Biking and Birding - Iceland June 2022. Reykjavik and Pingvellir.

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I have wanted to visit Iceland for a long time. I finally made it onto the Isle of Fire and Ice that straddle two tectonic plates in June 2022. I spent a month exploring the island. My route more or less followed the N1, The Ring Road, in an anti-clockwise direction.



I spent a couple of days exploring Reykjavik before setting off. I set off to explore the peninsula of Seltjarnarnes which stretches northwest from the city into the bay. The cycle was intended as a gentle warm up to tougher days which I had no doubt lay ahead. It turned into a lovely wildlife tour. It was soon obvious that birds are much more tolerant of people in Iceland than in Ireland.



A solitary black tailed godwit in its gorgeous red summer plummage continued feeding on a grass verge with starlings when I stopped a few metres away to admire it. In Ireland the winter flocks are very jumpy. There's no point causing disturbance by even trying to get close. Better to admire from afar.



The golf club was as exciting as manys a bird reserve I have visited. Artic terns occupied parking spaces in the car park. Some were nesting right by the edge of the tarmac. A constant stream of noisy parents flying overhead to and from the sea. A redshank was perched on a lamp post, a snipe drummed overhead. A ringed plover on a gravel path. I followed the path along the shoreline around the golf course. Greylag geese and oystercatchers fed on the fairways. I stopped to look at family parties of eider along the rocky shore. Parents herding little black downy chicks along.



I'll get the rest of my Icelandic story uploaded over the next few days (I hope).



A golf ball thudded onto a fairway close to me and startled two little waders that I hadn't noticed just ahead of me. I didn't immediately recognise what they were. They landed only a few metres on and I quickly focused my binoculars on them. Red necked phalarope. A life time tick for me. These are very rare birds in Ireland, if there are still any left. They were so dainty, butterfly like and so approachable. As I pushed my bike slowly along the path the walked and flitted along just ahead of me.Beautiful colourful little birds. They are unusual in that the female is more colourful than the male.



This short little cycle set the tone for the rest of my trip in terms of birdlife. I saw birds I was familiar with in a different setting, a different part of their life cycle and I saw some exciting new species for me.



After Reykjavik I cycled to Pingvellir National Park. The location of the ancient Icelandic annual parliamentary gatering. Beautiful lake, river and plain lying between the American and Eurasian continental plates. I stayed a couple of nights.



After an interesting guided tour of the site I explored it myself at a leisurely pace. My excitment levels rose when a male harlequin duck appeared in the river right by me. I was delighted to get one of my target species ticked off so early in the trip. And such brilliant views.



More black tailed godwits, terns, redshank and fantastic views of red throated diver in summer plummage, another extremely rare breeding bird in Ireland. At the lakeside campsite red necked phalarope flitted around the waters edge a couple of metres from me. Greylag geese rested in a row in the field right by me and a great northern diver drifted by.



I soon learned that there are red necked phalarope along most lakes here.



In the evening I cycled a little way into the hills bordering the park. I was rewarded with my first views of ptarmigan amongst the scrub.Superb.

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Photos

Icelandic Horses.
Definitely not ponies!

redwing
The ubiquitous thrush in Iceland