Edward
Umimmak
On Sunday night the news broke that an ornithologist counting the thousands of migrant Barnacle Geese in northern Iceland had at last found Iceland's first, and long-awaited Red-breasted Goose. Although I swore I couldn't possibly go and see it on Monday due to work commitments I nevertheless found myself ducking out early and heading off in a car with four others for the two and a half hours drive north to the valley where it had been relocated earlier that morning by four other birders.
On the way north we saw two roadside Ptarmigan just outside Reykjavík and Snipe is now a very very prominent roadside bird, as is Golden Plover, displaying loudly everywhere. We also stopped to see a white morph Snow Goose which was with numerous Greenland White-fronts an hour north of Reykjavík, and as we approached our destination, other goose flocks became apparent, Pink-footed, Greylag and Barnacle. Once at our destination we quickly found the glorious Red-breasted Goose in a flock of several hundred Barnacles. They certainly chose a superb spot, in a remote valley with steep 3,000 ft mountains rising straight from sea-level above us with the late spring sun reflecting brightly on the snow and rhyolite. This bird was a dream bird for all of us, and it is almost certainly the same bird which has been wintering on Islay this winter. Just to make things better as we were watching the geese and listening to the abundant Snipe, Golden Plovers and Black-tailed Godwits, another flock of Barnacles flew in, bringing with it a very small Canada Goose, another Icelandic tick for me, and probably one of the Richardson's Canada Geese that has been seen in Scotland this winter.
We realised on the way home that we had seen seven species of geese during the day, and as the last rays of daylight faded away just before 11 o'clock in the evening we saw an eighth, Brent Goose, a large flock busy refuelling for its imminent trip to Canada. Eight species of goose in one day in Iceland is something which has never been done before. We were back in Reykjavík by midnight, and were five very satisfied Icelandic birders. Photos of the Red-breasted Goose can be seen here. http://www.hi.is/~yannk/photos04.html
E
On the way north we saw two roadside Ptarmigan just outside Reykjavík and Snipe is now a very very prominent roadside bird, as is Golden Plover, displaying loudly everywhere. We also stopped to see a white morph Snow Goose which was with numerous Greenland White-fronts an hour north of Reykjavík, and as we approached our destination, other goose flocks became apparent, Pink-footed, Greylag and Barnacle. Once at our destination we quickly found the glorious Red-breasted Goose in a flock of several hundred Barnacles. They certainly chose a superb spot, in a remote valley with steep 3,000 ft mountains rising straight from sea-level above us with the late spring sun reflecting brightly on the snow and rhyolite. This bird was a dream bird for all of us, and it is almost certainly the same bird which has been wintering on Islay this winter. Just to make things better as we were watching the geese and listening to the abundant Snipe, Golden Plovers and Black-tailed Godwits, another flock of Barnacles flew in, bringing with it a very small Canada Goose, another Icelandic tick for me, and probably one of the Richardson's Canada Geese that has been seen in Scotland this winter.
We realised on the way home that we had seen seven species of geese during the day, and as the last rays of daylight faded away just before 11 o'clock in the evening we saw an eighth, Brent Goose, a large flock busy refuelling for its imminent trip to Canada. Eight species of goose in one day in Iceland is something which has never been done before. We were back in Reykjavík by midnight, and were five very satisfied Icelandic birders. Photos of the Red-breasted Goose can be seen here. http://www.hi.is/~yannk/photos04.html
E
