Puffin weeks at four colonies, against the ledger dates

The short answer: only one of the four colonies has a published arrival-and-departure window on a page that belongs to the place. Borgarfjörður eystri's own visitor leaflet says of Hafnarhólmi that "The puffin arrives around the middle of April" and leaves "around the middle of August". For Dyrhólaey and Látrabjarg the Nature Conservation Agency publishes protection windows, not bird dates; for the Westman Islands the research station's 2025 annual report describes its monitoring but gives no calendar. So the honest matrix has one bird window, two legal windows and one blank, and the ledgers are read against those.

#What the official and research pages say, read 1 November 2026

Hafnarhólmi, Borgarfjörður eystri. The village's leaflet "About Borgarfjörður" (borgarfjordureystri.is): puffin arrives "around the middle of April", disappears "around the middle of August". East Iceland's regional site says the same, "from middle of April to beginning of August". No fee is stated on either page.

Dyrhólaey. Umhverfisstofnun's English page: the agency "can restrict visits to Dyrhólaey in the period from 1 May – 25 June for birdlife protection"; "An ornithologist assesses the condition of the birdlife on the island annually, with regards to needs for closure"; access to Kirkjufjara beach has been prohibited since the 2012–2017 accidents. No puffin dates and no parking fee on the page.

Látrabjarg. Náttúruverndarstofnun's page (nattura.is): a nature reserve since March 2021; flying below 3,500 feet over the reserve is prohibited "from 1 April to 31 August"; rangers may close paths. No puffin dates, no fee. Náttúrufræðistofnun's species page puts the colony at about 50,000 pairs, from a count in 2000.

Westman Islands. Náttúrufræðistofnun gives Vestmannaeyjar about 840,000 pairs (2015), 41.5% of the Icelandic stock of about two million pairs (2014), and a decline of more than half since 1998. Náttúrustofa Suðurlands' annual report for 2025 (16 April 2026) describes burrow monitoring in June and mid-July and the autumn chick patrol, but no arrival or departure dates. The ferry is the cost: Herjólfur's 2026 price list, adults 2,700 ISK, 12–15 years 1,350, under 12 free, car under 5 m 4,050, over 5 m 5,400, each way; the page does not split fares by port. A couple with a small car, return: 2 × 2 × 2,700 + 2 × 4,050 = 18,900 ISK.

#The matrix

Calendar days are the ledgers' default start dates plus the day number.

Reading it: the three June ledgers all reach Dyrhólaey inside the six weeks when the agency may close the headland or part of it, and whether it is closed that week is decided by that year's bird assessment, not by a calendar. The Westfjords loop reaches Látrabjarg on 2 July, which is inside the only dated window the reserve publishes. Hafnarhólmi is the colony with a real window, and the ledgers that pass nearest are the East Iceland days in the third week of June, two months into it.

#What the detours cost the day

Hafnarhólmi from Egilsstaðir is about 70 km each way on Route 94 over a 431 m pass (the Vatnsskarð figure in Vegagerðin's road-height list); at the ledger's 80 km/h that is about 55 minutes each way, so an hour and three-quarters on top of a day. The ten-day loop's Day 4 is already 200 km; adding this makes it 340 km and the Stuðlagil leg has to go. On the seven-day loop there is no room at all. Látrabjarg is already the whole of the Westfjords loop's Day 2. Dyrhólaey is a 10 km spur off the Ring Road at Vík and adds under an hour when it is open.

For the Westman Islands the honest line is that the ferry fares are the only dated figures, and 18,900 ISK return for two with a car is before any sailing-day problem; the schedule page lists Þorlákshöfn sailings at 07:00 and 16:00 from the islands and 10:45 and 19:45 from the mainland, without saying which months, so check it for the week you mean.

#Sources

• Borgarfjörður eystri, "About Borgarfjörður" leaflet (PDF), read 1 November 2026: https://www.borgarfjordureystri.is/static/files/about_borgarfjordur.pdf
• Visit East Iceland, Hafnarhólmi: https://www.east.is/en/destinations/popular-destinations/hafnarholmi
• Umhverfisstofnun, Dyrhólaey, access and management: https://co2.ust.is/english/visiting-iceland/protected-areas/south/dyrholaey/access-and-management/
• Náttúruverndarstofnun, Látrabjarg: https://www.nattura.is/svaedin/latrabjarg
• Náttúrufræðistofnun, Lundi (Fratercula arctica): https://www.ni.is/is/biota/animalia/chordata/aves/charadriiformes/lundi-fratercula-arctica
• Náttúrustofa Suðurlands, Ársskýrsla 2025 (16 April 2026): https://nattsud.is/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Arsskyrsla-NS-2025-16.-april.pdf
• Herjólfur, prices 2026 and schedule: https://www.herjolfur.is/en/prices and https://www.herjolfur.is/en/schedule
• Vegagerðin, "Hæð nokkurra vega yfir sjó" (22 December 2010): https://wp-beta.vegagerdin.is/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/yfir_sjo.pdf