Sigurgeir's Bird Museum

Sigurgeir Stefansson began collecting birds as a boy on the family farm at Myvatn and had built one of the largest private collections in Iceland by the time he drowned in the lake in 1999, aged thirty-seven. His family and the community raised a building for it, opened in 2008, and the collection now covers nearly every bird species that breeds in Iceland along with a large number of eggs. Myvatn is the right place for it: the lake is one of the most important breeding sites for ducks in Europe, with more species nesting than almost anywhere comparable, and the museum's windows look straight out over the water.

What you actually see

• A collection built by one man - assembled from boyhood on the farm.
• Nearly every Icelandic breeding bird - with a large egg collection.
• A memorial museum - opened in 2008 after his death in the lake.
• Windows onto Myvatn - one of Europe's key duck breeding waters.

When to go

May to September for birds on the lake and full hours. One to two hours.

Honest expectations

These are mounted specimens, which some visitors find uncomfortable. The building is small and an hour covers it. Winter hours are short. Midges outside are heavy on warm still days.

Nearby

Myvatn's shore road runs past; Skutustadagigar and Dimmuborgir are round the lake.