Samples taken from a white-tailed eagle found dead on a skerry near Barðaströnd in the Westfjords in mid-September tested positive for a severe bird flu virus of the strain HPAI H4N5. An eider duck that was found dead in Ólafsfjörður, West Iceland recently was infected with the same strain of bird flu virus. The strain has not been detected in Iceland before and is not common.
Such deaths are unusual at this time of year in Iceland and their cause is unknown. The widespread deaths of Kittiwakes cannot be attributed to bird flu, according to Brigitte Brugger of the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority (MAST). Samples from the birds analysed by MAST ruled out the illness. While bird flu is unlikely to be the cause, extreme weather may be a possible explanation.
This breeding season for ptarmigans has been the fourth worst on record in northern Iceland, due in part to a June snowstorm.
The first two arctic terns of the season were spotted in Southeast Iceland on Saturday morning, according to the Southeast Iceland Bird Observatory. Their arrival is two or three days earlier than usual. Bird enthusiasts across the country are following along with migratory species as they return to their breeding grounds in Iceland.
The expedition revealed that gannets have easy access to plastic, as their nests are mostly made from plastic debris. Hundreds of dead gannets were also observed by the experts, with it being estimated that three factors played a role in their deaths: natural attrition, bird flu, and plastic pollution.
Svafar Gylfason spotted the year’s first puffin while fishing at sea near Grímsey island, North Iceland last weekend. He says the beloved bird’s appearance is a week earlier than it’s been in the past.
Residents in Hafnarfjörður, a small town just outside the capital area, have rescued multiple swans that have frozen to the icy surface of Hamarkotslækur creek during a recent spate of desperately cold weather in the country, RÚV reports.
A number of oil-soaked seabirds have come ashore in the Westman Islands in recent days. Most of the birds have been found in the harbour on Heimaey Island and just off the coast of the Stórhöfði peninsula on the far end of the island.
A total of 78% of puffin nests on the islands were occupied in a recent survey. Puffins have been hard hit in recent years due to a diminished food supply. It remains to be seen how successful the breeding season will be.
A golden plover, traditionally believed to announce the arrival of spring in Iceland, was spotted in Stokkseyri on March 28, a little later than usual. They spends the winter as far south as North Africa, returning north to breed.
A nest belonging to a brent (Brant) goose was found last week around Bessastaðanes peninsula, where the presidential residence is located.
Puffins are an endangered species, whose numbers have declined largely due to climate change and overfishing.
Two horned grebes have settled in Reykjavík Pond in the city centre, RÚV reports. It is the first time the species is found nesting at the location. At the turn of the century, the horned grebe population was placed on a watchlist due to its decline, but it seems to have made a recovery since. […]
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