Birding in Iceland (1 Viewer)

My wife and I will be taking a cruise (on the Oceania Marina) this coming July that starts in Copenhagen and ends in Dover, England with stops at Kristiansand, Bergen & Sognefjord in Norway, Lerwick in the Shetlands, Torshavn in the Faroes, Isafjordur & Reykjavic in Iceland, Belfast, the Isle of Man and Dublin.

One of the ship’s tours at the Isafjordur stop is The Bird Island of Vigur seemed to offer a good birding opportunity. Is this a good tour to take? Or, is there a better place nearby. We are scheduled to be there from 8:00 to 18:00.

At our Reykjavic stop the ship offers a Whale Watching tour that we are considering taking. Is this good? Any other suggestions? Again we are there from 8:00 to 18:00

Any suggestions or ideas will be appreciated.

While I've been to Ísafjörður several times I've never been to Vigur but I'm sure you'll enjoy the trip there. There are lots of Black Guillemots, Common Eider and Puffins nesting on the island and I imagine that there are Snow Buntings breeding there too. I've seen Humpback Whales breaching in the main fjord by Ísafjörður before so keep your eyes peeled. On your way from Ísafjörður to Reykjavík your ship will pass close to Látrabjarg, which is Europe's biggest bird cliff, and it has hundreds of thousands of pairs of Common Murres and Thick-billed Murres and a significant proportion of the world's Razorbills. I'm not sure how close your ship will get but there should be plenty of auks flying around at sea there. Glaucous Gulls are also common in this area and around Ísafjörður.

Whalewatching trips from Reykjavík are generally good for seeing Minke Whales and perhaps Humpback Whales. As for birds then you'll see plenty of Puffins, Arctic Terns, Gannets, Fulmars to name a few commons species and maybe Parasitic Jaegers, Great Skuas, European Storm-petrels and Manx Shearwaters. On dry land in Reykjavík then there are birds like Whooper Swan in the pond in the middle of the city and you can see Redwings wherever there are any trees.

I was in Iceland last summer (July) and had a superb time. We had a few hours in Bolungarvik, not far from Isafjordur, and a small lake just outside town held breeding Great northern divers and Greater scaup, with plenty of Arctic skuas too. The whole of Iceland is one big bird colony.

We took a whale trip from Reykjavik and it was great. Minke whales very close, plus White-beaked dolphins, masses of Puffins, Gannets, Skuas, Mank shearwaters and European storm-petrels.

Latrabjarg is incredible - miles and miles of auks, a true spectacle.

Thanks for the great tips

MariettaBirder said:

Thanks for the great tips

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See my posting on Faroes re Whale Watching.
Not to be advised!
You'll see so much more on deck without paying a fortune to get taken out in a bumpy boat to see the same Whales!

One of the ship’s tours at the Isafjordur stop is The Bird Island of Vigur seemed to offer a good birding opportunity. Is this a good tour to take? Or, is there a better place nearby. We are scheduled to be there from 8:00 to 18:00.


Visited the island a few years ago and had a great time. Plenty to see. Hope you enjoy the visit.

andy.h said:

Visited the island a few years ago and had a great time. Plenty to see. Hope you enjoy the visit.

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Thanks Andy, I'm looking forward to it.