One of my favourite places for bird photography is Myvatn, a lake and wetland area in northern Iceland. It's teeming with birds, especially shorebirds (my favourite group), but also many other species. Combined with the great landscape and long hours of beautiful light from the low sun (if you are lucky enough to have good weather...), it's a dream for wildlife photographers.
I can only recommend a visit there, especially since the rest of Iceland isn't that bad, either. 😉
Here are a few shots I took during my last stay (two days) there, back in June 2016.
@nightjar, wow, I can see why! Those are excellent photos.
I've been to Iceland three times but haven't made it to Lake Myvatn yet. I was planning to go there last February, but the ring road in the north was closed due to weather. I ended up spending the whole trip in the south instead. Now I get the feeling that I need to go back :)
@spencer Thanks!
Well, in winter, most of the birds are gone... But the place is also great for its landscape, I guess in winter as much as in summer (I've never been to Iceland in winter - still on my to do list). I'm just not talented enough a landscape photographer to do it justice, and I'm always distracted by the birds. ;)
@nightjar I had wanted to photograph some of the nearby geothermal features in the snow! I'm already planning a summer trip for next year, though... I'd go to Iceland a few times a year if I could, it's probably my favorite place in the world for landscape photography. Awesome that you find it just as good for birding.
@spencer Oh yes, Iceland has some fantastic landscapes! I generally love the north, but as a birdwatcher, I end up way more often in northern Scandinavia than Iceland. While Iceland is great for birding, the species diversity is quite limited compared to the mainland.
@nightjar great images! Thanks for sharing. I was going to ask about timing but I think it has already been answered in your comments in the thread
@dnazarenko Thanks! June and July are probably the best months for bird photography at Myvatn (unless you have certain target species, then the timing might differ a bit, depending on the species). But especially until mid to end of June, the weather can be quite harsh.
