Iceland: Puffins, Glaciers, and The Ring Road

Depart from home airports on overnight flights to Iceland.

Arrive in Iceland in the morning, meeting up with the local guide at the airport. The international airport at Keflavik is about 45 minutes outside of Reykjavik and is located on the Reykjanes Peninsula, an excellent birding area. We’ll start by heading out to Gardur Lighthouse, where we’ll scan Faxafloi Bay through our spotting scopes with the hope of catching a glimpse of Manx Shearwater and other seabirds. The nearby beach and pools are known to attract passing migrants, so birding in the Gardur area and the next town of Sandgerdi, can produce some surprises.

We’ll also drive out to the Reykjanes Lighthouse, where we’ll get a taste of the first seabird colony. Black-legged Kittiwake and Northern Fulmar nest on the cliffs, and there’s a Northern Gannet colony just offshore. It’s also an area of geological interest with some geothermal activity.

Continuing to the town of Grindavik, we’ll scan the harbor for Iceland Gull and other interesting gulls. We’ll continue driving through lava fields towards Reykjavik and, depending on time, we’ll make one or two stops at good birding locations at the outskirts of the city, including at Alftanes, where we’ll find the residence of the President of Iceland. We’ll then head into downtown Reykjavik to rest up after a long day of travel.

Night: Hotel Borg

Meals: LD

This will be a free day to explore Reykjavik on your own. We’ll be sure to share lots of suggestions for your day.

Night: Hotel Borg

Meals: B

We’ll leave the city in the morning and head north to the Snaefellsnes Peninsula. The route takes us through Borgarfjordur, where we’ll be on the lookout for Common Shelduck. This area holds most of the breeding population of this gooselike duck. Once out on the peninsula, our first stop will be at Ytri-Tunga, a renowned seal watching location where Harbor Seals and the occasional Gray Seal can be found relaxing on rocks just off the beach. It’ll also be our first experience of nesting Eurasian Oystercatcher and Common Ringed Plover.

The area between here and our next accommodation in Budir is littered with ponds where we’ll see a good number of waterbirds, including Horned Grebe and hopefully Northern Shoveler, which is very rare in Iceland. We should also see our first Common Loons, for which Iceland is their easternmost breeding ground.

After getting our luggage to the hotel, we’ll continue west towards the Snaefellsjokull Glacier and the national park area that partly surrounds it. Seabirds are on the agenda, with visits to the cliffs of Arnarstapi and Thufubjarg and eventually to the western tip of the peninsula, known as Ondverdarnes. Kittiwakes and fulmars will be present in good numbers, plus Arctic Tern. The most common alcid will be the Common Murre, but we should also have views of Black Guillemot, Razorbill, and Thick-billed Murre. We might also see our first Atlantic Puffin, but we’ll get to know them up close and personal once we get to the far east later in our journey.

Night: Fosshotel Stykkisholmur

Meals: BLD

Our second day at Snaefellsnes might have us catching up with some birds that we missed the day before, while also heading over to the northern side of the peninsula, where we’ll be on the lookout for White-tailed Eagles. This part of the country is the stronghold for this species, and we might see large groups of migrating shorebirds.

Night: Fosshotel Stykkisholmur

Meals: BLD

This will be our longest travel day, as we drive from Snaefellsnes north to the town of Husavik, about 270 miles away. We’ll break the day up with frequent stops to look for birds and to admire the scenery. We’ll be in the town of Akureyri in the afternoon, where we plan to walk in a local park in search of woodland species such as Redwing, Eurasian Blackbird, Eurasian Wren, Redpoll, and Goldcrest. In the early evening, we’ll arrive in Husavik, where we’ll stay for two nights.

Night: Fosshotel Husavik

Meals: BLD

Lake Myvatn is our destination today. The lake is a highlight of any birding tour to Iceland, as it has the largest congregation of waterfowl on the island and possibly anywhere in the world. All of Iceland’s duck species are present in Myvatn. The lake and the ponds of various sizes around the main lake are where we’ll be looking at Barrow’s Goldeneye, Tufted Duck, Common Scoter, Eurasian Wigeon, and more. The Laxa River that flows out of Lake Myvatn is a fantastic place to see Harlequin Ducks up close. The neighboring lava fields are also home to Rock Ptarmigan, Snow Bunting, Northern Wheatear, and Redwing, plus a few pairs of Merlin.

Night: Fosshotel Husavik

Meals: BLD

From Husavik, we’ll make an excursion east along the north coast. We’ll stop by Asbyrgi, within Vatnajokull National Park. The plan is to walk a bit in the woodlands and enjoy some of the woodland species. We’ll then cross a highland plateau on our way to the far eastern end of the island. Our destination is the small village of Bakkagerdi, where we plan to visit Hafnarholmi, a bird reserve owned by Fuglavernd (BirdLife Iceland) and the municipality. Stairs and platforms have been built here, allowing for close access to Atlantic Puffins, which have become used to visitors and remain photographically cooperative despite the intrusion. There’s no other location in Iceland where puffins can be observed so closely without being disturbed. Our hotel is the Blabjorg Resort, where we can enjoy a soak in hot tubs overlooking the fjord and harbor.

Night: Blabjorg Resort

Meals: BLD

Our journey now brings us south and west through a fascinating landscape of winding fjords. We’ll make several stops to look at birds and enjoy the scenery. We’ll pass through the town of Djupivogur, which has a good number of wetland birds, and Lon, which is a staging area for large groups of Whooper Swans. We’ll then continue to the town of Hofn in the southeast, where a view opens up to the glaciers of the Vatnajokull Ice Cap.

Night: Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon

Meals: BLD

The Vatnajokull Glacier is the largest in Europe, and covers almost 10% of Iceland. It’s a massive icecap with dozens of outlet glaciers running down carved out valleys, with some ending in a glacial lagoon. The birdlife in the region takes on an Arctic feeling. We can expect to see Barnacle Goose, Parasitic Jaeger, Great Skua, and Red-throated Loon. This full day in the Vatnajokull Region allows us to slow down a bit and enjoy a relaxed approach to enjoying both the nature and birdlife of this fascinating area. We’ll spend a good time at the Jokulsarlon Glacial Lagoon scanning icebergs for a possible Sabine’s Gull or a King Eider swimming with its Common Eider relatives. Snow Buntings breed in rocks by the side of the short Jokulsa River, the outflow from the lagoon, as do White Wagtails. These birds have become used to people and can be enjoyed and photographed from up close. We’ll also visit some of the smaller glacial lagoons, such as Fjallsárlón.

Night: Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon

Meals: BLD

West is the general direction of the day. We’re travelling a fair distance along the south coast, again with many possibilities for nature walks and bird sightings. Our eventual itinerary for this day will be decided by the weather, by what birds we’ve seen so far, and by what birds we might possibly be missing.

Night: Hotel Ranga

Meals: B

This is our last day, and we plan to be at Keflavik Airport just after 2 pm. We’re not far away from the airport, just over a two-hour drive, so we have an opportunity to make a stop at the Floi Nature Reserve. This wetland reserve on the south coast is managed by Fuglavernd and features the densest known breeding of Dunlin in Iceland. There are Red-throated Loons on nearly every pond in the area. Much of the wetland in Floi had been drained, but has now been restored with great success by Fuglavernd in cooperation with the local municipality. This has greatly increased habitat for wetland species, such as the ones mentioned before, plus many others. After experiencing the Floi reserve, we continue to the airport and say goodbye to Iceland for now.

Meals: BL