The Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis) is the most common passerine, or perching bird, in Iceland. Meadow Pipits in Iceland are believed to be around one million. They usually live in open habitats where they breed and they feed on insects.
Meadow Pipits come to the garden both in spring and autumn, often in groups.
There are a lot of Blackcaps in Iceland now. In the last couple of days we have had 4 -5 of both genders staying in the garden. They claim territories and therefore there has been a battle between them. It seems that one of them has taken ownership in the garden south of the house and another north of the house.
The Blackcaps like apples and pears a lot and are in constant competition with Thrushes and Starlings for these delicacies .
Blackcaps are vagrants in Iceland and have in a few instances managed to survive through the winter here in the garden. They have the most chance of surviving when the winters are mild. We’ll see what happens this winter.
This photo was taken yesterday, November 16, of a male Blackcap.
Volcanic eruption in Holuhraun/Bardarbunga, Iceland, is still going strong. The lavafield grows bigger daily and earthquakes are constant.
Here you can see earthquakes in Iceland: http://www.vedur.is/skjalftar-og-eldgos/jardskjalftar
The Blackcap likes apples. The male Blackcap has a black cap but the female has a brown cap. Watch the Blackcap nibbling on the apple.
This is the Red-Throated Diver with one of its chicks. The Red-Throated Diver always lays two eggs and in this case the other chick was nearby. There is some difference in size between the sexes which can only be seen when the pair is together. So whether this is the proud father, or mother, remains unknown. The photo is taken in Flói Nature Reserve.
–Beautiful motive of a baby bird with its parent 🙂
The numbers of owls in Iceland are increasing. There are three species of owls here. This is the Short-Eared Owl (Asio flammeus) and it is the most common, with around 300 -500 pairs in Iceland.
The Long-Eared Owl (Asio otus) comes in second place and then there is the Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus). Their numbers in Iceland are unknown. The chance of seeing an owl is most in the twilight in summertime when they are looking for food for their young ones. The owls mostly eat mice. – It is always a treat to see an owl 🙂
Kauptún, Garðabær, Iceland. I saw it on October 23 last year and managed to catch a few good pictures of it.
It is a very exotic bird which I did not expect to come across in Iceland. It has been seen here 11 times.
The hoopoe is widespread in Europe, Asia, and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar. Most of the European and north Asian birds migrate to the tropics in the winter so this one went in the wrong direction.
A good place to view and photograph the Red-Throated Diver and the Red-Necked Phalarope is in Flói Nature Reserve in the Southern Lowlands of Iceland. Fuglavernd– BirdLife Iceland runs a reserve there in co-operation with Árborg community. This is a wetland area rich with birdlife. The reserve is a river delta at the eastern bank of the river Ölfusá, in the Flói area not far from Selfoss.
