This weekend we drove into the interior for our annual bird count of the Fishing Lakes area, Veiðivötn, in the Southern part of the Icelandic highlands. The snow is melting quickly now and most roads have cleared. We came across this pair of Ringed Plovers that were hoping around their nest, keeping intruders away.

Ringed Plovers are migrants that breed all over the country, from coastal areas to the interior. Their typical habitat is sandy areas with scarce vegetation.