Iceland Day 5-6
Day 5
This morning we were off to Lake Myvatn. Even though the weather didn't look great it was an area we both wanted to go to so we just had to grin and bear it. It was a couple of hours drive along Route 1 taking in a pretty impressive tunnel just outside Akureyri. Be warned this is a toll tunnel and has a few speed traps inside. Akureyri was the largest town we had seen for a while. We stopped at a service station and had a look around the coast here. Eiders and Long-Tailed Ducks were on the water and the forecourt had some smart looking Black-headed and Common Gulls. A small lake opposite the garage had the usual duck suspects and a pair of Red-throated Divers.
We continued our journey towards Myvatn the scenery was stunning. It was a mix of sunshine and showers the showers often turning to snow. The mountains around had a fresh dusting on their summits. It was still howling a gale that was bloody freezing. We stopped at an area I had been tipped off about by a fellow photographer Mike. It was a small lake and had a few Slav Grebes milling around on. We parked up and got out to have a look round. I nearly stayed in the car it was so cold. Was worthing getting out for though as there was a lone Great Northern Diver swimming around in the middle of the lake. Great Northern Divers generally like the larger lakes, so even though this one was a bit distant to start it was worth hanging around for. Of course with any water in Iceland there are always Red-necked Phalaropes and Tuffed Ducks as well. There was also a Whooper Swan nesting on a small Island.
I started off with the Slav Grebes these are a my nemesis bird as I never seem to do very well with them. It continued here, the pair I watched never really came close and stayed on an area of weedy water and the pictures I was getting didn't look great.
Slavonian Grebe, Iceland, June 2019
The Great Northern Diver was fishing so I set off to creep towards it. Every time it dived I would edge a bit closer until I was laid on the bank close to the area it was fishing I spend quite a bit of time moving up and down the bank following this magnificent bird. The weather wasn't great but managed a few sunny spells in between the snow shower.
Great Northern Diver - Iceland June 2019
Whilst I was spending time doing my stuff Adrian had been watching the Red-necked Phalaropes and had delivered again. Finding his 2nd nest of the trip. It was beauty well hidden and about 10 meters from were we had parked the car. To say Adrian was a tad happy was an understatement.
Red-necked Phalarope, Iceland, June 2019
After spending a few good hours here we continued on our journey to Myvatn, I wish we didn't the weather got worse and worse. The mountains now had a good covering of snow and it was rain rain rain at lower levels. We arrived at the River Laxa in pouring Rain and had a quick look around we saw a Barrows Goldeneye which was a World Tick for Both of us and a few Harlequin Ducks. This was another new bird for Adrian, I had seen the one that turned up in Aberdeen a few years ago. We took a drive to the bird museum and saw some great birds from the car, a pair of Long-tailed Ducks were on a small lake near the entrance track. At the Museum we saw numerous bird close to the shore. Tuffed Duck, Phalaropes, Mergansers, Common Scoters, Gadwalls and even a Pochard. We had a bite to eat here before venturing out of the car. It was so cold this didn't last long. With the weather so poor the only option was to get in the car and have a drive about. Husavik was about 90mins from Myvatn and a place I had marked for Great Northern Divers, there are a few lakes near to the coast that are said to hold Divers on every spring. Sadly we didn't bother to stop in the pouring rain. We eventually got to some cliffs a few miles outside Husavik. Adrian got out to have a look around. The wind was so cold I though sod this I am not getting out here but I am glad I did. There were numerous Fulmars in and around the cliffs. These were flying close to the cliff it was tricky holding the lens still in the wind below is the best I got.
Fulmar, Iceland, June 2019
There were a pair of Black Guillemots, a Red-throated Diver and 1000s of Puffins at sea. There is a large Great Skua nearby and we were both on the look out for one of these as this would be a trip tick. Out of nowhere one appeared very close to the cliff edge sadly I wasn't ready with the camera and missed an awesome opportunity to capture one. By now the cold was unbearable even with my 25 layers on, so we got back in the car and carried on further up the coast. The plan was travel on Route 85 and cut back along 862 to Myvatn. We had another cliff top stop and saw pretty much the same Stuff including another flyby Great Skua!! Guess what camera not ready and I missed it again. From here we could see the ..... an area great for Great Skua and Slavoioan Grebes we didn't have enough time to really explore this year so marked this one down for another trip. Further North of here is another area we wouldn't have time to explore this trip its an area that's meant to have good numbers of breeding Purple Sandpipers a species we both wanted to find.
We soon hit the 862 which started off like most roads in Iceland as a passable tarmac road without much warning this turned into one of their passable gravel tracks. Unlike most gravel tracks we had used before this one turned into a waterlogged boulder filled death trap that was actual pretty busy. For 20km I drove along this track shitting myself the whole time. We both couldn't understand why it was so busy but yet the worst road we had both ever seen. Turns out to be an access road sorry access donkey track to ..... one of Iceland famous Waterfalls. Progress was slow and we hadn't even made half way when the road disappeared into a canyon this is when things got really scary!!! The track was getting worse and was pretty steep I felt taking this route was going to cause some serious damage to our hire car so half way down the hill we decided to abandon and turn around. This would mean a 2 hour drive in the direction we had come from. It was an easy decision to make. Adrian got out and directed me as we attempted a 25 point turn. I had my eyes closed most of the time as one false move and the car was over the edge. Thankfully we managed to turn around and Adrian jumped into the drivers seat as to say I was a tad stressed was an understatement. Eventually we made it back to a decent road and onwards to Myvatn. We both got out the car to stretch our legs and left off a bit of steam.
Road to hell, Iceland, June 2019
After a long trek back to our hotel through some pretty bleak weather we decided to get some food and a beer before heading out in the rain to find some more bits and pieces. We headed to the River Laxa and went about trying to find some Harlequin Ducks and Barrows Goldeneye. Iceland is the European hotspots for both of these Ducks and the Laxa is the best place in Iceland to find these. We parked up the car and started to walk downriver from the road bridge. We crossed onto a small Island and from there we could see a couple of hardy fisherman in the fast flowing river. There was no chance you would see me in there. Just off the banks of this Island was a small group of Harlequin Ducks the light and weather was appalling but this might be my only opportunity to photography these beautiful ducks. I got low into the vegetation and waited for them to swim past.
Harlequin Duck, River Laxa, June 2019
The light was fading fast and we were both soaked so didn't hang around to long. Hopefully the weather would improve tomorrow.
Day 6
No chance I awoke early to get down to the visitor centre and it was still awful a few snow showers and the howling wind meant I didn't get out the car. Adrian had stayed in bed for some extra kip. Probably a good Idea. The Long-tailed ducks were back on the same pool and plenty of the usual suspects were on the banks of the lake. I continued to drive around Myvatn looking for good photo ops!! Sadly they were few and far between. I was also hoping for a glimpse of a Gyr Falcon as we had seen a few Gyr Kill sites the night before along the Laxa. I stopped at one beach and there were 5 Great Northern Divers, Pair of Long-tailed Ducks and some Common Scoters in close there was little of no cover for me to get down to the shore without disturbing them so I moved on finding a pair of Red-Necked Phalaropes in the next bay. I took some opportunities with these to do some arty farty shots in the poor light. I was pretty pleased with the results.
Red-Necked Phalarope, Lake Myvatn, Iceland, June 2019
I had a short stop in the same place as the night before on the River Laxa I found what looked like another Gyr Kill, which was the remains of a Whooper Swan. There wasn't much wildfowl on the River so ended up watching a pair of Redwings carrying food to a nest I quickly located the nest before moving on.
Redwing nest with chicks, River Laxa, Iceland, june 2019
I tried heading down stream again heading back towards the same place we went to yesterday on route across a small island i put a snipe up. Its nest was easy to locate on a slightly rasied grassy area. My 2nd Snipe nest of the trip.
Snipe, River Laxa, Iceland, June 2109
I followed the River downstream for as long as I safely could before turning around and headed back to the car. I found plenty of what looked like Gyr kills something we both hoped to see. There was no Ducks at all to be seen only a lone Red-throated Diver After not having much I headed back to the hotel. We had some breakfast in the hotel well I had some strange black bread and we headed back out the plan was to hit the Laxa for a few hours before abandoning the area to get back to the better weather in the south of the country.
We left the hotel and took a slow drive along Lake Myvatn. Myvatn means lake of the flies and this time of year its meant to be crawling with flies which is why its so appleaing to all the wildfowl. With the biting wind and driving rain I guess the flies thought best to stay hunkered down. We checked out the Lava fields for any Ptarmigan but no luck. We were heading past the bay were I had noted the Great Northern Divers this morning, when I saw a large bird sat on the banks. I quickly shouted to Adrian check that bird out as I was driving and he to thought it looked good!! could it be a Gyr? I quickly spun the car around and drove slowly back along!!!! Boom it was a huge falcon and could only be one thing a Gyr Falcon. I took a few long range pics from the car before it flew off. Wow we were not expecting that and although brief and distant this was a big highlight of the trip so far. A lifer for us both.
Gyr Falcon, Lake Myvatn, Iceland, June 2019
We Parked up again and both spilt up. Adrian was interested in finding a wigeon he had flushed the previous night and I was after some more photos of any Wildfowl. It was again yes you guessed it pouring with rain but this was a last opportunity around this area so we both fully waterproofed up and both set off. I went up stream first and found a pair of Barrows Goldeneye that were close enough to get some pictures of. The difficulty here was getting down to water level to get the pictures I was after. The water is fast flowing and cold not somewhere I wanted to fall into. I managed to get close enough to get the below, the best i managed.
Barrows Goldeneye, River Laxa, Iceland, June 2019
There were also a few of Harlequin Ducks hanging around nearby
I was disappointed from what I had managed to capture in this area. It was probably the place in Iceland I most wanted to visit and the weather had beaten us. The area is full of wildfowl and its an area I cant wait to get back to.
River Laxa, Iceland, June 2019
Red-necked Phalaropes, River Laxa, Iceland, June 2019
We both meet back at the car to discuss our findings Adrian had great pleasure in telling me not only had he found the Wigeon he had been after he had also found a Ptarmigan (I believe a new nest tick). The Ptarmigan was going to be tricky to relocate so I couldn't add it to my list. But Adrian showed my the Wigeon nest which was just a few meters from were we had parked up.
Wigeon, River Laxa, Iceland, June 2019
We set off back towards our next over night stop which was going to be Borganes. We planned to stay here overnight before heading further South to the Floi Bird reserve for some Red-throated Diver action.
En route to Borganes we had a few stop offs. Firstly at a huge waterfall!! Called Godafoss. Well we may as well do some tourist stuff whilst we are here. They were actual pretty impressive and well worth a visit. Best of all unlike waterfalls i have visited elsewhere they were free.
Godafoss Waterfalls -Iceland
After a few snaps and selfies we were back on the road. With the weather improving minute by minute we thought it best to stop off at my favourite place so far which was the top seceret lake we had been tipped off about by a follow togger. It delivered again with the same stunning Great Northern Diver causally swimming up and down the lake. The best part of all was the sun poked through a few times.
Great northern Diver, Iceland, June 2019
There were a couple of Arctic Terns that were noisly flying around and a brief flyby by a Pale phase Arctic Skua.
Arctic Tern, Iceland, June 2019
The Slavs didnt perform again and still remain a boggie bird for me. Whilst waiting for the Great Northern Diver to swim by again a couple of Red-necked Phalaropes came and landing in front of me. I could of easly spent all day here but sadly after 2 hours it was time to move on we had a fair few miles still to cover.
Red-Necked Phalarope, Iceland, June 2019
We had a brief stop again in Akureyri and had some fun feeding the local Black-headed Gulls. But were soon back on Route 1 to Borganes. We checked into our hotel which was the same place as our first stop off here. We dumped our bags and were off out to catch the last few hours of the day. The skys were clear and it was an awesome evening. We went off through the small wooded area looking for Redwing nests we were both very succesful finding quite a few at diffferent stages. What suprised me is that we were finding them in trees, banks and one was even on the ground at the foot of a tree.
Redwing - Borganes, Iceland, June 2019
The star find tonight was by Adrian and it was another first for him and it came in the form of a Redpoll. This was a stunning nest, lined with Ptarmigan feathers and contained 6 eggs. This was also our only Redpoll sighting of the trip.
Redpoll, Borganes, Iceland, June 2019
