Iceland Day 4: Golden Circle

Gullfoss

Staying overnight in Flúðir, we departed early in the morning for the first of the three major "Golden Circle" attractions, Gullfoss. It was our first really overcast, rainy day but we came prepared. With rain pants even. Most tourists do the Golden Circle clockwise. We did it counterclockwise, which saved on traffic and meant we had Gullfoss mostly to ourselves for a while. Note: "Gull" does not refer to the seabird but means "Gold" in Icelandic. This was mildly disappointing to learn.

Tourist interacting with raven

At Gullfoss, ravens have become parking lot scavengers.

Hmmm, I wonder....

Which means they are surprisingly approachable.

I've hand-fed chickadees before....

But not necessarily friendly.

Rejected!

Nevertheless, they will sit still for portraits.

Northern Raven

The other two Golden Circle attractions, Geysir

Pool of boiling water at Geysir

and Þingvellir are popular for good reason.

Þingvellir! Game of Thrones!

Otherworldly. And central to the Icelandic tradition of peaceful assemblies.

Þingvellir! Rivendell!

Þingvellir is a national park and an important bird breeding location. Not just geese and ducks, but Great Northern Divers (AKA Common Loons) breed here. (I saw some in the distance, out of camera range).

geese

But for me, it was the song of the wren (AKA Eurasian Wren, recently split from Winter Wren) from the woods competing with tourist clamor that made the scene complete.

Next: The whimbrels of Ranga

Iceland Day 3: Jökulsárlón and Skaftafell

Jökulsárlón

And then suddenly, a couple of hours drive from Vík, we were in the Arctic. Actually it was the famous glacial pool right off the ring road, Jökulsárlón. We arrived on a rare sunny day.

Newly flipped iceberg ready to float out to sea

Chunks of ice break off from the Vatnajökull glacier some 7 km away and then float down the pool to their eventual demise in the ocean.

Glacial tongue and ice cap

The current warming trend, a combination of global warming and volcanic activity, means the glacial pool gets larger every year and the glacier gets farther away.

Rabbit and hippo? ice formations

We took the obligatory duckboat tour of the pool to see the day's variety of icebergs, each with its own personality.

Arctic Terns

Would you believe there is a colony of Arctic Terns here too?

Snow Bunting

As well as parking lot Snow Buntings (in breeding plumage--something we don't see in Massachusetts).

Arctic Skua (AKA Parasitic Jaeger)

At Jökulsárlón the skua population moves past "common" to "abundant."

Great Skua

Indeed, some skuas become beggars, hanging around the tourist area looking for hand-outs and garbage. I didn't see a skua successfully intimidating any humans into dropping their ham sandwiches. I did see one catch its own fish.

Resident Great Skua in tourist area, regarded as a pet 

If you ever visit Jökulsárlón make sure to walk down to the beach where the icebergs wash out to sea.

Iceberg on the beach

There is something magically wistful about the scene. Children's books about icebergs who always wanted to see the ocean immediately come to mind. 

Great Skuas and Parasitic Jaegers

It is best to avoid the beach during the height of breeding season. Great Skuas are notorious for following through on their threats. And they are huge. But in August, they provide a lively spectacle.

Another glacial tongue visible from the road

There are actually numerous glacial tongues and glacial pools fairly close to the ring road. In this part of Iceland it is easy to experience "too-much-magnificence" syndrome.

View from trail to Svartifoss, Skaftafell National Park

It was time to experience the sights of Iceland at a more human scale.

Next day: The "Golden Circle."

Iceland Day 2 part 3: Vík

Vík, Iceland

Vík, the southernmost town in Iceland, would also be our eastern outpost, from which we would launch a day trip farther east. We arrived in the late afternoon. Of course, in Iceland during August that meant we still had eight hours of sunlight.

Vík's famous basalt rock formations, Reynisdrangar

With its black sand beach, eerie rock formations, and close proximity to the Mýrdalsjökull glacier, Vík is a popular tourist destination.

A glimpse of Mýrdalsjökull

It is also exceedingly vulnerable to a sudden cataclysmic glacial flood from volcanic activity. This, of course, can be said of many communities along the south coast...

Our chalet at the Hotel Edda Vík

But for me the most memorable aspect of Vík was the Northern Fulmars nesting in the cliffs right behind our chalet.

Northern Fulmars

I had known that fulmars were common breeding birds in Iceland, but I didn't know that meant such close proximity to humans. Around Massachusetts we get excited when we see a single one far out at sea.

Northern Fulmars

As is the case with many birds, they are actually kind of disagreeable close up during breeding season. And fulmars are notorious for their disgusting, yet very effective, defensive strategy: "oiling."

Northern Fulmars

Although the chicks can have their moments of sweet repose. 

Northern Fulmar

And then it's back to harassing the parent. I took a video (below) of some apparent feeding activity.

And then there were the Black-tailed Godwits visible in the meadow between our chalet and the beach.

Black-tailed Godwit

Thumbs up, Vík!

Rainbow

Iceland Day 2 part 2: The Road to Vík

Up the hill from Skógafoss

Our hotel for our second day was a couple of hours away, so we headed out early on the Ring Road, destination: Vík í Mýrdal, the southernmost town in Iceland.

Skógafoss

Iceland is a land of a million waterfalls, but Skógafoss is a particularly thunderous example, so we stopped to take a look. As I was gazing at the powerfull falls, I noticed a large white gull-like bird with a stiff flight soaring around it. Northern Fulmar!

Nesting Northern Fulmars

Skógar, along with a large portion of the Iceland coast, is fulmar country. We decided to climb up the hillside besides the fall.

Cliffside, with soaring Northern Fulmar

Indescribably strange and beautiful, with great views of the sea, and vegetation-covered life-like rock formations (the origins of troll stories, no doubt).

This troll apparently was out past sunrise

We also had glimpses of the glacier behind the hills.

Ice

The most recent eruption (in 2010) was just west of here.

Icelandic sheep

It didn't matter how high we climbed, there would always be sheep.

Dyrholaey

Our next stop was the top ten Iceland attraction, Dyrholaey, a keystone rock formation better appreciated from the highway than our vantage point. But after our Skogafoss climb we didn't have the energy to walk (or even worse, drive down a dirt road) to the other end. And at any rate, it didn't matter because

Atlantic Puffin raft

puffins. Yes, this is puffin country. They were flying all around and floating off shore.

Atlantic Puffin

And every once in a while would allow for slightly closer views. Oh and Great Skua.

Great Skua

More on them in a bit.

Iceland Day 2 part 1: A quick trip to the end of Seltjarnarnes

Black-headed Gull near Grótta

Down the road from Reykjavik city center there is a delightful nature preserve named Grótta designed to protect a tern colony on a small lighthouse island. Regrettably, it was high tide when I arrived in the early morning so I couldn't access the island itself, but I did walk the beach and along the adjacent pond.

Ruddy Turnstone and Arctic Tern

As anticipated, there was an abundance of shorebirds, some resident and some migrating through.

Common Ringed Plover

I was happy to spot European species such as the ringed plover and the redshank, even if I didn't get the greatest photo of the latter...

Common Redshank

I will admit having mixed feelings about another resident bird, limited geographically now but spreading.

Common Starlings 

I'm hoping the relative lack of suitable cavities (no trees in much of Iceland) will keep the starlings near the city.

The path between the sea and the pond

Down the pond, some now familiar sights.

Greylag Geese and Whooper Swan

Including a distant group of Glaucous Gulls (associating with black-backed and maybe Herring Gulls).

Gulls and human residences

Can you identify the fuglar of Seltjarnarnes?