ICELAND

Our fact finding tour/family holiday to Iceland from 20th - 27th July 2007 was an awe inspiring trip for many reasons. Those who have been there will know what I mean, as the dramatic scenery that encompasses you wherever you go, cannot fail to bring out a sense of wonder at nature's beauty as well as a reminder that it can be cruel and harsh too. As for birding, I managed to see 53 species without really trying very hard with the undoubted highlights being up to 20 Harlequin Ducks, six Barrow's Goldeneye, a family party of hunting Merlin, Glaucous & Iceland Gulls, Brunnich's Guillemot, Arctic and Great Skuas, a pre -migratory flock of approximately 2500 Red-necked Phalaropes at Rif on a pool on the Snaefellsnes Peninsula and countless flocks of Arctic Terns Common Eiders, Greater Scaup, Atlantic Puffins,Whimbrel, Black-tailed Godwits and a Snow Bunting. We also saw Minke Whales and White-beaked Dophin from a boat in Faxafloi Bay off Reykjavik and were delighted to see that whale watching is rapidly becoming more economically important than whale hunting and will no doubt in the future be seen as the more important of the two. We couldn't go to Iceland and not go bathing in the Blue Lagoon, which was a surreal and very enjoyable experience. We were fortuntate to have good friend Andy Jones and his wife Gudrun with us for a couple of days and we had a great time with them visiting the black beach and seabird cliffs at Vik, stunning waterfalls at Gullfoss and Skagerfoss, the unmissable Strokkur Geysir and volcanoes Hellid and Hekla. Andy is great company and has an incredible knowledge of the geology and geography of Iceland that is second to none - he also speaks fluent Icelandic and showed incredible generosity to us during our stay. There is no doubt that Iceland is expensive, but in my opinion it is worth every penny and I do believe that an organised tour is probably the most economical way of seeing it, as car hire, accommodation and meals take up a large part of the budget. We are delighted to announce that we will be offering a ten day tour in June/July 2009 with Andy as principal guide based on our experiences, but with additional whale watching trips and longer visits to Snaefellsness for White-tailed Eagles and Lake Myvatn for larger numbers of wildfowl and Gyr Falcons. Why not pre-register now for this unmissable experience as places will be very limited and available on a first come first served basis.