Bird Species Listing for Iceland Birding Trip - June 13-23, 2009

And index on the right side of the page directs you to specific posts from the many places we visited. Or simply scroll through the several pages of posts (click "older posts") at the bottom of each page.

Here is the list of 57 bird species we saw while birding in Iceland from June 13-23, 2009. Main birding areas visited were: Reykjanes Peninsula, Reykjavik, Golden Circle Route (Thingvellir, Geysir, Gulfoss and Selfoss), Snaefellsnes Peninsula, Breidafjörder, West Fjords Region (Látrabjarg, Patreksfjördur and Tálknafjördur), Akureyri and Myvatn.

Should you be planning a birding trip to Iceland please feel free to ask us questions!

Below is the AOU name followed by the scientific name. Parenthetical names are the Icelandic common name.

Whooper Swan - Cygnus cygnus

Greylag Goose - Anser anser

Eurasian Wigeon - Anas penelope

Gadwall - Anas strepera

Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos

Tufted Duck - Aythya fuligula

Greater Scaup - Aythya marila

Common Eider - Somateria mollissima
Harlequin Duck - Histrionicus histrionicus

Long-tailed Duck - Clangula hyemalis

Black Scoter - Melanitta nigra

Barrow's Golden-eye - Bucephala islandica

Red-breasted Merganser - Mergus serrator

Common Merganser - Mergus merganser (Goosander)

Red-throated Loon - Gavia stellata (Red-throated Diver)

Common Loon - Gavia immer (Great Northern Diver)

Horned Grebe - Podiceps auritus (Slavonian Grebe)

Northern Fulmar - Fulmaris glacialis

Northern Gannet - Morus bassanus

Great Cormorant - Phalacrocorax carbo

European Shag - Phalacrocorax aristotelis

Eurasian Oystercatcher - Haematopus ostralegus

Common Ringed Plover - Charadrius hiaticula (Ringed Plover)

European Golden Plover - Pluvialis apricaria

Purple Sandpiper - Calidris maritima

Dunlin - Calidris alpina

Wilson's Snipe - Gallinago gallinago (Common Snipe)

Black-tailed Godwit - Limosa lapponica

Whimbrel - Numenius phaeopus

Common Redshank - Tringa totanus

Ruddy Turnstone - Arenaria interpres

Red-necked Phalarope - Phalaropus lobatus

Red Phalarope - Phalaropus fulicarius (Grey Phalarope)

Parasitic Jaeger - Stercorarius parasiticus (Arctic Skua)

Long-tailed Jaeger - Stercorarius longicaudus (Long-tailed Skua)

Black-headed Gull - Larus ridibundus

Lesser Black-backed Gull - Larus fuscus

Herring Gull - Larus argentatus

Iceland Gull - Larus glaucoides

Glaucous Gull - Larus hyperboreus

Great Black-backed Gull - Larus marinus

Black-legged Kittiwake - Risa tridactyla

Arctic Tern - Sterna paradisaea

Common Murre - Uria aalge (Common Guillemot)

Thick-billed Murre - Uria lomvia (Brunnich's Guillemot)

Razorbill - Alca torda

Black Guillemot - Cepphus grylle

Atlantic Puffin - Fratercula arctica

Meadow Pipit - Anthus pratensis

White Wagtail - Motacilla alba

Winter Wren - Troglodytes troglodytes

Northern Wheatear - Oenanthe oenanthe

Redwing - Turdus iliacus

Common Raven - Corvus corax

European Starling - Sturnus vulgaris (Common Starling)

Common Redpoll - Carduelis flammea (Mealy Redpoll)

Snow Bunting - Plectrophenax nivalis

We're Back! - June 24, 2009

The Location Tracker has been moved down, and the index of posts moved up, to make navigation easier.

56 bird species! A complete list in AOU order will be coming soon!

We departed Akureyri (in North Iceland) midday on June 23 and flew to Reykjavik's city center airport. From there we took the FlyBus Shuttle for the 40 mile trip to Keflavik International Airport (Reykjavik's domestic flights use the City Center airport and the international flights operate out of Keflavik).

One doesn't need to arrive early for a flight out of Akureyri. We arrived 1 hour 10 minutes prior to our 11:40am flight... not outlandishly early in our opinion considering we had to drop off our rental car. But the rental car counters were all closed, and when I picked up the Avis courtesy phone it rang the Avis employee at her house! She arrived at 11am, found me in the terminal, took the keys and rental car agreement, and then came back with the processed paperwork.

One thing that speeds things up is that there isn't any security screening one needs to go through to board a plane. Most people seemed to show up about 15 minutes before departure.

You can't help but like an airline that allows you to roll your bike onboard!

It was cloudy the entire flight, except for the first couple of minutes after takeoff and the last 2 minutes before landing in Reykjavik.

Our Icelandair flight took us over Greenland, Labrador (Canada) and Maine to Boston. We arrived in Boston in time for dinner.

Today, June 24th, Mom came by my office for breakfast and a tour of the Harvard Medical School lab at the hospital, and then we took a ZipCar to the airport for her JetBlue flight to Orlando.
And now we're both home!

What a wonderful vacation!

We saw 53 bird species!

Drive from Myvatn to Akureyri - June 22, 2009

The drive between Myvatn and Akureyri is quite beautiful with tall snow-covered mountains (we were driving above the snow line at times), fast flowing mountain streams and rivers, and fjords!

Approaching Akureyri on Ring Road 1 from the east you descend at 10% grade for several kilometers and get stunning views of the fjord and the city of Akureyri.

We fly out of Akureyri tomorrow at mid-day for Reykjavik, where we'll transfer to Keflavik Airport for our flight to Boston.

We haven't seen night since June 13!

And I just looked outside (just after 1am) and the sky is blue and a Parasitic Jaeger flew over the hotel.

Geothermal Explorations in Myvatn, Iceland

Iceland has LOTS of hot water. And the hot water is REALLY hot! It's piped directly into homes and has a sulphur aroma to it (very strong aroma in Reykjavik, less strong in other cities).

Car washes are free, too.

We visited geothermal areas in Bjarnarflag, Hverir and Krafla (an active volcano)... all just 3 - 10 kilometers east of Reykjahlid at Myvatn.

We also went to the Jardbodin Nature Baths in Bjarnarflag (like the Blue Lagoon, but better).

Bjarnarflag is also where the world famous "Bjarnarflag Braud" is made. It's bread cooked in milk cartons in holes dug in the ground. The geothermal heat cooks the bread. It's delicious!

And we visited the world's first, and still the largest, geothermal plant that generates electricity. We even drove through the pipes transporting the water from the volcano the the generators.

Birds of Myvatn

Good heavens, we saw lots of birds today! Myvatn is a major breeding area for birds in Iceland, some of which, among them Barrow's Goldeneye, only breed at Myvatn.

Some of the species we saw were Black-tailed Godwits, Harlequin Ducks, Barrow's Goldeneye, Scoters (forgot which one... will have to check the list), Gray Phalaropes, Red-necked Phalaropes, Eurasian Widgeons, European Golden Plovers, Snow Buntings, Gadwall, Wheatear, Redeye, White Wagtail, Falco lambarctica* and many more.











*A "called out" Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticola) that turned out to be an Icelandic Sheep. It was 1,000 feet up on a cliff... those 2 white fluffy legs made me think Gyrfalcon! Ask mom about the Black-billed Swan!

Akureyri, Iceland - Godafoss & Myvatn - June 22, 2009

Updating videos now. Had an incredible day in Akureyri and Myvatn, and wound up on a wonderful excursion and discovery due to a search for a loaf of Hverabraud / Bjarnarsflagbraud (bread made in geothermal underground ovens).


Below, a Black-tailed Godwit. One of 11 seen today. We've been able to get really close to them.
Mom at Godafoss, a historic waterfall on the way to Myvatn. In 1000AD, the chieftain who decided Iceland should become Christian, tossed his pagan idols into the falls after making the conversion.

Me at Godafoss.



Above the fjord opposite Akureyri.

Látrabjarg Bird Cliffs - June 19, 2009

We're in Akureyri right now... it's June 20, 2009... It's brilliantly lit by natural light outside (12:53am local time). We're off to bird at Lake Myvatn tomorrow.

Nothing can describe our experience at the Látrabjarg bird cliffs in the West Fjords region. Nothing can describe driving there, mile after mile after mile, on single-lane gravel roads on cliffs 1,000 to 2,000 feet high with sheer straight down drops into the ocean.

There aren't any guard rails.

My hands have callouses from constantly gripping the steering wheel.

Here are some videos... I'll try to get even more uploaded for you. Fullmars, Guillemots, Black Guillemots, Black-headed Gulls, Puffins, Murres, Razorbills... the list goes on and on.

For some reason I thought the road let you off at the top of the cliffs. But instead it lets you off at the bottom! You have to climb to the top of the cliffs, and the cliffs range from 1,000 - 3,000 feet high.