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. 

    Saturday, August 16, 2025- 5th Cruise Port, 3rd Port in Iceland-

            Morning Scenic Sailing Isafjardurdjup, and Arriving                                                   Isafjordur, Iceland.   

      

                                         PART 1 of 2-

    Isafjordur, a town located in the outlying Westfords which is a large peninsula extension on the northwest part of Iceland. The town is situated in a short, deep fjord within the main fjord named Isafjardardjup. Isafjordur is the main trade center for the Westfjords, and is also rich in Icelandic culture also known for its wildlife diversity. We are scheduled to dock in port at 8:00 am. 

    

    The pre-dawn sky was gloomy gray with heavy clouds; the same clouds that had covered the Icelandic nights usual explosion of stars. Dawn would be slow in opening its eyes this morning! The sky may have been slow in waking up this morning, but the birds were awake and ready for the day. They were awake and stirring on their morning commutes. There was barely enough light to pick them out in the haze and the surreality of the distorted ocean waves. Even in these fuzzy conditions, the bird movement was steady but still a little too dark for binoculars, let alone my camera, Eventually the light reached the point of being able to recognize the birds following the ship. Even though it was right on the edge of having enough light to be able to start taking blurry pictures..... there were the Fulmars, and large numbers of them! 

     The Fulmars dominated the early morning riding the waves created from the bow of the ship. As the hordes of Fulmar slowly diminished to random appearances, dark Fulmar-like birds began to upstage them. Sooty Shearwaters! 

     The Shearwaters were plentiful spread out over the sea from close to the ship to the visible horizon which was growing as the light finally started to brighten the morning. 

     The first Alcid of the morning, a Common Murre swims over the wave among the buzzing Shearwaters......... 

              .......... shortly followed by the second Alcid of the day, a Razorbill. 

     The Sooty Shearwaters were joined by a few of their cousins: Manx Shearwaters!

       The typical "skimming the tops of the waves" flight of the Sooty and Manx Shearwaters became much closer to the ship. The Shearwater show made the morning.

      The biggest surprise of the day came out of nowhere..... a single "dark morph" Northern Fulmar flew over the ship and made an brief appearance. It flew directly in a straight line headed for the horizon and disappeared. I had not seen any Fulmar other than the usual white and pale gray light morph to this point which is the normal Fulmar plumage.  In later research the various blue morph plumages of Fulmar are typical for the high Arctic and although they are seen in the northern regions of Iceland, they are considered uncommon. At home in New England, we see them occasionally in some winters far offshore while cod fishing. This was a wonderful surprise, totally unexpected, yet very much appreciated...... a highlight of the trip! And as it turned out, the only one I saw on the entire time on the cruise. 

                                          Sooty Shearwaters continued........

     ..... and although the number of Manx Shearwaters were fewer, they came in and out of the picture. 

                  First land comes into view peering through the broken sky of the morning. 

       The presence of the abundant Sooty Shearwaters  kept the morning active. Now many of the Shearwaters had either settled on the sea, or were late in waking up. Small groups of swimming Shearwaters were scattered across the sea.

     The numbers of Shearwater slowly faded. In fact for a few minutes the sky was almost empty of birds other than a few Fulmar milling about. The sky was slowly cracking as the hidden light began to make an appearance. Time for the Puffin decoy!

     The ship was making its way into the Isafjordur fjord and almost immediately small groups of Alcids were coming into view. Most of the small groups were made up of the male parent and fledgling Razorbills. 

                     One more Sooty photobombs the Razorbills. 

                A good time to enjoy the beautiful mountainous cliffs that frame the fjords.     

        Finally....... Puffins! One of the Icelandic symbols that was missing yesterday in Akureyri. The Puffins were flying home from a night at sea with their bills packed with fish for their soon to be fledging young. 

     The ship steamed farther into the fjord. The morning flight of Puffins slowed down;  they all reached the cliff-side destinations. A ghost appeared in the distance and started paralleling the ship......it was a stunning adult Glaucous Gull, the first one I saw in Iceland. 

        Finally, Kittiwake in small numbers made an appearance. I was beginning to wonder if I would be able to finish off the seabird list for the morning. The only exception being Gannets..... they seem to be absent. I was puzzled because I had only seen a few of them in Iceland so far. 

      As usual, I spoke too soon. A single adult Gannet flew up the starboard side of the ship as if it were in a race. When I first saw the bird, I saw a big orange mass on its chest. The camera lens soon revealed the source.....this unfortunate Gannet was wearing and entangled section of marine rope. I pray for this bird! As it turned out, this was the only Gannet I saw this morning. 

                             More Kittiwake were following the ship..........

               .........and more adult Glaucous Gulls.

                   Good side comparison of an adult Glaucous Gull and a Northern Fulmar. 

        Gulls to this point in the morning were sparse with the exception of a handful of Glaucous Gulls. A few Herring Gulls had honed in on a floating fish carcass and were not happy sharing it with the Fulmars. 

     A first cycle Black-legged Kittiwake surveys the floating offal situation and decided it was a little too aggressive there.... so it continued on its way. 

     This pair of first cycle European Herring Gulls kept following the ship  hoping for a possible meal from being stirred up by the wake of the ship. They circled back a few times and then eventually flew off. 

      Another exciting surprise for the morning. I looked down to see a pair of Arctic Skua/Parasitic Jaeger following the ship. This stunning individual was a dark morph. Best looks at this species so far on the cruise.

     I soon discovered the reason for the Jaegers...... we were nearing a Salmon Farm. Birds such as Terns and Kittiwake use these circular tanks as feeding areas. Small fish are attracted to the Salmon food used to maintain the Salmon.

      The mate to the dark morph Jaeger, one with a  typical more common plumage. What I will later find out is that the majority of  the Jaegers I saw in Iceland were dark morph birds. Unfortunately, the images of this bird did not go as I would have liked! 

                        One of the targets of the Jaegers, a juvenile Arctic Tern.........

                                  ....... and the other: Black-legged Kittiwake. 

       Glaucous Gulls being curious and investigative near food sources also patrolled the Salmon enclosures.

     Around the area of the Salmon compound, it was active with birds. In the air were Gulls, Kittiwake and Terns (and of course the marauding Jaegers), but also attractive to swimming Black Guillemot and Iceland Eiders. 

       This hen Eider was completely surprised when it surfaced from a dive only to see this massive ship heading for it. It made a quick escape. 

  The time was approaching 7:45 and we were getting closer to the cruise ship dock. We were greeted by small numbers of Eiders that appeared unaffected by the approaching ship. They were obviously used to being around them. For me, it gave me closer opportunities to see the drakes even though dressed in their non-breeding moulting late summer plumages.

   

                   A single juvenile Black Guillemot was feeding along with the Eiders. 

     An Arctic Tern greeted us as the big ship spun around and maneuvered into position alongside the five and a half football field lengths of dock (over 1,650 feet long). The bow was now pointed out headed in the direction of the open fjord. From our veranda we had an open view of the water in the harbor. On the port side of the vessel is the town of Isafjordur. While the ship was going through its docking procedures, there was a little bird activity near the ship. Several Arctic Terns looking for a meal, surveyed the churned up water caused by the ship's thrusters. 

      Jen and I had signed up for an excursion tour which left at 12:30. We still had over four hours before we had to leave, so time for a nice breakfast. Through the window of our table in the restaurant, Jen pointed to a small group of Eiders that were swimming closer to the ship. She noted that the drake had more white plumage than any of the other drakes we had seen. The restaurant is located in the stern of the ship and there is an outside sundeck only 100 steps from our table. The Eiders had eventually moved much closer to the ship just below the outside deck. The drake that Jen had pointed out had transitioned much further along in its moulting plumage.

       At the end of the cruise boat pier off the stern of the ship, there is a what appears to be a large open  lot which may have been established for aiding in the construction for the new and longer cruise ship pier. There was a little commotion from bird activity with the unmistakable screeching of aggravated Terns. Arctic Terns had been roosting undisturbed until a few large Glaucous Gulls and smaller Black-headed Gulls decided that that particular section of real estate suited them. The Terns were upset, and squawked about it...... but eventually flew off; there were other places that they could rest. 

           This drake Eider may be the only one that I had the opportunity to photograph here in Iceland, so I kept taking as many pictures as I could for my reference files. This hen is still in her moult stages. But her bleached and worn contour feathering has been renewed, but she carries worn and bleached tertials, secondaries, and primaries. 

      I am fascinated with this plumage stage on this drake. I will be carving a decoy in this plumage when I get home.

         This hen is still showing worn and bleached tertials, tail and secondaries but her primaries have been replaced. 

        What an elegant-looking adult Glaucous Gull. I soon found out that Glaucous Gulls are very abundant here. 

      Unfortunate poor image of one of the Ravens that were flying across the harbor. 

        Besides Glaucous Gulls, Arctic Terns were also very abundant here..........

                        ....... and so were Black-headed Gulls. I saw very few European Herring Gulls, Lesser Black-backed and Great Black-backed Gulls, and no Common Gulls here.

           Yup, I know........ why did you add this image? The short answer is, I liked it. Looking directly down from deck ten on the ship, the dark shadow from the ship turned the water this dark grayish-green. The water looked like rough-cut black granite! 

         For me as bird carver/artist, any image I can add to my reference files is important information regarding a birds anatomy. This is especially important and significant when the subject of my photos is an Eider; in this case a flying Iceland Eider hen. And even more important, the images capture the flying Eider from directly above...... something I never had the opportunity with.  

      A passing Kittiwake spots a small fish in the shadow of the ship and plunges for it.

                          Arctic Terns continued..........

 

                              

                     ....... and the Black-headed Gulls were keeping the same pace as the Arctic Terns.

             I couldn't resist the opportunity and kept photographing the Eiders that were continually swimming up to the ship. It was a great opportunity to document all the different transitional moult plumages.

     At the north end of the the cruise ship pier (at the bow end of the Statendam at the dock) is a small harbor area that is home for fishing boats, pleasure boats and of  couple of docks for the cruise ship tender boats, The small harbor is hugged on the north side by a long arm break water that forms the harbor on that side (see map below). This breakwater attracted many birds mostly Eiders and Gulls. It would be a great spot for photography (if) it is accessible........I am guessing not!  I will have to check this out later!

     Since we had a few hours to spare before our tour started, Jen and I decided to disembark the ship and walk around the area to stretch our legs. Jen and I both enjoy investigating harbors. We both like beautifully made and well designed boats..... especially fishing boats. Jen growing up on a Lobster Boat with her Dad, and my history growing up fishing with my Dad and Uncles secured our profound passions for boats. Also our love for being on the water which is probably why we choose cruises for our vacations. Harbors also hold birds, especially in the winter months here at home in New England. 

     We walked off the ship (after going through security) and it was a little chilly with intermittent light drizzle and brief light passing showers. We had to walk down the secure pier for most of its length. There was another cruise ship docked in front of the Statendam. At the far end of the pier there was a small tourist information building. Inside this wooden building were maps, tour information, commercial flyers and just about everything else you would expect. There was an information booth with a very attentive and friendly person offering help to anyone that had any questions. Jen and I took a few maps of the local area, and then passed through the gate where the guard checked our passports and Statendam I D card. I have to say that security on and off the ship is impeccable; you feel very secure.

     Outside the gate was a huge parking area where the tour buses and private excursion vehicles lined up. After a five minute walk across the parking lot, we were soon standing on the main walkway that skirted the edge of the town where the commercial buildings and shops were located on the left side (including a large fish processing plant) of this walking thoroughfare, and the harbor was on the right side (see map above). The first area we walked to was the south side of this small harbor near the the stern of the other docked cruise ship. Immediately, Jen spotted two pairs of Eiders swimming along the bulkhead getting out of the wind in the lee created by the big ship and the bulkhead. The group of four Eiders consisted of two hens (or foster mothers) and two fledged Eider ducklings (aka Eiderlings). They were fairly close and swam contently around us. They were cautious and kept a safe distance from us. Finally, I was able to document Eider ducklings reasonably close in Iceland. 

         Another remarkable opportunity to observe and photograph hen Iceland Eiders at a moderate distance. 

      While my attention was focused on the Eiders (literally) Jen who was standing on my left, heard a few peeps and asked if I had heard them. She realized that just below her feet was a small flock of Shorebirds which she pointed out to me in her own way....."Did you know these birds were here"? (And of course I didn't)! Purple Sandpipers had also found a safe quiet spot out of the wind and had positioned themselves on the lower cracks and crevices on the edge of the bulkhead. 

 

          While we were in this section of the harbor, small flocks of Purple Sandpipers buzzed around the harbor settling in in different locations..... only to fly out and do it all over again. The small flock below our feet were quite contented there and didn't move locations all the time we were standing there. 

        I leaned over the bulkhead to get a better look at the Sandpipers and found that there preferred spots were the tire bumpers along the bulkhead. And judging by the amount of whitewash on the tires, this was well visited roost. 

      The Sandpipers also presented me with a perfect occasion to photograph and document  their varied transitional plumages. Purple Sandpipers don't really show up in our area of New England until late December and January. At that point they are always dressed in full winter plumage. Seeing them here in August in transitional plumage is a bonus! 

     We left that section of the harbor and walked down the walk way towards the dock area in the middle harbor area. This walkway was really busy with foot traffic. Tourists investigating the town, local people taking a morning walk, window shoppers, tourists disembarking tender boats, were all coming and going along this thoroughfare. Jen and I had seen a handful of Black Guillemot in the middle harbor area, and that's where we were heading to. 

          Oh yes...... and of course more Eiders and ducklings throughout the harbor. 

                         This pair swimming out of the way of the tender boat traffic. 

    When we arrived at the small area at the harbor where the people were getting on and off the tender boats. There was a small makeshift gate with roped off partitions and a guard sitting on a chair monitoring everyone's ship passes. I had a feeling we would not be able to pass by this guard to access the rest of the harbor. The bulkhead of the harbor was only a few steps away, but it started to feel like it was getting farther and farther away with our chances to pass through. We waited until all the foot traffic had ended and the area was clear (for now). I approached the guard and asked him if we could walk by him to the harbors edge. He didn't speak any English and stared at me like deer in the head lights. He looked down at my camera that was hanging around my neck, I pointed to the Black Guillemot that was swimming just below the bulkhead. He gave me a big smile and waved us through! Thumbs-up Thank You he understood!! 

 

     First birds in the middle harbor were a hen Eider and duckling.

                   This Glaucous Gull investigated the harbor and then flew off.

      And the breakwater arm that I was crossing my fingers for....... secure as a fort! But the Black-headed Gulls liked the area. 

       The first Great Cormorant of the day flew over the harbor. I was quite honestly surprised with the small numbers of Cormorant especially in this harbor area. 

    This small  harbor held the interest for a small gathering of Black Guillemot. Most of them were moulting adults starting to change over into their winter outfits. They most likely chose this small harbor which was probably shallower to dive and feed more easily since they were moulting and were in the stage of renewing their primaries. 

               Great opportunity for study and field notes.

     This adult Glaucous Gull kept one eye on me and the other for checking out the harbor for a quick meal.

                                       Beautiful adult Black-headed Gull.

                        OK, a few more shots of another Black Guillemot- 

     After about a half hour enjoying the harbor area, Jen and I decided to head back to the Statendam to get ready for our 12;30 bus tour. When we returned to the gate, I wanted to show the guard just how much we appreciated him letting us walk around the harbor. I shook his hand, thanked him, and I gave him a small gift of 1,000 Iceland Krona (a little over $8.00). He was so pleased, and I think he realized just how much he made our morning. 

                                                    Part 2 continues........

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