DRAFT***

This blog report is in progress. I continue to work on it and am writing the next port destinations. I will post them when each destination page is posted. For now, I am posting them out of order. When I have completed the entire trip report, I will re-post them in order. 

                           Port #4, Second Stop in Iceland - Akureyri

                               Day 5, Friday, August 15, 2025

          We are scheduled to arrive in the port of Akureyri 10:00 am. It was a nice gentle sail last night and so far this morning. Akureyri is a distance from the sea at the head of the fjord.  It will probably take a few hours sail into the fjord to reach it. I started out on our veranda early like always, and was surprised to find the bird activity was real slow. 

       Other than a few scattered Kittiwake and the usual Fulmars, it was quiet. The scenery was so gorgeous, it made the slow birding less important. I knew there would be plenty of birds to experience, it was only the early hours of the second stop in Iceland..... still early in the overall cruise.

                  Glaciers are always exciting to see and experience. This area had quite a few.

   A lonely Lighthouse perched high atop the rocky ledge island..... a danger to all vessels, especially at high tide!! . 

     The sun broke through the morning clouds, looks like it is going to be a beautiful day! The Puffin Decoy arrives in the fjord leading to Akureyri. 

        Here are the birds, finally! I thought the Fulmars were gong to be a no-show! 

  

                                                               Getting closer!

        The sun that we thought would be making its presence today, decided to hide back into the clouds. Most of the day the sun did stay hidden behind the curtain, but it did pop-out from time to time. The day was also a little chilly......thankfully we brought some winter sweaters and jackets with us. 

                                 Gorgeous lush green fields at the base of the mountains. 

                         ...... and along the shoreline of these green fields.......Eiders! 

                               Eiders and the first Great Cormorants I saw in Iceland. 

                  We crossed over where the current in this area and the tide motion met- 

        One thing I was glad to see were all the Eiders along both shorelines....made me hopeful that I would have opportunities for them up close today....fingers crossed! 

                  First Gulls of the day with the Eiders: Lesser Black-backed and Euro Herring Gulls- 

                                                                     Akureyri- 

     I was wondering why I hadn't seen any Fulmars on the voyage up the fjord..... they are all in town rafted in the harbor. 

                                                      Did I mention Glaciers?

                            .......... and a lot more Fulmars-

                    Several Harbor Porpoise were exploring the harbor area- 

       The Statendam approached the cruise ship dock right on time! We were greeted by a small raft of Iceland Eiders...... perfect greeting! I was hoping that I would be able to access that breakwater and bulkhead to photograph and study the Eiders much closer?? Unfortunately, that area was fenced off and private; there will be other opportunities. 

                      The view looking back down the very long fjord from our veranda- 

                       Here come the heavy clouds over the mountain and Glaciers- 

           Now the Fulmars started flying.....all around and over the ship at the dock! :^)

        As I had mentioned earlier in this blog trip report, most of the cruise ship docks are usually in commercially active ports which are not often accessible to foot traffic including photographers. On top of that, the cruise ship docks are often secure areas with very limited (if any) access. This is the case for Akureyri. From our veranda on the starboard bow area, the sight plane I had was over the commercial buildings on the side of the cruise ship pier. It was OK for Gull watching. Lesser Black-backed and Herring Gulls were plentiful. Although to the west I could see public access along the waterfront heading towards town. There was a public walkway that followed the shoreline away from the cruise ship piers. This is what Jen and I were hoping for. 

     Today we had booked a Whale Watch for our excursion trip. The tour didn't leave the small tour boat harbor near the cruise ship dock until 1:00 pm. Jen and I decided to go to breakfast early so we would be able to have a light early lunch before we disembarked the Statendam to go on the whale watch. 

     We sat on the port side of the ship in the restaurant which overlooked the water area in the harbor. There were plenty of Gulls moving about as well as a few Kittiwake and Fulmars. Along the other shoreline, there were small flocks of Eiders milling about. After breakfast Jen and I took a short walk to the outside deck on the stern. What seemed like a few minutes since we had stepped outside, a juvenile Gull passed by the ship. As it turned out, it was a Viking Gull (Glaucous Gull x Herring Gull hybrid)! Nice bird! That was one that I wasn't expecting to see. 

      Jen noticed a duck swimming towards us while we were standing on the outer deck on the stern. It was a hen Eider and it was heading to the starboard side along the bulkhead of the pier. This one appeared to be getting a little closer so it raise my hopes about getting a few closer shots of an Eider. 

     I was pleasantly surprised that this beautiful hen eventually ended up right below me! The Eider gave me perfect "from above" close-ups that for me as a bird carver/decoy carver were shots I didn't have. Perfect!! Even though she was still in moult with some rough around the edges feathers , she was still quite a beauty!!

      The lovely hen stayed about five minutes milling around the pier and then she swam off. Jen and I headed back to our room to get ready for the Whale Watch. For me back on the veranda for a little while checking out the Gulls. First Black-headed Gull for this port-

    A quick look at all the Gulls roosting on the roofs of the commercial buildings revealed mostly Herring Gulls, with a few Lesser Black-backed in the mx.......

                                ...... and this pair of Great Black-backed Gulls.

                           ...... and another Viking Gull, this one an adult.

      Right on time, at 12:30 pm our group was instructed to disembark the ship. We passed through the security area on the muster deck of the ship, walked down the long gangway, and down the cruise ship pier to an open gate in the fence. We passed through the guard station, and walked a short distance to regroup and meet our ship's excursion guide staff member for the day. He mentioned to all of us that we would be led to the whale boat by walking along the shoreline public walkway; the one I mentioned seeing off the ship. He told us that it would be a short ten minute walk and everyone was really anxious.

  Keeping in mind that our excursion guide was 26 years old and he was six foot ten inches tall! :^) Adding to that the most of the people going on this whale watch were seniors, elderly with many having walkers, canes and Oxygen back packs..... ten minutes turned into twenty-five minutes or longer for many. Jen and I and a few others pitched in to help the others who were struggling...... I told them take your time, the boat won't leave without us! As turned out the short distance was at least a quarter of a mile! We all got there in good shape! Also, once we all gathered again at the whale watch office at the docks, we sat around for twenty minutes before they started boarding. Plenty of time, no need to rush!

Well, while we were all walking to the whale watch docks, my attention was obviously drawn to the several juvenile Black Guillemot that were present along the public walkway. Good time to take a break and take a few images. 

 

        While I was photographing the Black Guillemot at a short distance from shore, this one just popped-up from a dive close to the bulkhead. I never knew it was there. 

    And while I was photographing the Guillemot that was close to me...... this one flew in and landed.  This location turned out to be a perfect place to study and photograph Black Guillemot.

 

                       Halfway to the whale watch docks....... a view of the moored Statendam. 

          Arrived to the whale watch office. Most of the people Jen and I were assisting were relieved!! 

   The mates on the whale tour boat came out to greet all of us, and told us we could start boarding the boat starting with the elderly and handicapped..... perfect! That long walk was difficult enough, they deserve the best seats! The dock to the whale boat was a floating dock.... thankfully it wasn't bouncing around from any wind and waves!

    Of course there was a few more Black Guillemots swimming close to the dock we were walking down..... had to sneak in a few quick shots! 

    The whale watch boat is underway. It passed right alongside the Statendam. Good view looking down the fjord to our distant destination. Jen and I were standing directly on the most forward location on the bow (my favorite spot on these tour boats). The air was quite chilly today, elevated noticeably by the wind from the forward momentum of the boat. It was actually winter cold! Those winter sweaters and winter jackets we brought were really paying off today. Jen was a good sport, she stayed with me outside the entire time on the trip..... seasoned well from all the years working on her Dad's Lobster boat with him. These Whale watch tours are exciting to have the great privaledge and chance to see and  experience these magnificent creatures in their environment. There is nothing like it or even that comes close to this. But they are also a great opportunity for looking for seabirds.  

     There were those Eiders and Fulmars I would have loved to accessed along the harbor private bulkheads. 

          Another Black Guillemot skirted by the bow of the underway whale watch boat. I was able to take two quick shots. 

     After about a twenty minute board ride farther down the fjord, the boat slowed down, we had reached the first destination. Hopefully the whales would cooperate and make an appearance. At least the Fulmars kept the empty minutes interesting. 

    A short distance away, this fast-paced adventure whale watch boat pushed the throttle and headed back into the fjord.....they had apparently spotted whales. 

           ..... and they they are! The waters surface broke with the first Whale. It wasn't more than seventy yards off the boat. 

       The Captain announced the whales name as the whale sounded. They recognize the whales by the markings on the ventral side of the tail and any markings on the dorsal fins. I don't remember this ones name, but it certainly had a very interesting and distinguishable tail fin marking!  

     Unfortunately, there were a few deceased first cycle Black-legged Kittiwake floating in the area. I later asked the mate about it and he said what I had expected: Avian Flu. 

       But even with the very small numbers of floating deceased Kittiwake, there were plenty flying around following the boat and the whales. 

                   ....... and not to forget the beautiful and elegant Arctic Terns! 

The whale show continued for quite some time in this one specific area, the boat didn't have to move much following the Whale pod around. The Captain said this was a small family pod of four Whales. The pod consisted of the Mother, Calf, Sister and a juvenile female. This one which is the same Whale shown above, also has this rubbed dorsal fin and back area as an identification field mark. Captain told us that the rubbed and marked areas is from the Whale rubbing its back on the bottom gravel to help remove parasites and for a good back scratch! 

                 More Kittiwake buzzed the vessel.....where are all the Fulmars?  

    We followed the pod around for another half hour and then they just disappeared, they sounded. By this time, the sky grew darker and the wind began picking up. The fairly tame sea began to slowly become more agitated. The Captain announced that he was fairly sure that the pod was moving up the fjord towards the distant harbor. He started to head in that direction. 

    One of the many reasons that I love when Jen is with me on the bow, besides the obvious, is that she has amazing eye sight on the water. This comes from many years of spotting the lobster pot buoys when working with her Dad on his boat. Every time she is with me on whale watches and pelagic bird trips, she finds the birds first, even before the spotters on the upper deck with binoculars! Her visual abilities are mystifying!! As the boat slowly advanced forward, Jen grabbed my arm and pointed......birds on the water. In reality I didn't see them until a minute later when they suddenly appeared closer to the boat; Murre! Jen had found a male parent with its fledgling Common Murre/Guillemot. Great find Jen, Thank you!    

   By now, it was obvious that a front was moving in. We all felt it. The wind suddenly increased to at least twenty knots and the temperature was dropping. Many people had underdressed on the boat and started moving to the inside cabin.  

     Now the wind and waves really picked up, and the Captain said he would be heading more inside to look for the whale pod and of course getting out of the building sea and waves. On the "slightly quickened" (aka throttled up)  pace of the boat, Jen was picking out Murre pairs all over the area in all directions. It became a game and a little funny because as I "tried" to hold my camera steady with one hand while holding on to the rail with my other arm. This proved impossible trying to take any pictures while Jen kidded me a bit while pointing out all the Murre. She kept poking me..... did you get those, how about those, did you get them?? 

     Finally, the boat made a little lunge as the Captain slowed down causing the boat to surge forward. The Whale pod had been spotted. However, my attention was focused on the male parent and fledgling Murre just a few yards off the starboard bow of the boat which Jen found (again) and pointed them out to me. The pair cooperated perfectly..... no stress or anxiety, they just went about their business completely aware but not concerned about the boat. 

     This pair of Murre presented me with the perfect opportunity to study and record with photographs the fledgling Murre. This is another sighting that I had long hoped for. It was now presented to me at only fifteen yards. Thank You Jen for finding them and Thank You to the Murre for giving me this wonderful gift.  Photo studies of a fledgling Common Murre. Its bill is still small and developing, its contour feathers are developed and its flight feathers (primary remiges) are still developing. Amazing. 

                 I painted this fledgling Common Murre illustration study in watercolor. 

     Another exciting opportunity presented itself while watching this fledgling...... it opened its bill and I was able to study its gape. I drew these sketched illustrations of a gape study using a Razorbill and Razorbill skull to illustrate its gape movements and the articulation of the nasofrontal hinge structure. 

                               The male parent reunited with it fledgling- 

       It was also a great opportunity to study the head plumage of the adult and the fledgling and the transitional plumage of the adult from breeding plumage to non-breeding (winter plumage) and back again. Also for the fledgling going from its first juvenile plumage advancing to its adult breeding plumage which will occur in four to six years. I painted this plate to illustrate this. 

    Although the encounter with the Murres lasted only abut five minutes, but it was one of the most profound five minutes with birds I have ever spent. The Captain moved on as the whale pod was sighted farther up into the fjord.

      While the amazing whale show was taking lace..... this one Arctic Tern flew through the wale show with dinner for its young. 

                                    The amazing whale show continued........

     The lush green farm fields attracted many Gulls, mostly Herring Gulls that I could make out in my binoculars. 

         ....... and as Gulls always do, they just all lifted off the fields, flew up into the sky and swirled out of sight all the time going higher and higher. 

    By now the wind really picked up to around thirty knots and the temps continued to drop. The Statendam in the distance. 

      The Whale Pod had made their final showing, the Captain announced that the Whales were done for the day and we would be heading back to port. Great change once again to enjoy the Fulmars.     

   

       Nothing better than real life, unscripted natural events while documenting the moments with a camera.... as in these Fulmars "pumping their bilges"! 

      The first mate came over to Jen and me and we chatted a little bit. He said he was surprised by my interest and taking so many pictures of all the birds. He said that it was so unusual, never happens on the boat. Everyone was obviously there for the Whales. He was a nice young man who is from Norway. He spent his summers in Iceland working on the whale watching boats. He was also very knowledgeable about birds. He asked me what we saw and I old him, and how I was especially thrilled to see the fledgling Murres up close. I also asked him about Puffins, and he told me that there were no Puffins in the Akureyri fjord area, just Common Murre, Razorbill and Black Guillemot there. Brunnich's Murre (aka Thick-billed Murre) he mentioned also nest there occasionally in small numbers. He told Jen and I that he was part of a Puffin project for a few years that tried to transplant Puffins there, but the area just didn't appeal to the Puffins and they never returned. But he really enjoyed the years of trying. So I asked him my usual question about the possibility of seeing Eiders up close in the dock area. He chuckled under his breath and said "you like Eiders do you"? I just nodded and said my favorite bird! He told me that the area by the whale boat docks had quite a few earlier in the morning hanging out close to the docks and the sea wall by the office. Dang, I missed that! He laughed again and said that maybe they would be there again when we were back at the dock? I hope so! 

 You meet such interesting people on these Whale Watch and Nature boat tours! 

   Now even here in the more sheltered waters near the head of the fjord, the wind was really gusty and angry! The boat was now heading back at nearly full throttle. With the head wind of the boat increased immensely in addition with the strong forceful winds, it was all we could do to hold on to the railing to prevent being blown backwards! It was so cold at this point..... collars up, scarf tight, hoods on, gloves on. Of course I spotted a small flock of birds in the distance on the port side. I did all I could to manage to take a few quick one handed shots (thanks for the helpful auto focus and sports mode) .....I didn't know what they were at this time, I could figure it out later when we were on the ship. Typical though for a photographer, the sun at this exact moment decided to break free of the clouds filling everything around us with a bright wash of light as if a bright flashlight was flicked on in the dark. I never had a chance to change my camera settings, or quite honestly being able to with the fast forward motion of the boat. So the images were quite a bit overexposed.

     (Later) on the ship I discovered that I had photographed a flock of Black-tailed Godwit hugging the water to help fly into the wind- 

      Back to the whale boat docks heading back around the Statendam- 

       We were all entertained by the many Belgium air force jets landing and taking off at the airport.

 

    Back to the whale boat dock we all thanked everyone on board and made sure the mates were taken care of before we stepped onto the floating dock.....which because of the fierce wind and the angry waves which looked similar to an amusement park ride. The dock was bouncing extremely high complicated by the utmost pitching side to side so much you could actually feel the strain and hear the deep moaning of the docks as they rubbed against and slammed into the support poles.

    The mates were busy escorting everyone off the docks, they earned their tips this day! Jen and I stayed behind because this would be a great opportunity to float my Puffin and Great Auk decoys in Iceland waters..... it might be the only chance to do this!  I asked the mate for permission to do this and he just looked at me a little strange, laughed and said "Go ahead, no problem".  Jen again was a trooper,. she stayed with me on the bouncing dock and we tossed the decoys in the water on the edge of the docks. Jen took the role of tossing the decoys in, and reeling in the lines when they need to be floated again. I kneeled on the dock and took pictures! Success, I got the images I wanted. While we were photographing the decoys, the mate I talked with on the boat came back and he stopped to watch. He of course had better sea legs than I did, so he stood. He loved the decoys.... he even commented that he had never seen anything like them! A few of the people from the ship that went on the tour stood on shore and watched what Jen and I were doing. They actually enjoyed it. They stayed until we (finally) walked off the dock and were really curious about the decoys. I told a little about them, and they thought that was really cool! Another great experience and how people really enjoy art.... even their perceived  unconventional type of art: decoys.  

     The long walk back to the ship took quite a bit longer, much slower than the earlier trip to the whale boat. By now the temps had dropped considerably, and you had to walk directly into that ferocious wind! Many of the people that had a tough time earlier were now struggling to get back. Jen and I and a few others stepped in again to help. The going was really tough and slow. We ended up taking quite a few breaks to make the trip for them much easier. Those breaks were perfect for me because even though there were no Eiders...... there were juvenile Black Guillemot everywhere.... all along the bulkhead. 

     Another great opportunity to see and photograph them up close and quite personal! 

      I couldn't help myself......I painted this watercolor illustration of a juvenile Black Guillemot. 

 

    As we all got closer to the ship (finally) there was a small what I refer to as a "Wishing Well" lagoon which was manmade. It was about one hundred feet long and forty feet wide, It was fed by a small inlet under a foot bridge on the walkway, and also had a walkway all around it. Yup....... there were a half dozen juvenile Black Guillemot in there too! The only way into this small lagoon was to swim in and out of the feeder inlet/outlet. I couldn't help myself....I had to take a few more images! By this time, Jen had had enough cold, wind and Black Guillemots, she just went ahead stopped at the guard post waiting for me......Jen was right, I did the same!

    Finally, back on he ship! The first stop would be to head up to our suite take a hot, hot shower and relax before dinner.....good plan! The wind and cold really did make it a long day. I think I am birded out for the day..... at least for now! Later, before going to dinner, the sun was making its last stand for the day, time for the Puffin decoy picture.....  

                                                ...... and a few scenery shots! 

      We had a wonderful, well earned and relaxing dinner followed by a comfortable seat in a sing-along guitar lounge with a soothing after dinner drink or two of bailey's and hot chocolate.

      The ship had already left on its scheduled time of 7:00 pm. There was about an hour left of the day before sundown, so it would be a good time to go back to our suite and turn on a movie. I took one last look outside on the veranda. By now the wind had settled and the sun long since disappeared one again behind the heavy cloak of clouds. The last birds I saw for the day were Razorbills. Just like the Murres, a male parent with its fledgling.

      A few Harbor Porpoise showed up to upstage the Razorbill. What a wonderfully inspirational way to end a fantastic and inspirational day.

     Iceland provided us yet another magical day! It was a long day filled with so much excitement and enchantment..... Iceland and all of its culture and natural and unspoiled beauty is truly magical! Good Night to Akureyri. 

     Tomorrow we will arrive at our third location in Iceland; Isafjordur, in the Western Fjords. We are scheduled to dock at 8:00 am. 

Totals for today in Akureyri: Iceland Eider-yes, Common Murre-yes, Razorbill-yes, Black Guillemot-yes, Puffin-no, Thick-billed Murre-no, Great Skua-no, Viking Gull- yes, Black-legged Kittiwake, Northern Fulmar, Arctic Tern, Great Cormorant, Great Black-backed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Euro Herring Gull, Black-headed Gull, Black-tailed Godwit, Humpback Whales, Harbor Porpoise.

This blog report is in progress. I continue to work on it and am writing the next port destinations. I will post them when each destination page is posted. For now, I am posting them out of order. When I have completed the entire trip report, I will re-post them in order. 

To go back to the beginning of this in progress trip report, click on "Older Posts" below right