Winter Bird Count in Iceland

The annually winter bird counting in Iceland was 7. January. This counting has been done annually since 1952. The number of volunteers has grown through the years and is now more than  100. Each of them have their areas where they count bird usually year after year up to half a century. I have only counted since 2006. My area is west of the town Þorlákshöfn on the shore of south Iceland. It is unusual as a counting area  a rocky shore line where the ocean waves erase slowly pahoehoe lava. The highest cliffs are tens of meters high and have really big rounder boulders below. I walk about 6 km on the edge of the cliffs where the  waves breaks pieces of rock  of the lava. Most of the pieces falls in the ocean but some of the ends in a long pile of rounded boulders about 10 meters or so from the cliffs edge. Between the boulders pile and the cliff edge is the lava surface completely without vegetations. It is rather easy to walk on it but it can be slippery because of frozen water. In that case is better to walk on the other side of the boulder pile.

On the counting day was really rainy weather so I had to count a week later or on the Sunday 14. January. The temperature had been over zero for a few days which usually means fewer birds both species and number of individuals because the birds spread when food sources are no longer covered with snow or frozen.

The weather was quit nice for this time of year the temperature was 1°C  sometimes a little rain and  a little wind but strong waves on the ocean.

The birds live is  characterized by the ocean but also a few snow bundings, ravens and some times a few starling close to the town. They days are getting longer but it was cloudy.

I use a binocular but not a scope.

Iceland Gull 221. They are only in the winter in Iceland but do no breed there. 

Great Black-backed Gull 

14

Glaucous Gull 

14

Herring Gull

 6

Unknown gulls 7

Eider 201

Red-breasted Merganser

 3

Snow bundings 8

Raven 13

Northern Gannet

 54

Great Cormorant

 1

Great Northern Diver 

2 in the waves below the highest cliffs.

The nothern gannet leaves the shore in the autumn but comes back about this time of year so they are the first summer migrants. If it is possible to say so in the middle of the winter :)

The counting area on a Google map