The proposed conservation area in the Borgarvogur inlet mostly consists of mudflats, which are submerged in seawater when the tide comes in. The yellow algae, marine worms, polychaetes, and insects on the surface provide a veritable feast for the birds in the area. More than twenty different types of birds have been spotted there, including eider ducks and white-tailed eagles. The reason the Environment Agency gives for proposing the nature reserve is that the area is Iceland’s most extensive yellow-algae mudflats, the diverse birdlife and to preserve the greenhouse-gas-binding mudflats.
As the proposed conservation area is mostly mudflats, rocks and small islands, and lies right next to the town of Borgarnes (pop. 2,115), there aren’t many mammals in the area. In fact, Iceland doesn’t have many species of mammals at all. There might be the occasional fox, mink, rat, or mouse passing through. Seal sightings are very rare, and the water is mostly too shallow for even the smallest whales. There are no reindeer in west Iceland. The land on the other side of the inlet is mostly wetlands and farmland, so you might see some sheep and Icelandic horses.
