An Atlantic Puffin sits outside its burrow on a nesting cliff above the town of Vik in southern Iceland [Photo by Lukas Musher]
Some of you may know, (though most of you probably don’t and why would you?), that I was just in Iceland with my girlfriend, Audrey (everybody please give her a warm welcome to the birding community), for a combination of hiking, camping, birding, and general nature viewing. I’d never been to the Arctic before this… and I still haven’t! Iceland is actually just south of the Arctic circle (though a few Icelandic islands do make it across this invisible line) and thus considered to be subarctic geographically speaking, but this was actually the farthest north I’ve ever been. I won’t lie, this trip was only partially about birding, but we still saw a lot of birds, and the photographic opportunities were endless. Iceland is absolutely one of my new favorite places, and I hope you enjoy some of my photos.
Iceland is a large island country in the North Atlantic just east of southern Greenland. Geologically speaking it is actually the tallest peak of the mid-Atlantic ridge, which runs along the ocean floor down the center of the Atlantic ocean. It is entirely volcanic, and no matter where you are in the country, you are not far from a hot spring, thermal bath, or snow-capped volcano. In some places even the earth is scorching hot – hot enough that a delicious rye bread is baked just beneath the earth’s surface. Its northern and oceanic location make it a great place to see many species of breeding seabirds along with other great birds and animals.
Our trip started in Reykjavik and took us all the way around the country through beautiful blue fjords, and glacier-capped mountains, steaming hot thermal pools, and powder blue lagoons dotted with icebergs. Everywhere we went there were Northern Fulmars and Atlantic Puffins, flying over to their nests on nearby ocean-facing cliffs. Here are some of the birds we commonly saw. P.S. I forgot to watermark my photos. If you steal them without credit I will hunt you down.