Let’s go on a Snipe Hunt, an Icelandic Snipe Hunt! However this was not a practical joke (see Wikipedia). Since arriving in Iceland I had heard the winnowing call of snipes all around me, but the “Common Snipe” would never come out of the tall grasses. However on the 3rd day at our farm rental (see post with AirBnB description), as I drove out the farm’s long dirt driveway … Eureka! A Common Snipe!
Better yet this Common Snipe was a lifer. Apparently back in the year 2003, the birding powers in the world decided the Wilson’s Snipe (the bird I see at Minnesota wetlands) and the European version … including the Common Snipe found in Iceland were uniquely different species … thus a lifer!
As I watched the Common Snipe for a few minutes it decided to cross the dirt driveway, and suddenly two snipes chicks appeared and followed in their parent’s footsteps. Thus, my snipe hunt yielded three Common Snipes at once, a family!
Icelandic Common Snipe (down on the farm)!
The parent snipe checks that all’s clear
The family heads across the driveway
The chicks
The parent (about 3 feet distant from the chicks)
Addendum #1 to the Rock Ptarmigan post: Thank you to one of my readers, Annie! She spied to Ptarmigan chicks leading me to review all my Icelandic images of this species. Wow, these little guys blend into the grass … expect some new “rock family photos!”
Addendum #2: I spent the morning up at Greenwood … leaving very early and I was hiking by 6:30 am. I found a new “scent branch”. Time to deploy new / additional trailcams! Not just the Canada Lynx are using this branch, but also a small pack of timber wolves, a pair of fox, and a small bear. Everyone needs to let the other animals of the forest know of their presence!
