A dramatic land, possibly even more so in winter with the snowy backdrops of the mountains and sometimes wild seas of the North Atlantic. Never however had the country figured very high on my priorities to visit, I guess partly due to the fact that I have travelled extensively in the Arctic regions of North America and Europe and have thus seen all the bird and mammal species that Iceland could offer. This fine country, it seemed, was destined to remain one of those great places of the world that I would never get round to visiting. All this changed however when I was looking for a short mid-winter break ...not quite sure why Iceland popped into my head, it is not the obvious destination for the middle of February! As I pondered it however, something sparked – how magical it could be to get flocks of Harlequins sharing waters with Orca, to sift through thousands of Iceland Gulls and also to potentially see both Arctic Fox in its white coat and the Northern Lights. The spark was enough, I was hooked – even though Iceland is really thought of as a summer birding location, many of these elements would not be there at that season. It would be winter for me!
Just to add to the fun, enticed by the promise of the Northern Lights, my loyal seven year-old travelling companion opted in and we decided on camping throughout ...booked tickets about four weeks prior to departure and wondered what the elements might throw at us, possible snow drifts and sub-zero temperatures both pretty much par for the course for us resident in Lithuania, the potential high winds not.
As it turned out, Iceland was positively tropical! Departing Vilnius, it was minus 8 C, arriving in Reykjavik, it was plus 7C! And mild it remained the whole trip, temperatures not even falling to zero at night. As for the wind, despite a major storm hitting just a few days earlier with reported gusts of up to 180 km/hr, there was basically not a breathe of wind for the duration of the trip, the resultant seas calm on the south coast and like a millpond off the Snæfellsnes Peninsula. Perhaps related to the weather conditions though, herring shoals were not moving into the sheltered waters of Kolgrafafjörður this winter, thus not attracting Orca ...these were effectively off the menu before I even arrived. That said, occasional pods were being encountered in deeper waters offshore and had I arranged a boat-based excursion, I could have seen them.
Just to add to the fun, enticed by the promise of the Northern Lights, my loyal seven year-old travelling companion opted in and we decided on camping throughout ...booked tickets about four weeks prior to departure and wondered what the elements might throw at us, possible snow drifts and sub-zero temperatures both pretty much par for the course for us resident in Lithuania, the potential high winds not.
As it turned out, Iceland was positively tropical! Departing Vilnius, it was minus 8 C, arriving in Reykjavik, it was plus 7C! And mild it remained the whole trip, temperatures not even falling to zero at night. As for the wind, despite a major storm hitting just a few days earlier with reported gusts of up to 180 km/hr, there was basically not a breathe of wind for the duration of the trip, the resultant seas calm on the south coast and like a millpond off the Snæfellsnes Peninsula. Perhaps related to the weather conditions though, herring shoals were not moving into the sheltered waters of Kolgrafafjörður this winter, thus not attracting Orca ...these were effectively off the menu before I even arrived. That said, occasional pods were being encountered in deeper waters offshore and had I arranged a boat-based excursion, I could have seen them.
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