Birds!

One of the main goals of this trip was to FINALLY get to see some Northern Gannets.  They're incredibly common here, if you're in the right place, which we never have been.  So I looked for the biggest nesting site, and of course it turned out to be far off the beaten path, which is the reason we're driving the Jimny, a sprightly, small, 4WD Jeep-like vehicle.

Here's what we were after:



And here's where they're found, at Stóri Karl (Big Man) Skoruvíkurbjarg (Skoru Cove Rock) on the Langanes Peninsula (Long Cape Peninsula):


And the roads look like this:


So rather a lot of planning went into this.  Much of it was done by the folks at Hey Iceland!, a travel agency that was more flexible than Nordic Visitor, which we used in 2013 for the trip all the way around the country. We told them where we wanted to go, how long we had, and left them to it. So far, it's been perfect.

Anyway, on to the photos!  This is a mere sampling....we can post more if anyone wants to see them. These will mostly be from Lars' camera, which is a more advanced one than Sheila's and proved better at focusing at the distance involved.

After driving a while, we saw a very modern-looking bird blind, so pulled off for the first bird cliff of the trip.  We could HEAR the birds, but they were a bit hard to see, even with binoculars, so really you just started taking pics and hoped some turned out.  This first cliff was mostly Guillemots, some with chicks, and a few Black-legged Kittiwakes (Thanks, Merlin Bird ID app for the identifications! Gulls and their kin can be hard to tell apart.).





Then a bit farther up the road, we came to the overlook for Stóri Karl.

Stóri Karl is a sea-stack about 10-15 meters from the cliff face, and it was absolutely COVERED with Gannets! We went from never having seen even one, to seeing hundreds in just a few steps.

Here you can see how close it is to the cliff (yes, those are sheep).

Just a few gannets!



Even though mating season is long over, bonded pairs often do some 'fencing' and posturing.

I'm glad I'm not the farmer that has to retrieve THESE sheep!


A smaller sea-stack with a bunch of juveniles (not yet totally white)

The water was very clear.

Another cliff full of Black-legged Kittiwakes


And a sweet pair of Arctic Fulmars (although if you read up on them, they aren't so sweet!)

Every cliff was full of birds, though some were difficult to reach.
The turf is both lumpy and springy, making it hard to walk.

And of course, there were other birds along the way!
European Golden Plover

Can you find the bird?

Snow Bunting

Almost missed this flock of Dunlins!

Sorry, not a bird. Alpine Gentian.

Common Eiders

Also not a bird.






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