Goosander

Goosander

Mergus merganser Gulönd

Apart from a record of three Goosanders on 21st March, there were no Goosanders recorded until September. The majority of birds were recorded in October, with a peak of 35 birds during a rising tide survey on the 11th . Goosanders were mainly found foraging in the main channels of the Hvítá and Andakílsá rivers. With a national population estimate of 100-300 breeding pairs (Skarphéðinsson et al 2006) the site supported an important proportion of the national population in October.

Number of individuals 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Low-tide Rising-tide

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Week number and month

Figure 3-47. Number of Mergus merganser recorded during weekly low tide and rising tide estuarine surveys in the Andakíll Ramsar site between 12th March and 25th October 2017.

Figure 3-48. Relative abundance of Mergus merganser during weekly (a) low tide and (b) rising tide estuarine surveys in the Andakíll Ramsar site between 12th March and 25th October 2017. Dots are randomly positioned within each subsite. While each dot refers to a single bird, it refers to the bird’s presence in that subsite only, and not the bird’s actual location.

(a) Low tide (b) Rising tide