Beyond 66.5 Degrees North - Days 6 and 7: The End of Europe

I woke on Day 6 to what sounded like rushing water outside the hotel room. It appeared unfortunately that the weather forecast was correct for once, and the predicted blast of the wind from the north had arrived. Rolling up the black out blind my suspicions were confirmed by the low scrub on the island being pummelled by a brutal, icy blast. We were going to be struggling with any photography in this weather. The wind was not like a windy day in the UK when you get gusts this was just blowing at a constant and unrelenting 40-50 mph.

Having decided any bird life would be well hunkered down and sheltering the only thing which was a possibility was to try for some Mountain Hare on Vadsoya Island. The previous day I had found some old WWII trenches that would allow a potential route to get in amongst one of the hares preferred areas unseen. It was worth a try and sort of worked but even the hares were unsurprisingly not very active in this crazy arctic wind.

It was a hopeless situation with the weather for photography and the the above images are the only ones I took on Day 6. The weather is always a risk factor when travelling so far north. We headed back to the hotel for breakfast whilst the wind seemed to be increasing in strength to a constant roar from the north. We looked at maps and decided we would go on a reconnaissance trip up the valley above Vestre Jacobslev in the half hope that it may offer be more sheltered from the wind but it was not the case. The twisted black birch woodland up the valley was being shaken to its roots and bird life was keeping a low profile with only the occasional Brambling heard and seen deep within the undergrowth. We headed back to the hotel knowing it was fruitless to try any photography in the deteriorating conditions and had a relaxed afternoon going through some photos and Adam increasing his rapidly growing photography knowledge. After some early food in Vadso which meant we had a greater choice than just  pizza on the menu, we decided to go fishing.

Adam had brought in his case a small travel fishing rod and so in the evening, despite the continuing strong wind, we had a session with the fishing rod. Firstly fishing off some rocks into the fjord but with no success before having a brief spell on a small windswept lake on the tundra. Adam was  casting around a small spinner to no avail and passed me the rod and first cast I caught a beautiful looking brown trout of around 3/4lb. That was the first and last fish we saw on the bank . Adam had two large Arctic Char in the crystal clear water follow the spinner right into the bank but failed to take it. We returned to the hotel. Not a very productive day but it was good to have a little relaxation time to recharge the batteries.

The weather forecast for the following day looked better in terms of wind but it was going to be a cloudy day. Friday was looking a lot more promising.

After a fairly slow start on Day 7, we hit the road and headed north towards Vardo as there looked to be interesting sites to check in that area. At least the wind had eased down to something more manageable but a low blanket of grey cloud stubbornly covered the sky throughout the day..

Our first stop was for a roadside Redshank to get warmed up and back into the swing of photography.

We headed northwards and out to Vardo Island through the 3km long tunnel that resembles an oversized sewer pipe. I had arranged to call into the Biotope Office to have a brew and chat with Alonza who works there. Biotope are all keen birders and it is an architect business that designs bird watching hides. They also produced a excellent guide book for anyone wanting to go on bird watching or photography trip on the Varanger Peninsula.  Some maps were pulled up on the computer and discussed some sites worth visiting. Alonza also showed us some of the wonderful photographs he has taken during the 6 months of the year when there is some light! The photographs included a family of foxes in the abandoned village of Hamningberg. Having seen a photograph taken by one of the hotel guests of an amazingly beautiful red fox there a couple days previously, and armed with some extra information from Alonza, we decided it was worth the hour trip to the most north-easterly point of Europe to try and see if we could find them.

Just before heading off to Hamningberg, we stopped in the dune area along the coast close to the mainland side of the Vardo tunnel where a locally rare bird in the shape of a Citrine Wagtail had been reported. We found the bird although didn't stay very long to get photographs as the thoughts of fox moved us on. Whilst trying to get a photography of the yellow-headed wagtai,l a Wood Sandpiper, the first I had seen on the trip, emerged at the edge of a small pool.

We stopped again briefly a little further along the road where we had spotted several Ruff but they were too distant to get any reasonable photographs, especially given that we had been so spoilt with Ruff previously on the lek site.

The road to Hamningberg, apart from being shut due to snow for a good proportion of the year, is a little like stepping off the planet as the landscape changes to one of odd barren rock formations and huge drifts of glacial moraine.

We made our way along the narrow road the snakes along the coast and were about half way to Hamningberg when we spotted a Red Fox at the site of the road. This was one of the best looking foxes I have seen with its long fur. Given this was June, I can only imagine what one must look like in full winter coat. We were with the fox long enough to capture a few images before it disappeared over a shingle and rock ridge.

Always concerning when they look right at you and start licking their lips

Unfortunately these beautiful long-furred red foxes may not be a sight of this area in the future as there is an active culling programme being currently undertaken in a bid to try and enhance the smaller Arctic Fox numbers.

We carried on to Hamingberg. Occasionally the barren rock gives way to green as you drop into a valley with a river channel. These areas act as an oasis for wildlife with their grasslands and short willow scrub. In one of these areas we came across some Reindeer and stopped briefly to take a few photographs before continuing our journey.

Eventually we reached Hamningberg, at the end of Europe, which is quite an eerie place as it is a long abandoned fishing village which only gets the occasional person staying there in the summer (although probably not in this property).

Despite searching around extensively for the village foxes we saw no sign or evidence of them. In the end we moved up to the far end of the village where there is a parking area for campervans in the hope that the foxes may have been lurking around humans and the rubbish bins but it was not to be. However, we did locate a pair of Arctic Skua, both dark and pale phase, and spend some time getting our best photographs of the trip of these birds.

Trying to get flight photographs of these birds against a grey sky was pointless.

It was time to wind our way back towards Vardo and we picked up a female Golden Plover at the side of the road. On some photographs of this bird it can be seen sporting a leg ring which indicated in had been ringed in Holland.

We stopped for a while in one of the willow scrub 'oasis' set in a shallow valley which seemed to have plenty of birds moving through including Redpoll, Redwing, Brambling and Bluethroat. One of the Bluethroat seemed particularly obliging and so I spent a while trying to get some images of it which proved challenging in the vegetation and poor light conditions.

Brambling in full wheezing song

Back in the dune area near Vardo, we tried to find a Shorelark, which we managed but our encounter with it was too fleeting to achieve any decent photographs. This was a shame as it was a superb looking bird in full breeding plumage. As consolidation, a return visit to the Citrine Wagtail was made which remained elusive and so settled on a lovely looking Snipe at point blank range. They are such attractive birds and it is always wonderful to look at their intricate patterning on the feathers when they are so close.

Our last stop for the day before heading back to Vadso was a fairly large lake just to the south of Vardo. I headed off with the camera while Adam went off round the lake with his fishing rod in the hope of catching an Arctic Char. He managed a fine looking brown trout for his efforts. The light was fairly poor for photography and I spent the next hour or so photographing a Temmincks Stint on the lake shore, together with a Ringed Plover and spent the rest of the time trying to photograph some wary Golden Plover on foot which is never an easy task.

Overall the day had not been too bad despite the conditions being far from ideal. The forecast the following day was looking favourable and it was our intention to head up to the high tundra area. This would include finding the last main bird on the photography 'hit list', and a notorious bogey species of mine, the Dotterel.

Immersed in Iceland: Day 6 - Northward to 'Whale Town'

We had a slower start on Day 6 to recharge our batteries a little after two long days at Myvatn. The forecast was correct and a thick layer of lead coloured skies stretched out across the area.  It looked like it would be clearer to the north and it certainly looked clearer in that direction as we sat eating breakfast from our elevated location overlooking the lake. Steve was disappointed by the lack of cod liver oil put out for breakfast. We decided to head northwards with Husavik as our destination. Husavik is probably one of the best places in the world for watching whales but our minds where firmly fixed on the bird life.

Having checked out of our hotel on the shore of Myvatn, we headed northwards. Our first stop was back at Lake Masvatn, just to the north of Myvatn as one of the Great Northern Divers was still in the unfrozen strip of lake at the southern end. We stopped as a temporary thinning in the clouds let some decent light through which was definitely lacking on our first attempt. We went through the same procedure of creeping down and laying down behind the low embankment and ended up with some photographs that were much better looking than those taken in the previous gloom. The 'Great Northern Loonacy' withdraw symptoms temporarily fed we hit the road once more.

Before our visit to Iceland we both did quite a lot of internet research. One useful information source was the North East Birding Trail which gave maps and descriptions about all the areas in the north east of Iceland. This guide is mainly aimed at bird watching but does make mention of a couple of sites which can be good for photography. Photographers always need to be much closer to the birds than bird watchers. So we decided we would check out a couple of these on our travels up to Husavik. The first of these sites were some farm ponds at Hraun. As we followed the loop off the main road out to the ponds, Steve who was driving at the time brought the 'campervan' to stop. There by the side of the road, at close range, was a Gyr Falcon feeding on the very last remnants of a goose carcass. An impressively large and powerful looking bird. I was in the front passenger seat so could not photograph the bird which was on driver's side. So Steve said he would take a couple of photos and then we would quietly back up (well at least as quietly as we could on our noisy tyres), rearrange ourselves in the 'camper', and then have another go. When we returned a couple of minutes later the bird had unfortunately departed and we spotted it way off in the distance perched on a post. There was virtually nothing left on the carcass so there did not seem much point hanging around to see if it would return, and with our target ponds relatively lifeless, we continued onward and northwards to 'Whale Town'.

The other birding trail site we decided to try were a couple of 'small' lakes to the south of Husavik where there was reported to usually be a pair of 'friendly' Great Northern Diver. On arrival the lakes were not particularly small at around 4 and 8 hectares each. We spotted a solitary bird splashing around in the middle of the larger southern lake and followed our way around to the south side, stopping briefly to photograph a Golden Plover in some by now fairly harsh sunlight accompanied by a strong but icy wind.

We pulled in to a small parking area and had a sandwich, washed down with a cup of Yorkshire's finest brew. By the time we had finished this there was no sign of the diver. I decided I was going to make my way out to the end of a peninsula off the southern bank of the lake to try as it seemed to offer the best chance of close encounter. Steve took the 'campervan' and headed back around the lake. He had just reached the north side when the bird appeared from the left and in front of me. It must have been tucked out of sight down in the bay to the west of the peninsula.

It was very active and diving constantly looking for fish, each time it dived it would cover a large distance underwater and it was difficult to know where it would appear next. Its general direction seemed to be towards the bay to the east of the peninsula and so on its next dive I quickly ran over and got down on the ground in a place where I thought it might appear. It seems my guess was too good and it surfaced at point blank range right in front of me. Lovely to see the bird so close but all I could fit in frame was its head before it dived down once more and reappeared back in the middle of the lake and out of camera range.

On our drive away from the lakes, we stopped briefly for a Snipe which we did not managed to photograph and found ourselves both distracted by a low grunting call from a copse of trees  that for a few moments had us both perplexed. It then dawned on us that what we had heard was a Woodcock but we were unable to see this bird with its excellent cryptic camouflage.

After a very short drive we finally reached Husavik and headed straight to its small harbour which was quiet in terms of birds. A whale watching boat pulled in with a deck full of people who had been out looking for the ocean's leviathans. They all looked half-frozen which was hardly surprising given the raw wind that was blowing in off the sea.

There was a small beach to the the south of the harbour and at its northern end the black sands gave way to a narrow channel of flowing water. Packed into the channel were large numbers of Fulmars and white-winged gulls together with the occasional Kittiwake. The source of the water was a discharge pipe from a fish processing factory and every remnant of appearing fish waste would send the birds into a frenzy.  Typically as we walked over all the gulls scattered long before we were anywhere near them. They are such nervous birds in Iceland compared to the UK.  We stayed by the channel for a while with Steve mainly opting for taking some water level photographs of the Fulmars at close range while I tried to capture the birds taking off and in flight.

Fulmars need quite a lot of effort to get airborne with a long run across the surface but once in the air their flight is effortless and graceful on their long stiffly held wings. The occasional Kittiwake also found its way on to the camera memory card, together with a passing adult Iceland Gull.

We left the fish waste channel and took a coffee break in the small town and checked out some maps on where to head next. We opted for a likely looking beach in a bay about 6 kms further north to see if we could find some waders to photograph. On the gravel track down to beach our journey was interrupted  by a male Ptarmigan, Golden Plover and a well camouflaged Snipe

The beach looked promising, a gently arcing, steeply shelving bay of black sand being pounded by a turmoil of blue-green waves been whipped up by the biting wind.  At the south end of the beach a tumbling stream flowed down into the sea which Arctic Terns and a variety of waders were bathing in. Just back from the wash of the waves a line of Eider. Well all I can say is we tried but generally failed on that beach. The stream was to deep to cross and the birds incredibly twitchy. In the end we decided the best plan would be to lie by the stream and hope the birds would come back to use it. A few did and even though we were lying down the very slightest movement saw them walking away. However, the main problem was the heat haze. I stuck my hand into the black sand next to me and it felt strangely very warm which seemed at odds with the very cold air blowing in off the sea. The meeting of warm and cold is the perfect recipe for heat haze and it was really bad. You could see it shimmering around the birds in the viewfinder and there was just no chance of getting a sharp image. We were just wasting our time there. The few photos we did get of Knot, Ringed Plover and Oystercatcher all went straight in the desktop trash. The only photo I kept was of a male Eider taking off into the strong onshore breeze and some Greylag geese flying overhead.

We worked our way back up the gravel track, and picked up a Whimbrel, a preening Snipe and found two Ptarmigan including the one we had seen previously but this time accompanied by the female in her summer colours. The camouflage of these birds is superb and we were there for a while before we spotted the female bird sitting close by.

On arrival back in Husavik we found a room in the FossHotel for the night. Our room was slightly odd in that the carpet was a photo-reproduction of grey pebbles which gave a very odd look to room and matched nothing else in it. By the time we left the hotel to find something to eat it was too late. Generally the restaurant kitchens seem to close at 9pm and so that is last orders for food. After enquiring at a couple without success, the only remaining option was a fast food cafe in the petrol station and what was served would definitely be classed more as fuel than food.

An interesting day but fairly tough in that icy wind. For me the highlight was the time spent with the two Great Northern Diver which are such superb looking birds. We checked the forecast and the plan for the next day was to hit the road again and head back towards the south-east as that is where the weather forecast looked most promising for the next few days.