Day 2 and Day 3 Myvatn and the River Laxa
Day 2 and as the weather wasn’t fantastic we didn’t get out of bed to early. I was still a bit tired after the long drive behind the wheel yesterday. Saying that we were on the River Laxa by 6am. We parked up just down from the road bridge at what we call the fisherman’s car park. We then used the fisherman’s bridges to get out onto the Islands. Adrian went on ahead as he was looking for any signs of the Harlequin and Barrows breeding. I sat down with a pair of Red-necked Phalaropes. These were on the main channel and it’s difficult to get to water level here. I wasn’t to keen on the photography results but it shows the difference between the brightly coloured female and the slightly duller male. Photography of these stunning little waders would have to wait. They were very much on our radar as we hoped to find a few nests like our last trip. All the birds here though seemed to be still paired up and on the water so no obvious signs of breeding yet. It looked like things maybe a bit later than normal.
Red-necked Phalarope (female), River Laxa, May 2022
Red-necked Phalarope (male), River Laxa, May 2022
I moved further down the River and found a nice calm area with some Harlequins and Barrows nearby. I settled down with the sun (If it was to come out behind me) and waited for the Ducks to do their thing. It wasn’t long before I had a pair of Barrows Goldeneye drift up stream and then settle in front of me. They were quite territorial and saw off any other Barrows that came close. They entertained me for a round 30mins before moving off. Probably fired off 400 plus shots..
Barrow’s Goldeneye, River Laxa, June 2022
As the light improved so did the temperature and this was enough for the fly fest to really kick off. Lake Myvatn which feeds the River Laxa translates as Lake of the flies and it’s the reason why the Ducks are here! Strangely enough they didn’t seem to bug me to much right down on the waters edge. So that’s where I stayed. Pretty much with the water lapping my face. I was a bit silly and didn’t think any of the flies bit. I was to find out later on that day that they do and they savaged my legs whilst I was laid in the grass. Trousers tucked in socks from now on.
Black Flies, River Laxa, Iceland, May 2022
I had a few 100 images of the Barrows so when they moved off I also moved slightly down stream to a pair of Harlequin Ducks. They were also quite confiding and gave some good views. They used a shallow area just in front of me to preen themselves.
Harlequin Duck (female) River Laxa, May 2022.
After a preen they would head out into the faster moving water to dive for their Brekkie. Its moments like the hour or so I spent with these birds that will live long in the memory. I could of spent all day here if the light aloud.
Harlequin Duck (male), River Laxa, June 2022
Harlequin Duck, River Laxa, May 2022
After a few hours on the Laxa it was time to head back to our digs the other side of Lake Myvatn to pick Ricky up. I met back up with Adrian who had not managed to find any Duck nests. It appeared that they where still paired up on the River and not currently nesting. He did however find a nice c4 Whimbrel.
Whimbrel nest, River Laxa, Iceland, May 2022
The plan was then to head out locally for the day away from the water as the light wasn’t brilliant for togging ducks on the water.
River Laxa, Iceland, May 2022
The sun was out out now and the day ahead looked good. Hopeful it will hold long enough for some good light on our return to the Laxa this evening. We headed first to the bird museum on the shores of Lake Myvatn. Always good here for most duck species. We added Gadwall and Scoter to the trip list. Had a lovely male Long-tailed Duck calling as it swam past us. So close I was able to film it on my phone.
Long-tailed Duck, Lake Myvatn, May 2022
Myvatn is a very picturesque area. No pictures will do it any favours. It’s goes from black sandy shores to lava fields and volcanoes. The surrounding cliffs are the chosen area for the local Gyr falcons to nest on. We scoped out a few suitable sites but sadly didn’t see any this year. The lava fields held a healthy population of Ptarmigan and they were seen most days and with the lake being a buffet of ducks I am sure the local Gyr’s don’t go hungry.
Lake Myvatn, Iceland, May 2022
It’s quite touristy around here so we didn’t stay for long. The plan had been to head to an area nearby that we had earmarked as a place that could hold breeding Long-tailed Skua. A relatively new breeding bird to the Iceland list. It’s said to breed in small numbers near Lake Myvatn. With its rarity no one is going to tell you where so we did a bit of research checked out the maps and headed out to an area we thought might be good.
Middle of nowhere, Iceland, May 2022.
Sadly we didn’t connect. We could of been close but it’s such a big area with only a small population so some might say needle in a haystack. If you don’t try you don’t find. The area was good for the common waders and I had a Short-eared owl hunting nearby. We also whilst watching a pair of Ringed Plover had a very unfriendly interaction with a local who asked what we were doing. Probably didn’t help that we all had some form of balaclava style head ware on to protect us from the swarming flies!! Even a few miles from Lake Myvatn they were still intense! It got so bad I had to retreat back to the car.
Black flies, Lake Myvatn area, May 2022
We headed back to our digs as the weather closed in and whilst having an afternoon nap the rain/hail began. Whilst it was hammering it down we headed to the nearest civilisation and got some takeaway fish chips. They were bloody lovely apparently the place had only been open a few days. The family sauce was amazing. We decided to spend the evening on the Laxa so Ricky could get some shots of the ducks. We headed to the fishermans car park again and crossed over the river onto the Islands. We had some fantatsic views here of a Long-tailed duck. Difficult to get any decent shots but was probably out best encounter with these.
Long-tailed Duck, River Laxa, Iceland, May 2022
Long-tailed Duck, River Laxa, Iceland, May 2022
Ricky and I headed to the area I had some success with the ducks this morning. The rain clouds had cleared but the light wasn’t great hopefully be better in the morning. We still had a great time I spent most of my time with the Harlequin Ducks.
Harlequin Duck, River Laxa, Iceland, May 2022
Day 3
River Laxa, Iceland, June 2022
The light wasn’t great again first thing so no need to leave at the crack of dawn which is bloody early!! We had a late start around 6am. Adrian and I headed back to the Laxa. We could see a big bank of fog which seemed likely to be sat right on top of the Laxa. It was thick fog and wasn’t ideal but it looked like it might burn off. Adrian’s plan was to head in the other direction and look for nests and I was going to try a few other spots for Harlequin Ducks and Barrow’s Goldeneye. Whilst in the car park we bumped into a fellow photographer and we got chatting. After a while he turned and said to me your not Matt Scott are you!! Erm yes why do I know you was my response. It turned out to be a very good photographer called Iain Leach ( check out his socials and website if you haven’t already some amazing wildlife photography on show) Iain is a friend of a friend ( Mike McKenzie another awesome photographer and well worth checking out his socials as well) Mike had told Iain that we were in Iceland and we just so happened to bump into each other in the middle of Iceland. Small world. After a brief chat about our journeys so far we went about our business. I didn’t have much success that morning. The flies were driving me nuts. I did a few videos on a higher part of the Laxa but didn’t improve on any of my previous attempts.
River Laxa, Iceland, June 2022
Harlequin Duck, River Laxa, May 2022
Adrian had another hit with a lovely ground nesting Redwing. By now (7.30am) it was warming up and the flies were really getting annoying. Trying to photographing the nest was a difficult task as the flies were insane and driving me close to it.
Redwing Nest, River Laxa Iceland, May 2022
Redwing Nest, River Laxa Iceland, May 2022
Redwing Nest, River Laxa Iceland, May 2022
It was time to beat a haste retreat back to the car. A Black-tailed Godwit dropped in en route to the car a bird I have never done well with and a big target for both Adrian and myself on this trip. Adrian was hopeful of finding a nest and I just wanted some decent pics. I didn’t get the pics and this bird was just feeding so no joy for Adrian.
Black-tailed Godwit, River Laxa, Iceland, June 2022
Black-tailed Godwit, River Laxa, Iceland, June 2022
Black-tailed Godwit, River Laxa, Iceland, June 2022.
We headed for our digs to pick up Ricky and set off for our nest destination. Next we were heading for the village of Raufarhofn in the far North East of Iceland. It was about a 2 hour journey but would take us longer as we planned a few stops en route. We took route 87 through some high ground plenty of Whooper Swans seen but not much else. We passed some roadside cliffs and scoped them out. We were pretty sure we could make out white staining on some very distant rocks could be the site of a Gyr Falcon nest but too distant to tell for sure. Was a nice area for a photo stop.
We continued onto Husavik and stopped for some lunch and supplies. Husavik is a whale watching town and probably somewhere we need to stop for a day or 2 on a future trip. We carried along route 85 and stopped at a site where we saw a Common Gull sat on. We didn’t find anything but we did have a light phase Arctic Skua posing in the misty rain. We also had a Ptarmigan here but it didn’t hang about for photos. They aren’t as accommodating here and are pretty flighty. This is probably because they are the Gyr favourite food and apparently get shot for food as well.
Arctic Skua (pale phase), Husavik, June 2022
Next stop was a cliff face somewhere we stopped 3 years ago. Good for Fulmars and Puffins. Probably good for a sea watch as well but that’s not my thing.
Ricky togging the Puffins, Iceland, June 2022
The Fulmars were amazing gliding around the cliffs. I had great fun trying to photograph them at close range flying by. One also landed right in front of me. We also had a flyby Great Skua and a flyover Iceland Gull here. Of course like most of Iceland there was also Eider Ducks.
Fulmar, Iceland, May 2022
The star of the show here wasn’t the birds…. As I stood on the cliff edge togging the Fulmars I heard a voice from behind saying I recognise that silhouette. I turned around to see fellow South Gloucestershire birder Darren Pearce stood behind me. I knew Darren and his wife were in Iceland but I didn’t expect to bump into him on a random cliff in the middle of nowhere. We shared our stories of our trip so far before heading onwards on our journeys. It’s such a small world. Next stop was an Arctic Tern colony a few miles outside Husavik. Where we found our first tern nests of the trip.
Arctic Tern nest, Iceland, June 2022
We continued on our journey towards Raufarhofn, which is a small town on the Melrakkasletta peninsula. This area is said to be good for numerous species of birds. Our target here was to find breeding Purple Sandpipers. There is also a very slim chance of the very rare Red Phalarope. It would be on our radar but due to its protected status we would have to go very careful. You need special permission from the Icelandic environmental agency to photograph these birds. After a few hours of driving across some very desolate tundra we came to Raufarhofn. It’s a village that was once the the largest export harbour in Iceland until the Herring stocks crashed. It’s now home to less than 200 people. We were staying at the Nest hotel. It was reasonable priced and although it looked a bit run down from the outside, inside it was clean, tidy and more than adaqoute. We were the only guest apart from 2 scientists, more about these later.
The Nest Hotel, Raufarhofn, Iceland, June 2022
We had a short venture out onto the Tundra where we bumped into Darren again. He had drove the other way around the peninsula. He hadn’t seen any Purple Sandpipers but had seen plenty of other bits and pieces. He carried on to his next stop which was Lake Myvatn and we headed out for a walk across the Tundra.
Tundra, Raufarhofn, Iceland, June 2022
We had to go very careful as we were close to Eider colonies and the farmers get very protective of their birds. We found plenty of nest that hadn’t been marked or raided of the down. The farmers when they locate a nest they mark it with a brightly coloured post. Maybe we could get a job lol! As you can see by one of the below pictures some Eiders poo as they leave the nest. I understand this happens in numerous species of Ducks and is meant to deter predators from snacking on their eggs. Would you want to bite into a egg covered in poop?
Eider Duck sat on nest, Raufarhofn, Iceland, June 2022
Eider Duck nest, Raufarhofn, Iceland June 2022
Whilst out on the tundra we came across the usual suspects. Ringed Plover, Golden Plover, and Ptarmigan. No sign of any Red Phalarope or Purple Sandpipers. We had put some miles in so it wasn’t through want of trying. Again we wondered if we were to early and everything was delayed. With limited time we worried we may draw a blank on one of our main targets.
Ringed Plover, Raufarhorn, Iceland, June 2022
Golden Plover, Raufarhofn, Iceland, June 2022
The Ptarmigans were normally seen on the top of the highest points across the Tundra. A good vantage point to look out for predators.
We headed back into Raufarhofn for some tea from the only place in town to get food. The service and food was great so we booked up again for tomorrow night. After tea we headed back out onto the tundra and put some more miles in. Plenty of Eiders found again but no target species found.
