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.
Happy birds
I am your baby
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 🙂
Owls in Iceland
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 🙂
Hoopoe – Upupa epops
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.
Flói Nature Reserve
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.
Birds everywhere
Aurora borealis
Northern Lights tonight. Good forecast but rather poor lights and a misty sky. The red color is light pollution from Reykjavik 60 km away.
Frosty river
In the last couple of days we have had temperatures below zero. The days are getting shorter and the river Ölfusá has begun to freeze. This photo is taken around 5 o’clock this afternoon and as you can see the sun is setting.
Blackbird – Turdus merula
This Blackbird is one of a group of eight Blackbirds that are in the garden now. This is a young male which can be seen from the dark brown colour and the colour of its beak, similar to the female’s colours.
When it grows up it becomes black and the beak becomes bright orange-yellow. It also gets an eye-ring of the same colour. This makes the adult male Blackbird one of the most striking garden birds. The song of the Blackbird is also very vocal so it does not go unnoticed.
