Anglo-Icelandic Wars and Woodcocks

Relations between Britain and Iceland have never been really good.  Go back a millennium and the Saxons were fighting the same Danes/Vikings that were colonizing all of Scandinavia, Scotland and the various North Atlantic Islands, including Ísland (Iceland).  Then there were the Cod wars back in the 50s and 70s. More recently, there was the Icelandic contribution to the financial meltdown, particularly hard felt in the UK (although also causing huge problems at home).

And now, the ash cloud.  All of British air space is closed, as is most of Northern Europe.  I feel really sorry for all of those stranded travelers.

The Icelanders themselves seem like nice people, though.  Kim and I had a great time when we visited in 2005, including playing at the bridge club in Reykjavik.  I suppose we can't really blame them for the ash cloud.  Their volcanoes typically do a lot more damage to themselves, such as burying whole towns in hot lava.  One of these days, it would be nice to go back and spend more time there.  Though I think we may have to wait until the day that a tiny hotel room, about the size of a couchette on a train, costs less than $200.

Meanwhile, on a more positive note, I joined a Carlisle birding group this evening in quest of the American Woodcock.  I've seen its cousin, the (Eurasian) woodcock, doing its special display flight, called "roding", in England. But I had never seen the American version.  The display of this bird is reminiscent of the skylark.  Starting with quite loud "peeps" on the ground, the male flies up making a twittering sound, and then flies back down again with repeated chirps.  Although not technically a "lek", the idea is similar.  The females watch these crepuscular displays at a distance and will choose to mate with the male they like the most.  We had an excellent view of a male, just about 40 feet away, who did several flights..  It was a dull cloudy day so, given that the sun had set (as required) the image was dim.  But Tom, our leader, had a telescope which showed us quite a lot of detail, including the enormous bill.  It was a truly magical moment.