We got up and had breakfast, sorted out the lunch sandwiches and set off for the 'patch'. It took a while to clear the car from the snow falls of last night. The hybrid eider was back in the flock and in amongst the many gulls and eider were a small group of Harlequin ducks. We walked swiftly round the bay until we were about opposite and managed a few photos before they drifted further out. Our plan for today was to drive up to Stykkisholmur as a Gyr falcon had been reported hunting there recently and it was somewhere we hadn't been before. We stopped in the layby above Kolgrafjordur and watched a White-tailed Eagle as it flew down the valley and across the fjord. It headed for a group of gulls and appeared to take something from the surface before flying off over the hill.
The road to Stykkisholmur led through some amazing lava fields looking like a low, black forest before we drove down into the harbour. The weather was lovely with a blue sky and the sun shining as we parked up and scanned the cliffs which were covered in two different lichen, one orange on one face and one grey on the other faces. We then drove through the town and parked up where we could scan across the fjord to some islands. There were several gulls and eider in the water. A disturbance in the gulls alerted us to the presence of a gyr falcon flying along the cliffs opposite until it disappeared behind the buildings to our left. It began to snow so we decided on a hot chocolate but had to drive out to the petrol station as all the restaurants appeared closed. They didn't have chocolate so we settled for tea and coffee. While here we filled up with fuel before returning to the look out where the gyr was spotted again briefly.
As the snow had got considerably heavier we decided it would be best to start the return journey. The visibility was so poor that we pulled into a parking area to wait for it to subside but as it didn't improve it seemed a good idea to get going before it got dark. The conditions back to Grundarfjordur were grim with near blizzard gusts although the road surface was generally fairly clear or just packed snow, but the icelandic roads all have fairly closely spaced yellow posts on the side of the road and we managed to follow these, other than a couple of times when they disappeared. Just before the Kolgrafjordur there was a line of stationary traffic where the police were trying to get a car out of the drifts. Eventually they pulled it back into the clearer area on the left and the traffic got moving again. In front of us was a car and a lorry which we thought would be good to follow through. As it set off it strugged a little but was soon moving and although we were quite happy to stay behind it it signalled us to pass so we did and continued into Grundarfjordur, very happy to be safely back at the hostel.
Later in the afternoon it cleared so the boys went back to the 'patch' until near dark as the skies had cleared.
We cooked up Carbonara in two huge pans and sorted photographs and chatted while checking the skies for aurora. We gave up about 11.30 but luckily MC checked the skies around 12.30 and woke us all up as there were some lovely aurora curtains over the Kirkjufell which flickered and came and went for about half an hour. They faded for a while but seemed to be returning so we got dressed up, sorted out the cameras and went out. The curtains didn't return but there were several ribbons which came and went for quite some time which we managed to photograph in a fashion and were still exciting to watch. We eventually came back in around 3.00 after a great experience.
The road to Stykkisholmur led through some amazing lava fields looking like a low, black forest before we drove down into the harbour. The weather was lovely with a blue sky and the sun shining as we parked up and scanned the cliffs which were covered in two different lichen, one orange on one face and one grey on the other faces. We then drove through the town and parked up where we could scan across the fjord to some islands. There were several gulls and eider in the water. A disturbance in the gulls alerted us to the presence of a gyr falcon flying along the cliffs opposite until it disappeared behind the buildings to our left. It began to snow so we decided on a hot chocolate but had to drive out to the petrol station as all the restaurants appeared closed. They didn't have chocolate so we settled for tea and coffee. While here we filled up with fuel before returning to the look out where the gyr was spotted again briefly.
As the snow had got considerably heavier we decided it would be best to start the return journey. The visibility was so poor that we pulled into a parking area to wait for it to subside but as it didn't improve it seemed a good idea to get going before it got dark. The conditions back to Grundarfjordur were grim with near blizzard gusts although the road surface was generally fairly clear or just packed snow, but the icelandic roads all have fairly closely spaced yellow posts on the side of the road and we managed to follow these, other than a couple of times when they disappeared. Just before the Kolgrafjordur there was a line of stationary traffic where the police were trying to get a car out of the drifts. Eventually they pulled it back into the clearer area on the left and the traffic got moving again. In front of us was a car and a lorry which we thought would be good to follow through. As it set off it strugged a little but was soon moving and although we were quite happy to stay behind it it signalled us to pass so we did and continued into Grundarfjordur, very happy to be safely back at the hostel.
Later in the afternoon it cleared so the boys went back to the 'patch' until near dark as the skies had cleared.
We cooked up Carbonara in two huge pans and sorted photographs and chatted while checking the skies for aurora. We gave up about 11.30 but luckily MC checked the skies around 12.30 and woke us all up as there were some lovely aurora curtains over the Kirkjufell which flickered and came and went for about half an hour. They faded for a while but seemed to be returning so we got dressed up, sorted out the cameras and went out. The curtains didn't return but there were several ribbons which came and went for quite some time which we managed to photograph in a fashion and were still exciting to watch. We eventually came back in around 3.00 after a great experience.
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