It is the Atlantic Puffin which chooses to nest and breed on the clifftops of Iceland. And despite historically being hunted for food by the local inhabitants, the puffin population is still going strong. Puffins have the advantage in being cute, mostly due to the colourful bill, which the birds exhibit during the breeding season. So how do you make sure that, when you come to Iceland, you can get up close and personal with a puffin?
Puffins are best seen in the nesting season (late April to August), when they return to their nests to feed their single chick.
Puffins nest in burrows, which they build on grassy slopes atop high cliffs facing the sea. All the better for them to leap into the void and go fishing. The nesting areas look not unlike small rabbit burrows. We viewed the puffins at Ingólfshöfði (on a tour) and Stórhöfði on Heimay Island where there is a free shelter/hide on the southern cape.
Puffins are best seen in the nesting season (late April to August), when they return to their nests to feed their single chick.
Puffins nest in burrows, which they build on grassy slopes atop high cliffs facing the sea. All the better for them to leap into the void and go fishing. The nesting areas look not unlike small rabbit burrows. We viewed the puffins at Ingólfshöfði (on a tour) and Stórhöfði on Heimay Island where there is a free shelter/hide on the southern cape.
- Be patient. Puffins will be out fishing and return at intervals to feed their young. We waited for a long time before any puffins appeared. Then they came in a rush. One couple at the hide on Stórhöfði left after only 5 minutes saying there were not any to be seen.
- Keep away from the cliff edges. it is a long drop!
- Bring binoculars or a long telephoto lens - you'll need at least 300 mm.
- Use a fast lens, tripod, or up the ISO setting on your camera. It can be windy, and hard to keep a big lens steady
- After feeding their chick, puffins will come out of their burrows to preen. Look for them to stand up proudly
- If the puffin reverses out of the burrow, he about to take a squirt