Trip Report — Iceland 2024

The Lake Myvatn area, which was our birding destination and homebase for the next couple of days, was a picturesque and impressive lake hosting thousands of birds.  Even birding right across the road from our hotel yielded a long list of species; we added Pink-footed Goose, Graylag Goose, Common Scoter, Tufted Duck, Greater Scaup, Long-tailed Duck, Barrow's Goldeneye, and an array of dabblers.  Next, a nearby forest was where we found the endemic subspecies of Eurasian Wren and even a vagrant Bohemian Waxwing!  Another nearby lake had a trio of loon species (yes, including a beautiful Arctic Loon!), good numbers of Red-necked Phalaropes, grebes, and of course the ubiquitous Whooper Swans.  We visited some coastal areas north of Myvatn as well, which provided us with our first point-blank looks at the clownish Atlantic Puffin.  Meanwhile, we also spotted Northern Fulmar, Black Guillemot, and even some distant Great Skuas.  Before long, however, we had to make our way west.

 

En route to the Westfjords, the scenery was top notch!  We made many stops along the way where we sorted through shorebirds, including Common Ringed Plover, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Black-tailed Godwit, and Dunlin, as well as stumbling into our first encounter with the huge White-tailed Eagles!  By this point, we were all getting used to the pale Glaucous Gulls, the huge Great Black-backed Gulls, and of course the Lesser Black-backed Gulls.  The abundant Common Snipe were a constant companion overhead, just about at every stop actually!  What awaited us at the end of the road in the Westfjords was the famed Latrabjarg seabird cliffs.  We spent the evening there, face-to-face with nesting seabirds such as Atlantic Puffin, Razorbill, Thick-billed Murre, and Common Murre.  All the while Parasitic Jaegers worked the cliff edges, and at times would glide right up to us!  It was a magical place.  The following morning we returned to the cliffs and really had a chance to get to know them.  Trust me, many photos were taken!  Tens of thousands of seabirds were scattered along the huge cliff faces and frankly, it was hard to grasp the scale of it all.  We watched as the Black-legged Kittiwakes flew by, giving their raucous kittiwake calls, we scoped as some European Shags flew by, and spent more time with the murres and Razorbills.  Nearby, we encountered a striking little passerine, the one and only Northern Wheatear, as it bounced from rock to rock.  Shortly after, the nearby beach provided more chances to learn shorebirds and we even found a vagrant Lesser Yellowlegs!

 

It was at this point that we added another form of transportation to our trip; a boat!  Yep, we took the 2 hour ferry across to Stykkisholmur, stopping at Flatey as well.  Although new species were becoming hard to find by this point, we did succeed in finding another striking and northern songbird, Snow Bunting!  The next couple of days were spent exploring the Snæfellsnes Peninsula, where we ticked Goldcrest, took a memorable sushi cruise out of Stykkisholmur, stopped by the well-known vista at Kirkjufellsfoss, sorted through gulls for Iceland Gulls, and enjoyed the point-blank views of Whimbrel and Black-tailed Godwit at Arnarstapi.  Situated at the lovely Hotel Búðir for our final day, we enjoyed a fantastic dinner, took a stroll to soak up the last of the Rock Ptarmigans, and snapped some photos of the distinctive black church.  Our final couple of birding stops, including one in Borgarnes, netted us a few Common Shelduck (as in nearly 500!), and even another White-tailed Eagle on a nest.  And finally, our very last stop was right where we began our adventure, at the Garður lighthouse.  This time luck was on our side and we added a key new species, European Storm-Petrel.  Whew, just in the nick of time!

 

Iceland is such a unique and magical place, there really aren't enough adjectives to describe it.  We were fortunate and all saw it for ourselves; the tremendous waterfalls at Goðafoss and Dettifoss, the terrific birdlife at Lake Myvatn, the renowned seabird cliffs at Latrabjarg, close nesting European Shags from a boat, and so many other highlights.  I sincerely hope you made many good memories as we explored Iceland for these 9 days!  It was an honor to bird with all of you and I want to say thank you to everyone for being such an awesome group of birders.  From everyone at Field Guides, especially Christine who expertly managed this trip, we wish you the very best and thank you for choosing us for your adventure.  Until we meet again, good birding!