Tonight was the shortest night of the year – summer solstice. Sunset was at 23:55 and sunrise at 2:57. These are nights full of colour when the sun is setting and rising so soon afterwards. This photo was taken at 2:30 in Selfoss, South Iceland, north over Ölfusá River. There is more or less daylight all night and does not get totally dark until July 20.
Today was a beautiful summer day with Bumblebees and Red Admirals in the garden. In recent years studies have reported a decline in insect populations. Entire species have gone extinct but in most cases this decline involves reductions in abundance. Therefore it is a great joy to have such a lot of bumblebees in the garden along with foreign visitors such as the Red Admiral.
This American vagrant was spotted in the middle of May in the little town of Stokkseyri, on the south coast of Iceland. The Spotted Sandpiper is a migratory bird that resides in South America during winter and migrates to North America to breed in the spring. This one got blown of course and ended up here in the North Atlantic.
This is the 9th Spotted Sandpiper for Iceland and the first to be seen in 13 years. This Sandpiper is much smaller than the Redshank, similar in size to the Common Ringed Plover. It was the centre of attention for birders for about two days but has not been seen since.
Redwings have a special place in the hearts of Icelanders. They signal the usually long awaited coming of spring. Huge flocks of them arrived here April 5 and 6 from their winter grounds in Britain and Western Europe. They were, however, not welcomed with spring weather, but with a full-blown blizzard, one of the worst this winter.
The weather was as bad as it can get, with snow blowing into huge banks, the shivering birds covered in snow and the house trembling from the storm. It is likely that some if them have not survived this harsh welcome.
This sunny morning, in the snow and frost, there are around 30 singing Redwings in the garden, quarrelling over the feed trays – the garden resounding with their song.
A lone Brambling has been here in the garden all winter long. This male comes here daily and visits the feeding trays. He is very shy and not eager to be photographed. The males are different from the females, see: https://ornosk.com/2014/10/18/a-visitor-in-the-garden/
When this male Brambling turned up in the autumn he seemed familiar with surroundings so this could be the one that was spotted singing in and around Selfoss last summer.
Bramblings are annual guests in Iceland. They come from Scandinavia but do not breed here regularly. Despite a difficult winter, with lots of snow and countless blizzards, this hardy bird has survived.
Snow Buntings are like sparkling snow flakes and observing huge flocks of them in flight is a beautiful sight. They only appear in towns in the coldest of weathers when snow makes it impossible for them to find food. Sometimes they can be counted in the hundreds.
For Icelanders the Snow Bunting, in Icelandic “snjótittlingur” (snjór=snow) is a winter bird. In the summer it is also a symbolic bird, representing the summer time. Then it is referred to by a different name “Sólskríkja” (sól=sun). Its plumage changes with the seasons, see in summer time: https://ornosk.com/2017/07/28/a-good-year/
The Snow Bunting is a high Arctic bird that breeds as far as the northernmost regions of Greenland and Canada. It is common in Iceland where it lives the whole year round although in many countries it is a passerine. It used to be a very common breeding bird in the highlands but with rising temperatures the Icelandic stock is decreasing.
White-tailed Eagles are not so uncommon around Selfoss in winter although they breed in the Western part of Iceland. At this time of year they can sometimes be seen flying over the river in search of prey especially when it is cold and snowy.
River Ölfusá is the ideal winter habitat for ducks and geese because it never freezes over, thus making it also an ideal spot to visit for birds of prey such as White-tailed Eagles.
This adult White-tailed Eagle has been spotted several times in recents weeks in the area and I managed to catch these long distance photos on one of my trips.
The White-tailed Eagle’s main breeding territory is around Breiðafjörður Fjord in West Iceland. In total around 75 pairs breed in Iceland and two thirds of the population in the area around Breiðafjörður.
Mother-of-pearl-clouds have been seen in many places over Iceland in the last few days. These are magnificent manifestations that sometimes appear in Arctic regions from the end November to February. This only occurs in the twilight and can both be in the evening and morning.
This phenomenon appears when it is very cold in the stratosphere (in the altitude of 15–30 km) with temperatures below the ice frost point, near -80°, which turns all moisture in the air into ice crystals.
These luminous clouds are also referred to as Ice polar stratospheric clouds or Nacreous clouds. The photos are taken about one hour before sunrise, at about 10 o’clock, from our house in Selfoss, Iceland.
Gyrfalcons are out and about at this time of year in search of prey but they are annual guests here in the winter time. At other times of the year they keep to their territories, most of them in the North. In the last two weeks an adult and a young bird have been spotted in the area. They fly over the river, chasing ducks and occasionally manage to succeed.
These predatory birds are always of interest and these photoes show the young Gyrfalcon. The ducks seemed to feel secure on the water although the falcon was in the air.
Not only did we have our precious family here for Christmas but also some very beautiful guests in the garden. Two Bohemian Waxwings added to the festivities, as well as of course our usual Redpolls, Blackbirds, Redwings, Crossbills and Starlings. A lone Snow Bunting and a Brambling also enjoyed the Christmas feed we put out.
Merry Christmas and peace to everyone – in the hope that we can make our World a good place to live.