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Merlins are wonderful little birds of prey. While driving near Lake Myvatn on a sunny June evening I saw a silhouette of a merlin in a lava field
near Lake Myvatn. I parked the car, got my photo gear together and went to take a better look. I found a family of Merlins, at least 4. I got
a couple of shots of then and after I proceeded to leave them in peace I noticed two youngsters perched together.
I slowly edged myself toward them and to my amazement they where totally at ease with me. They seemed preoccupied with each other and
preened and stretched while I photographed them for probably 15 minutes.
On one of my photo trips to NW-Iceland I got my first (and only) close encounter with a White-tailed eagle. I was driving in brilliant weather on the
north side of the Snaefellsnes peninsula. I allways drive slowly there in case I see something of interest. This time I got lucky and barely caught a glimps of what I
believed to be a eagle flying off a short distance from the road. I decided to make a sharp u-turn and see if I might be able to spot the eagle again. To
my surprise I saw the eagle standing on a rock about 20m from the road after a short drive. I stopped, got my camera and took a couple of shots. Then I got out of the car and
took a couple of more shots and eventually the eagle got bored with me and flew off. There are about 65 breeding pairs of White-tailed eagles in Iceland. About 2/3
of the population are in Breiðafjörður. It is prohibited to approach within 500 meters of nesting sites between 15
March and 15 August. Please do not publish details about nesting sites you come across on trips to Iceland.
On a sunny day on a mountain road in NW-Iceland I saw what looked like a strange triangular shaped snow heap in the distance. I got a strange feeling and stopped the car.
I suspected that this was something worth checking out. I took my binoculars and to my surprise I saw a male Snowy owl. I got really excited and got my photo gear
together and on all fours started to crawl near the owl. I got some shots and the owl flew off. When I got to the car I realized that in my excitement I overexposed the
owl. There was practically no detail in the white feathers. Luckily I found the owl again and got some decent shots. Im not very happy with the results. Maybe I will get
a better chance to photograph a snowy at a later date. Snowy owls are irregular breeders in Iceland. The last known attempted breeding was in 1998. If you see a
Snowy owl in Iceland please drop me a line!
One of my absolute favorit birds are Red-throated divers. I have spent many evenings at The Flói Nature Reserve along the eastern bank of the Ölfusá River trying to photograph Red-throated divers.
The nature reserve is reclaimed wetlands and covers about 5 square kilometers. There are many small ponds there where divers and other birds breed. Read more about the wetlands at
Bidlife Icelands website: www.fuglavernd.is.
Látrabjarg is one of my favorit places. It is the western most point of Europe. It is a 440 meter cliff where among others, Puffins, Razorbills and Guillemots breed. The Puffins at Látrabjarg are completly
fearless of humans, and tourists photograph them there at point blank range. Daníel Bergmann, a Icelandic nature photographer has written a brilliant article about Látrabjarg,
read it at Daníels site :www.danielbergmann.com. If visiting Látrabjarg is not possible then you
may want to visit Hafnaberg bird cliff on the Reykjanes peninsula. Hafnaberg is about a
45 minute walk from the parking lot by the road to Reykjkanes viti. Another bird cliff worth mentioning is Svörtuloft at the tip of the Snæfellsnes peninsula.
Brünnich's Guillemot can be seen at all these cliffs during breeding season but the largest colony is at Látrabjarg. The Brünnich's Guillemot colony at Hafnaberg is small.
Lake Mývatn is a birders paradise. It is Icelands fourth largest lake, covering 37 square kilometers.
It is at the edge of the volcanic zone cutting through north Iceland. Mývatn translates into "Midge Lake".
The midges are a important food source for ducks and fish. The main attractions for European birders are the
Harlequin and Barrow's Goldeneye Ducks. The Harlequin Ducks can only be found on the river Laxá but the Goldeneyes can
also be found on the main lake. Mývatn is also the largest breeding ground for Horned Grebes in Iceland. Grebes can be
found at Álftagerði at the southern part of the lake to the west of the Hotel. Grebes can even be photographed from the car at Álftagerði.
15 species of ducks breed at Mývatn and also Red-necked Phalaropes. Gyrfalcons can also be seen at Mývatn.
Feel free to contact me if you need information about Icelandic birds. Be sure to check out
Birding Icelands specialities page and Gavia Travel if you are planing a birding trip to Iceland.
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