Mallards showing Harlequins how it's done (1 Viewer)

Greetings bird fans

Yesterday afternoon, full of elation after Manchester United's thrashing, no.. drubbing, no...destruction of Liverpool I did a quick tour of Reykjavik with a French birder who has recently arrived to work for six months here in the far north. I had high hopes of showing him American Wigeon, Ring-necked Duck and Snow Goose, all of which have been in this area all winter. But as so often happens when you fully expect to see something, then you don't and we dipped on all three.


Signs of spring are that Iceland Gulls are decreasing in number, one normally sees dozens if not hundreds in winter in the various harbours in the area but I saw very few yesterday. Red-throated Divers and auks also seem to have disappeared and are making their way to breeding grounds across the country.

The highlight of the day was, for my French companion, the two Harlequin drakes we saw on the outskirts of Reykjavik. They were sitting on the bank of a very fast flowing stream watching a pair of Mallards bobbling and diving for food, acting exactly the way that Harlequins normally act. Whether the Mallards were showing off or whether the Harlequins had been giving them lessons and were appraising their progress I can't be sure but it was an interesting role reversal.

Equally fascinating was watching two Lesser Black-backed Gulls fishing. Their method was as simple as it was effective. They simply stood on the bank and put their heads into the fast flowing stream. In five minutes we saw them catch two fish like this.

A fellow Lancastrian in a cold place

Hi Edward-I enjoy reading your posts because I`m�@a fellow Lancastrian living away from home. Shame about your footballing allegiances though-I`m a Liverpool man myself-don`t get me started about the ref last Saturday!
Anyway it sounds like a lot of our birds may be the same-we get lots of Harlequin Ducks here too. Even though Hokkaido`s latitude is considerably lower than Iceland (and indeed the UK) the winters here are very severe (the sea freezes in the east of Hokkaido) and as a result we get a lot of the same "northern " species including aforementioned Harlequin Duck, White Tailed Eagle, Glaucous Gull etc as well as birds with a more Pacific slant.....Having said that I think the summers are a LOT hotter than Iceland or Lancashire!
I`ve always wanted to go to Iceland. It wouldn`t even seem expensive after Japan...........

Thanks for the message Stu, I won't mention Saturday if you don't mention Real Madrid!

Yes, there is some overlap in our birds but alongside White-tailed Eagle you also get Steller's Sea Eagle which I think must be in my top ten (or very close to it) wanted birds. A friend of mine from Iceland was in Hokkaido during the winter a few years ago and saw a distant White-tailed Eagle accompanied by two Ravens. When they got closer the White-tailed Eagle was actually Steller's Sea Eagle and the Ravens were White-tailed Eagles!!! There are perhaps only two raptors that I'd rather see anywhere in the world, Harpy Eagle and Philippines Eagle.

You'll have warmer summers and colder winters than us as both are rather non-descript weatherwise in Iceland. The only way you'd know we're so far north is that we have very short daylight hours in winter and 24 hour daylight in summer.

E

EDward, I hope you'll think about participating in the Great Global Bird Count. It would be terrific to have Iceland represented!!

Hi Edward again- yes we do have Stellers Sea Eagle and they are indeed spectacular. About one hours drive north of here there is a great spot where about 70 Sea Eagles of both species congregrate to feed on the salmon carcasses from November onwards. I don`t have a decent camerea but if I did I could get some great shots. Surprisingly although a bit smaller I`ve seen White tailed drive Stellers away from the salmon carcasses- well size isn`t everything you know!
Do you get Gyrfalcon or Snowy Owl where you are? Both pretty thin on the ground here although I tried for a Gyrfalcon in January and nearly died of hypothermia ( I`m only mildy exaggerating) without seeing it. I also tried for Harpy Eagle in Venezuela a couple of years back without any luck. Lots of BOP but I was struggling to identify anything.....except I`m 100% sure none were Harpys.
I haven`t mentioned Real Madrid (cheer up we got knocked out by a SWISS side and then even more embarassing by a SCOTTISH side).

Hi Beverly, hope to take part in the global bird count

Hi Stu, yes Gyrfalcons and Snowy Owls. I've seen plenty of Gyrfalcons in Iceland, ususally in winter when they're regular in the Reykjavik area and along the coast. In fact a day's birding in winter by the coast is almost guaranteed to result in at least one Gyr. I've seen one or two Greenlandic, i.e. white morph Gyrs as well and they're pretty special. Come to Iceland in winter and I'll show you a Gyr!

Snowy Owl is perhaps top of my realistic wish list in Iceland so I've yet to see one. They are regular, some are probably here all year and have bred but they're very scarce. I know of one area where you can find them in summer but it involves a very long 4x4 drive across lava. Many non-birders claim them every year but they nearly always turn out to be Short-eared Owls.

I have no experience of South American birds but I reckon that Harpy Eagle is one of those species you know when you see it. It probably blocks out the sun as it takes flight too!

I will mention Real Madrid and the Worthington Cup! LOL

Seriously though, sounds like it was a very interesting birding session. I too get fascinated seeing bird doing things they are not commonly known to do. I can't think of an example right now, sorry. The birds you get there sound quite exotic and Iceland should be on my list of birding destinations. Only problem is that the trip would probably have to be in the cold winter?