Puffin at Látrabjarg Cliffs, Iceland
Favourite photo - 27/04/2025
This week’s favourite photo was taken several years ago during a long tour of Iceland’s Westfjords. During this trip we had been greatly looking forward to visiting the famous Látrabjarg cliffs with their massive seabird colony.
It was a long and difficult trek to get there in our modest hire car, over rutted gravel roads with a multitude of dangerous potholes. And as we traveled, the weather gradually deteriorated.
A highlight of the journey was passing the beautiful sandy beach at Breiðavík. Many of Iceland’s beaches are black but this one has golden sand, and we were lucky enough to pass at low tide. Though as you can see from the photo below, the clouds were already low in the sky.
When we finally arrived at the Látrabjarg cliffs, the visibility had reduced to a few feet and we could feel the wind buffeting the car. Several other cars were parked in the parking area and most had their occupants sensibly huddled inside.
But we had come a long way, and had been looking forward to this visit, so we were determined to have a walk along the cliff path. We cautiously ventured out into the wind and, by now, horizontal rain. After struggling to put on our waterproofs in the wind we set off along the clifftop path.
Látrabjarg has some of the highest cliffs in Europe, and is famous for its amazing views as well as its massive seabird colony. Unfortunately we didn’t see any of the views.
The path itself was easy to follow, and it is probably just as well that we couldn’t see the view down because the path is close to the cliff edge.
Walking along the path, fighting against the wind, was both an eerie and a frustrating experience. We literally couldn’t see beyond a few feet, but we could hear a constant stream of birds flying past and calling at eye level. And we could definitely sense the immense drop just to the side of the (fenceless) path.
Fortunately the wind was blowing us away from the cliff edge, but it was still disconcerting. After a particularly strong gust blew us off course we decided to call it a day and return to the car.
We had just turned round to return when we saw the little puffin in the photo above. We must have walked within a couple of feet of it, but not noticed. It was totally unbothered by our presence, and waited while I struggled to wipe the rain off my lens and take a couple of quick shots.
The rain stopped on the walk back (but not the wind), and I managed to get a few more shots. Not great shots, I have to admit. But considering the weather I was just relieved to have a few photos to remind me of this exciting day.
Technical Information (for main photo above)
Camera: Olympus E-M10 MarkII
Lens: Olympus 40-150mm
Aperture: f5.6
Shutter speed: 1/160 sec
ISO: 100
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Great post Angie, thanks for sharing. One of our days in the Antarctic involved similar weather and a precarious walk. Don’t you just love how the birds are totally unbothered by it all?
I’d love to explore Iceland and the Faroes. Maybe one day.
The best place I know for close views of puffins are the Treshnish Isles off Mull. Boat trips go from Ulva Pier and (a longer rougher crossing) from Fionnphort.