Tag Archives: vagrant

Birds, Garden

Blackcaps claiming territory

There are a lot of Blackcaps in Iceland now. In the last couple of days we have had 4 -5 of both genders staying in the garden. They claim territories and therefore there has been a battle between them. It seems that one of them has taken ownership in the garden south of the house and another north of the house.

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The Blackcaps like apples and pears a lot and are in constant competition with Thrushes and Starlings for these delicacies .

Blackcaps are vagrants in Iceland and have in a few instances managed to survive through the winter here in the garden. They have the most chance of surviving when the winters are mild. We’ll see what happens this winter.

This photo was taken yesterday, November 16, of a male Blackcap.

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Birds

Hoopoe – Upupa epops

The Hoopoe is a very special looking bird and a vagrant that is very seldom seen in Iceland. This one was spotted near IKEA in Kauptún, Garðabær, Iceland. I saw it on October 23 last year and managed to catch a few good pictures of it.

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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.

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Birds, Garden

Three different Finches

This autumn  three different finch species visited the garden. All rare birds in Iceland.

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Chaffinch / bókfinka

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.

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Brambling / fjallafinka

It is getting darker in the afternoon and difficult to get good photoes of the birds, especially on cloudy days like today.

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Siskin / barrfinka

But I managed to get these three photoes, –not as bad as I thought.

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Birds

Grey-cheeked Thrush

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 🙂

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Birds

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.

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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.

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Birds, Garden

Common Crossbill

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Common Crossbills are new breeding birds in Iceland.  New spruce and pine forests are growing fast in many places in Iceland and are now big enough to be a habitat for some new settlers like the Crossbills.
They are regular birds in my garden and I feed them on sunflower seeds. This pair was in a group of seven Crossbills coming to the feeding place this beautiful Sunday morning.

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Birds, Garden

Blackcap

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This male Blackcap visited my garden this morning. He was not shy when I came along with my camera. But it was difficult to get close to the female who accompanied him.  The Blackcap is a vagrant in Iceland but an annual guest in my garden and sometimes I have managed to keep a few of them alive through the whole winter.

– Stay tuned for updates on this couple.

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