Hundreds of Starlings stay in our garden every night. Just before dark they come from all directions and in huge flocks they fly in big circles before they land in the trees. They found this place to overnight 25 years ago and have now decided to return.
Starlings have overnighted in different places around Selfoss through the years, changing places regulary.
Can you guess? Well, this is my Common Crossbill, a bit different from the one outside in the garden.
I like drawing birds. Most of my bird-drawings originate from my imagination. They are usually not made to look like any special bird, they stand on their own and I would say they look like all birds, or no bird at all 😉
This autumn three different finch species visited the garden. All rare birds in Iceland.
A male Siskin was here in the beginning of October, a female Brambling in the middle of October and now there are two Chaffinches, a pair.
It is getting darker in the afternoon and difficult to get good photoes of the birds, especially on cloudy days like today.
But I managed to get these three photoes, –not as bad as I thought.
A Grey-cheeked Thrush Catharus minimus was spotted on Friday, October 31, in Hvolsvöllur (a small town 40 minutes drive east from Selfoss). The Thrush was still there today when I came to look for it. This is a new species for me and it is the fourth time it is seen Iceland. – I was able to add the 200th bird to my list and here is a photo I managed to catch while it was still bright enough 🙂
Next week the weather forecast is predicting colder weather. Then we can expect more birds in the garden. Today we have around 15 Redpolls, 10 Starlings, five Blackbirds, two Redwings,two male Blackcaps and a female Caffinch. There was also a Raven but they tend to stick to the treetops.
We can usually see several Ravens in the sky above our house and by the river. They are a sight to see and you might think they were showing off their flight agility. Sometimes when they visit the garden they remind us of naughty kids, – full of mischief, sitting in the top of the trees breaking off branches and crowing loudly.
Most of the Redpolls we see are just the ordinary Icelandic ones but once in a while you see an individual bird that stands out from the rest. This autumn we had a Redpoll that was quite different. It was a very beautiful and much whiter Redpoll than the ordinary ones.
Early in 2011 we also had a Redpoll that was different. News spread around town of a small white bird that came into gardens with a group of Redpolls. The local paper even had some news on this peculiar bird. The bird turned out to be a white Redpoll. It was first spotted in autumn 2010 and was seen in Selfoss most days until the end of March 2011.
Read more in articles: White Redpoll
This beautiful Starling is one of the birds that appreciates an apple. Not everyone likes the Starlings because they come in flocks, are noisy and boisterous and people believe they above other birds carry lice. All birds carry lice. The Starlings are bossy and often run other birds away, especially if there are some tasty bites to have. The Starlings that overnight in our garden and adjacent trees are probably well over two hundred and when they arrive in the twilight there is a lot of noise.
The Redwing is very common in Iceland. Most of them migrate to Great Britain during the winter but some stay the whole year.
Watch this Thrush picking at an apple.
The hunting season started today lasting in total 12 days, four long weekends. The Ptarmigan used to be the classical Christmas dinner in many families but today there aren’t as many of them as they used to be and the hunting season restricted to these 12 days.
I spotted this couple outsize town in Grímsnes, South Iceland. I always feel sorry for the Ptarmigan this time of the year.
This Little Egret was taking a stroll by the river Ölfúsá where it flows through Selfoss. It’s the first heron of this kind I have come across this year. Actually only two of these have been spotted in Iceland this year and this is the second one.
The Little Egert used to be a very rare vagrant in Iceland but in recent years the numbers are increasing. They probably come from Great Britain or Ireland. His relative the Grey Heron, however, is a very common vagrant in Iceland especially during winter.