Eurasian Oystercatcher//Eurasian Whimbrel

We got a double header for you fine folks today, really back at it and firing on all cylinders. Today's birds have a theme, and you're only likely to detect it if you're a real bird sicko. See if you can figure it out, but if you want spoilers, you can scroll right to the end to the 'lessons learned' section.

Eurasian Oystercatcher aka. European Oystercatcher aka. Common Pied Oystercatcher aka. Sea Pie (historic) (Icelandic -Tjaldur)
Þingvellir National Park, Þingvellir, Iceland
Member of the Oystercatcher Family
★National Bird of the Faroe Islands★
§A Parcel of Oystercatchers§

~True Bird Fact~ This bird's joining the good-parents-club, and not just because she's pictured above with baby. In fact, Oystercatchers are lifetime monogamous and they're a long-lived bird, so that can mean a 40 year commitment. Both male and female birds contribute to the defense of the nest. They take a two pronged approach of attacking flying predators by air, and distracting or leading away ground predators. This can look like trying to lure the attacker away by taking short flights, making loud calls, or even pretending to be injured.

Eurasian Whimbrel aka. White Rumped Whimbrel (historic) (Icelandic - Spói)
Þingvellir National Park, Þingvellir, Iceland
Member of the Sandpiper Family
§A Curfew of Whimbrels§

~True Bird Fact~ In an exciting and unexpected twist (for me), the Whimbrel seems to be a pretty important bird in Iceland. This is a migratory bird, which spends it's summers in Iceland (and winters in West Africa). As such, it's heavily associated with Spring and the arrival of warmer weather, which, as you might imagine, is a pretty big deal for Icelanders. They go so far as to call his cry the sound of the summer, and even have a name for it, Vell. There's a whole system around this call that icelanders use (used?) to predict the weather, so it's considered something of a 'fortune teller bird' there. There's also a charming saying that I'm going to attempt to work into my own life, "The whimbrel sings porridge" ("Spóinn syngur graut"), which means 'warm weather is coming'. Wish me luck in that endeavor.

So what is it that we were supposed to learn today? Well, aside from a surprising amount about Whimbrels, the lesson here is 'always take a picture of a boring looking bird you've seen a million times when you're in a new place'. I had 100% assumed that these were my traditional American Black Oystercatcher and Hudsonian Whimbrel (a bird I've certainly seen and photographed, but surprisingly never blogged). But I took a picture anyway, because 'what if?', and I was right! The Whimbrel I didn't even really bother to get a 'good' picture of. So anyway, the moral here is 'it counts anyway' even if you've seen a nearly identical bird before. Pump up those life lists people.

And for edification purposes, the difference between the Back Oystercatcher and the Eurasian is.. (waiting for you to check the other blog and report back)

The eye color! Incredible stuff.

As for the whimbrel? All in the rump, specifically, whether it's white or brown. Ok,  so maybe they weren't that identical after all, but they were to my tired eyes.

Trip to Iceland pt.1

Hello bird fans. You may have noticed, or maybe not, that your favorite bird blog hasn't updated in a pretty long time. There are several reasons for this, but most crucially, I just don't have that much time. Don't have much time for trips where I might get to do some good birding, don't have much time for photography don't have much time to write these little updates. It doesn't help that I left twitter due to it becoming a cesspool, and so now my audience is just you, the person who stumbles upon this or who I know on facebook.

Anyway, it's ok for me to be out of the bird blogging game, I am content. I've seen a lot of good birds, and I will always love birds, and the experience of identifying birds, either for myself, or for others. So that being said, this will not be a traditional bird blog, but more like a travelog. Those who go way back might remember my other blog. Imagine something like that. 

Now, recently I was able to sneak a little trip to Iceland in during what was otherwise a summer family vacation to Nova Scotia. Our plan for our first day was a drive on the fabled Golden Circle- a circuit of natural wonders easy driving distance from Reykjavik, where we were based. After partaking of a lovely hot springs (the second of the trip), we were on to our first natural feature, the famous waterfall Gullfoss (lit. Golden Falls).

It was an incredible waterfall, easily making it's way in to my top tier of waterfall experiences, despite the grey weather we had that day. Just look at this bad boy, it's got it all- a rugged and striking landscape, massive volume, an aesthetically pleasing mist, and... wait a minute... 

Computer, enhance. 

Is that a fucking BIRD???

Oooooh shit, every time I think I'm out, they pull me back in. I mean it folks, when I saw this swan just completely chilling as millions of gallons of water (this is literally true, it is an approximately 1.7 million gallons/minute waterfall) rushed past it, I said "ok, I guess I will do a bird blog about this".

So who do we have here? I'm glad you asked

Whooper Swan aka. The Elk aka. Hooper aka. Wild Swan (Álft)
Gullfoss, Selfoss, Iceland
Member of the Duck, Goose, and Swan Family
★The National Bird of Finland★
★The Largest Native Herbivore in Iceland★
§A Lamentation of Swans§

~True Bird Fact~ Very accomplished fliers, despite their size (frequently noted online as 'one of the heaviest flying birds'. Their typical airspeed is around 62mph, however, they have been known to travel to extraordinary heights, up in the lower stratosphere, in order to make use of the jetstream. One group of birds was clocked traveling almost 100 miles per hour using this technique while migrating from Iceland to Ireland. Extremely tough!

~Real Bird Myth~ A wikipedia 'citation needed' fact (off to a strong start) notes that sounds this bird makes upon death and the source of the phrase 'swan song'. I did not hear any of them die, so thus cannot verify myself.

~Real Icelandic Bird Myth~ A 1921 Icelandic Fairytale, Sagan af Dimmalimm by Guðmundur Thorsteinsson, recounts a tale of a princess who, through the power of love, breaks a curse on a swan, who then becomes a prince. It's essentially Swan Lake.

Well, I hope my extremely scant handful of readers have enjoyed this rare bird blog. But you know what? I'm going to do some more. Because shockingly being in Iceland for 4 days without my kids afforded me the time to see some pretty cool birds. And now you're going to see them too, or at least you will, if you keep clicking on the bird blog.