Iceland 2022 Day 1 - Myvatn
2 years later than planned we were off. Iceland 2022 was underway. Flights from London Luton were booked up over a year ago so to say we had been waiting a while was an understatement. I wish we had booked everything else a year ago because prices at the time of booking had sky rocketed. We hired a car through thrifty.is, it was expensive and well over £1000 for the 9 days but they do provide a great services. We took out the full insurance as Iceland roads can be a bit rough. As we found out in 2019. This year trip tour party was the same crew as Scotland 2021. Adrian (nester) Ricky (Photographer/Birder) and Myself.
We had an over night in Easy hotel Luton as we had a 6am depart from Luton. Easy hotel is what you would expect of an Easy enterprise. Cheap, Orange and no leg room. Someone said its was more like a Prison. Well it was a bed for a few hours before our 3am wake up call
Easy Hotel, Luton, May 2022
There had been a lot in the news lately about queues and delays at airports. We went through Luton in an okay time yes we had to queue for bag checks but it was always moving and was pretty pain free. It just didnt leave any time for any Brekkie. Being 6 ft 6 I like to book the extra leg which comes with speedy boarding so before we knew it we where on the flight toasted cheese sandwhich in hand (its all they had left) and looking forward to landing at Keflavik. We landed and picked up our bags with no real delays and headed to the car hire centre. We remembered from last time that the car hire depot was about a 5 minute walk for the terminal so rather than waiting for the bus we set off on foot bags in tow to collect the car. Unbeknown to us Thrifty had moved to a new depot a few kilometeres from the airport. So after arrving at a now empty building we had to do a u turn and head back to the airport and await the shuttle bus after all. It didnt take to long before the car was picked up and we were off and driving. A Ptarmigan was seen next to the airport fields. This year as we where driving on some unpathed roads in the north so we went for the Mzada CX30 which was an AWD. The car was very comfortable and served as well during our trip.
The wheels, Iceland, May 2022
First stop was Sandgeroi a small fishing village with some pools. The pools and surrounding area were shrouded in thick fog and pretty quiet. We had a good start here 3 years ago so stopped again. As the Pools were pretty quite we had a walk around the surrounding area.
Sandgeroi Pools, Iceland, May 2022
Redshank, Whimbrel, White Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Greylag Goose, Tuffed Duck, Mallard, Golden Plover, Ringed Plover and Oystercather were seen in good numbers around here. Adrian and Ricky watched a couple of pairs of Whimbrel and found a C4 and a c3
Whimbrel nest, Iceland, May 2022
I went off and watched a few others. One kept coming very close to where I was sat up and posed beautfully on a post. The post was a bit new for me liking but beggars can’t be choosers. This was the first of many birds we would attempt to photography on a post and a bit like 2019 it became a bit of a game. We sure know how to have fun!!!
Whimbrel, Iceland, May 2022
Whimbrel, Iceland, May 2022
This bird kept coming back to the same place so it could only mean one thing it was nesting in the area and i was probably to close for it to return. I moved out and met back up with Adrain and Ricky. We sat and watched the Whimbrel back to within a few feet of where I was originally sat. As we sat we noted numerous pairs around us. Such a rare breeding bird back home in huge numbers here. A C3 whimbrel was found. We also had 3 stunning looking Summer Plumage Turnstones fly into a neighbouring horse Paddock.
Whimbrel nest, Iceland, May 2022
The weather wasnt getting any better and we had a 6.5 hour drive a head so we set off en route to Myvatn. We stopped a few times firstly just passed Borganes for lunch. We stopped near a wooded area and there were Redwings signing in every corner. Next planned stop was near the town of Blondus. We had stopped here 3 years ago at a small lake and had a lot of success, so it made sense to stop again. As we drove past i spotted a Coot on the lake. Coots are a rare birds here but my fellow tour mates failed to see it. They also failed to believe that i had seen a Coot on an lake in the middle of Iceland. The bloody thing had disappeared but I knew what i saw ( Cootgate was to be continued later in the trip) I did take a bit of stick over the next few hours for my imaginary Coot.
Slavonian Grebe lake, Iceland, June 2022
The weather had greatly improved and we now had lovely blue skys. Not the best for photographing on water. 3 years ago this lake held Slavs, GND, RNP, Whooper Swans and a few other common spcies. This year there wasnt as much but was good to see the Slavonian Grebes still here. There were at least 3 pairs on the lake. The Whooper Swans were nesting on the Island again. This year it had a Red-throated Diver for company.
Nesting Red-throated Diver and Whooper Swan, Iceland, May 2022.
We spent an hour or so here as we planned to return here later in the week. I spend most of the time with the Slav Grebes and I set myself up at the end of a small channel that one pair would swim in and out of. They were nesting nearby so I was careful not to disturb them. They didnt seem bothered by my presence and carried on about their business. It was amaxing to watch one fishing and it caught a small fish near to where i was laid.
Slavonian Grebe, Iceland, June 2022
Ricky had also spent some time photographying another pair of the Grebes further down the lake and had also come across a C3 Snipe. Our first snipe of the trip. Ricky was really getting the hand of this nest finding Lark. Two of the Slavonian Grebe pairs had nests which were floating platforms of vegetation about 2meters from the bank. Hopefully they would have eggs in on our return trip.
Snipe, Iceland, May 2022.
After a adding a few 100pics to the memory card it was time to continue our journey to Myvatn we still had a few hours of travelling to go. We carried on along route 1. We came through a beautiful valley and here we saw 100s of Pink-footed Geese. Sadly we didn’t stop and this was a mistake as we found out when we returned home that this was in fact and area they bred in. Pink foot was a target species so opportunity missed. We soon arrived in Akureyri, Iceland 2nd city and grab some food and fuel. It’s looks a beautiful place and one year I feel we need to stop and have a look around. To much birding to do in the meantime. Next stop was a lake a few miles away from Myvatn I had seen reports of Icelands only Black-throated Diver spending the last few summers here. It didn’t show for us ( was seen later in the spring). There was a pair of Great-northern Divers asleep of shore.
Great-northern Divers, Iceland, June 2022
We finally arrived at Myvatn and as time was getting on we wanted to get to our digs for the night and get some food. We found our guesthouse which was to be our base for the next 2 nights it was called Myvo the old farmhouse. Stunning place set over 2 floors. It was owned by a Norwegian couple who were very friendly and always on hand to answer any questions. The living area overlooked Lake Myvatn and we had fabulous views of Barrow’s Goldeneye, Red-breasted Merganser, Tuffed Duck, Scaup, Great-northern Diver, Wigeon, Snipe, Golden Plover, Red-necked Phalarope and others. We also had a family of Redpolls in the trees.
The old farm house Myvo, Lake Myvatn, May 2022
We unloaded and then drove to find some tea we found a little pizza restaurant in the nearest civilisation we closed at 9pm. It was 9.01pm. As this was pretty much it we asked very nicely if they could whip us up a quick pizza and they kindly obliged. This was Ricky’s first experience of how expensive Iceland is. I think he was a little shocked at the bill. After a long day it was well worth it and was huge so some left over for the next day.
Expensive Pizza, Iceland, May 2022
After tea Adrian and I headed down to the River Laxa for a little look around. Plenty to see but not much light so we were done for the day.
Lake Myvatn, May 2022
