Rainy Day

7-26-10    Up early and out to bird. It was raining. Not misty but wet all the way. There were thousands of Whooper Swans (Cygnus cygnus) in a fjord near the town of Höfn. We sent our clothes out to be washed by a local, so we are hanging around town to shop, eat lunch and get the laundry back. We just let it rain.

   We were parked on the coast near the harbor, drinking hot coffee in the fog, when Berry suddenly saw a large dark brown bird flying slowly over the pebble strewn beach. Several gulls were protesting and dive bombing the bird as it passed. Using the binoculars, I saw a white bar on both wings and a very thick bill. It was larger than a gull. The bird turned out to be a Great Skua (Stercorarius skua).

   It had been attacking the gulls in the harbor. This bird is a pirate, openly despised and feared by other birds. This was our first time to see one of these magnificent sea creatures. They breed in the moorish wetlands near the ocean.

Great Skua

   One of the legs of the tripod was loose, such that the scope slid down as you leaned against it. We went to a camera shop to try to get a socket wrench to tighten the leg. They did not have one, but directed us to a hardware store "down by the harbor". We found the store and bought some needle nosed pliers and fixed the leg of the tripod. Lunch at a local restaurant. Leek soup and lobster. We were getting our needs met.

   We headed south along Highway 1, away from Höfn toward Vík and it rained and rained. We encountered a ewe mourning next to the body of her young lamb which had recently been hit by a car, truck or bus. The irresponsible farmer had let his sheep graze in the tall grass along a highway. And the inevitable happened. The ewe stared out at the traffic zooming by in the driving rain, with great strength and much sadness. It was a poignant scene.

   We walked to the ocean in the rain too, because it was so close to the road, to stretch our legs and to satisfy curiosity itself. We got very wet. The beach was made of black sand and hand-sized to football-sized stones. We found a green bottle with a plastic cork and tossed it in the Arctic Ocean, but it kept coming back. The waves were crashing. It amazed me how the Great Skuas and Arctic Terns enjoyed the crazy cold wild rain. Just as we turned to go back to our car, a cute little seal peeked out of the waves at us. It is beyond wonderment how these little fellows adore the cold temps and driving rain.

   We drove on farther, thinking we had seen enough for one day, when suddenly...

-Robert

(photo by gthoburn)