Icelandic highlands.
The photos are from Veiðivötn (Fishing Lakes) in the southern interior.
Red-breasted Merganser spooked
Last week we saw a Great Northern Diver (Gavia immer) sneak up on a Red-breasted Merganser with its chicks several meters from the shore. The Diver behaved like a sheepdog and prevented the group from going on the lake. It dived towards them and forced them up to the shore repeatedly.
The Merganser was on constant look out both on and under the water surface. Although the Diver’s mate and chick were in about 1 km distance the diver thought the Merganser and its chicks were a threat which should be kept at bay.
The Great Northern Diver is known for its fierce treatment of intruders that venture into its territory. It is known to dive under other birds wounding them with its spear-shaped bill. People have witnessed them killing both duck and geese chicks this way and even adult birds, such as the Long-tailed Duck.
Learning to cope
The Oystercatcher is mostly a migrant in Iceland and quite common in lowlands. It usually arrives in the middle of March making it one of the first migrants to great us and signal the coming of a new season. On our trip to the Northeast we came across this chick that was learning to find food on its own. Seeing it imitate the parent was more than adorable.
Keeping the cats away
The Redwing is mostly a migrant in Iceland but some of them stay for the winter. There are always some in our garden and we feed them in the wintertime. This summer we have seen a number of young ones and parents that feed them diligently. Our main concern though is keeping the neighbourhood cats away and we think we have been quite successful this summer. We spread coffee grounds, along with egg shell, in the cats’ favourite hiding places and it seems they don’t want to get their feet dirty.
Ptarmigan family
We came across a Ptarmigan family, parents with five chicks. Their camouflage colours in summer match the colours of nature so they are not too easily spotted. The chicks were quite small, perhaps a week old but already able the fly. Naturally the parents were busy trying to distract us, especially the mother though.
Usually the fathers leave the family shortly after the chicks hatch but this dad seems to be taking a responsible part in the upbringing.
