On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Let’s give a warm welcome to first-time submitter, Christopher!
Christopher Mathews
Iceland is home to thousands of species of birds. The most famous, and arguably most photogenic, are Atlantic puffins. They live most of the year at sea, bobbing in the waves and plunging below to dine on fish, but come to shore in late spring and early summer to raise their young.
Stretching across more than a dozen kilometers of crumbling rock face, the Látrabjarg cliffs in northwest Iceland are home to hundreds of thousands of nests. Gulls, razorbills, guillemots, and puffins return to the cliffs each year. Get close to the cliff’s edge and you can say hello to the birds, but beware! Get too close and you’ll say hello to the icy waters below.
Puffins are accustomed to visitors who come to gawk at them, and for the most part pay no attention to photographers. This fellow though seemed fascinated by the long lens of my camera, perhaps mistaking it for an unusually large beak.
Puffins build their nests in burrows near the top of the cliffs. They’re quite industrious about gathering straw and twigs to spruce things up a bit, and ignore the silly warning signs put up by humans.
Perhaps a floral centerpiece will brighten up the nest?
Having put the house in order, it’s time to relax on the front porch for a bit before dipping into the ocean for a snack.
After a plunge into the waters of the north Atlantic, a puffin dries its short little wings. Puffins are better adapted for swimming than flying, which makes them easy to spot in flight: frantically flapping to stay aloft, they’re the hardest working birds in the skies.
Puffins pair off in breeding couples at age four or five and remain mated for life. They lay one egg each year and take turns feeding their hungry little puffling once it hatches. Here, parents spend a moment discussing their day.
With the glacier-capped Snæfellsjökull volcano in the distance, this puffin takes a short rest to watch the sun not-quite-set while its mate goes back to the water for more fish.
AxelFoley
Beautiful pics!
tom
Gorgeous pics! I visited Iceland in 2015 and thought it was one of the most fascinating places I’ve ever been. The landscape is like nowhere else. I’d love to go back.
Meyerman
I saw puffins in Iceland on the south coast. My partner just saw them in Maine. We both agree they are amazing. Thanks for sharing these beautiful photos!
Wanderer
Beautiful photos. Great first post.
cope
Spectacular pictures, thank you. As I continue to get older (who knew?), my bucket list gets shorter simply because some things are just not possible for me any more. Good bye, K2 base camp. Anyway, Iceland is one of the few things still doable for me. Thanks for the inspiration.
Albatrossity
Spectacular pics of a spectacular place with a truly spectacular bird! Thank you!
Wag
What great photos! Puffins are very photogenic, and you did an excellent job of capturing their essential cuteness.
We loved Iceland when we went there in 2017. What a fascinating country. One of our highlights was climbing Snæfellsjökull
M31
Snæfellsjökull!!! Isn’t that where Jules Verne sent his travelers in Journey to the Center of the Earth? So cool.
great pictures!
Mike in Oly
Wonderful photos! The lighting is just perfect. And such adorable subjects. Thanks for sharing them.
MelissaM
What odd markings on those birds! The triangular eye patches with creases around the back, the ornately striped beaks, the orange beak corner. Really beautiful. How do they taste? ;-)
Christopher Mathews
@M31:
Yes, it is! Although there’s a local bypass now erupting in the southwest. :)
Thanks to everyone for the kind words about the photos. Puffins are amazingly photogenic little birds – brightly colored, industrious, and slightly comical on land and in the air. Just some of the many reasons to visit Iceland!
Betty
So beautiful! Thank you.
Wag
@M31: You are correct!
Wag
@MelissaM: Delicious. You can order them at many restaurants in Iceland. A slightly fishy chicken.
WaterGirl
@Christopher Mathews: What a great set of photos! The profile view is maybe less striking than the others, but it’s oh so interesting.
I think it’s fair to say that we all hope you will submit more photos to On the Road!
arrieve
Really wonderful pictures. I love puffins and you captured them so beautifully.
JanieM
Great pics. The puffins are fascinating, but it was the first picture that really blew me away.
frosty
Love the pics! And the puffins!
KSinMA
Neat photos! Thank you.
susanna
Enjoyed these pics, especially the first and last ones. More?
stinger
I came for the puffins, but hardly got to them for being mesmerized by that top photo. Thank you, Christopher Mathews!
stinger
@MelissaM: Citrusy?
Miss Bianca
The photos are awesome but it’s the term “pufflings” that is really the icing on the lovely cake. Thank you for both!
Steve from Mendocino
Fun birds. These are a pleasure.
Mary Ellen Sandahl
Icelandic restaurants serve puffin? My understanding (from UK radio nature reporting) was that they’re at risk, their numbers dropping alarmingly.
The photos are wonderful, Christopher!
Baquist
Beautiful pics and a lovely story.
SkyBluePink
Very striking photos!
Mary G
Even the name puffin makes me smile. These are gorgeous in a gorgeous place, thanks for sharing.
JustRuss
Nice pics, sorry you share a name with that other Chris Matthews (yeah, he spells it wrong). At least you’re not Michael Bolton!
April Leahy
Stunning Photos! Great Captions!
TaMara (HFG)
Seems our Chris Matthews is famous and trending on twitter! I am so loving those Puffins.
J R in WV
Great photos, want to visit Iceland in order to see the Aurora colors one more time, saw them during a huge solar storm years ago right here in WV. Was dim multi-colored glow slowly moving in the sky, was amazing… but I still want to see it bright and sparking in the arctic winter sky.
Christopher Mathews
@JustRuss:
Thanks! Iceland is really a photographer’s paradise.
Well yes – although when I lived in DC a few years back and had to call up to the Hill, it was always a kick when they asked my name. ;)