All posts by Örn Óskarsson

Birds

Five Crossbill chicks

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Krossnefur – Common Crossbill / Red Crossbill – Loxia curvirostra

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.

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Common Crossbill / Red Crossbill chick

At the same time last year a female Crossbill appeared here with two chicks.

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Yesterday we saw several Crossbills with six chicks in Grímsnes, South Iceland.

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Birds

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.

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Auðnutittlingur – Redpoll – Carduelis flammea

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.

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Redpoll – adult
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Birds

The Pintail

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Grafönd – Pintail – Anas acuta

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.

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The Pintail is a dabbling duck like the Mallard, only dipping its head in the water to find food, not the whole body.

Pintail chicks in Nature Reserve in Flói
Pintail chicks in Nature Reserve in Flói
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Birds

Sanderling

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Sanderla – Sanderling – Calidris alba

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.

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Some Sanderlings are still in their gray winter plumage when they arrive in Iceland

It is estimated that around 25,000 birds stopover here, mainly on the Southwest coast.  The photos are taken near Eyrarbakki, South Iceland.

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Birds

Annual American visitor

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Hringönd – Ring-necked Duck – Aythya collaris

Today I saw a  Ring-necked Duck on a pond by Þingvallavatn Lake. This was an adult male in a group of Tufted Ducks. Ring-necked Ducks are annual vagrants in Iceland and usually the visitors are males. Sometimes they mate with Tufted Duck females and once in a while you see hybrids of these species.
Ring-necked Ducks are North American and there they are common on woodland ponds.

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A Ring-necked Duck and a Tufted Duck.
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Birds

Flocks of Barn Swallows

In the last few days the wind has been blowing from the Southeast and flocks of Barn Swallows  (Hirundo rustica) have been seen around the Southwest part of the country. Today there were 12 Barn Swallows soaring over River Ölfusá by Selfoss and there were around 23 on the beach by Stokkseyri, South Iceland. Flocks have been seen in several places. These are the biggest groups of Barn Swallows to be seen in many years. They are annual vagrants in Iceland and have bred here a few times. If numbers are anything to go by it is very likely that they will breed here this summer.

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Landsvala – Barn Swallow – Hirundo rustica

This photo is taken today by Ölfusá River.

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This swallow was at the beach in Stokkseyri, South Iceland.

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Birds

Courtship in full swing

Courtship is in full swing with the Red-throated Diver in the nature reserve in Flói (Fuglafriðland í Flóa) and soon they will start breeding. This place probably offers the best circumstances to observe the Red-throated Diver while courting, breeding and caring for their offspring. The area is popular among birders and photographers because here you can come quite close to them. The Divers are especially tame and probably more used to people than in many other places.

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Lómur – Red-Throated Diver – Gavia stellata

It is very important during the nesting time to respect the birds privacy by not coming too close. If the Divers get tired of trespassing people they might abandon the nests.

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Birds

One lonely Siskin

A female Siskin  (Carduelis spinus) appeared in the garden today. Siskins have bred in Iceland on and off in the last 15 years. The population is small and fragile.

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Barrfinka – Siskin – Carduelis spinus

Siskins are migrants in Iceland and there are probably great losses on their long journey over rough oceans to and from their winter grounds.

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