Iceland 2013 (2)

An evening trip with Yann provided some good birds even though we did not find any megas. We started out by checking up on the only breeding site for Long-tailed Skuas in Iceland. There had been no reports so far this year so Yann wanted to give it a check. We saw three birds (probably two pairs) at the traditional site in the middle of nowhere.

9/6 Long-tailed Skua, somewhere in the northern part of Iceland. 

9/6 Long-tailed Skua, somewhere in the northern part of Iceland. 

From here we drove towards Myvatn - a place I had never been to before. Myvatn is an extraordinary place. The number of breeding ducks is totally amazing with literally thousands of Aythya-ducks and loads of dabbling ducks. Add to this hundreds of Slavonian Grebes and Phalaropes then you've got a nice evening setting. We checked last years breeding site for Wood Sandpiper (the only one) but failed to see it. Two Gyr Falcons, Merlin, American Wigeon and just tons of waterfowl was the end result birding wise. To round the night up we went to a secret place, "The Fissure" (a linear volcanic went (wiki)). You climb about 5 meters down an opening in a lava field and end up in fantastic natural hot tub, absolutely amazing. The water level varies a lot but in the broader spaces you can swim. 1.5 hours later we were in the lava field again listening to Great Northern Divers and Wrens at 0030 in the middle of the night. Iceland at its best!          

9/6 American Wigeon, Reykjahild at Myvatn. 2-3 birds are summering in the area this summer. 

9/6 Yann climbing up the fissure.

9/6 Happy campers after a nice day!

RDN