Edward
Umimmak
Went out on Saturday with my regular birding buddy Simmi to do a quick tour of the peninsula which extends south and west from Reykjavik, and forms the "bit sticking out in the bottom left hand corner" if you look at a map of Iceland. It is a low, highly volcanic windswept area but its coasts are full of birds.
Our first stop provided good views of 5 Great Northern Divers. Watching all this on a lampost only 30 metres from our car was a juvenile Gyrfalcon. Winter is easily the best time to see these majestic raptors because the abundance of ducks and gulls means that there's an easy supply of food.
Soon after we saw a sight which I've rarely seen and that was two snow-white Arctic Foxes running across the road. As I was looking at those Simmi started shouting and pointing at a snow-white Ptarmigan flying across the road, his first of the year. Both the Foxes and the Ptarmigan looked very vulnerable as they were white in a totally snow-less landscape. The Ptarmigan especially looked hopelessly exposed with Gyrfalcon in the immediate area.
We next stopped at a well known Harlequin Duck site where a couple of dozen birds formed loose rafts on the sea, the males as usual outnumbering the females and vying for their attention.
Gulls were very much in evidence, several hundred Iceland, Glaucous, Herring, Black-headed, Great Black-backed Gulls plus the occasional Common Gull and Kittiwake.
Another Harlequin site revealed another 50 or so of these beautifully painted creatures. These birds can easily be found in this area from November to May, only 15 minutes from the international airport.
Long-tailed Ducks were abundant and very vocal. Their yodelling call carries great distances and often a distant raft of ducks was identified as soon as we wound the car window down by the yodelling. The even more numerous Eider are also getting into the breeding spirit and their Frankie Howerd "ooooh" was a common feature of the morning.
On Sunday morning I did a much shorter trip here in the Rekjavik area and at the sewage pipe saw my first two Lesser Black-backed Gulls of the year, an American Wigeon drake, 150 Iceland Gulls, 20 Red-throated Divers and an assortment of Razorbills and Guillemots.
So a pleasant couple of birding trips and with spring approaching one hopes it will only get better.
Our first stop provided good views of 5 Great Northern Divers. Watching all this on a lampost only 30 metres from our car was a juvenile Gyrfalcon. Winter is easily the best time to see these majestic raptors because the abundance of ducks and gulls means that there's an easy supply of food.
Soon after we saw a sight which I've rarely seen and that was two snow-white Arctic Foxes running across the road. As I was looking at those Simmi started shouting and pointing at a snow-white Ptarmigan flying across the road, his first of the year. Both the Foxes and the Ptarmigan looked very vulnerable as they were white in a totally snow-less landscape. The Ptarmigan especially looked hopelessly exposed with Gyrfalcon in the immediate area.
We next stopped at a well known Harlequin Duck site where a couple of dozen birds formed loose rafts on the sea, the males as usual outnumbering the females and vying for their attention.
Gulls were very much in evidence, several hundred Iceland, Glaucous, Herring, Black-headed, Great Black-backed Gulls plus the occasional Common Gull and Kittiwake.
Another Harlequin site revealed another 50 or so of these beautifully painted creatures. These birds can easily be found in this area from November to May, only 15 minutes from the international airport.
Long-tailed Ducks were abundant and very vocal. Their yodelling call carries great distances and often a distant raft of ducks was identified as soon as we wound the car window down by the yodelling. The even more numerous Eider are also getting into the breeding spirit and their Frankie Howerd "ooooh" was a common feature of the morning.
On Sunday morning I did a much shorter trip here in the Rekjavik area and at the sewage pipe saw my first two Lesser Black-backed Gulls of the year, an American Wigeon drake, 150 Iceland Gulls, 20 Red-throated Divers and an assortment of Razorbills and Guillemots.
So a pleasant couple of birding trips and with spring approaching one hopes it will only get better.
Anyway a good spot of birding always dispels any football-related angst and the sun is shining so I might get out and do some!
