I've not only seen Guillemots...

I ate one for dinner tonite! It was really delicious. Had a "cooked on the grill" flavor. Was rather meaty with an excellent flavor. Didn't taste like chicken at all... tasted like a very expensive cut of beef.

And this wasn't our first Guillemot encounter for the day. Earlier we stopped at an N1 Gas Station (they have handy markets) and mom discovered this:

Lutheran Churches of Iceland

Everywhere you go in Iceland, even in the smallest of communities, you see a Lutheran Church (Church of Iceland). The church above in Budir is a Stadir church (built by the local equivalent of the Lord of the Manor to serve the needs of the local farmers) originally built in 1703 (and re-built in 1848).

The white Stadir style church above is in Hellnar, about 15 kilometers from Budir, and was built in 1748. It has an ornate interior with vaulted blue ceiling inlaid with stars and comfortably seats 40 people.

This modern church above is in Tálknafjordur in Iceland's West Fjord region. It's steeple is entirely glass and is above the altar, giving everyone inside a spectacular view of the village's harbor and the large fjord. The Church of Iceland is the established church of Iceland (93% of the population belongs to the state church) and is in full communion with the Church of England and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

And today we went to the 8pm service at Akureyri Lutheran Church, above and below (in Akureyri, North Iceland). The steps are rather formidable, but the view of the fjord from the top is spectacular. The church was built in 1940 and the stained glass windows around the altar were removed from Coventry Cathedral in England at the start of World War II in the event that the Cathedral be damaged in German bombing raids. The windows were sent to Akureyri for safe keeping (Iceland was invaded by England in April 1940 to keep it from falling into German hands after Denmark, the country ruling Iceland at the time, was invaded by Germany). Coventry Cathedral was destroyed in a German bombing raid on November 14, 1940 shortly after the opening of Akureyri Lutheran Church).

Snaefellsnes to West Fjords - June 19, 2009

I've been remiss in posting the bird species we've seen, but not only am I dealing with differences between the European and American names for the same species, I'm also having to converse with people using the species name in German, Icelandic and French... making it all very confusing!

Here's an attempt at listing species that we've seen:

Red-throated Loon, Common Loon, Fulmar, Gannet, Cormorant, Shag, Whooper Swan, Greylag Goose, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Eider (Somateria mollissima), Harlequin Duck, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Oystercatcher (Haematopus astralegus), Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula), Eurasian Golden Plover (Pluvialis apricaria), Common Snipe (Galinago galinago), Purple Sandpiper, Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwit, Whimbrel, Redshank, Turnstone, Red-necked Phalarope, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Glaucous Gull, Kittiwake, Arctic Tern, Common Guillemot (Uria aalge), Brunnich's Guillemot (Uria Lomvia), Razorbill, Black Guillemot (Cepphus grylle), Puffin, Meadow Pipit, White Wagtail, Wheatear, Redwing, Raven, Starling, Redpoll, Snow Bunting.

And here's Mom on the top deck of the car ferry "Baldur" as we sailed from Stykkisholmur on Snaefellsnes to Brjánslaeker in the West Fjords region.

Snaefellsnes - Hotel Hellnar - June 18, 2009

I'm about 2 days behind keeping up our travels due to lack of internet access at Hotel Hellnar. We're currently on our 2nd day at Hotel Latrabjarg in Iceland's remote West Fjord region. The Puffin encounter at the incredible bird cliffs of Latrabjarg was so wonderful I'll keep up that video while I try to catch up to our travels. Scroll past the video after watching to see what we did on Snaefellsnes Peninsula / Snaefellsjokull National Park on June 18, 2009.



Everything about Hotel Hellnar was exceptional, and we began the day by birding the hotel's cliffs.


We also enjoyed he tea house at the base of the cliffs. Here's mom birding at the beach of the hotel, at the base of the bird cliffs, in front of the tea house.


Our hotel also had its own European Oystercatcher, desperately seeking a mate, and it was continuously displaying in the hotel's garden.


Then it was off to the bird cliffs at ₱ufubjarg. These cliffs were about 500 feet high, with sheer drops straight down into the ocean. Of course, you simply walk up to the edge of the cliff and lean over to see all the birds!


Next we went to Ondverdarnes Cape and the beautiful bird cliffs at Svötuloft. These cliffs were even higher than at ufubjarg, and I found a comfy spot nestled right on the edge of the cliff in the warm sun (and out of the wind) while mom used her scope from the much safer distance of the base of the lighthouse (only about 75 feet from me, but without the possibility of tumbling 750 feet into the ocean). Still... my spot was like having a recliner chair right on the edge of the cliff!


We then drove around the western edge of the Peninsula, with views to the south of the Reykjanes Peninsula and to the north of West Fjords region, and encountered "drive thru bird cliffs" of Olafsvik. The road is at the base of 1,000 foot cliffs, with the ocean immediately on one side and towering walls just feet away on the other, and you hang out the car and look at all the sea birds nesting on the cliff. This was the second "auto pelagic" trip we had in Iceland. We then took a harrowing (the first of what would be many) single lane gravel road from Olafsvik (on the north side of the peninsula) over a mountain range and back to the south side of the peninsula to Budir where we encountered this waterfall.


Then back to Hotel Hellnar for a delicious dinner. Below is a video from Hotel Hellnar taken at midnight.

June 17, 2009 - Reykjavik to Snaefellsnes (Snowy Peninsula)

Today we drove from Reykjavik to Snaefellsnes. We stayed at Hotel Hellnar which is at the base of Snaefellsjokul (Elevation 4,500', name translates as Snowy Mountain Glacier, and is active volcano with a glacier completely covering the top half). We reached the West Iceland region via a 7km long tunnel underneath Hvalfjordur (Whale Fjord).

We were quite surprised that Hotel Hellnar had its very own bird cliffs! An absolutely stunning location and quite a delightful hotel.

After checking in we drove into Snaefellsjokull National Park and saw 2 Arctic Foxes! They aren't easy to see, and the last count had only 3 active Arctic Fox dens in the National Park. Here's a video we took of the Arctic Fox (summer coats are dark, but the tails are white).

Here, too, is some video shot from inside my room of the bird cliffs at Hotel Hellnar. And with the midnite sun you can watch the birds 24 hours a day!

2 Days Without Internet Access

Sorry for the lack of updates, we were without internet access for two days.

But what exiting times we've had! Work on getting pics and videos uploaded is taking place right now... and might take awhile.

Greetings from the westernmost point in Europe!

OK... I now have several pics to share while I process videos.

Mom at the world-famous Latrabjarg Bird Cliffs in the West Fjords Region. These cliffs were 1,000 - 3,000 feet high and dropped straight down to the ocean. Stunning videos from Latrabjarg ;-)

Me at the bird cliffs at Hellnar on the Snaefellsnes Peninsula. These cliffs were only 500 feet high (stunning video from here, too!).

Stykissholmur Harbor as we sailed out on our 4 hour trip to Iceland's West Fjords Region. It was 20 degrees and windy.

National Museum of Iceland and Reykjanes Peninsula

First part of the morning was spent at the National Museum of Iceland which is quite extraordinary!

We also discovered that you don't need a car to do serious birding in Iceland... simply walk 5 minutes to the local park and all the rare birds you've hoped to see are right there at your feet.

And we also did a "pelagic trip" by car, a first for us. The roads are conveniently designed for viewing pelagic birds from inside your car (a handy thing when in the midst of 50MPH winds).

The Reykjanes Peninsula was a gem and offered bountiful opportunities for birding (Hafnaberg Bird Cliffs), as well as stunning countryside completely covered with lava, steep mountains, geothermal areas (Yes, we did go to the Blue Lagoon... but not into the Blue Lagoon as it was a torrential downpour and almost hurricane-force winds).

Here are some Whooper Swans down the street from our hotel in Reykjavik

The must sought after Tufted Duck is below:

Arctic Terns are EVERYWHERE!

A nice thing about being astride the Mid-Atlantic Rift, dividing Europe from North America, is that we get to add birds to 2 continental lists (we're quite busy making sure which continent we're on when viewing a bird). Sometimes we're on both continents at the same time!