After posting images from our recent visit to Bosque del Apache, I omitted some interesting images. In the following image, I was photographing one Red-Tailed Hawk. The hawk took flight just before the following hawk flew in. Perhaps there was a dispute over territory? The hawk below looks like a dark morph variant, that has significantly darker coloring compared to most birds in that species.
Red-Tailed Hawk, In Flight.
In the previous post, I mentioned the Coyote that moved in when we were birding. Well. Here is the Coyote. Apparently it was one of three Coyotes that other folks had seen a little earlier!
Coyote, Bosque del Apache.
Here is one of the Sandhill Cranes coming in to land, that I was photographing while the Coyote was in the area.
Sandhill Crane Landing, Bosque del Apache.
While photographing shore birds, a Northern Harrier flew in to do some hunting. These birds are really nimble and perform impressive aerobatic maneuvers while hunting. This Harrier turned back as it started to dive.
Northern Harrier, Diving No 1.
Here is another image as the Harrier continued diving. Both images have been heavily cropped to show more detail, because the Harrier was a long distance away.
Northern Harrier, Diving No 2.
At the end of our last day at Bosque del Apache, the setting sun was streaming through the bushes and trees.
Continuing with our trip to the refuge… We made another visit to the pond where we found shore birds from the previous day. Three Yellowlegs were meandering through the pond.
Three Greater Yellowlegs, Bosque del Apache, 2024.
There was a disturbance as a Northern Harrier flew in, hunting for prey. No luck this time, so the Harrier left quickly.
Northern Harrier, Hunting.
We also found several Northern Shrikes in the refuge. I approached on foot and managed to get reasonably close to make this image while the bird was perched near the top of a tree.
Northern Shrike, Perched, Bosque del Apache.
Nearby, we found a Great Blue Heron close to the edge of an irrigation ditch. This looked like an immature heron. These herons are often seen standing in water or close to water, where they typically hunt for fish. Unexpectedly, this heron was interested in something in the grass.
Immature Great Blue Heron.
We were fortunate to find a Roadrunner that was waiting at the roadside. One of the Park Rangers’ trucks was passing by, so the Roadrunner snuck into the long grass. After a few minutes, the Roadrunner came out again and crossed to our side of the road. Here, I had the opportunity of making several images of this bird until it darted into the bush.
Road Runner, Bosque del Apache.
At the end of the day, we had moved to the same pond as the previous day. I made this image of a family of Sandhill Cranes that were returning to this pond for the night.
Sandhill Crane Family Returning At Sunset.
On the previous day, a few coyotes had visited the same pond, but we did not see any predatory behavior.
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.
