Goa, India ~ 5th/13th Nov '24

Goa, India ~ 5th/13th November '24

After searching for flights & hotel separately it turns out the best way was to book a package deal with Tui, the flights were direct and I choose the cheapest hotel as I would only be staying in it a few nights, it was Silver Sands Sunshine in Candolim.

I booked 3 nights/4 days at Backwoods Camp, Surla for some Western Ghats species, contacted Loven via his website & Whatsapp, transferred the deposit and paid the balance once at the camp.

The flight out from Gatwick was scheduled for 20:55 but a 3 hour delay now has wiped out my first afternoons birding, so by the time I actually arrived at my hotel on the 6th it meant 30 minutes of daylight. A walk to the beach which had more people than grains of sand and I quickly returned back up the road to the bar.

7th November

Pick up was 05:30, Loven had arranged a taxi and the 90 minute journey was for the most part in the dark. I met up with Loven who had a group of 7 birders he was guiding and I joined them at Dharbandora walking a road through jungle for an hour, 14 species with notables like Malabar Barbet, Malabar Grey Hornbill, Malabar Flameback, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, Flame-throated Bulbul & Golden-fronted Leafbird.

A short drive to Tambdi Surla Temple for another hour mainly at a small farm near the temple which had  Asian Green Bee-eater, Blyth's Reed Warbler & Eurasian Hoopoe. Nearby on a jungle track Loven took us to his known site and after a few minutes of wondering what for, a look in his scope revealed a Sri Lanka Frogmouth ..

Back to the camp for breakfast, then a walk on the approach track to the camp surrounded by jungle with a few open areas with notables like Vernal Hanging Parrot, Greenish Warbler, Grey-fronted Green Pigeon & Western Crowned Warbler before returning back to the camp as the middle of the day was to hot and bird activity was low !! ... So while the others did whatever like played cards or slept,  I went out birding as the jungle canopy gave a bit of shade and obviously there were birds about like Orange-headed Thrush, Jungle Babbler, Grey-breasted Prinia, Brown-cheeked Fulvetta, Little Swift & Nilgiri Flowerpecker.

Reuben arrived whilst eating my lunch at the camp, he was Loven's brother and would be my guide so we went off leaving the group with Loven and tried an area out to the river known to be good and it was 27 species in 90 minutes with Malabar Pied Hornbill, Chestnut-headed Bee-eater, Brown-headed Barbet, Heart-spotted Woodpecker, Ashy Woodswallow, White-rumped Shama, Tickell's Blue flycatcher, Loten's Sunbird and the star bird Blue-eared Kingfisher ....

Reuben emphasised that we didn't want to be in the jungle in the dark as the light was fading we made our way back to the car and back to camp for dinner & beers. Then it was time to head to my shack all the main rooms were taken by the group and it was me that had definitely drew the short straw. The shower, toilet and basin all leaked quite badly which was easy to deal with just shut the mains off but the moisture in the shack was running down the walls and even the bed was damp to get in and sleep. There was also plenty of friends sharing my damp shack, a frog on the cistern, a gecko in the shower, a big millipede, a slug & to many winged blood suckers that fed on me all night ..

8th November

Didn't sleep well, really cold in the night with just a sheet and that buzzing of mosquitoes drives you crazy, I got up early and went to the dining room waiting for coffee & biscuits at 6:00am.

We all did 3 hours out on the approach track to the camp, some good birding with 43 species in total and the notables were Pied Cuckoo, Indian Swiftlet, Crested Treeswift, Booted Eagle, Crested Goshawk, Black-rumped Flameback, Malabar Parakeet, Indian White-eye, Malabar Starling, Verditer Flycatcher & Little Spiderhunter before returning back to camp for breakfast.

A fish farm was our next location for an hour viewing from quite a distance on the limits of 8x bin's for the fish ponds but with two scopes available if needed and some species circled over head the notables here were Asian Woolly-necked Stork, Lesser Adjutant, Crested Honey-buzzard, Greater Spotted Eagle & Wire-tailed Swallow. We made our way back to the camp for lunch, at the entrance to the camp were Malabar Grey Hornbill, Heart-spotted Woodpecker, Black-naped Monarch, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch & Malabar Whistling-Thrush.

Once lunch was over the group played cards or slept, again I went out birding just exploring tracks etc off the main entrance track and totalled 17 species in an hour with notables of Malabar Flameback, Jungle Owlet, Green Warbler, Dark-fronted Babbler & White-bellied Blue Flycatcher ..

I was back at camp for 15:30, Reuben & I went and walked a road out passed Murge to Aglote and back again, one side of the road was jungle the other farmland, it was a good 2 hours of great birds with 29 species in total with the likes of Changeable Hawk-eagle, Great Hornbill, Rufous Treepie, Scaly-breasted Munia, Bluethroat, Black-hooded Oriole & Blue-bearded Bee-eater ..

On the way back to camp we stopped off to a known area and walked out to a clearing in the jungle, Reuben said keep the torch aimed at the ground for snakes like Pit Viper & Cobra until we get there, unfortunately there wasn't any snakes but in the torch beam were Jungle Nightjar and Indian Scops Owl, then dinner back at the camp before another night in my shack ..

9th November

Up extra early today coffee & biscuits at 05:30 then an hours drive to Bondla, first stopping at Ganjem Junction and Ganjeshwari Temple at 06:50 with just over 2 hours of birding walking the road from the small village to the temple and back, some good birds here with a total of 50 species with many notables like Asian Emerald Dove, Grey-fronted Green Pigeon, Malabar Imperial Pigeon, Banded Bay Cuckoo, Fork-tailed Drongo-Cuckoo, Brown-headed Barbet, Brown-capped Pygmy Woodpecker, Rufous Woodpecker, Black-headed Cuckooshrike, Common Woodshrike, Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike, Indian Yellow Tit, Dusky Crag Martin & White-browed Wagtail ..

 

We went in to the small village for breakfast, the local food which really is so good, samosa, potato bhaji & chickpea curry with a coffee, some opted out and had a cheese sandwich !!

Next it was up into Bondla now that the gates are open, walking in parts of the forest and along some parts of the road for another 2 hours 23 species with notables of Speckled Piculet, Forest Wagtail, Large-billed Leaf Warbler & Brown-breasted Flycatcher ..

Then it was the drive back to camp for lunch.

I birded again upto 15:30 just on the approach road tracks for just over an hour racking up 15 species with some good notables of Rufous Treepie, Asian Palm swift & Red Spurfowl.

Reuben suggested we try Bhagwan Mahaveer Sanctuary which is a dead-end road so you drive out for a few kilometers and back, we did part way before turning around which still took 80 minutes and the notables were Crested Serpent-Eagle, Malabar Barbet, Forest Wagtail & White-Bellied Woodpecker ..

Stopped at a road-side football pitch near Tambdi and in the torch beam was Jerdon's Nightjar on the crossbar with one in flight.

Back to camp for dinner and my last night in the shack..

10th November

Reuben had the job of taking me back to my hotel in Candolim, via some stops on route, I asked him if he fancied some more birding for the next few days and the deal was done ..

First stop was Tambdi Surla Temple for just over 2 hours trying without success to get into the forest with all paths blocked, so went to the open area of farmland, heard Asian Fairy Bluebird & Indian Scimitar Babbler yet again but just couldn't see either.

A few good notables were in the 20 species like Puff-throated Babbler, White-cheeked Barbet, Yellow-throated Sparrow & Orange-headed Thrush ..

Back to camp for breakfast before finally heading off from Backwoods Camp, really liked it here great habitat which produced some brilliant birds, camp food & local food was fantastic and it  was wonderful being away from westerners for a few days ..

Raitollem Lake was the next stop 14 species in 30 minutes like Lesser Whistling-Duck, Cotton Pygmy-Goose, Grey-headed Swamphen, Bronze-winged Jacana & Oriental Darter.

Next was Church Lake, Curtorim 20 species in 30 minutes like Asian Openbill, Lesser Adjutant, Paddyfield Pipit & Siberian Stonechat ..

After some lunch we went to Carambolim Lake & surroundings such a massive area that you cannot possibly cover it in a few days let alone an afternoon, it was probably one of my favourite sites as it had a bit of everything, Lakes, wetlands, farmland & forest and in just under 3 hours racked up 59 species with notables like Black-crowned Night Heron, Cinnamon Bittern, Osprey, Brown Boobook & Amur Falcon ..

Dropped off back at my original hotel Silver Sands Sunshine in Candolim, although probably 2 star if you squinted after a few beers it may get 3 stars but a nice big bed & hot shower that I was so happy about it was more like 5 stars compared to my shack ..

11th November

Reuben picked me up at 06:00 for a 45 minute drive up to Morjim Beach, a short walk out and I could already see waders & gulls flying around .. Why ? .. Well the usual dog walkers ..

But the sunrising was rather nice ..

 

An hour & 20 minutes produced 31 species with notables like Tibetan & Greater Sand Plover, Kentish Plover, Eurasian Curlew, Brown-headed Gull, Heuglin's Gull, Lesser & Greater Crested Tern, Gull-billed Tern, White-bellied Sea Eagle, Amur Falcon, Alexandrine Parakeet & Spot-breasted Fantail.

The plan had been to get a boat out to the sand bar to get closer but the bar had very little on it..

Next was Pernem, parked on the bridge and viewed both sides, either side was part cultivated and partly flooded with a river running through both, an hour here racked up 37 species like Small Pratincole, Cinnamon Bittern, Pied Kingfisher, White-naped Woodpecker, Long-tailed Shrike, Indian Blackbird, Baya Weaver & Tricoloured Munia ..

Stopped for some breakfast and this is what Me & Reuben had 2 Samosas, 2 Bhaji, 2 Chickpea Curry, 1 Sausage Roll, 2 Bread, Pepsi & Coffee and 2 large bottles of water ...

All this lot for £2.40 !!

Now thats value for money ..

Next stop was Salvador do Mundo Fields and in 40 minutes had a total of 14 species like Asian Koel, Black-winged Stilt, Grey Plover, Asian Whoolly-necked Stork, Black-headed Ibis, Indian Roller & Jungle Myna ..

Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary was the next location to try, it was mid-afternoon, very hot, and even the guides in the office said don't bother it's to hot you won't see anything, it was a kilometer walk out through the mangroves and it was much cooler under the canopy.

 In just over an hour a total of 16 species which is 16 more than the guides suggested I would see, like Striated Heron, Spot-breasted Fantail, Indian Paradise-Flycatcher & Clamorous Reed Warbler.

The plan was that from Salim Ali to catch the ferry across to the next location Divar Island for Larks & Buntings etc but the ferry was closed so it meant a longer drive to a different location stopping on route at Tikhazan-Narve Marshes (West) it was a short 15 minute recce which racked up 12 species, best of were Paddyfield Pipit & Blue-faced Malkoha.

The end of the day was finished off back at Carambolim Lake due to the non-running ferry, 15 species in 30 minutes.

The evening meal was just down from my hotel at Inferno Restaurant and was definitely my best meal of the trip.

It was Kaju Khumb Curry & Kashmiri Naan which was cashew and mushroom curry, the naan was fruit filled with coconut sprinkled over with a few beers. 

12th November

Early pick up to arrive at Agacaim Tidal Mudflats for first light, parked on the bypass and walked a short distance between some cultivated flooded fields out onto the beach, 28 species seen in an hour between the two areas, beach & Floods with notables like Garganey, Little Ringed Plover, Tibetan Sand Plover, Whimbrel, Black-tailed Godwit, Common Greenshank, Temminck's Stint, Slender-billed Gull, Brown-headed Gull, Asian Openbill and Dusky Crag Martin ..

On-route was a quick look in to Batim Lake for 10 minutes, 100's of birds but only 4 species and Pheasant-tailed Jacana was best of them ..

Just after 09:00am and its another try at Carambolim Lake, parking in Karmali village and walking between the floods at Mandur, in 2 hours it produced 41 species and the notables are Greater Coucal, White Stork, Osprey, Plain Prinia, Purple Heron, Shikra, Jungle Owlet, White-cheeked Barbet, Black-rumped Flameback and Jerdon's Leafbird ..

My plan was to bird one of the  Plateau's for Larks etc but Reuben asked for the afternoon off so I said drop me at Fort Aguada it was midday and really very hot, I did have a walk around the Fort but found one of the street vendors had a tent with seating so I had some food & a coffee, and ventured out again, not really finding much and I was beginning to think my choice of location was a bad one but I retreated to the tent for more liquid refreshment.

Once it had slightly cooled down a bit I walked basically the way out for cars to where the boats and Trailers are in the trees, this area was where I had most of the 31 species and some quality notables like Amur Falcon, Asian Koel, Grey-bellied Cuckoo, Lesser Cuckoo, Coppersmith Barbet, Indian Cuckooshrike, Black-hooded Oriole, Common Woodshrike, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo & Black-naped Monarch and most annoyingly I heard White-Browed Bulbul but couldn't actually see it ..

I was going to stay here until dusk as their was plenty of birds & taxis but they were all waiting for people they had dropped off earlier, The vendor rang his uncle, 10 minutes later I was in a taxi heading for my hotel, showered and back in the Inferno Restaurant for the same again Cashew & Mushroom Curry and a couple of beers as this was my last night ..

13th November

Extra early start as it was a 45 minute drive to get to Cortalim Jetty for 06:20, this was for Kamat Birding Boat trip in the mangroves on the Zuari River, boats are generally good for photography as the birds aren't to bothered by the boat. 

I made sure to board quickly and grabbed the front seat, the boat only takes about a dozen people and as payback for getting the prime seat I had the annoying women behind me, oh what joy !!

Machine gun shutter, distance no issue, it seemed the further the bird was away more shots were needed, every shot was a beautiful shot and how many times can the boat reverse for a Common Kingfisher none were even remotely close to the boat but she still insisted it was a beautiful shot ..

Nearly 3 hours racked up 36 species with some good notables like Painted Stork, Western Reef-Heron, B-CN Heron, Striated Heron, White-bellied Sea Eagle, Collared Kingfisher and the star bird that most people come on the boat for Black-capped Kingfisher ..!!

   

From the boat it was a dash to the airport an hour away, not to much traffic and Reuben got me there with time to spare ..

I really enjoyed birding Goa, the photography was harder than I expected it to be but the birds made up for it ..

Finished the trip on 210 species with 92 new birds !!

To contact Loven at Backwoods Camp ..

will add website at a later date as its blocked 

To contact Reuben at Goa Birding ..

goabirding@hotmail.com 

 

 

   
 

 

Mexico ~ Yucatan Peninsula ~ 9th/14th Oct '24

 

Back to Mexico with Jono for the Yucatan Peninsula

Flights were with British Airways from Gatwick to Cancun, flew out on the 9th October landing early evening with a drive down to Playa del Carmen, ready for Cozumel in the morning ..

10th October

Got the ferry over to Cozumel Island and rented a car trying various sites from Ebird before El Cedral giving up Cozumel Emerald & Western Spindalis as the standouts amongst loads of quality birds.

Birding all day trying many different sites when late afternoon Jono found Cozumel Vireo along a track near 35 Calle 31 Sur.

October 11th

Arrived at Camino Akumal it was just getting light, we walked various parts of the track finding 34 species in just over an hour before moving on to the lagoon & temple sites of Coba finding 38 species like Trogons, Woodcreepers & Crakes ..

October 12th

Yet another brilliant track we walked for 2 hours from first light at Ejido San Salvador, Rio Lagartos finding 56 species and notables like Black-throated Bobwhite, Bare-throated Tiger Heron, Laughing Falcon & Yucatan Wren ..

Returning back to our hotel for breakfast and birding from the terrace whilst eating was nice with 22 species ..

We birded at least another half a dozen sites like Salinas las Coloradas, beaches nearby & Rancho El Paraiso ..

October 13th

Again back on the track at Ejido San Salvador for first light with 47 species then back for breakfast on the terrace. Then a few sites around Valladolid.

October 14th

Started the day off at the new Felipe Carrillo Puerto Airport, On a side road and the approach road it felt a little uncomfortable birding here for me as if we shouldn't be here but its a known site and the birding was good producing some notables like Lesson's Motmot, Collared Aracari, Keel-billed Toucan & Olive-sided Flycatcher 30 species in total.

Next was Muyil the roads opposite the archaeological site was great birding last time and were even better this visit notables being Squirrel Cuckoo, Barred Antshrike, Masked Tityra, Black-headed & Cinnamon-bellied Saltator, we then walked the boardwalk section of Muyil as the actual site is closed for building works.

Form here we went on to our final hotel, Wakax Hacienda a bit pricey but the grounds are excellent for birding and the room was amazing. Nice leisurely birding with stops for wine at the bar every now and then was more than acceptable whilst getting some quality birds Neotropic Cormorant, Collared Forest-Falcon, Ivory-billed Woodcreeper & Indigo Bunting with a total of 36 species.

October 15th

Birded the grounds again first thing totalling 32 species before some breakfast then it was the drive to the airport for the return flight home ..

Trip total of 200 species ..

   

 

Iceland ~ 8th to 15th June - '24

Booked a week in Iceland with British Airways including a car from 8th to 15th June, stayed the Friday evening at The Thistle Hotel, Heathrow for a 07:15 Saturday morning take-off. I just booked flights & car with no accomodation, so I could book on the day depending on where I ended up ..

Saturday 8th 

With a flight time of under 3 hours and efficient passport control it wasn't long before I was paying extra for full insurance for car hire, this is something I would recommend as they will get you for stone chips, scuffs and water ingress if your stupid enough to try a river crossing in a car and yes I met a couple a few years ago from Korea who's car went floating down the river.

First stop was for the long-staying W-W-Scoter near Keflavik Airport at Njarovik Bay, I had a good hour or so around the bay area racking up 24 species but No sign of the Scoter.

Then on to Tjornin Ponds in Reykjavik and found 2 pairs of Greater Scaup they seem quite reliable here so I gambled on better light later in the week but still had a few frames ..

Time to head north and get some miles down so got on the ring-road 1 for 2+ hours before stopping at the N1 services at Borgarnes for Jackfruit burger & Fries before driving one of my favorite roads the 540 which turned out to be hard work as i'm guessing this year the breeding season must be a bit late as most of the normal species didn't even seem paired up yet.

I drove right up to the snaefellsnes Peninsula and crossed over via the 56 and headed towards Stykkisholmur, trying the few km's of the 577 with no luck, this is normally a good road for certain species.

It was now nearly 10pm and I hadn't booked any hotels yet so headed for the hostel in Stykkisholmur, which has been taken over and not a hostel anymore, so booking.com and 100m up the road I got booked in with a room for the night.

Sunday 9th

I was up and out by 04:00am and back on the 577 it wasn't long before I found some Red-throated Divers.

I tried my luck with them for a couple of hours and gave in and went back for breakfast.

After breakfast I drove the long route around the Snaefellsnes Peninsula out on the 577 towards Grundarfjordur a few small stops along the way but this was my first longer stop around the harbour before stopping at Kirkjufell, I wasn't having much luck with bird photography, a site for Harlequin near Olafsvik always has birds at the river mouth but they were just not interested and stayed distant. I drove the 574 all the way round with nothing to stop for before trying the stacks at Arnarstapi for Auks primarily Brunnich's which i've seen here in previous years but No Auks at all..

Normally early June is perfect but is seems the birds are late starters this year ..

The southern road of the peninsula was just as bad with a few stops before getting on the 56 back over the pass. I decided that with not much luck on my normally good photographic roads to push on north as far as I could towards Husavik but driving some of the tracks rather than the faster main ring road, so it was the 54, 60, 59 & 68 before joining the the ring-road,  I also had a detour for an Ivory Gull that was seen very recently but couldn't find it.

I stayed the night near Blonduos.

Monday 10th

Out early at 4am heading for Husavik, on the ring-road, Over the higher ground it was snow covered and the lower meadows & ploughed fields had 100's of Pink-feet with young, I still made Husavik before 8am and stayed for an hours birding around the harbour with the usual species.

Next stop was Laxa Bridge a quick recce before deciding where I was going to give it a try first which was down river from the bridge ..

     

The recent snow fall and subsequent melt had the Laxa River flowing fast and high, just under the bridge from the car park is a small beach with a bit of slack water and I staked it out for awhile..

The light was now quite harsh so had a complete recce around Myvatn trying to find a location for the evening session, it needed to be on the western side looking easterly for the best light, starting the 2nd lap past Laxa bridge and passing a few places again which looked promising but I needed to eat so stopped at Reykjahlio before back tracking to Vindbelgur, set the rig up and got myself low down on the black volcanic beach with birds at distance but making their way in to the slack water of the bay.

The light was fantastic, the lake was like a mirror with no breeze so I decided I would try again tomorrow evening and set-up better, so moved further south to the next bay, more Scoter and Long-tailed Duck but all very distant except for a Great Northern Diver cruising the shoreline which was joined by another four and all five came past close in before drifting out in the massive Myvatn..

I booked a hotel when I got back to the car and a short drive around to Reykjahlio staying at Vogahraun 4 ..

Tuesday 11th

Up early & out again, I tried many tracks leading off the main roads around Myvatn, and once I had done the complete loop around Myvatn, I tried some of the better tracks again, nothing was close enough for the camera and birding was typically difficult.

Redwing's are everywhere if you cannot see one, you can definitely hear one, but getting one isolated wasn't easy ..

Myvatn and the river Laxa seemed birdless virtually for the camera,  So I went further out basically birding and running the clock down for the evening session back at Myvatn.

The rest of the morning and all the afternoon was hard work, and the evening session just didn't go as planned either, the light was fantastic again like last night but tonight had a breeze which made the water surface a bit choppy in all the bays on the western side of Myvatn and none of last nights birds were there ..

A few times I drove up & down the western side before giving up and headed for the bird trail 2.3km walk out from the cafe as the sun was going down and then off to my hotel.

Wednesday 12th  

Having never driven the north-eastern part of the ring road it seemed like a good opportunity,  so put my hoped for finally destination for the day of Vik in google maps and at nearly 8 hours driving it was definitely going to be a long day ..

A couple of stops along the way to add Rock Dove & Great Skua to the list, some breakfast (muesli in a car park) before yet again trying for the mighty Vestrahorn last time I was here a few years ago now it was completely surrounded by mist and not visible at all, only giving myself a few hours meant I never got to see it.

This time I still really only had a few hours at most but was teased with the bottom half !!

Next time fingers crossed it will be all of it with the Aurora Borealis above it, if your planning a trip google "Vestrahorn" then you will see why it should be on your trip list ..

I added a distant Ring-necked Duck out on the Hofn point before another 2 hours on the road to Jokulsarlon Lagoon & Diamond Beach, its a tourist hotspot and getting here in the middle of the day is not ideal as its full of humans 1000's of em, if you can time it better for like 4am when most are still asleep do it .. I was hoping for Eiders on the iceberg's and the crazy beach full of iceberg's neither happened ..!!

Hofskirkja Church, the last turf roof church c.1884, since my last visit they've added white crosses which I managed to position myself to get them out of frame ..

By the time I eventually got to Vik it was early evening, a quick stop for a booking.com search for the evening meant a bit more driving further west for another 30 minutes to Skogafoss for a well earned nights sleep ..

Thursday 13th 

Out early as breakfast wasn't till 7 and I had two hours to kill in the rain, yes it turned out to be utterly pointless, no birds and one of the sites was closed for the breeding season at Dyrholeay, by the time I got back and loaded the car it was 7 so it all worked out ..

The plan was to stop at Floi Reserve but the rain was still heavy and the forecast was better further west, so with no real luck so far with Slavonian's I tried a site near Reykjavik and was amazed to find at least 9 pairs, two pairs already had built nests, with one pair choosing to build 5 meters from the path. Forecast was decent for the evening and even better for tomorrow evening, I now had a plan so went off firstly to Sandgeroi then Gardur Lighthouse before returning back for the evening, watching the behaviour of the Slavonian Grebe's with the inevitable territorial disputes ..

Once the light had completely gone, I packed up thinking how tomorrow here could possibly pan out before booking a hotel for the night in the city, checked in and walked out for a restaurant only to find the massive Hallgrimskirkja Church at the end of the road ..

A bowl of soup, slice of Rye & two beers later with £27 gone !!

It was time for bed ..

Friday 14th

Wasn't in a rush to get out as it was all about the evening session, so had breakfast at the hotel then went for another try for the Greater Scaup photos at Tjornin Ponds light was awful ..

I had another try at Njarovik Ponds for the White-winged Scoter, stopping for a coffee at the services and returning back to the car with a glance over to the pools and it was there, asleep out in the middle I scrambled to get the camera set-up, got in position and a fire engine with sirens going spooked it and off it went, so far out in the bay that I couldn't find it ..

Back towards Sandgeroi and I drove the road 45, up to the lighthouse at Gardur then out to Hafnir and back a couple of times.

At Hafnarfjorour I had amongst the usual species a Common Moorhen and at Gardi Ponds was a Ring-necked Duck.

Knowing I would be with the Grebe's till late I stopped off for dinner first before heading for the lake.

From the car park I had a walk on the southern side out to the trees just checking that I wasn't missing a better option for Grebe pairs on my return I had Common Sandpiper briefly fly in momentarily before heading off along the southern side.

Once back at the car I tried submitting to Ebird, turns out it's a rare bird for Iceland and it wasn't long before the local birders arrived trying to find it. The Common Sandpiper has only been recorded 13 times, not realising just how important it was I carried on and set-up back in the same spot as last night and began, watching, waiting and seeing some fantastic behaviour between the pair of Slavonian Grebe's ..

 The next few hours was brilliant to witness the bond & behaviour of this pair that I concentrated on, the male spent his time adding weed to the nest or chasing off intruders.

When it another species he dived and came up underneath possibly grabbing a foot as the bird freaked with shock and moved away.

There were two other pairs nearby and the male kept the rival males in check, firstly by a defensive posture of laying flat against the water level, moving towards the rival with a quick burst of speed would normally be enough to retreat the rival, otherwise it went to full on attack ..

Nest change overs were roughly every 45 minutes, the bird would carefully get on with their clumsy approach, check & move the contents before settling down, the bird on the water would wash and preen before moving away ..

 

 The female's posture (below) a submissive gesture waiting for the male to approach ..

Mating took place only once in the time I was there, and the pair thankfully were perfectly side on ..

I stayed until the light went with the sun dropping behind the hill.

What a fantastic way to finish the trip on ...

I finished on 68 species for the week ..

I also saw Arctic Fox, Long-finned Pilot Whale and Reindeer ..

My last hotel was close to the airport for an early flight back to the U.K ..

I fancy a mid-winter visit next time ...