Gulls, Gulls, Gulls.

Our third day in Iceland was to have included another whale trip but because of the experience yesterday we decided to cancel and spend the day exploring along the coast, mainly looking at gulls. We took a bit of time to check out the birds around the hostel fjord, including some quitre close Harlequin ducks, as well as divers and Eider. We decided to go along the Snaesfell peninsula stopping as we went. We stopped in a layby opposite a large rock called Church Rock, after it's shape. On the beach were Oystercatchers and one Turnstone and out on an island we found a seal and a young one still in it's white coat.

 

Further along the coast we drove into the harbour at Olafsvik. On the water were a few Eider and Long-tailed ducks with a small flock of Purple sandpipers foraging along the edge. The most amazing spectacle was the number of white-winged gulls floating above and beyond the harbour wall. There were thousands! Viewing them involved a bit of a scramble up some slippery rocks but the numbers were incredible.
A quick wander through the town to a vantage point by the cemetery gave scope views of a few more Harlequin ducks and Eider. There was an interesting sculpture and the church design was very Scandinavian, apparently built by a local boatbuilder in 1870 ish.

 

Further along the coast we stopped by the outer harbour lagoons were we found Great Northern and Red-throated Divers.
We turned down towards the lighthouse at Londrangar, taking in the different aspects of Snaesfelljokul and parked up. A walk towards the coats found more gulls and hundreds of Fulmar, flying around a large stack and prospecting nest ledges and further along the coast a raft of thousands of Auks. We walked along the coast path towards them and scanned through the Guillemots and Razorbills, but no sign of any Brunnich's. Out to sea Wez found a couple of whale blows which could have been Humpbacks, though they were too far away to see any details.

We drove back along the coast and returned to the fjord to see if the Orcas were there again but there was no sign, However, we did see at least 5 Sea-eagles flying around and fishing in the fjord. At one point there was a raven mobbing an eagle which really emphasised the size of the eagles as it made the raven look tiny.


 

Orca search

We were booked on a boat trip to look for Orca at 10 so we did some shopping and then went along to check the boat was running. It was so we joined the group for the briefing, before kitting up in the coveralls provided by Laki Tours.
The trip out was fairly pleasant until we got into more open water when it became extremely choppy, throwing the boat about until an extra rough wave made the front leap and slam down tossing Chris and Tony to the deck. The boat turned parallel to the coast and things settled down a bit. There wasn't a huge lot to see but a few eider and fulmar flew by.
We turned back towards an island where a cup of chocolate was handed out before heading for harbour. On the rocks there was a young Common Seal and a Grey Seal was in the water. Loads of gulls were on the cliffs. As we headed back a small pod of White-beaked Dolphins joined us for a while before we headed in. A bit of a disappointment and very unpleasant at times.
We headed back to the hostel, first stopping for a look at some gulls and eider from the harbour wall. Amongst the eider was what we first thought was a king eider, but checking photos and further research in the evening proved it to be a hybrid.
The rest of the afternoon was spent at Kolgrafafjordur watching a pod of White-beaked dolphins, 2/3 groups of Orca and 3/4 White-tailed Sea-eagles. The Orcas were feeding, spy-hopping and tail slapping, giving great views, although a little distant and best through the scopes. One of the bull orcas came closer to the bridge but turned and went back towards the back of the fjord.



When we could bear the cold no longer we returned to the hostel for a pasta, carbonara and smoky sausage supper.

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Iceland

A very sensible midday flight had us landing in Keflavik at around 3.30pm. Collecting our luggage, we changed some money and were picked up and taken across the parking area to the Thrifty offices where we picked up our 9 seater van. We were out of the car park in about an hour, which seemed fairly efficient. The road out of Keflavik introduced us to some of the amazing scenery.











Our aim was to head straight to the Poll garden centre for the Lincoln Sparrow that had been there since December. Following the excellent directions on the Birding Iceland website we were soon chatting with the man and peering at the feeders. There were lots of Snowbuntings twittering around, Blackbirds and Redwings came and went and several Redpoll also visited the feeders. A Goldcrest picked about among the evergreens and Ravens cronked overhead.
About 3/4 of an hour later Martin picked up,something on the ground which proved to be the sparrow and everyone except me managed to get a view of it.












It then disappeared into an evergreen and we made our way across the island to our hostel accommodation at Grundafjordur.
After we checked in we were taken round to our accommodation block near the harbour. The rooms were comfortable and warm with a kitchen along the corridor. Food was much more of a problem as the hotel Framnes stopped serving at 9.00 and the alternative restaurant also closed ( we think so the chap could watch the football) However, the hotel staff took pity on us and served us with a left over vegetable Lasagne which was very welcome.
A quick trip back to the hostel and we set off along the road to watch for aurora. Although we saw several possible light glows, there was nothing very aurora like. We returned to the hostel around 1.00 and went to bed.

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The Falkirk Wheel

The day seemed to reasonable we decided to visit the Falkirk Wheel, something we've wanted to see for a while. The drive out was relatively easy using the satnav. We parked in the car park and walked over the canal towards the wheel.









It is an amazing engineering feet, linking the Forth and Tyne canal with the Union Canal by raising boats 79ft (24 mts)















You can take a ride in a boat which takes you up and then a short ride along the canal before bringing you back down.
These interesting sculptures are macquettes for the 30 mt high, 300 tonne 'The Kelpies' by Andy Scott.






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