Nearly two months have gone by and I am still only half-way through editing all the photos from this trip. Anyway, day 5 was the first full day at the glacial lagoon Jokulsarlon. We arrived early, before the tourists had arrived, to the usual cloudy skies but that should be beneficial as it was possible to take avantage of the light given off by the icebergs.Tried this theory out on a drake Eider.

When it started to get busy, I moved away from the lagoon to the large colony of Arctic Terns but first to take my eye was a group of non-breeding Barnacle Geese. These are seen in the UK but considered to be descendants of escapees so not really genuine. Iceland has several smallish genuine colonies in this area.

It was obvious that photographing Arctic Terns against the grey skies was a non-starter so the background became important to ensure reasonable images.

During this session at the tern colony, it started to drizzle so time to return to the hotel for breakfast.

Late morning, we returned and I concentrated on the Snow Buntings around the car park. Snow Buntings are quite common as winter visitors to East Anglia but not in breeding plumage. In summer, the males are very smart and also very confiding.

and even a female briefly showed as a respite from sitting on the nest.

I eventually noticed a female Eider sitting on her nest right next to the path used by hundreds of tourists.

Still drizzling but back to the tern colony for a second session.

Even they were getting wet.

but the rain did not stop them from doing what birds do at this time of the year.

We returnd for the third session of the day after dinner, when most of the tourists had gone. First to show was a Sabine's Gull, a rarity back home.This one kept it's distance, perched on icebergs

but then took flight.

As the evening progressed, the light from the ice became more pronounced, lighting up the underwings of the terns

and providinG interesting long range shots.

The Terns were feeding from the lagoon and eventually, my attempts to get an interesting shot paid off - at 10.30 in the evening.

Time for bed - a tiring day overall.