Winter Alcids (1 Viewer)

Hello, I am in the early stages of planning a Feb 2020 trip to Iceland for my wife's birthday. She's not a birder and the main goal of the trip is to keep her happy (Blue Lagoon and Ice Cave tours and such). That said she is generally amendable to short stops for me to look for life birds. Are there any pretty reliable locations between the airport and Hof for Dovekie and Black Guillemot?

I'm definitely interested in White Tailed Eagles too but don't think I'll be travelling in the right areas for them.

I appreciate any information.

Regards,
John Facchini
San Francisco

Hi John

The best thing to do is start looking at eBird, plenty of sightings from Iceland there. The short answer for Dovekie is no, there are no reliable sites. Numbers vary greatly from year to year, and they are always much scarcer in southern Iceland than northern Iceland. Black Guillemot is far more common. Try harbours in any of the towns such as Grindavík or Þorlákshöfn (good for birds, but not necessarily the most attractive locations for non-birders). Also the harbour and seafront in Reykjavík could be good for Black Guillemot. The sites for Black Guillemot will also double up as sites for Dovekie (if there are any around). Note however that the south coast from Þorlákshöfn all the way to Höfn is fairly inaccessible for birding due to the nature of the land (glacial sands). White-tailed Eagle does actually occur in small numbers in southern Iceland in winter but is elusive. Again try eBird (or send me a message next winter and I'll see if I have any updates).