Náttúrufræðingurinn - 1976, Page 108

first seen at Kvísker in 1940 (1 bird in
spring and 1 in autumn). Since then they
have been observed on several occasions
but so far they have not nested. The
Kittiwake nests in large numbers on
the sheer, sea-facing cliffs of Ingólfs-
liöfdi, where some start laying very early.
On May 24, 1957 a ca. 1-week old young
was found in one nest and a half-grown
young in another. Kittiwakes are frequ-
ently seen at sea during the winter, being
particularly numerous in late winter and
spring. The Arctic Tern nests coloni-
ally in several places, but colonies are
often deserted and new ones established.
A large ternery existed at Jökulsá during
the years 1960—1969 reaching a peak in
1967 when it consisted of thousands of
pairs; by 1970 it had been deserted.
Several other colonies liave had a similar
fate (e.g. a large colony at Fagurhóls-
mýri). In June—July of some years con-
siderable numbers of nonbreeding 1-year
old birds were present in the colonies at
Jökulsá and at Fagurhólsmýri. In spring
the average arrival of terns at Kvísker is
May 10, but they are sometimes seen
earlier at Jökulsá (1950 on May 3, 1951
on May 7, and 1966 on May 1). In aut-
umn most terns liave left by early Sept-
ember, but occasionally some may be seen
until the middle of September or even
later: On October 26, 1963 13 birds (2 ad.,
11 juv.) were seen feeding at Jökrilsá.
Auks nest only on the sea-facing cliffs
of Ingólfshöfdi. By far the most common
species are C o m m o n G u i 11 e m o t s
and Puffins although Razorbills
are also fairly common. Briinnich’s
Guillemots only nest iti very small
numbers at Ingólfshöfdi. Black Guil-
lemots have only once been seen at
sea at Ingólfshöfdi (1 ad. and 1 imm. on
August 24, 1975). This is the only record
of this species within the study area.
Little Auks are occasionally found
washed ashore and carcasses have repeat-
edly been found up to 4—5 km inland
(wrecks). In some years Common Guille-
mots start visiting tlie nesting cliffs about
the middle of February or even late in
January. The beginning of their visits
appears to depencl largely on the weather
conditions. The sea-bird colonies at Ing-
ólfshöfdi liave long been exploited, the
annual harvest of Common Guillemot
and Razorbill eggs frequently being 2000
-3000.
The Wood Pigeon has been seen
intermittently since 1934, mostly only one
or two birds at a time. During summer
1963 Wood Pigeons stayed at Svínafell
and in the autumn 10, including 6 ju-
veniles, were seen togetlier. Therefore,
Wood Pigeons may have nestecl there that
year and raised young, although this
cannot be proved. In 1964 I observed
two pairs of Wood Pigeons at Svínafell
and on July 31 I found a Wood Pigeon
nest there containing an acldled egg ancl
a clead young (H. Björnsson. 1965. Nátt-
úrufr. 35: 9—13). The nest was on a rock
ledge in a narrow gully on a slope above
the farm covered by brushwood of birch.
Nesting in this case was unsuccessful be-
cause water dripped constantly into the
nest from the cliff above. Since 1965
Wood Pigeons have been seen on several
occasions but no nests have been found.
At Kvísker 2—5 stayed throughout the
summers 1971—1975 and 2 stayed at
Svínafell in summer 1971 and 1972.
Short-eared Owls are casual visi-
tors and mostly only single birds are
seen and only for a short time. Small
rodents were absent from the area until
1963 whcn the first Long-tailed Field
Mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) was record-
ed. Tltis species is now widespread and
contmon. Thus, owls may now sooncr or
later start to nest in the area and in 1975
I saw one bird at Svínafell in June which
may have nested there that summer. This
may explain why during the autumn and
the first half of tlie winter of that year I
saw owls both at Fagurhólsmýri and Kví-
sker.
S w a 11 o w s have been seen almost an-
nually since 1942, but mostly only in
small numbers. They usually arrive in
May (on a few occasions in late April)
and may stay until June. Two cases of
nesting liave come to my attention, in
both cases in outhouses at Svínafell. In