If there were ever a bird designed to make people smile, it would be the Atlantic puffin. During its spring and summer breeding season, puffins have bright orange feet, tiny black claws, and brightly painted beaks. Their flight style can be fairly described as “interesting and unorthodox.” They are the undisputed comedian of the North Atlantic.
Iceland is home to more than half of the world’s puffins. Hundreds of thousands of them dig their burrows amongst the crowded, noisy cliffs of tiny Grimsey Island, which straddles the Arctic Circle about 25 miles off Iceland’s northern coast. This past July, that little island once again provided a great show for our photo safari, and this time, remarkably, we had great weather too!
Grimsey has a reputation for testing your rain gear and your patience, but this year we were handed something wonderful: warm (and I use that word loosely, this is still the Arctic) sunny days with barely a drop of rain the entire time (though our overnight stop in Reykjavik was less accommodating). The light was generous, with sunny periods and light overcast much of the time, and winds that varied from calm to 40 mph gusts.
The birds, of course, were the main attraction. July is prime time on Grimsey, when parent puffins’ shuttle back and forth to their burrows with beaks stuffed full of glistening sand eels for their single fuzzy chick, which remains hidden in the far reaches of its burrow. Watching a puffin come in for a landing with a mouthful of eel is equal parts adorable and slapstick, especially when the winds are up. On two long shoots we watched puffins bob and weave, hover like hummingbirds, and go almost nowhere, while still “flying” in 40 mph winds. At times, the puffins even flew backwards. Sharing the cliffs were the razorbills, the puffins’ sharp-dressed neighbors in tuxedo black-and-white outfits, who’s aerial acrobats almost matched the puffins.
At calmer times, we visited the tern pool, where dozens of Arctic terns congregated for their daily baths, sometimes nose-diving into the water, then exploding out like Michael Phelps, and other times gracefully dipping their beaks for a quick drink as they flew past our cameras.
Of course, no trip is measured by birds along, even our Puffins tour! Some of my fondest memories of our visit to Grimsey recall the easy camaraderie of our group as we settled in the dining room over tea, coffee, and photographs, and, above all, the wonderful and copious meals and snacks provided by our host, Icelandic photographer Daniel Bergman. When I think back on this trip, I’ll remember the hovering puffins and the slightly more restrained razorbills, and I’ll cherish the laughter and good food just as vividly. Grimsey has a way of feeding both the camera and the soul, and I can’t wait to go back!
