This might be a big bird, but it is still a baby bird. Each Year between August and September many big white birds get killed on streets in Iceland. They are young Northern Fulmars which cannot fly. The nest is in the rocky cliff line. They try to get to the sea. Since their feathers are not yet fully developed they usually land in rivers that carry them to the sea. Sadly, the birds often mistake roads for rivers. That happens for example often near Vík í Mýrdal in the south of Iceland.
So it happens that they sit in the middle of roads and cannot fly or go away when cars are coming!
Sadly i found many white feather piles on the road as I approached Vík. Later, on the side road to Dyrhólaey I found this bird on my road, passed by and used the next possibility to stop, take this image (with 500mm!) and than tried to scare him away from the street. But I only got a look from his big dark eyes, what I might be up to! Later, ob my way back I found this place empty, so he made it away from the road.
2 Responses
Petra Engel
Gott sei Dank!
Dann ist für diesen Jungvogel noch alles gut gegangen.
Marc
Genau das hatte ich so gehofft, als ich auf die Kurve zu fuhr hinter der ich ihn auf dem Hinweg gesehen hatte! Ich hatte schon meine Geschwindigkeit deutlich reduziert, bereit spontan anzuhalten oder über den Gegenverkehr auszuweichen. Ich war richtig erleichtert, die Straße leer vorzufinden!