The constant, sometimes irritating, piping of oystercatchers is a certain mark of northern spring
The
last page showed
animals in the rather degraded environment of a zoo. This page presents
birds in a country
that provides a spectacularly and a paradigm of a natural home for them. Many are migrants arriving for the near endless days of late spring and summer; and consequently the possibility of quickly gathering large amounts of food. The pictures below are all from the flater coastal regions, in a few weeks time the Picture Posting page will continue with birds that live on the cliffs of the north west, and in particular those of Látrabjarg.
A rare sight - mouth shut
Oystercatcher ostentatious...
...sandpipers surreptitious - at first glance did you see the one to the left?
The most diminutive of ducks (above is the chaffinch sized male) the red-necked phalarope is one of few...
...birds where it is the male that does
all the brooding and rearing,
without any help from the female
Acrobatic
Arctic terns...
...the one above with signature sand-eels
A stately flypast of a great skua - signalling alarm for ground nesting birds
The pied wagtail is one of the most widely distributed birds of the northern hemisphere...
...from here in Iceland to Vietnam via India they are ubiquitous
Sandpiper portraits
Harlequin ducks beyond a pair of eiders
Snow bunting, conspicuous for the lack of snow
A golden plover
Whinchat
Two more golden plovers...
...the one above hinting at why it is so called
Whooper swan
A raft of female eider ducks
Puffins, eiders and black guillimots on
Isafjordur Bay
Trailers...
The next page
jumps to a hot November in Vietnam, with the opening, on the 10th of the month in Tĩnh Gia, of the Hân-Duyên Restaurant
The next page
in the Mosaic Section is headed: 'The Other'.
Or go to the contents of the Mosaic Section.
The last page had images from Mumbai
Go to a page on the island of Æðey in northern Iceland
To a page on the reserves at the mouth of the River Nith in southern Scotland
