Great Auk Pilgrimage

Transcription

1 Great Auk Pilgrimage Travelling Naturalist Trip Report 28 May to 4 June 2006 Introduction For birdwatchers late May and early June is a great time to visit Iceland. True to form this year's Great Auk Pilgrimage tour produced some splendid observations. We recorded 65 species of birds. We also had great views of a humpback whale, minke whales and whitebeaked dolphins. Iceland s volcanic landscapes never disappoint and we enjoyed the early wild flowers, too. What follows is a summary of the places we visited and some of the more notable sightings we made each day. A full list of birds and mammals recorded together with some of the plants we discovered is also included. Sunday 28 May 2006 After the group arrived at Keflavík airport we drove the short distance to Garðskagi, a wonderful coastal site for our first taste of Icelandic birdwatching. We saw several manx shearwaters, lots of gannets, diving spectacularly, and many puffins, common guillemots and razorbills further offshore. On the beach we noted sanderling, purple sandpiper and turnstone. We munched our sandwiches, enjoyed the bright weather and commented on the large numbers of eider ducks just offshore. Our next stop was at Bessastaðir to admire brent geese, red-breasted merganser, wigeon, golden plover, and tufted duck. The geese were on their migration to Greenland and were of the pale-bellied race. There were many thousands of them scattered amidst the fields and foreshore near the house of Iceland s president. We travelled through Iceland's capital Reykjavík on our way to Þingvellir. This is a very historic place as it was the site of the old Viking parliament. Geologically it is also interesting being on the boundary of two great crustal plates that are slowly moving apart. We had good views of a pair of great northern divers nesting on the lake and enjoyed listening to the displaying snipe all around us. We travelled across the mountain road to our hotel near Gullfoss. Our hotel was comfortable and welcoming and after dinner we visited the geothermal area of Geysir to see the geysers and hot springs there. There was a brisk wind blowing and it was rather cold. This didn t seem to affect the redwings though as there were several singing 1

2 in the small area of woodland adjacent to the geothermal area. After dinner we took advantage of the fine weather to have another walk at Gullfoss, this time we ambled along the high ridge overlooking the falls and had some wonderful views of displaying golden plovers. Monday 29 May 2006 After breakfast we visited Gullfoss and were able to approach the glacial waterfall at close quarters. The view was magnificent and the sound of the cascading water made conversation difficult. We noted alpine lady s mantle and moss campion near the falls and saw greylag geese, ravens, snipe and golden plover. Tuesday 30 May 2006 A bright start to the day and we travelled in search of Barrow's goldeneyes. However, we were delayed by red-necked phalaropes and slavonian grebes on a little pool near Geysir. At Brúará we saw, all too briefly, three male Barrow s goldeneyes. They stayed on a broad stretch of river just long enough for us to get some good views with the scopes before flying away downstream. We didn t see them again but did see another immature male on a small lake near Sogið later in the morning. We explored the impressive crater at Kerið and then spent an hour or so birdwatching along the banks of the nearby river. We travelled across the watershed to the great river system of Þjórsá in the hope of locating some pink-footed geese. We were unsuccessful at first but later in the day located many hundreds of these birds along the side of the river. We saw a pair of goosander near the waterfall, Hjálparfoss and picnicked in the area. We took a walk along a stretch of river in the hope of finding harlequin ducks but it was not until we travelled to another nearby river that we had our first views of one. It was a male, resplendent in breeding plumage and totally unconcerned by our presence. We saw more pink-footed geese flying to their breeding sites in the remote interior of Iceland, and there were several more harlequins further downstream We ate our picnic sandwiches at Urriðafoss and then drove to the waterfall at Seljalandsfoss and were able to walk behind the fall's curtain. We recorded tufted and purple saxifrage, common and alpine lady's-mantle as well as many ferns and lichens in the area. We heard, and one lucky member of the group saw, a wren. We spent some time photographing a particularly obliging male harlequin at Skógar before visiting the glacier at Sólheimajökull. We saw our first great skuas amidst the tumbled moraine near the glacial snout. The ice edge was impressive and we were able to touch and stand on the glacier itself. On our journey to the hotel we saw more great skuas, including some spectacular close-up views of three birds on a nearby small hill. We also had some great views of arctic skuas both in their light and dark plumage morphs. We had some tremendous views of the volcano Hekla. It dominates the landscape here and the scenery was stunning a glacial river surrounded by pseudo-craters and other incredible volcanic land-forms. As we returned to the hotel we called at another waterfall and saw some more harlequins and glimpsed the first red-necked phalaropes of the trip. A group of around 170 whooper swans were feeding in fields adjacent to the road. 2

3 Our hotel was in a wonderful location looking out towards the volcanic cape of Dyrhólaey with the ice-cap of Mýrdalsjökull behind us. Wednesday 31 May 2006 After an early breakfast we hurried off to the nearby coast at Reynishverfi and Vík for our first real chance to see some of the seabird colonies for which Iceland is famous. It started raining but we nevertheless saw our first puffins, razorbills and common guillemots, as well as a group of harlequins, gannets, Iceland gulls and glaucous gulls offshore. We were able to get close to a kittiwake colony and also had a glimpse of an Atlantic grey seal in the surf. The black sand beaches and columnar basalt rock formations were also highly regarded. On the beach we recorded sea sandwort and wild angelica. We were due to fly to the Westman Islands after lunch but low cloud, rain and fog scuppered that plan. Instead we went searching (unsuccessfully as it happened) for ptarmigan in Rangá valley. The landscape here was very atmospheric with banks of mist scudding across the dramatic lava fields. We explored an abandoned farm and surprised a wheatear nesting in the ruined buildings. The bad weather made any chance of a flight impossible that day but, no matter, there was a ferry sailing that evening and we would be able to get to the Westman Islands after all. Our boat sailed from Þórlákshöfn and in the harbour there just as we departed noted a diver which might just possibly have been yellow-billed loon. The views we got meant that it was impossible to be sure but the bird certainly seemed different to the other great northern divers in the area. It was a foggy crossing to the Westman Islands so the chances for whale and dolphin spotting were much reduced! We were met on arrival and quickly transfered to our hotel. Thursday 1 June 2006 The weather had thankfully improved and after breakfast we took a walk onto the new lava from the 1973 eruption on the island. We also visited the nearby bird cliffs and saw puffins, common guillemots, razorbills and our first good views of black guillemot before taking a boat trip around the main island of Heimaey. Here we had some exceptional views of the seabirds for which the islands are justifiably world famous. We also saw Atlantic grey seals from the boat. We sailed in to some caves and were treated to the captain playing his saxophone in the acoustically unusual surroundings of a marine cave composed of compressed volcanic ash. It was a great trip. After an excellent lunch at the harbourside café we toured the rest of the island and visited the puffin colony at Stórhöfði. There we glimpsed two barnacle geese on their migration even further northwards. We then visited the new volcano and touched the still hot ground from the 1973 eruption. On our return ferry crossing we were able to get some good views of both glaucous and Iceland gulls which helped sort out the identification of these sometimes confusing species. We also saw two or three white-beaked dolphins, roughly midway between the Westman Islands and the mainland. We arrived at our nearby guesthouse in good time for supper after what had been a wonderful day. Friday 2 June After breakfast we went looking for ptarmigan and were rewarded with some wonderful views of both male and female birds. The female we saw had moulted into her brown summer plumage but the males were still partially in their white winter 3

4 coats. We also saw some common seals on the south coast of Reykjanes and as we were watching them noted a long-tailed skua as it passed nearby. We also had some good views of a pair of great northern divers in a nearby lagoon. We then travelled to Keflavík to meet up with the whale watching boat. The strong westerly winds meant that sea conditions were too rough to sail to Eldey but in the lee of the peninsula the sea was relatively calm. We had several sightings of minke whales on the trip but they were actively feeding and only briefly appeared at the surface so the views we had were not very good. The birds were tremendous though, gannets were plunge-diving all around us, we saw five different auk species the new one being Brunnich s guillemot, and four pomarine skuas. It was a great birding trip but we could have done better with the cetaceans so we decided to return the following morning to take another trip in search of the whales. Later we travelled to the wonderful bird cliffs on the south coast of Reykjanes. The object was to try and find some Brunnich s guillemots there. After a few false starts we were able to see at least four of these birds swimming with other auks. The coastal scenery here is aweinspiring and we all enjoyed our walk along the cliff-top. Saturday 3 June 2006 Sunday 4 June 2006 An early start and a quick drive to Keflavík for another chance to see the whales. Conditions couldn t have been better calm seas and good light meant that this was a very successful trip indeed. We saw at least seven minke whales, a group of perhaps a dozen whitebeaked dolphins, and the star of the show was a very friendly humpback whale who surfaced close to the boat several times. As usual there were feeding gannets all around us, auks everywhere and at least one more pomarine skua. All agreed it had been a tremendous trip. It was a drive of around an hour and a half from our guesthouse to the airport and we arrived in good time for the mid-morning flight to London. Farewells were said and all agreed it had been a great trip. We next visited a glacial river estuary and saw redthroated divers, a few sanderlings, some more turnstones and several red-necked phalaropes. On the sand dunes we noted the rather unusual oysterplant. On the seaward side of the estuary Pam stared through her telescope and quietly muttered, King eider. There it was, an adult male in full breeding plumage and a splendid bird to find on the last full day of the trip. After dinner we learned a little more about great auks and the events surrounding their extinction and also saw some of the photographs of the trip. Thanks for your company and I hope we ll meet on another Travelling Naturalist tour again one day Andy Jones 4 June

5 Birds Purple sandpiper Calidris maritima Red-throated diver Gavia stellata Red-necked phalarope Phalaropus lobatus Great northern diver Gavia immer Great skua Stercorarius skua Slavonian grebe Podiceps auritus Arctic skua Stercorarius parasiticus Northern fulmar Fulmarus glacialis Pomarine skua Stercorarius pomarinus Manx shearwater Puffinus puffinus Long-tailed skua Stercorarius longicaudus Northern gannet Morus bassanus Great black-backed gull Larus marinus Great cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo Glaucous gull Larus hyperboreus European shag Phalacrocorax aristotelis Iceland gull Larus glaucoides Whooper swan Cygnus cygnus Herring gull Larus argentatus Pink-footed goose Anser brachyrhynchus Lesser black-backed gull Larus fuscus Greylag goose Anser anser Black-headed gull Larus ridibundus Barnacle goose Branta leucopsis Black-legged kittiwake Rissa tridactyla (Pale-bellied) Brent goose Branta bernicla hrota Arctic tern Sterna paradisaea Eurasian wigeon Anas penelope Common guillemot Uria aalge Eurasian teal Anas crecca Brünnich s guillemot Uria lomvia Mallard Anas platyrhynchos Razorbill Alca torda Shoveler Anas clypeata Black guillemot Cepphus grylle Tufted duck Aythya fuligula Atlantic puffin Fratercula arctica Greater scaup Aythya marila White wagtail Motacilla alba Common eider Somateria mollissima Feral pigeon Columba livia King eider Somateria spectabilis Meadow pipit Anthus pratensis Harlequin duck Histrionicus histrionicus Eurasian wren Troglodytes troglodytes Barrow's goldeneye Bucephala islandica Redwing Turdus iliacus Red-breasted merganser Mergus serrator Northern wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe Goosander Mergus merganser Common raven Corvus corax Rock ptarmigan Lagopus mutus European starling Sturnus vulgaris Eurasian oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus Snow bunting Plectrophenax nivalis European golden plover Pluvialis apricaria Common ringed plover Charadrius hiaticula Mammals Common snipe Gallinago gallinago Common seal Phoca vitulina Black-tailed godwit Limosa limosa Atlantic grey seal Halichoerus grypus Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus Minke whale Balaenoptera acutorostrata Common redshank Tringa totanus White-beaked dolphin Lagenorhynchus albirostris Ruddy turnstone Arenaria interpres Humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae Sanderling Calidris alba Red knot Calidris canutus Dunlin Calidris alpina 5

6 Roseroot Rhodiola rosea Plants Rowan Sorbus aucuparia Alpine lady's-mantle Alchemilla alpina Sea campion Silene uniflora Alpine mouse-ear Cerastium alpinum Sea plantain Plantago maritima Alpine snow saxifrage Saxifraga nivalis Sea rocket Cakile arctica Bearberry Arctostaphylos uva-ursi Sea sandwort Honckenya peploides Bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus Sedge Carex sp Bladder -fern Crysopteris sp Silverweed Potentilla anserina Bog bilberry Vaccinium uliginosum Stone bramble Rubus saxatilis Bogbean Menyanthes trifoliata Tea-leaved willow Salix phylicifolia Common butterwort Pinguicula vulgaris Thrift Armeria maritima Common lady's-mantle Alchemilla vulgaris Tufted saxifrage Saxifraga caespitosa Common moonwort Botrychium lunaria Wild angelica Angelica sylvestris Common scurveygrass Cochlearia officinalis Wood-rush Luzula sp Common sorrel Rumex acetosa Woolly willow Salix lanata Crowberry Empetrum nigrum Dandelion Taraxacum sp Downy birch Betula pubescens Dwarf birch Betula nana Dwarf willow Salix herbacea Field horsetail Equisetum arvense Garden angelica Angelica archangelica Hairy stonecrop Sedum villosum Hawkweed Hieracium Heather Calluna vulgaris Juniper Juniperus communis Lady smock Cardamine nymanii Lyme-grass Leymus arenarius Marsh horsetail Equisetum palustre Marsh marigold Caltha palustris Meadow buttercup Ranunculus acris Moss campion Silene acaulis Nootka lupin Lupinus nootkatensis Northern rock cress Cardaminopsis petraea Oysterplant Mertensia maritima Pondweed Potamogeton sp Purple saxifrage Saxifraga oppositifolia 6