Animals we saw in Iceland

The animals most seen in Iceland are definitely sheep.  Sheep, sheep and still more sheep.  It's a bit like the waterfalls, after a while there are so many they become part of the scenery.  I've already posted a photo of the first sheep we came across that was in the middle of the road.  That happened at least 5 times during our travels around Iceland.

Couldn't pass up taking a photo of this little lamb with his little friend.  This is at the farm in Modrudalur.

The next most common animal to see along the way are the Icelandic horses.  The ones in these photos are in pens and were part of a horse show I saw.  But the horses, like the sheep, are found grazing everywhere across the plains in Iceland, especially in the farms along South Iceland and North Iceland, where they are bred.  Horses were first brought to Iceland from Norway with the settlers.  They have been isolated for more than 1000 years and so are not found anywhere else in the world (except if brought out of Iceland).  Once a horse leaves Iceland for any reason, it will never be allowed back in.  Therefore, the breed is pure.  They are small but powerful work horses.  They have a unique gait as you can see in the video.

Whales can basically be seen all around Iceland.  Here are minke whales just outside of Reykjavik and humpback whales in the bay near Husavik. 

Minke whale

Minke whale

Humpback right up next to the boat - cannot get any closer.

Humpback whale

Humpback

Humpback tail

Humpback waving his fluke

There are so many bird species in Iceland that birdwatchers can be kept very busy.  We are not avid birdwatchers, however we did see many different species of birds along the way.  We did see a short-eared owl in full flight in Northeastern Iceland in the Highlands.  How do I know what species it was, I researched owls in Iceland and found there are only 2 species, this one and the Snowy owl which is extremely rare.  This one definitely had brown on it so I deduced it was the short-eared.  I did not take the camera out to film or photograph it because I knew that if I looked away, I would miss a once-in-a-lifetime vision.  So trust me when I say that it was very graceful and a wonderful sight indeed!

A puffin bobbing in the water

A puffin in flight - they have short little wings and look kind of awkward when they fly.

A fulmar (I think, I looked it up)

Fulmars, unlike the puffins, soar over the ocean very gracefully.

Photo of the fulmar was taken from the top of a cliff on the western side of Öxarfjörður fjord.

I've no idea what kind of little bird this is, but he posed for me.

He was in the little forested area called Hofdi, around Lake Myvatn.

Some ducks in Lake Myvatn