MEMBERS of the RSPB's Grimsby Group were treated to an informative and very entertaining talk about the birds of Iceland at their March indoor meeting.
A few years ago, York-based birder Ian Newton and his wife spent a fortnight in early summer touring much of the perimeter of the country in a hire car and staying mostly in bed-and-breakfasts but occasionally in hotels.
It was an eminently rewarding trip because they saw, often close up, many handsome birds, mostly wetland species, in full breeding plumage.
Among the stars were Red-throated divers, with chicks, Great Northern Divers and Red-necked Phalaropes.
However, Ian also took super shots of Gyr Falcons, Snow Buntings, including one in song, Ptarmigan and a Short-eared Owl which was significantly paler than those customarily seen in the UK.
With his study of a Razorbill, he was so close that his own reflection could be seen in the eye of the bird.
Other species photographed included Harlequin Duck, Barrow's Goldeneye, Brunnich's Guillemot, Eider, White-tailed Eagle and Glaucous Gull.
The Newtons were often astonished by the tameness of the birds, many of which - for instance, snipe - are invariably flighty when seen in the UK.
Often, the couple found themselves being harangued by the relentless and noisy attentions of three species in particular - Redshank, Oystercatcher and Arctic Tern
Iceland's best known-habitat is probably Lake Myvatn where the duo spent a couple of days admiring birds such as Long-tailed Ducks.
A bizarre (and uncomfortable) feature of this part of their holiday was the emergence of clouds of millions of the midges for which the site is noted.
At one point, Ian knelt on what he believed was black sand in order to get a water-level shot of a Slavonian Grebe, only to discover that the 'sand' was, in fact, a several-inch deep layer of midges with water underneath - so he took a soaking for his pains!
The Newtons visited a natural history museum, located in a church, where one particular display provided a sad reminder of the last Great Auk pair which were senselessly slaughtered on the small island of Eldey, off the Icelandic coast, on July 3, 1844.
Iceland is a welcoming but expensive country, and the food is either alarmingly eccentric (to UK states) or drab - with cafe menus often consisting of little more than burger and chips or pizza and chips.
As a lifelong RSPB member, it tweaked Ian's conscience to do so but, while staying at the sole hotel on the island of Flatey he experimented by ordering 'seabird' from the menu.
When he asked the waitress to identify the species, she showed him an illustration revealing it to be either cormorant or shag.
When it arrived from the kitchen it resembled strips of beef and proved to be perfectly palatable.
Ian peppered his talk with plenty of anecdotes and humour, sometimes ribald, for instance when he touched on the courtship antics of Red-necked Phalaropes and Arctic Terns
It was the couple's first visit to Iceland - they flew from Manchester to Keflavik, a journey of about four hours.
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| Iceland - land of the midnight sun (Photo: Alastair James) |
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