Earlier this month, I made a trip to Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge for some birding and make photographs. This year it was windy, overcast and really cold when I arrived at the wildlife refuge. After a couple of days, the wind subsided but it remained cold for much of the days.
For the first time, I managed to get a decent image of an American Kestrel; the overcast weather softened the light so we can see a lot of detail in the shadows.
American Kestrel, Bosque Del Apache.
Near the entrance to the wildlife refuge, a Loggerhead Shrike was perched on a fence post.
Loggerhead Shrike, Perched On Post.
Later that first day, I made this image of the shrike on a thistle. It may have been the same bird but was about a 1/4-mile away from the first image.
Loggerhead Shrike, Perched On Thistle,
Alongside the south loop, I found a frozen pond where a group of Yellowlegs were waiting for the ice to thaw that morning. Later in the day, I returned to the same pond to find the ice had thawed. Several other birds had moved in during the day. While observing the birds, this male Buffelhead Duck spent much of the day, paddling downstream in the pond, feeding occasionally. Once he reached the end, he would fly to the other end of the pond, and repeat the process. I did manage to capture this one image as he was taking flight from the end of the pond.
Buffelhead Duck Taking Flight, Bosque Del Apache.
There are several other animals that may be found in New Mexico. I found this Javelina crossing the road to join a group of Javelina grazing in the field to the left.
Javelina Crossing Road, Bosque Del Apache.
Towards the end of the day, a Roadrunner approached me. It seemed that this Roadrunner was working one stretch of road that runs between two ponds. This is one image that I captured close to sunset.
Roadrunner At Roadside, Bosque Del Apache.
At the end of daylight, I headed out of the refuge for some dinner. The sun had set behind the mountains to the west of the refuge. However, the last rays for sunlight lit up the few remaining clouds in the sky.
During our afternoon trip to Reynold’s Landing, we discovered a Lesser Scaup (a duck), that was diving for food in the river. I managed to get reasonably close to the Scaup as it dived below the surface. After watching the Scaup’s behavior, I decided to attempt a sequence of several consecutive images from the start of the dive until the the scaup was underwater. After many attempts, I eventually managed to capture a complete sequence from start.
Ten days ago we headed out to Reynold’s Landing, along the South Platte River. Soon after passing the pond, I heard a Belted Kingfisher calling. It turned out that this Kingfisher was fishing at the pond. Here is a sequence of three images as this Kingfisher was hunting for food.
Kingfisher Hunting, South Platte, No 1.
Saw something…
Kingfisher Hunting, South Platte, No 2.
And diving.
Kingfisher Hunting, South Platte, Dive.
Whilst watching this Kingfisher, he caught four critters from the pond. Probably crawdads.
During November, I made several trips to the South Platte River and to Chatfield State Park, so that I can improve some bird photography. Here is a collection of some of the more interesting birds that I re-discovered.
Kildeer, South Platte River.
Green-Winged Teal, South Platte.
These two Kildeer were chasing each other along the river. I was fortunate to capture the far one as it came to land.
Kildeer Pair, With Landing, South Platte.
Kildeer Pair, South Platte.
Gadwall, South Platte River.
On one day, I spent a couple of hours at Chatfield State Park. This White-Crowned Sparrow spent some 5-10 minutes in one bush, allowing me to capture lots of images. This one bird was the highlight of that visit to the park!
White-Crowned Sparrow, Chatfield.
Back to the South Platte on another occasion. There are many Mallards in the South Platte River, year round, so I done often attempt to photograph them. However, sometimes I manage to capture an unusual display.
Female Mallard, Flapping Wings, South Platte.
American Wigeon, South Platte River.
On that day, I also found a female and male Buffelhead duck.
Female Buffelhead, South Platte River.
Male Buffelhead, South Platte River.
I found a pair of Mallards feeding. This is the usual position as they dip down to bottom feed in the river. Well timed!
Continuing with my trip to Iceland… During the trip to make images of the wild seas along the east coast, I stopped by one of the inshore lakes that served as a habitat for some swans. During previous trips to Iceland, I attempted to make some images of swans in the wild. Unfortunately the Icelandic swans are very skittish, so as I approached them, they either moved further away or flew away. For the following images, the lakeside was very close to the car. I could make these images without leaving the car, after rolling down the window.
Family Of Swans, Iceland.
As I wrote previously, gale force winds were pumping in the south and east of Iceland. In the image below, the swans were struggling to make headway against the wind. Looking at the surface of the water, one can see the waves created by the strong winds.
Swans Swimming Against The Wind, Iceland.
After shooting the rough seas, I headed back to the hostel. These seven horses had lined up near the edge of the farmer’s field.
Seven Horses, East Coast Iceland.
This was my last day in the hostel at Vagnasstaðir, and the following morning I had to complete a 600km trip to Dalvik, in the north of Iceland. I was up before dawn and headed out after a quick breakfast. As I was driving a few kilometers down the road, the sunrise had started with red, orange and coral colors in the morning sky. In the distance is the Vestrahorn, with a tidal lagoon in the foreground.
Sunrise At Vagnasstatir.
On the far side of Vestrahorn, one passes “The Red Chair” that is attached to a rock outcrop along the road side.
The Red Chair, East Iceland.
Eventually, I arrived at the hostel in Dalvik late in the day. The east coast of Iceland contains may fjords, so the roads usually follow the coastline that is absolutely spectacular. The final leg of the trip between Egilsstaðir and Akureyri was on snow-covered roads. This was the coldest part of the journey where the temperature dropped below freezing (6˚F or -14˚Celsius). I passed several cars that were abandoned on the roadside, because their drivers chose to leave the firm road surface; those cars had become bogged down in the softer road shoulders!
During my two days at Dalvik, I made some trips to some close-by towns. Returning from Husavik, I stopped along the road close to the following treeline.
Trees In The Mist Along Field Near Husavik.
Looking back along the road from Husavik, I noticed a rainbow over the road. The morning air was really cold and laden with water vapor, ice and water droplets. These was the source for the frozen rainbow!
Frozen Rainbow In The Mist.
Later that evening, I returned to the hostel at Dalvik. The sun was setting behind the mountains on the western side of Dalvik, creating the most amazing sunset.
Continuing with my trip to Iceland… While in Vik, I made an early morning visit to Skogafoss. It had been raining most of the way there, and it continued to rain after arriving. After waiting for the rain to clear, I decided to abandon this site. However, the next day was clear of rain, so I headed back to make a great image of the sunrise.
Skogafoss Sunrise.
About the time there was a major weather change over Iceland. Along the south coast, gale force winds had developed. This caused many road closures, over a 3 or 4 day period, until the winds weakened. I managed to make the following image of the main water fall at Skogafoss. It was really windy here, even with a camera on a tripod. However, other photographers were not so lucky — I did see one tripod blown over, with the sound of breaking glass, probably causing a broken filter.
Skogafoss.
Returning to Vik, I had breakfast at the hostel. Several hostel visitors that I met had left early that morning so they could complete their journey in case they were delayed by road closures. Later I headed east and stopped at another waterfall, Stjornarfoss, that I had visited during a previous visit to Iceland. This waterfall faces south and is located in a short canyon. Even here, there were strong gusts of wind that blew from the north over the waterfall.
Stjornarfoss.
Returning to the car, I passed by the following curved treeline. The low autumn sun cast long shadows, even in the middle of the day.
Autumn Shadows, Stjornarfoss.
Returning to Vik later that afternoon, the road leading west out of Vik was closed because of the high winds. There were many travelers in tour buses that had stopped at the main shopping center in Vik, taking a break before resuming their journey towards Reykjavik later that day.
The following day was my turn to move the the next hostel location at Vagnasstaðir, closer to Hðfn, along the southeast coast. I then proceeded to Vestrahorn, a location that I had missed during previous visits to Iceland. Many beaches in Iceland have black beaches, as a result of black sands originating from volcanic and igneous activity on the island. In this image, I found a location where the yellow grasses grew on the black sand dunes — this provided a nice contrast of the yellow against the black.
Afternoon At Vestrahorn.
During my stay there, we had a snow storm during the first night. During the course of the next day, there was a rain/snow mix, that eventually melted by the end of the day. I did manage to get some clothes washed and shopped for some groceries.
The following day, the snow and rain had cleared, so I decided to head towards Jokulsarlon. This is a location when the Vatnajokull (glacier) calves into a lagoon. At low tide, icebergs are carried out to the sea. Later these icebergs are washed up onto the beach when the tide rises. This stretch of beach is often called “Diamond Beach”. Here I made several images of the icebergs as the rising sun shines through the ice.
Beached Icebergs, Jokulsarlon.
Even though the snow and rain had stopped, the high winds continued to blow from the north. This gave me a great opportunity of capturing the rough seas as the waves rolled into the coast. The high winds created lots of spray from the surf allowing some backlit waves to be captured. Absolutely spectacular!
Rough Seas At Jokulsarlon.
Later that day, I headed back towards Hðfn and past Vestrahorn, to the east coast. Along the route, I made images of the snow covered mountains.
Snow Covered Mountains Near Hofn.
There was very little snow along the east coast. However, I stopped at one location to make images of the breaking waves as the wind carried the spray aloft from the breaking surf. In the following image, I took shelter behind rocks below a low hill. Again, some really spectacular conditions.
Gale Force Winds, East Iceland, No 1.
After making images here, I decided to head further up the coast. I found a parking lot, located above the cliff top. At this location, the winds were even stronger. Also, I had no place where I could shelter, so I had to lean backwards against the wind when capturing images so I didn’t get blown over the cliff!!!
Gale Force Winds, East Iceland, No 2.
These proved to be another location with spectacular waves.
Continuing on my journeys through Iceland… On day 3, I made a brief stop to capture some of the wetlands close to Kirjufell.
Kirkjufell And Wetlands. Sunrise.
Then I headed out beyond Kirkjufell, towards the Snaefellsnes peninsula. Here is the view of Snaefellsnes Jokull. This is the glacier above a dormant volcano.
View Towards Snaefellsnes Jokull (Glacier).
As I approached a town, Rif, I noticed this waterfall that is fed from the snowmelt of the glacier.
Svodufoss (Waterfall), Snaefellsness.
After passing through Snaefellsnes National Park, I visited this abandoned farmhouse. This is a site that I have visited several times in the past — it becomes even more dilapidated and covered with more graffiti with each visit!
Abandoned Farmhouse, Snaefellsness.
On the return trip to Grundarfjorður, I stopped at the beach near Latravik. The foreground shadow was slowly creeping along the berm as the sun dropped lower behind the mountains behind me.
Beach Berm And Road, Latravik.
It was close to low tide when I walked down the beach. The beach is formed from black volcanic sands that are the result of volcanic activity in Iceland over the millennia. This beach had several pools that I could use to include some reflections of the clouds.
Pool On Beach, Latravik.
In the following image, the edge of the pool had interesting patterns created by the ripples of the beach sand.
Another Beach Pool, Latravik.
There is one feature close to this beach that I captured the day before — A Giant Padlock. This padlock is the main feature of the gate that leads to the berm that I captured.
Big Padlock, West Iceland
However, there are several padlocks that adorn the gate, including one on the left side of the giant padlock!
Big Padlock, More Padlocks.
In the final image, I captured the road and the berm framed by the hasp of the giant padlock.
This last October, I made another trip to Iceland. After arriving in Keflavik airport and renting a car, I headed to Reykjavik. My flight had arrived an hour earlier than scheduled. Having visited several times in the past, I knew my way around the city. I entered the center of the city by means of the road along the waterfront. It was sunrise by the time I reached the city. Along the waterfront is the “Sun Warrior” sculpture, that was lit by the sunrise. Fortunately there were no crowds in the area, so I was able to capture the following image.
Sun Warrior, Reykjavik.
After visiting Sun Warrior, I had some breakfast and then headed out to a fjord. This would give me the opportunity of taking a nap during the day to overcome jet lag and make some photographs.
“Hvalfjorður” is a fjord some 30 kms north of Reykjavik. The road around this fjord was part of the ring road until a tunnel was constructed to cross the fjord in the 1990’s. I always like to visit this fjord since it is a short drive from Reykjavik. A bit of history: during World War 2, this fjord was used as an allied naval base.
Nature Reserve, Hvalfjorður.
I made my way around the fjord. This is a really pretty drive with some great scenery. One of my favorite spots along the road is the “Laxa i Kjos” (salmon river). This river is a crossed by a single-lane bridge that passes small waterfalls as the river makes its way down to the fjord.
Laxa i Kjos River, Hvalfjorður.
Later, I managed to get a nap and then returned to Reykjavik. I spent some time near the harbor, where I made this image of the Harpa Concert Hall.
Harpa Concert Hall, Reykjavik.
This concert hall has glass windows that has colored panes in random locations. Here is one of the images that I made inside the hall, that shows some details of the windows.
Harpa Concert Hall Window Detail.
The next morning, I headed to the next destination, again passing through Hvalfjorður. Here is another image that I made of the waterfall.
Waterfall, Laxa i Kjos.
En route to Grundarfjorður, there were a couple of herds of Icelandic horses along the roadside.
Horses, West Iceland.
I parked the car at a close by parking area and made my way towards the horses. There were two groups of horses; one on each side of the road. As I approached the fence, several horses made their way to greet me. I had the opportunity of capture several images of these wonderful horses.
Pair Of Horses, West Iceland.
After arriving in Grundarfjorður, and checking into the hostel, I headed to Kirkjufell that is located just outside the town. Here is one of the images that I made here.
