Day: August 4, 2017

Iceland’s Arctic Terns

Vigur Island in the north of Iceland is a dynamic place to observe Arctic Terns and Puffins nesting. Talk about isolation? Only one farmer lives on the island with his family and his own electric generator. In the summer he hosts small groups of visitors coming from nearby Islafjordur.

We were among those lucky visitors last week, and we spent all our time meeting the great challenge of photographing these quick birds in flight. Both the arctic terns and puffins would catch some small fish in the sea, and then swoop onto the thick grass to feed their tiny chicks. Since the arctic terns have a way of attacking the heads of nearby humans, my husband held two yard sticks over our heads with little blue flags on the end, to deter any incoming attacks. He was successful, and so was I — getting a few action photos of these beautiful birds.

#birds, #wildlife, #arctictern, #chick, #sea, #iceland, #nesting, #july, #vigur, #island
With wings backlit by the sun, the adult Arctic Tern lands to feed its young, while another adult tern looks on. This rocky promontory provided a clear view of the birds.

While traveling, we learned an amazing fact about the Arctic Tern. It is the longest migrating creature on Earth — traveling from nesting grounds here by the Arctic Circle 44,100 miles to the north Antarctic every year — in search of endless summer. I had to hear that fact more than once before I believed it. That’s a long distance to cover with just those two wings!

Here is a close-up of an Arctic Tern chick. The chicks had no fear of us, and luckily no instinct yet to attack our heads.

#arctictern, #tern, #bird, #chick, #baby, #iceland, #vigur, #nesting, #wildlife, #birdphotography
Arctic Tern chick on Vigur Island. Better eat lots of fish to get ready for the journey south!

Stay tuned to this blog for some very cute Puffin photos coming soon!