Day 1: Arrival in Reyjavik (Keflavik International Airport). Flight to Akureyri and transfer to Myvatn

After meeting at Reykjavik airport this morning, we will take a short and scenic domestic flight over volcanoes and lava fields to the northern town of Akureyri, which sits just below the Arctic Circle. A short drive through a mountain range brings us to our picturesque guesthouse adjacent the Goðafoss Falls. There are abundant chances for birding and photography within a short walk of our lodging. If you fancy landscape photography you can head to the thundering falls, one of the largest and most beautiful in this country that is incredibly rich in waterfalls. Birds also abound, with Eurasian Oystercatcher, European Golden-Plovers, Whimbrel, and Common Snipe on the lawn, and Rock Ptarmigans often calling from surrounding rock pinnacles or even from the roof of the guesthouse! The days are almost 24-hours long here, so there is abundant time for the tireless to explore the area!

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Days 2-3: Lake Myvatn area

We’ll spend two full days in the northeast corner of Iceland, exploring the area around Lake Myvatn. One of our main goals will be to search the many rivers for stunning Harlequin Ducks and Barrow’s Goldeneyes. Throughout the day we will be blown away by the numbers of waterfowl around this recently formed lake, and we hope to photograph stunning Horned Grebes, Red-necked Phalaropes, Common Mergansers, Common and Red-throated loons, and a bounty of shorebirds, all in their finest breeding refinery and often incredibly approachable. If we are lucky we will find the scarce Gyrfalcon which inhabits this area too. We will also see the amazing geological features of the Myvatyn area, the steaming fumeroles of Krafla, the boiling mudpots of the Hverir geothermal field, the Viti explosion crater and the Dimmuborgir ‘Dark Castles’ formations. These three nights will be in the Myvatn area.

 

Day 4: Myvatn to Búðardalur

We will break up our journey to the Westfjords area with a night near Búðardalur. Along the way, we’ll make many stops to opportunistically birdwatch and photograph along the way. One of the great things about Iceland is that you are never without avian subjects, from the moment that you land in Keflavik Airport. We’ll focus on getting good photo ops of any shorebird and waterfowl species that might have eluded us around Lake Myvatn. This might include Pink-footed Goose, a species that breeds in some of the high-elevation valleys that we drive through. The night will be spent in Búðardalur.

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Day 5: Búðardalur to Westfjords

After a little morning photography around our hotel, we’ll continue west, and by mid-day, we will have arrived in the Westfjords, one of the most rugged, wild, and beautiful parts of this stunning island. We may have time to make our first excursion to a seabird breeding cliff, our main region for visiting this area.

 

Day 6: Westfjords. We’ll spend the entire day in the Westfjords

Our main targets are the alcids, especially the ridiculously photogenic Atlantic Puffin. Its strong supporting cast includes Common and Thick-billed Murres, Razorbill, and Black Guillemnot. These stubby-winged “penguins” of the northern hemisphere are endlessly charismatic. If you tire of photographing them on the cliff, you can always turn to the challenge of capturing them as they rocket by in flight. Other birds on these cliffs include Black-legged Kittiwake, Northern Fulmar, and several species of gulls. Our position on top of a cliff gives us a unique and wonderful perspective as birds like fulmars fly by at eye level.

 

Day 7: Westfjords to Keflavik

Another half-day drive will bring us to our final hotel on the Keflavik peninsula southwest of Reykjavik, where we can make an evening trip to the peninsula in search of yet more birds, or for those that wish, to visit the famous Blue Lagoon thermal baths (optional). The night will be spent in Keflavik near the international airport, but if folks wish they can take the Skybus into Reykjavic, Iceland’s fascinating capital, located right at the top of the World, (it is the most northerly capital of any sovereign state), with its well-deserved reputation as the greenest, cleanest, and safest city in the world.

 

Day 8: Departure from Reyjavik (Keflavik International Airport)

If flight times allow, there may be time to have one final search of the peninsula for alcids, shorebirds, gulls, before making our way to the airport to board our flights home.