Icland 23. July (1 Viewer)

[Gilbert H]

Hey,

i will go to Iceland with some friends this year. We planned to do the trip in the early july but unfortunately we have to go from 23.7. to 1.8.

Are there some birds I will miss because of the late time of our trip (Auks,
Gannets,...)?

My friends aren't realy interested in birds. This will probably be our
tour:

10 days Iceland

Reykjavik
Nationalpark Thinvellir – Gullfoss – Geysire
Thjorsardalur – Vik
Nationalpark Skaftafell
Gletscherlagune Jökulsarlon - Höfn - Ostfjorde
Egilsstadir - Myvatn
Dettifoss - Husavik - Akureyri
Akureyri - Skagafjord - Borgarfjord
Borgarfjord – Reykjavik

Are there some good spots on the road where we can have quick stops?
I don't want the group to drive hours just for some birds they didn't
want to see I hope there will be some good species on lake Myvatn.

Where will be the best chance to see Gyrfalcons? Will Snowy Owl be
possible?

all the best,
Gilbert

 

[Edward]

Hi Gilbert

Iceland is an easy place to visit with non-birders as in summer there are birds pretty much everywhere by the roadside, although many of the waders will be less noticeable than earlier in the summer, and some will have left, and the ducks will not be in their most attractive plumage. Gannets will still be around and you may be able to find auks - they are usually present until the beginning of August (there will certainly be Puffins at Vik, Puffins stay around longer). However, you don't really visit any of the main sites for the two guillemot species and Razorbill on that itinerary. There are a few Common Guillemots (from memory) at Dýrhólaey which you non-birding friends would enjoy too.
You'll see plenty of Great Skuas at Jökulsárlón, although the scenery there is so great that you might not even notice the birds. You may also see Barnacle Geese from Iceland's breeding population on the lagoon.
NE Iceland is possibly the best place in the world to see Gyr Falcon, in particular the area around Myvatn and also the area between Ásbyrgi and Húsavík, but they also occur across much of the country, but are less common in the south.
Snowy Owl is possible but not too likely - your best bet is keeping your eyes peeled on the high moorlands between Egilsstaðir and Mývatn. There should be Reindeer here too.

There is a lot of of information on the distribution of Icelandic birds on eBird
http://ebird.org/ebird/GuideMe?repo...ocations=countries&continue.x=49&continue.y=7
Just click on "Map" next to the species name for sightings.

 

[Gilbert H]

Hi Edward,

thx for the answer. I've read some reports and I'm realy looking forward
to this trip!

all the best,
Gilbert

 

[Gilbert H]

So, I'm back in Austria and Iceland was great. Like Edwad said, there were birds "pretty much everywhere by the roadside".
I saw many of my target species, except Gyrfalcon, Snowy Owl and Thick-billed Murre. Sadly we had realy bad weather when
we was at Myvatn.

Travel report:
http://www.naturimseewinkel.at/Gilbert/?p=1991

I added some comments in english and a list of all birds we saw at the end of the report.

On our second day we decided to go to Vestmannaeyjar, this was probably one oft the most impressive sides on our tour.
Myvatn was great to, even the weather was bad. It was so nice to see the female harlequins with their ducklings swimming
and diving against the stream at the river Laxa.

After checking your website @ Edward, I know why I haven't found Steller's Eider - But the Borgarfjörður, which is 1 hour north of Reykjavík, was also nice