July 2017: House sparrow [Passer domesticus] (Haussperling) This young house sparrow left its nest just a few days ago, is still fed by its parents (who's job is even more stressful than before as they have to follow their young to all more or less convenient places) and not yet an experienced flyer: This poor guy landed in the water and now takes a sunbath to dry its feathers - hopefully undetected by all the cats... - The sparrow has been a synanthropic bird for the last 10'000 years (after the ice age). But today we can see less and less sparrows in my region which seems to be a trend not only here but also in other European countries, due to changes in land use, agriculture and tools. We still allow some families to nest around our home although they are a bit messy sometimes.It was wonderful to ride on the bike to Raušavatn in a very good weather in the middle of the day last Sunday to take the picture for Markus. The temperature was about 14° C which is rather good in Iceland and the wind was 5 m/s. Visibility was good and the lupine shows its most beautiful side. The vegetation has become very thrifty, but there has been a lot of rain in the first half of the year, which has clearly had a good effect on the vegetation. We are very happy to get the sun and the light all day around here in Iceland now, we nearly don't have to sleep :-).
