Anthonys Birds

A trip report of a mixed birding/tourist trip

This is a trip report written as a keen birder and keenish photographer (birder first, photographer second) who was travelling to Iceland for the first time with his non-birding (but very tolerant of my birding) wife and her parents who have an interest in birds but wouldn’t travel specifically to see a particular bird. The holiday was entirely self organised and booked but we did lots of reading around to establish the areas of key interest to us and planned from there. I found trip reports from previous visits on websites such as Fat birder very useful hence why I am writing this, in an attempt to help others plan.

The trip was planned around both birding and tourist hotspots with the accommodations booked so that I could easily get out and have several hours birding in the early mornings before the others were up, this way I got a minimum of at least 4 hours birding in each day without impacting on the touristy aspects of the trip. This balance was helped significantly by the almost 24 hours birding daylight but also meant that I came home shattered!

PRACTICAL ASPECTS

Car hire, they are all expensive but I strongly recommend hiring a 4WD as many of the key birding spots I visited required driving on unpaved roads which you ‘can’t’ drive a non 4WD hire car on although in fairness most of them weren’t bad at all. We hired a beast of a Toyota Land Cruiser, much larger than I would normally drive but with 4 adults travelling long distances it did give us lots of room to be able to travel in comfort.

Do I need a scope? I took one and used it on about half the days, it was useful at the seabird cliffs and to confirm a few more distant birds such as the Surf Scoters at Sjorftness lighthouse and the Ring-necked Duck at Lake Mývatn but most of the time the birds were so close that bins were barely needed let alone the scope. If you are travelling in a group I would suggest 1 scope between you would be plenty.
Cameras– absolutely, anything and everything you can take! My kit was Canon R7 body, Canon R6 body, Canon 100-500 RF zoom, Canon 14-105 RF zoom, digiscope adapter for my iPhone. The vast majority of the birds were extremely approachable allowing frame filling shots with the 100-500 lens. If you have a larger fixed lens I’m sure the results would be even better but I found my kit provided the ‘reach’ I needed in all locations except some areas of the seabird cliffs.

Accommodations– We stayed in self catering Air BnB places for all but the last night where we stayed in a hotel near to Keflavík airport. This gave us more space and by being able to cook our own meals, significantly reduced the food bill which is hefty no matter how you buy your food. This is the first holiday I can remember being on where I came home having lost weight!

Is Iceland expensive – Yes everything costs approximately 30% more than you would pay in the UK. Alcohol even more so, this comes in around 50% up and can only be bought in dedicated alcohol stores- I wouldn’t recommend Iceland as a destination for a boozy holiday! The supermarkets are generally very well stocked with fresh produce.

Is Iceland beautiful– absolutely, this is an incredible country to travel around, the scenery and geology is breathtaking, the views on every journey were fantastic whether it be the coastal roads winding around the many fjords, the never ending lava field desserts variously covered in deep spongy moss, the random steam geysers appearing near the roadside, counting the multiple glaciers on the south coast or the mountainous passes that provide panoramic views in every direction. These stunning views are very helpful for making the long journeys pass enjoyably because, make no mistake, the travelling distances here are significant! We had 10 full days and 2 travel days at each end, we drove approximately 2500km in the hire car!

The route– we drove around the full circumference of the island, spending most of our time on the “1” which is the main ring road that circumnavigates the island around the coast. If you were wanting to specifically bird then you could reduce the travel distances quite significantly by spending most of your time on the Sjorftness peninsular and in the Lake Mývatn region. These 2 locations would provide you with all of the main Icelandic avian specialties. However, by travelling the full circuit you do get to see a much wider range of scenery, most of the accessible glaciers and active volcanoes are on the southern side and some further stunning photographic opportunities key of which is the glacier lake, on the south coast, which gives unrivalled opportunities for photographs of Eiders, Arctic Terns and even singing Snow Buntings around and on the icebergs that break off Icelands largest glacier and then float towards the Atlantic across a blue melt water lake! The colours of the bergs, especially if the sun is shining, are simply breathtaking! Also the only wild Reindeer we saw on the trip were in the South Eastern corner.

What’s the weather like? We were only there for 12 days so our experience isn’t exactly a guarantee but we were exceptionally lucky and had only one 24 hour period where the weather could be described most accurately as Dreich. It’s not warm, the temperature range was from about 3c at 05.30 on 2 mornings (we had a covering of snow on 1 morning at Lake Mývatn) upto a maximum of 17c on the last 2 days but most days the midday temperature was around 8-12c perfectly comfortable if you pack sensibly and it also meant that the photographic light was quite beautiful especially early in the morning, certainly no issues with heat haze!! We seemed to follow the good weather, it was raining and even snowing in the East when we arrived in the West and vice versa as we circumnavigated the island. The first 2 days were quite breezy with gusts upto 35mph, enough for our Rib whale watching trip out of Reykjavík to be cancelled, but it was mostly a flat calm from then on.

Did the wildlife live up to expectations? In almost all aspects yes it absolutely did, and exceeded them in many cases. Despite spending at least 12 hours a day out and about, obviously I was birding during all daylight hours, whether I was on my own or out on a ‘touristy’ trip, because what true birder doesn’t all the time anyway?!? I somehow managed to avoid seeing ANY raptors at all, most disappointingly of all I spectacularly failed to bump into a Gyr, although I have been told that they have been hit quite hard by Avian flu and the numbers are way down on normal so I suppose it wasn’t too much of a surprise. The sheer number of birds was pretty much as I had expected from previous trip reports but the biggest, and most pleasant surprise was just how tame all the wildlife tends to be! On numerous occasions I would be crouched down on the waters edge of a lake on the black volcanic sand sitting still and a troupe of Red-necked Phalaropes would steadily spin their way towards me, chattering away to each other with their outrageously cute contact calls, only audible when they are within a few feet, to the point that they would literally be picking midges off the laces of my shoes!! I have a few really nice shots of them but be prepared to take hundreds and thousands of shots to get ‘The one’ as they are a constantly moving throng of whirligigs and to freeze that head and beak in focus at a range of only a metre or 2 is no easy feat so I often employed the scatter gun approach which has resulted in many hours of sorting/ deleting on the computer but so worthwhile! Just to keep my feet grounded though it was reassuring that the Wheatear are just as camera shy in Iceland as they tend to be in the Uk!!

Are the midges as bad as the reports suggest? Certainly not in my experience. We travelled with multiple cans of Smidge repellent and we each had a very fetching mosquito hat/ net combo expecting to be plaqued by swarms, especially in the lake Mývatn area as our accommodation was less than a mile from the lake, it had been raining for the few days before our arrival and there wasn’t a breath of wind for the 3 nights we stayed there. This should have been the perfect conditions for the midges and black flies but the only time I was aware of any little critters taking an interest in me was for about an hour one evening at the Laxa river, other than that the small, whining, insects were bizarrely conspicuous by their absence, not that I am complaining!!

Are Puffins everywhere– no not really. I saw quite a few but I didn’t really target them and so didn’t go to the more well known touristy watch points but there are plenty to see if you want to!

What is the bird variety like? Very limited but the species that are there are everywhere. You soon come to appreciate that if you see a small brown bird it’s going to be a Meadow Pipit or Redpoll, if it’s a small black and white bird it’s going to be a Pied/White Wagtail or a Snow Bunting and if it’s a medium sized brown bird it’s going to be a Redwing! I saw 1 Blackbird on the north coast (an Icelandic scarcity!) and a handful of Starlings in Reykjavík city centre but that really was about it for small passerines. The wildfowl, waders and seabirds were more varied though and there is plenty of scope for you to find your own Icelandic rarities. I managed to pick up a pair of Surf Scoters at Sjortoftness and a Drake Ring-necked Duck at Lake Mývatn both recordable Icelandic rarities. I also managed to twitch a long staying Oriental Turtle Dove at Olafsvik, fortuitously only a 10 minute walk from our accommodation there! To find out what rarities are around I used a fantastic website run by bird Iceland rare bird alert which runs on E-bird. This is updated through the day and shows if the birds have just been reported or if the sighting has been confirmed. One stroke of bad luck was where an Ancient Murrelet was found on the coast, showing stupidly well, just north of Húsavík, an area we were in just 2 days before it was found, unfortunately, by the time it was located we were 400 miles away on the south coast, not a twitch I was going to embark on!!

ITINERARY

Tuesday 3rd June. After work drive to Glasgow, stayed in Air BnB near pollickshields
4th June parked in long stay area 5, flew to Keflavik, picked up hire car, Land Cruiser, drove to apartment, drive to harbour for dinner at Kopka restaurant, gorgeous 1 course as too expensive to have more!! Went to Kerkan supermarket for basics.
5th June walked into Reykjavík, lovely city, small, stunning cathedral and opera house, lots of shops, ‘Ice wear’ is a lovely but very expensive brand, lots of puffin shops, many having real stuffed Puffins! Had lunch in Kopka again fish and chips for 3 and Halibut special of the day. Return walk to the apartment via the cathedral again to look inside as it was closed for a funeral when we first visited. Set off for an explore at 4pm which turned into driving the golden circle, getting g home at nearly 10pm for cheese and biscuits and a little wine. We went to Pingveller national park with its gorgeous lake and river and geological fault line, then on to Geyser to see the geysers! Picked up first Harlequin of the trip by spotting a pair in a small roadside stream! Then onto a big waterfall at blaskobagyggo then headed back to the apartment., arrived back at 21.45.
Friday 7th up early ish for rib whale watching trip but on arrival at the harbour were informed that the trip was cancelled due to the sea conditions therefore went supermarket shopping and headed north towards Olafsvik on the 1 stopping at Borgarnes for lunch with coffee at the museum, arrived at Olafsvik around 5pm, walk around the village and harbour, dipped the OTDove but had exceptional views of 50+ Glaucous gulls in the harbour. Dinner in.
Saturday 8th up at 5.30 drove towards lighthouse (30 minute drive) this took 3 hours to get to because of so many stops because of so many birds. (Including finding Iceland rares, a pair of Surf Scoter!) Back to house for breakfast then all 4 off for drive back to lighthouse and then around south coast of peninsula stopping at 3 lighthouses (Svortulof, Ondervarnes and Malarif) and a cute village, Arnarstapi. Saw 2 Arctic Foxes really well. Back to house before heading out for dinner at local restaurant (Sker restaurant) very good but again could only afford only 1 course!
Sunday 9th up at 5.30 this time heading East, found 2 King Eiders. Back for early breakfast before packing up and then 6 hour drive to Lake Mývatn, various stops for birds, lunch and scenery including Akureyi, arrived at around 18.00, stayed on the south side of the lake. Had dinner then had a mid evening drive around the south side of the lake.
Monday 10th up at 5.30 for clockwise circumnavigation Lake. Myvatn. Snow had fallen overnight with a light dusting on everything but this soon melted and had gone before I returned back to the house, unexpectedly met up with Gary Thoburn at Laxa bridge!! Home for 09.30, breakfast. Then went to the local volcano crater, walked up to the top and around the top perimeter, back to house for late lunch. Drove around the lake late afternoon. Back to house for dinner.
Tuesday 11th June up at 5.30 another trip around the lake, a glorious morning, sunny and no wind, got back for 09.00 for all to leave at 09.30 to go to Husavik for a whale watching trip aboard an old whaling sailing boat, with ‘North sailing’ at 11.00, perfect conditions, flat sea and sunny. Went round Puffin island, lots of Puffins but none particularly close to the boat then headed out into the Fjord where we had good views of 2 different Humpbacks. Arrived back into Husavik at around 14.30. Shopped at Netto then headed back to house briefly to drop shopping off and went to the Mývatn geothermal spring bards that are only 2 miles away from the house. Odd experience but generally very relaxing although it was a little too warm for me! Back to house for 19.00 for dinner.
Wednesday 12th June AJG up at 05.45 went anticlockwise around the lake to Laxa bridge with a few stops on the way of course! Another lovely morning but more of a breeze and the cloud began to build up. Back to house for 09.00 for breakfast and to pack up before heading East, mostly on the 1 stopped at an outpost farm, the highest farm in Iceland, had coffee and a cinnamon donut type thing. Saw a ‘pet’ young reindeer at the farm that seemed to think that it was a dog! Then drove over the highlands on a dirt track that used to be the 1 to join back with the new 1 to continue the journey to Seydisffodour in deteriorating weather, increasingly low cloud and drizzle. Town was busy as cruise was docked and the ferry to Denmark goes on a Thursday so all accommodation is fully booked on a Wednesday. Arrived at property at 15.30. Went for a walk to the waterfalls behind the house (5Km walk), others stayed in and had coffee and read, visibility not great but mostly dry. The owner came to see us and stayed to chat for a while, he’s an ex banker from San Marino and he doesn’t seem to like Iceland very much! Incredibly peaceful area, only sound was the singing/calling birds.
Thursday 13th June up at 07.30, packed up car and headed west for a 6 hour drive to Kirkjubæjarklaustur with several stops along the coast, for 2 herds of Reindeer and a dirt track shortcut over the hills in dense fog. Stopped in Hofn for coffee and to eat sandwiches then next stop at the Glacier lagoon, had an aquatic vehicle trip for 35 minutes at 15.30, incredible colours of the icebergs and Eiders, Arctic Terns and Snow Buntings. Continued west on the 1 to arrive at the stunning house in the middle of nowhere Closest town was the town of Vik which was an hour away along dirt tracks! Early night as all were pretty jaded.
Friday 14th June, stayed local to the house today, walked to the river and along the valley in lovely conditions. Original plan was to go to Vik for lunch but nobody really fancied having a 2 hour round trip in the car for what food was on offer so lunch of cheese and toast then dinner of pasta with Heinz tomato and chilli sauce (was in the house already) followed by stewed Rhubarb (picked from the riverbank in the morning) with coconut yoghurt. Drove up the dirt track into the highlands, this road is officially closed but the owner gave up permission to drive it to a waterfall Axlafoss, this was a 40km round trip on dirt track. Back to house for just past 18.00, dinner and then another fairly early night after packing ready for 1 more night.
Saturday 15th June up at 07.30 packed and on road by 09.30 for 4 hour drive to Keflavík. Back to the 1 (took 30 minutes) then called into Vik to buy sandwiches for lunch. Drive onto Selfoss for a coffee, volcanic crater with a lagoon at Grimsnes, the geothermal energy exhibition at Hellisheidi, then took the coast road along the south coast towards Keflavík, though Grindavik, the site of the most recent volcanic eruption (Nov 2024) the lava was absolutely jet black, looking like it was broken up tarmac then upto to Gardur to stay in the Lighthouse Inn hotel (13 minutes from the airport), We all took advantage of happy hour at the bar in the hotel and ate in the restaurant, excellent meal, splashed out on 3 courses each as cash to use up!! Walk to the 2 lighthouses, the closest to a sun set we’ve seen all trip then bed for 23.00.
Sunday 16th June up at 06.30, packed up, breakfast as it opened at 07.20, on the road for 07.55 arrived at rental drop off at 08.10 longer drop off due to chipped windscreen 🙄😬 shuttle bus to departures, bags dropped 10 minutes before it closed! Through security easily, steady 20 minute walk to gate D35 then queued but no time to use up, flight left 10 minutes late and back to Glasgow by lunchtime then drove back to Shropshire.

Systematic Bird List

Whooper Swan, seen all over the country, predominantly in pairs or small family groups but also some larger gatherings of 100+ presumably none breeding younger birds on large river beds
Pink-Footed Goose several hundred in the highlands, clearly on breeding grounds but none seen at lower levels, very much a goose of the higher altitudes.

Greylag Goose the commonest Goose seen at low levels everywhere other than the south coast where the Barnacle became the commonest. Pink feet took over at higher altitudes but weren’t seen at all at low levels.
Barnacle Geese, lots along the south coast, many with young but none seen elsewhere.

Mallard seen in small numbers in all wetland habitats, predominantly freshwater but never seen in groups of more than a handful.
Eider Female with 4 chicks, Reykjavík harbour 100+ Reykjavík shopping, lots on journey to Olafsvik, several hundred Olafsvik area. Present around all coasts in medium to high numbers, largest flocks were at the river outlets at Olafsvik.

Gadwall good numbers seen around Mývatn but few seen elsewhere
Wigeon moderate numbers Mývatn but no big gatherings
Common Scoter 100+ Mývatn mostly in pairs or small groups
Barrows Goldeneye 200+ Lake Mývatn mostly seen on the south shore but birds seen all around Mývatn including in the Laxa river but not seen anywhere else on the trip.

Harlequin Duck pair seen incredibly well on small stream on the golden circle between pingellivr and Geyser, spotted as driving past! At least 15 seen in Olafsvik area with a flock of 12 feeding in the river mouth east of Olafsvik. At least 6 seen at Laxa bridge, birds seen on many suitable rivers all around the trip, largest individual flock 35 on the river at Kirkjubæjarklaustur which allowed some amazing views looking directly down onto the feeding flock allowing a unique view of birds underwater! Trip total of well over 100.

Surf Scoter, pr self found at Skadsta beach, seen well, reportable Icelandic rarities

King Eider, 2 self finds, female picked up in 2 places east of Olafsvik but only photographed in flight but diagnostic photos, male picked up in photo of flying group east of Olafsvik

Tufted Duck the most numerous duck at Mývatn and lots on roadside pools on the south coast but not very many elsewhere

Greater Scaup, odd birds seen elsewhere but lots of pairs seen at Mývatn

Goosander 4 drakes on river just before Mývatn.
Red-Breasted Merganser on all coasts, rivers and lakes but not in large numbers.

Long-Tailed Duck 4 offshore at Borganes were the first but then lots of breeding pairs at Mývatn, no large gatherings, just lots of pairs.

Pintail, 1 Drake in flight over Laxa river
Teal 50+ small numbers around Mývatn and a few on the south coast but not numerous anywhere

Ring-Necked Duck drake seen briefly and rather distantly on north shore of Lake Mývatn, identifiable photo taken of it in flight but classic bird when seen on the water.

Rock Ptarmigan a couple of pairs west of Olafsvik. Seen really well on roadside, lots seen around Mývatn, pair in the garden at Mývatn

Red-Throated Diver, loads of pairs on suitable breeding lochans, some seen incredibly well, a nest with 1 egg in was an unintentional find on a small lake east of Olafsvik

Great Northern Diver 1 Borganes was the first, various birds dotted around the coasts but largest concentration was on the north shore of Mývatn, at least 30 close into the shore in the early evenings, during the day they seemed to stay further out.

Slavonian Grebe, Pair Reykjavik and multiple in Olafsvik and many at lake Myvatn.

Gannet 2 around north coast was it until we got to Gardur where there were several hundred passing in just a few minutes

Fulmar, around every coast, many thousands nesting on any available sea cliff

Cormorant around Reykjavík
Shag seen in many coastal areas

Golden Plover, as whimbrel, seen and heard in all areas

Snipe, in all suitable areas at all altitudes, present along every roadside, drumming and calling continuously

Whimbrel, in every habitat except the most desert areas

Dunlin 40+ small numbers present both at coast and various birds seen at altitude presumably breeding g up on the boggy moors, not that many seen

Black-tailed Godwit breeding birds present in many wetland habitats at multiple altitudes. 1 bird colour ringed near Vik which was ringed as a young male in North Norfolk in 2005, had been seen on 17 occasions at Cley marshes, Norfolk in the subsequent years but hasn’t previously been seen on its breeding grounds so this was a really cool recovery.

Oystercatcher, everywhere

Redshank, hundreds everywhere, very vocal and visible

Purple Sandpiper 3 seal bay, 1 Gardur lighthouses

Sanderling 3 seal bay only ones seen

Ringed Plover 10. + seal bay various pairs seen around the coasts and even into the highlands on suitable riverbeds
Red-Necked Phalarope pr at seal bay and a pair in Olafsvik harbour first of the trip but then hundreds seen throughout the trip in both fresh and seawater, the shores of Mývatn were ‘littered’ with them, seen on pretty much everyday of the trip and often in large numbers, largest individual flock probably 20+ on the sea in seydisfjordur harbour

Arctic Skua 16, 14 Dark phase and 2 pale phase overall well over 100 seen and only 4 crisp pale phase and at least 3 intermediate phase noted

Great Skua 3 Glacier lake pair on ground and 1 in flight from 1

Lesser black backed Gull, ubiquitous, commonest gull

Great-black backed Gull present in small numbers around the coasts

Glaucous Gull 150+ Olafsvik 50+ in the harbour (viewable from the house!) and well over 100 bathing/loafing at a river mouth just East of Olafsvik. None seen anywhere else on the trip.

Iceland Gull 2 seen, an adult on lake west of Olafsvik and 1 2/3cy bird with bathing flock of mostly Glaucous Gulls on East of Olafsvik

Kittiwake present around all coasts in varying numbers

Common Gull, present in the NE but not elsewhere
Herring Gull present in small numbers around all coasts but nowhere is it the most numerous gull

Black headed Gull, seen in all wetland habitats especially numerous along the south coast
Arctic Tern thousands seen in all areas with fishing grounds, largest single colony probably around Gardour

Brunnichs Guillemot 6+ seen in relatively short trip to Sjortoft lighthouse, seen on cliffs alongside guillemots and a few seen in flight, less obvious than I thought they would be, white line running along the bill length was the most obvious feature for picking them out but the thicker bill and blacker body colour than that on the Guillemots helped pick them out but it’s basically a cross between a Guille and a Razorbill!

Guillemot lots on the cliffs especially at Sjortoft lighthouse
Puffin lots seen especially at Sjortoft lighthouse but all on the water, many thousands around and on Puffin island Husavik. Not as many as expected but we didn’t seek out any specific Puffin tourist spots

Razorbill good numbers on the cliffs esp at Sjortoft lighthouse.
Black Guillemot seen in all harbours

Rock Dove 10+ only seen in SE corner, all seen in pairs

Oriental Turtle Dove 1 seen very well but only for a minute or 2 in the back garden of number 7 Skipholt, photographed well on washing pole from road. Dusky pink breast extending onto under belly clear feature along with same dusky pink extending up into head, less contrasting than on European TD seen at second attempt, picked up at 06.00 on the final day and was present as I drove up after spent nearly an hour looking for it on the first day in Olafsvik

White wagtail small numbers seen in all suitable areas a mix of striking Albas and very black Yarelkis, not sure of the status of these

Meadow Pipit, everywhere, the ubiquitous little brown job of the trip!

Redwing, absolutely everywhere, singing in most habitats, from moss covered lava fields to heavily wooded valleys and everything in between.

Blackbird 1 seen on roadside when driving from Olafsvik to Mývatn
Wheatear low numbers seen, picked up in most habitats

Short-eared Owl 1 seen hunting relatively well in roadside vegetation on road into Stykkishólmur

Raven, reasonable numbers seen in all areas, only corvid seen on the trip

Starling, only really seen around the largest towns of Reykjavik and Akureyi

Redpoll multiple seen around Mývatn, quite a variation in plumages, some small and brown extending to a few being so large, cold and frosty with sugar cube rumps they suggested Couse’s and others large heavily streaked birds much more like the Icelandic birds I had expected, good job they have all been lumped now I suppose!!

Snow Bunting 1 male seen in flight in front of car at Snaelfellsjokull national park (Olafsvik) then several pairs on the highland passes and then bonkers views of families at the car park for the Glacier lagoon

Mammal Trip List

Arctic Fox, 4- 2 near lighthouses Olafsvik, 1 injured, walking with a limp, 1 investigating around the car! 1 in fields east of Olafsvik and 1 seen on moss covered lava fields near Vik