During the last week of the 2024, we made a trip to Socorro, to visit Bosque del Apache wildlife refuge. Soon after arriving at the Refuge, we had a couple of hours of birding, before the sun set for the day. One of the first birds that we encountered was this American Kestrel perched on a Cottonwood tree close to the entrance.
American Kestrel, Bosque del Apache, 2024.
The next morning, we headed out to the Refuge. Shortly after sunrise, we stopped by a pond where several Sandhill Cranes were busy feeding. Nearby, a Bald Eagle had caught a Snow Goose, and was feeding with two immature eagles; we were too distant to get a good view of that scene.
Sandhill Cranes At Pond, Sunrise, Bosque del Apache, 2024.
We continued to visit some other locations. The refuge have several ponds that are flooded during different years. We found a newly flooded pond that had several shore birds, in addition to the usual ducks and geese. We found a Greater Yellowlegs feeding in the pond.
Greater Yellowlegs, 2024.
In another pond, we found several Northern Pintail ducks feeding along the edges of he pond. In this image, a group of male Pintails were swimming to a new location in the pond.
Pair Of Northern Pintail Males, 2024.
During the afternoon, we made a trip to the southern loop of the refuge. In one of the ponds we found a female Canvasback duck. In a previous year, we found a Canvasback in the same pond. Maybe this is the same bird?
Female Canvasback, 2024.
Towards the end of the day, we found a Say’s Phoebe. This flycatcher made several trips to catch bugs, returning intermittently to a perched on a thistle plant.
Say’s Phoebe, Bosque Del Apache, 2024.
The ponds in the refuge are used by several waterfowl species that roost for the night. He they are protected from predators. A pair of Sandhill Cranes had flown in from daytime feeding grounds.
Sandhill Cranes Landing At Sunset, Bosque del Apache.
There were several streams of incoming groups of cranes as the sun dipped below the horizon.
Sandhill Crane Silhouette, Bosque del Apache, 2024.
I tracked several incoming groups of Sandhill Cranes as they were silhouetted against the evening sky. I waited until one of the cranes dropped its legs in preparation for a landing in the pond.
Returning to Reykjavik, I parked by the harbor. You may remember one of the first images of the ship “Steffano”, some two weeks earlier (https://matchgrun.com/blog/2024/11/28/iceland-2024/). The hull had been painted.
Steffano In Dry Dock, After Paint.
The hull had been sand-blasted and re-painted. Also, those silver blocks below the waterline are sacrificial anodes (probably zinc), to reduce rusting of the steel hull. Here is a side view of this trawler, with workers busy with their tasks. At the bows, the height of this ship is about 15m (about 48 feet).
Steffano And Workers, Reykjavik.
My trip to Iceland was coming to an end. So, later that night, I made some images along the waterfront. In this image below, the Harpa Concert Hall is lit up. The lighting various with a kaleidoscope for colors at night.
Harpa Concert Hall At Night, Reykjavik.
It had rained earlier that evening, so I made some images the include reflections of the window lights in a water puddle on the pavement.
Harpa Lights, Reflections.
I continued along the waterfront to the Sunset Warrior. This sculpture is lit be sodium lights, hence the yellow lighting in this image.
Sunset Warrior At Night.
I also included some detail of the oars.
Sunset Warrior Oars, At Night.
Early next morning, after leaving the hostel, I headed towards Þingfellir on the Golden Circle route. Making a detour on that sub-zero (freezing) morning, I discovered the Þorufoss. Although I had traveled this road previously, I never noticed these waterfalls. Several early morning visitors had stopped at the parking lot, so I was curious!
Þorufoss, Golden Circle, After Sunrise.
Here is a closer view of the falls.
Þorufoss, Golden Circle.
After leaving the falls, I continued along the mountain road to find this scene, where there is a snow-covered amphitheater. Somewhere close to this location is a ski resort, that I had discovered a couple of weeks earlier on the other side of the mountains.
Mountains, Golden Circle, After Sunrise.
That was one of the final images that I made on this trip, before returning to Keflavik to return the rental car and proceed to the airport.
While staying at Grundarfjordur, I stopped by Kirkjufell to make some images. This is a well photographed location, but I prefer a different view of the mountain, captured shortly after sunrise.
Kirkjufell, No 1.
At low tide, a large area of flat muddy beach is exposed.
Kirkjufell, No 2.
Grundarfjordur is located on the Snaefellsness peninsula. This offers some really spectacular snow-covered mountains along the length of the peninsula.
Snaefellsnes Mountains, No 1.
Later that same day, I found a pasture where a herd of Icelandic horses were grazing. Stopping by the fence, these horses appreciate a meeting with touring visitors!
Iceland Horse Portrait, Alftafjordur No 1.
Among the herd, was one foal.
Iceland Horse Foal, Alftafjordur.
Soon the mother approached and moved away with the foal. This was one image that I made with the foal hiding behind the mother.
Iceland Horse, Mother And Foal, Alftafjordur.
Towards the end of the day, I stopped by one location, close to Grundarfjordur, where the road passes through a lava field. These lava fields are typically covered with bright yellow-green moss.
Moss Covered Lava Flow Near Grundarfjordur.
Moss-covered lava fields may be found in many parts of Iceland. However, the moss is very sensitive. Walking on the moss is not very forgiving and is not encouraged. It is easy to slip and get injured on the underlying lava!
After checking into to hostel, I headed out to capture the sunset. At a roadside parking lot, overlooking the sea, I made a silhouette of these two photographers (who were making some images).
Photogs At Sunset.
Looking towards Olafsvik, the sun was just setting over the horizon, so I made this final image in daylight, with the sky and clouds lighting up the long beach.
Sunset Near Olafsvik.
Often, I am asked if I saw the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis). I did see them, over Canada, on the flight to Reykjavik. However, later after dinner, I looked out from the hostel and noticed some faint lights against clear skies. Heading out from Grundarfjordur, I stopped at one location that I had researched earlier, to make this image. This was the first time that I had seen lights that formed a loop!
Aurora Borealis, Grundarfjordur.
After making several images, I headed to the parking lot where I made the earlier silhouette. This location allowed me to include the sea. In this image, light from the aurora was reflected in the sea.
Aurora Borealis, Snaefellsnes, No 1.
In the distance, one can see the lights of the town of Olafsvik, on the left, some 15 kms away. Also, towards the center is the town of Rif, some 7 kms farther away. Some of the lights streamed out the right side. So I chose a horizontal orientation to capture this stream.
Aurora Borealis, Snaefellsnes, No 2.
I noticed that there is some blue light reflecting from the sea. Maybe this is from low cloud that started to form? Anyway, the lights lasted for another 15 minutes before fading away.
It was time to leave Dalvik for the trip to Grundarfjordur and Snaefelsnes. Leaving Dalvik, one has to join highway near Akureyri. The highway makes its way towards a mountain pass, where I made this image before sunrise.
Sunrise, Leaving Akureyri.
Here is another image, made several minutes later.
Sunrise, Leaving Akureyri, No 2.
From here the highway continued up to the mountain pass. At the summit, I turned off to make this image of the clouds over the nearby mountains.
Clouds At Mountain Pass Summit.
Coming down from the mountain pass, I stopped by a farm, where there was a large circular pen.
Farm Buildings And Sheep Holding Pen.
It turned out that this was a sheep farm with holding pens for the sheep. In the following image, I noticed several sheep looking back at me.
Holding Pen With Sheep, Iceland.
For the rest of the journey, the clouds lifted and moved away. In the late afternoon, I stopped at the edge of a fjord close to Grundarfjordur.
Entering Fjord Close To Grundarfjordur.
Here there is a small river that flowed at the roadside, eventually meeting the fjord.
River Entering Fjord Near Grundarfjordur.
From this location, I also managed to capture those distant mountains!
While staying in Dalvik, I made a trip to Husavik, where there is a harbor that offers popular whale watching tours by boat. Along the way, there was a farm with milk churns by the main entrance. I stopped and made a few images.
Tree Row Along Roadside.
Here are the milk churns that caught my attention.
Milk Churns Outside Farm.
Arriving at Husavik, I parked at the harbor. There was plenty of ice along the quaysides, so one had to be careful when walking!
Husavik Harbor.
There were several fishing boats moored in the the harbor.
Fishing Boat In Harbor, Husavik.
Wandering around the quayside, I made some images of the reflections of the fishing boats in the water.
Coils Of Mooring Ropes, Husavik.
Also, I found several maritime items, including these mooring ropes, located at various points around the quayside.
Mooring Ropes, Husavik.
These fishing nets, with colorful blue and yellow floats, occupied one corner at the quayside.
Fishing Nets And Floats, Husavik.
When I arrived at the harbor, one whale watching trip had just returned and was mooring in the harbor. There are several operators that offer whale watching tours in the sea to the north of the harbor. Here is one of the boats preparing for a trip.
There are many fjords on the east coast of Iceland. The road follows the coast for much of the journey to Egilsstaðir. At one location, I passed this very distinctive amphitheater in the mountains, covered with snow.
Amphitheater In The Mountains.
At Streitishvarf, I passed a lighthouse that is not orange! This one also appeared to have antennae that serve as a beacon.
Just A Plain White Lighthouse.
Farther along the coast is an abandoned farmhouse by the fjord.
Abandoned Farmhouse By The Fjord.
Here I found another orange lighthouse! Looking at the image above, just to the right side of the house, one can make out the shape for the lighthouse.
Lighthouse Near Abandoned Farmhouse.
The path to the lighthouse crossed through a puddle formed by a small creek. An orange reflection of the lighthouse was just visible in the pool of water.
Lighthouse Reflection In Puddle.
Returning to the farmhouse, I passed by some fence posts, with a view of the distant mountains and the fjord. Time to move on!
Fence Posts On An Abandoned Farm.
I reached Egilsstaðir and moved into the hostel just after the sun had set. The following morning, I made a side trip to Unaos to explore the area. Along the roadside, I stopped to make this image of the farm buildings that were located close to the foot of the mountain range.
Farm And Mountains, Along Route To Unaos.
Continuing on, the road climbed up the mountain side to a viewpoint that offers a great view of the long bay and coastline.
Bay Near Unaos, Northeast Coast.
At this point, I turned back so that I could make the rest of the trip to Akureyri during daylight hours. There were several kilometers (or miles) of snow covered roads during this journey. I stopped at Myvatn, where I could make some images of the spectacular Hverfjall crater that were located in the distance.
Rock Wall With Hverfjall Crater In The Distance.
Continuing on to Akureyri, after cresting a mountain pass, I reached the fjord where the city is located. At this point, there was a magnificent sunset with clouds dropping snow on the mountains.
Sunset Over Mountains Near Akureyri.
Here is another view along the fjord towards the open sea.
Overlooking Fjord Near Akureyri.
On the far shore it the town of Dalvik that was to be my destination for the night!
While staying in Höfn, I made trips along the southeast coast of Iceland. At one location, is a lagoon that is separated from the sea by a beach, several kms long. This lagoon has many waterfowl, including these Whooper Swans that passed me on their flight out.
Swans In Flight, Southeast Iceland, 2024.
There are several lighthouses and other maritime warning beacons located around Iceland. Most of the lighthouses appear to be painted a bright orange color.
Lighthouse And Beacon, Southeast Iceland.
The front door area was one of the few non-orange parts of the building!
Orange Entrance Doorway.
When leaving Höfn, I stopped by Stokksnes to make some images of the black volcanic beach sands and low clouds adorning the mountains.
Stokksnes And Vestrahorn, Under Cloud.
From the overlook, the incoming waves as the surf broke close to the beach. The wind just picked up enough strength to cause spray to be thrown up from the surf.
Stokksnes Beach And Waves, 2024.
Further up the coast, there is one location where the wind strength increased significantly. Here there are spectacular waves, surf and wild seas that are caused by the wind.
