Harbour Seal in Snæfellsnes

May 14, 2015 Kristin

Snæfellsnes is the place to go if you ever visit Iceland. There are usually a lot of seals there if seeing seals is on your agenda. This is the Harbour Seal (Phoca vitulina) but you can also expect to see the Gray Seal (Halichoerus grypus). The photos are taken near Kolgrafarfjörður on the northern side of the Snæfellsnes peninsula.

Landselur - Harbour Seal - Phoca vitulina — Landselur – Harbour Seal – Phoca vitulina

In the last few years Kolgrafarfjörður has been in the news quite often. In 2012 and 2013 the fjord was so overfull of herring that there was lack of oxygen so the herring died. Herring is food for various animals such as seals, killer whales and birds. So everything was teeming with life.

Birds

Golden Plovers everywhere

May 13, 2015 Kristin

A lot of Golden Plovers are still in urban areas, in places where we are not so used to seeing them. You can see them in home gardens and most open areas and they are often not getting along too well. It seems that they are claiming territory and have to chase away those that come too close.

Heiðlóa - Golden Plower - Pluvialis apricaria — Heiðlóa – Golden Plower – Pluvialis apricaria

The Golden Plover´s habitat is in lowlands and highlands, in meadows and heaths. This spring there has been a lot of snow in the interior so the ones that are used to breeding in the highlands are probably the ones that are still in the towns. Hopefully the snow in the interior will melt soon so they can move to their breeding areas.

Birds

The Tern is here

May 11, 2015 Örn Óskarsson

The first Arctic Terns were seen in Selfoss yesterday. A few days ago they were seen at the coast. The Tern is known as one of the longest distance migrant. It is an agile flyer and is on constant flight over sea except during the breeding time in the Arctic. Its winter grounds, if you can call it that, are in the sea around South Africa and Antarctica.

kria-5 — Kría (Sterna paradisaea) – Arctic Tern

The Tern is a breeding bird in Iceland, mostly staying near the coast but also inland, even as far as the interior. The Icelandic breeding population is estimated around 500,000 pairs.

Video from last summer, Veiðivötn, South Interior, Iceland.

Birds

Meadow Pipits eating leftovers

May 10, 2015 Örn Óskarsson

tufutittlingur-2 — Þúfutittlingur – Meadow Pipit – Anthus pratensis

Meadow Pipits visit the garden both in spring and autumn. Now we have had up to four at the same time which is unusual. In the last few days two of them have claimed territory here, one south of the house and the other north of the house. They chase all others of their kind away and are eating the leftovers from this winter, sunflower seeds, something we have not seen before. They will probably move to their natural habitat in the meadows as soon as the weather gets milder.

Atmosphere, Landscape

Twilight at night

May 9, 2015 Örn Óskarsson

This time of year the sky doesn’t get dark at night. Today it is twilight all night through. For the next ten weeks the nights will be light. The midnight sun will only be seen in the northern part of the country in the latter part of June but here in the South it will be bright enough to read in the middle of the night.

The photo is taken to the north at midnight over Ölfusá River.

Birds, Movies

Enjoy nature with us

May 8, 2015 Kristin

Birds

Thousands of Dunlins

May 8, 2015 Örn Óskarsson

loutraell-3 — Lóuþræll – Dunlin – Calidris alpina

There are a lot of Dunlins (Calidris alpina) on beaches and in river-mouths in South Iceland now. Yesterday morning there were thousands of them on the beach in Eyrarbakki where these photos were taken.

The most densely populated Dunlin breeeding area is in marshlands in South Iceland. The Icelandic breeding population is estimated around 270,000 birds.

Birds

The male still in white

May 7, 2015 Kristin

Rjúpa - Ptarmigan - Lagopus mutus — Rjúpa – Ptarmigan – Lagopus mutus, male

This male Ptarmigan is still white. The females get their summer colors earlier so they do not attract as much attention during the nesting time.

Birds

The Whimbrels come from Africa

May 5, 2015 Örn Óskarsson

spoi-4 — Spói – Whimbrel – Numenius phaeopus

Despite cold northerly winds the Whimbrels (Numenius phaeopus) are coming to Iceland, ony by one. They come all the way from West Africa, south of the Sahara, where they have been since autumn. The Whimbrel is common in lowlands all over the country. The breeding population is estimated 250,000 pairs.

The pictures are taken by the seaside in Eyrarbakki yesterday. Whimbrels are not common by the seaside but this one was probably dead tired after its long flight from Africa.

Birds

Three Slavonian Grebes

May 4, 2015 Örn Óskarsson

On our bird watching trip Sunday morning we saw these three Slavonian Grebes by the old dock in Eyrarbakki.

florgodi — Flórgoði – Slovonian Grebe – Podiceps auritus

The Slavonian Grebe (Podiceps auritus) is a species with an unfavourable conservation status in Europe, amber list criteria according to RSPB. The population is recovering and the population size has more than doubled in the last 25 years. The estimated population in Iceland is around 700 breeding pairs.

In the winter time the Slavonian Grebe stays in the sea, some in the ocean around Iceland and some also in Western Europe. You are most likely to see them in and around Mývatn in the North, Ástjörn in Hafnarfjörður and Reykhólar in the West. The Slavonian Grebe lives in lakes and ponds in the summer time and the nest floats on the water among the reeds.