This photo is taken yesterday evening in the center of Selfoss. Usually you have to get out of town to get a good photo of the Northern Lights but these were bright enough despite the light pollution.
Morning glow
At 9 o’clock this morning the sun was coming up in the South East. The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting longer and will continue to do so until around December 22.
The wind was blowing, shaping the clouds, and some mist in the sky from the eruption. –The beauty of it all just takes your breath away 🙂
Colourful Starling
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.
Beautiful morning
This is the view to the north from my home on the bank of River Ölfusá.
On this clear and beautiful morning there is no sign of air pollution from the eruption in Bárðarbunga / Holuhraun.
The Redwing likes apples
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.
Ptarmigan
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.
Little Egret by the river
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.
Redpoll or Arctic Redpoll
Redpolls vary both in size and in shade of brown. The Icelandic variety is the palest and has whiter wing bars and less streaked underparts than others.
Today I saw two unusually white Redpolls which resemble the Arctic Redpoll a lot. They are probably just ordinary Redpolls but quite unlike the normal Icelandic Redpoll. This is one of the whiter ones
and this is the other one. Below is a normal Icelandic Redpoll.
Redpolls feeding
A lot of redpolls come to the garden everyday where we feed them sunflower seeds.
Northern Lights
Beautiful Auroras tonight 🙂
Took a drive just outside town with my camera. The lights from Selfoss town can be seen in the distance.
I never tire of admiring the Northern Ligths.