Category Archives: Birds

Birds

Golden Plovers in the highlands

Golden Plover chick in the highlands in the middle of August

By now the Golden Plovers have started gathering for their annual migration flight over the Atlantic to their winter grounds. When it gets colder here, even as late as November, they head south, many to the British Isles but also to Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar and North Africa.

Heiðlóa – Golden Plover – Pluvialis apricaria

It is estimated that a little less than half of the total Golden Plover population in the world breed in Iceland. They are migrators that arrive early in April and leave late in the autumn. They can be seen all over the country, from the seaside into the highlands. Their favourite habitat is in dry heathland  where vegetation is rather scarce.

Golden Plover adolescent

With rising temperatures conditions in the highlands are getting better for the Golden Plover, as well as some other birds that have until a few years ago preferred the lowlands. The breeding population in Iceland counts around 300,000 pairs.

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Common Kingfisher

Bláþyrill – Common Kingfisher – Alcedo atthis

The first Common Kingfisher has been spotted in Iceland. It was first seen August 18 by a forest pond near Mógilsá, just outside Reykjavík. Since then the most avid birders have spent hours trying to get photoes of this rarity which has proved to be quite a feat.

The Common Kingfisher is a native to most of Europe, Asia and North Africa, and breeds as far north as South Scandinavia. Its favourite habitat is clear water ponds, rivers and lakes with overhanging shrubs and trees by the waterside and fish in  abundance.

diving for fish

The forest pond by Mógilsá is probably the ideal place to live for the Common Kingfisher with clear fresh water and both trout and sticklebacks. It is very shy and hides in the trees, giving birders a hard time to catch a picture of it. When it emerges and dives for fish, it is like a blur of colour moving quickly across the water – and you can easily miss it if you are not vigilant enough.

In my second trip I managed to get these pictures which are heavily cropped. Hopefully this Common Kingfisher will take a liking to Iceland and manage to survive the winter. The circumstances seem ideal so we can only hope that it will be joined by another of its kind and start breeding here in coming years.

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Mallard with chicks

Stokkönd – Mallard – Anas platyrhynchos

The Mallard is the biggest of the dabbling ducks and  widely distributed across both hemispheres. It is the most common and widely spread duck in Iceland. It breeds in a wide range of habitats and lays 8 to 13 eggs. This summer breeding has been very successful on River Ölfusá where this duck was with her 9 chicks.

Most Mallards overwinter in Iceland, staying by the seaside or in the sea around the islands. Some probably go to the British Isles for winter.

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Wood Sandpiper

Flóastelkur – Wood Sandpiper – Tringa glareola

A Wood Sandpiper has been in Garður, Reykjanes Peninsula, since the end of July.  It is a common breeding bird in the subarctic wetlands of Europe and Asia and will probably become native to Iceland in the coming years. Instances of breeding are known and most of the birds have been spotted by Lake Mývatn.

The Wood Sandpiper is a common bird in freshwater wetlands. It migrates south to  Africa, Southern Asia, mostly India, and Australia.

This Wood Sandpiper was in the company of a Red Shank and a  Dunlin, all of them in search of food in a shallow pond. We saw it catch some sticklebacks which is probably its favourite food.

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Have they come to stay?

Hringdúfa – Wood Pigeon – Columba palumbus

This summer a Wood Pigeon has been the most prominent bird in our garden.  It has taken a liking to our garden, or more precisely the sunflower seeds. Usually there is just one but every once in a while two of them show up. They feel at home and come to the window sills to remind us to keep filling the feeding trays.

Wood Pigeons are vagrants in Iceland but with increased cereal cultivation, Iceland will become more viable for them. They are beautiful birds and a nice addition to our usual guests but in many countries they are considered agricultural pests.

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The delicate and beautiful Ringed Plover

Sandlóa – Ringed Plover – Charadrius hiaticula

The Ringed Plover is a small shorebirds, delicate and beautifully proportioned. In Iceland they breed all over the country, from the coast and lowlands, up to the highlands. Its favourite habitat are open sandy areas where there is little vegetation and it lays its eggs in sand or gravel.

The Ringed Plovers are migratory birds that fly south to South West Europe in the autumn and arrive back in Iceland in April. It is estimated that the breeding population counts around 50,000 pairs.

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The not so popular Great Black-backed Gull

Svartbakur – Great Black-backed Gull – Larus marinus

The Great Blackbacks are the biggest of the seagulls.  They are seldom grouped with the beautiful birds of this planet, however, up close they are not so bad, are they? Beautifully coloured beak, the breast and underpart the whitest of white and the black back must count for something.

The Great Black-backed Gulls mostly eat small fish but many dislike them because they are scavengers and opportunist that eat almost everything they can get and they are notorious for stealing eggs and chicks from nests. In Iceland there are even stories of Great Blackbacks killing lambs.

Adult with young ones

The Great Black-backed Gulls’ habitat is spreading southwards from the North Atlantic, from Iceland and as far south as France, and from the Atlantic coast of Canada as far south as North Carolina, USA.

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In camouflage

Rjúpa – Ptarmigan – Lagopus mutus

The Ptarmigan is in its summer plumage and blends well in with nature in its favourite habitat. This female was busy feeding but plants are its main food source. A few years ago there was concern that their numbers were dropping but now they are on the rise again.

Ptarmigans can now be seen with chicks, often 10 – 12 of them but the eggs can be from 3 up to 13. They breed in the Arctic and are common all over Iceland although the northeast moors are the most densely populated.

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Breeding in the Highlands

Himbrimi – Great Northern Diver/ Common Loon – Gavia immer

The Great Northern Diver is the king of Icelandic mountain lakes and Veiðivötn in the South Highlands is a perfect place for breeding. The big clear mountain lakes of Veiðivötn provide all it needs. Trout is the Great Northern Diver’s favourite food and the lakes are full of fish.

There is just one pair on each lake and the lake is their territory – no visitors allowed in breeding time. They make their nests on islands or islets, often in moss or grass, and the eggs are two.

Iceland is the only breeding place of the Great Northern Diver in Europe. In winter they stay on the sea mostly around Iceland and they lose their distinctive black and white pattern and become grey.

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Male Brambling

Fjallafinka – Brambling – Fringilla montifringilla

In May a male Brambling was in the garden. He visited the feeding trays and could be heard singing here and in neighbouring gardens.  The Brambling is a vagrant over most of Northern Europe and Asia, migrating southwards in  winter.

Bramblings are annual vagrants in Iceland and there are several recordings of breedings but the Icelandic winter is probably not favourable since they have not become residents.

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