Finland - Day1

The flight to Helsinki left at just before 8 getting us there at around 12.30 in torrential rain. I was the longest walk ever to get to the car hire and the pick up directions left us wandering around a multi-storey before finally finding our car.

We drove round the ring road and found a lovely reserve with wet woodland, pools and reed beds. The view from one of the tower hides was great and a walk along a boardwalk brought us to a hide which was very welcome shelter from the rain. There were mallard and coot pottering around the lake, blue tit, sedge warbler, grasshopper warbler, reed and great reed warbler singing in the reeds and several singing thrush nightingales, with one hopping around on the end of the boardwalk. Several gulls were flying around and Common tern and Caspian tern gave very good views as the hawked over the pool and a Lesser-spotted woodpecker flew out into the reeds.
The walk back was through the wet woodland were we heard chaffinch,garden warbler and several wood warbler calling and feeding in the leaves. Back at the carpark we enjoyed the sight of house sparrows and some cute barnacle geese goslings before setting off for our long drive north.
It took time to get out of Helsinki with several very slow traffic jams before we were travelling more freely. The stands of various coloured lupins were a really lovely feature of the journey north.
Around 7.00 we started to look for accommodation,the first couple of places were full and we found a place that stated they were open but clearly weren't. We called into a campsite which seemed to have cabins, also full but they called the last hotel and we returned to meet the owners who sorted out beds for the night.
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A Geysir and Icelandic Twitching

We decided to make an early start as we had to make our way back to Reykjavik for an early flight home tomorrow. We had breakfast, packed the van and were away by 7.00 for the long drive to Geysir. On the way we had some really lovely views with the sun rising over the hills. There were lots of Fulmars flying along the cliffs and sitting on, presumably, potential nest sites.  As we turned inland there was much more snow and Lake Pingvallavatn was mostly frozen.
We stopped on a road running along Lake Laugervatn where we found a couple of pairs of Barrow's Goldeneye as well as some Red-breasted Mergansers enjoying the slightly warmer water kept ice free from the geo-thermal outflows.
We stopped a few times as we crossed the East/West divide but didn't see much until we headed into the car park at Geyser. This geyser gives it's name to all hot water spouts around the world but rarely erupts now. Luckily there is Strokkur which performs regularly about every 8 minutes.
Our route took us back south towards Reykjavik and we were lucky to find another ice free river with Mallard, Whooper swan and some Barrow's Goldeneye, giving much better views.
As we drove we saw several geo-thermal units steaming away.
Our next goal was a return to the Pol garden centre for the Lincoln's Sparrow. We arrived armed with some Trill to encourage it. A we waited we heard and saw a Crossbill, several Redwing, Blackbirds, Redpolls of them dark, Icelandic race and after a half an hour or so the sparrow turned up hopping among the lower branches and this time I managed to see it.
Next stop was to the docks and oil tanks at Orfirisey. We drove up and down and eventually found the right way to the coast. Parking up in the car park of a book shop, walked across the gravelly spaces and made our way behind the wire fence to a gap in the coastal rock. Defences and there, in front of us, was the American White-winged Scoter.
Our last goal was a Hooded Merganser at Hrauntunstjorn just outside Reykjavik. This was a lovely place with pools, bushes and a small river that broadened out into pools and eventually a large, frozen lake. There was also some frozen reservoir areas with small bits of open water. As we parked up a couple of lads made their way out of the undergrowth, explaining that the bird had probably just flown away and it would probably be best to go round to the other side. When we got round there we scanned across the lake and checked all the Tufted ducks but no sign. We drove back and forth a couple of times and Wez, Chris and Tony checked out different bits of the river but no sign. As the sun set we drove towards the hotel near the International Airport at Keflavik. It wasn't quite where we expected but we found it eventually. It was B&B only so we went round to a nearby grill for our evening meal. We then decided to drive out to clear, dark spot in the hope of aurora. We sat in a picnic spot for about an hour with no luck and with an early start decided to give up, fill up the van and go to bed. Turning round to return to the garage I spotted some very possible green glows in the sky so we filled up the van and then headed out towards Sandgeroi until we could see them clearly and there above us where some, admittedly low level aurora which we watched and tried to photograph before turning in for a few hours sleep and an early start for the flight home.

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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Caspian Plover

We had been talking about a day trip across the channel and the Caspian Plover gave a good excuse. News of a Snowy Owl at Le Maisnil gave us an excuse to do a bit of exploring around Lille. You can look at it two ways, either a waste of time and putting seeing the bird you have gone to see in jeopardy OR as a chance to have a look at a different area,which may pay dividends later. I go with the latter. Tuesday was the only day this week but we were worried, rightly it turned out, about fog. We seem to be beset with fog during many of our trips, especially to Holland. The drive to Le Maisnil to was reasonably easy, and we managed to navigate to the village. We then drove round the surrounding lanes, stopping to scan across the fields, finding an inordinate number of white plastic bottles in all sorts of places, many pretending to be an owl.
We spent some time searching before heading off north for Ghent and the Ternhiuzen tunnel. The fog had lifted a bit so we were very hopeful. As we drove along the sea wall we found Vleitweg and could see a couple of people scoping from the the next road up. We drove round and chatted to them. The plover had been seen this morning but they hadn't seen it. We scanned along the furrows and moved along the road but only found some Golden Plover and some Hares. From a map of recent sightings it was clear that the plover really favoured the corner of the field near the sea wall so we decided to drive back down especially as we could see a chap parked there. As we were packing up our scopes he drove up and asked if we were looking for the plover, 'it's down there' he said, where I was parked. We thanked him and drove back down to park by the road and scan across the ploughed field. David found the plover and then several snipe. We watched it for a while as the fog rolled in thicker and thicker. One of the chaps from earlier turned up and we were able to get him on it before it melted into the fog. Another car pulled up and Helloes were said as it was a Dutch friend Pim Wolf. We chatted for a while, catching up before heading off for a quick visit to Brouwersdam.
Time was against us but we managed to squeeze in a visit to the harbour and back along the dyke where we saw several Mergansers, Goldeneyes, Scoter and 3 Purple Sands as well as 2 common and a grey seal before we had to head off for Calais and the 8 o'clock boat.
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