Iceland Day 2
Despite strong winds and rain, Kate and I were out hiking at sunrise. However, to be fair, sunrise in our current location was at 10:07 AM, so it is not like this was a tremendous accomplishment. With scattered rain forecast for the entire day and winds strengthening throughout the day to gusts of 50 to 60 mph, I decided to leave my good camera in the hotel and limit myself to my waterproof cell phone that fits nicely in a pocket.
We headed out on a path through the lava “moorland”. We needed to be careful where we stepped since the moss and grasses could cover holes in the lava, and neither of us were interested in experiencing Iceland’s emergency services by breaking an ankle.
The landscape often had an other worldly feel to it.
With all of the crags, it took us about an hour to hike 1.5 miles. As the wind and rain picked up, and our feet started to squish in our boots, we decided to head on back to the inn.
On the way back, we spotted two Rock Ptarmigans (a new species for me). Since I only had my iPhone, I needed to slowly move closer and closer to get any sort of reasonable photo. I only count birds that I photograph in my bird life list since my bird identification without a photo is beyond poor. On the walk, I had no idea what type of bird this was, only that I was reasonably confident that I had not seen it before.
As we got relatively close to the inn, we came across this exceptionally vibrant bolder. Back at the inn, both warm showers and hot soup were very welcome.
After lunch, Kate sensibly chose to stay warm and read. I decided to take a drive with my camera and see if I could find any birds to photograph. I headed west along the southern shore of the peninsula. Periodically, I would find a pull off and stop for a photograph. Here I am looking southwest towards the ocean.
As I crossed over a small pass, this was the view looking north.
Iceland is full of rivers, such as this one, that tumble downwards from the mountains.
Eventually, I made it to the Arnarstapi Cliffs pictured above. Looking out from the viewpoint, I saw quite a few birds, so I wandered back to the car and got out my big camera.
Tucked in one of the leeward walls of the cliff were these Northern Fulmars (another new species for me).
Adding to my list of new birds was this Black-legged Kittiwake.
Here is another photo of a Black-legged Kittiwake, taken by looking downwards from the outlook. Its distinctive black wing markings are clearly visible.
The wind was gusting strong enough that gusts would make me stagger. Since the wind was from the west, I stood facing east with the wind at my back. This photograph gives some sense of the size of the waves as the splash reached the top of the cliff.
I took this photo of a crashing wave on the lava cliff using my big lens. I think it makes a very interesting image. Without the context of the previous photo, I would find it very difficult to understand this photo.
I will end this post with my favorite photo of the day. This European Shag was making its way to the cliff where it then disappeared in a protected nook. I really love the composition of this photo. The blackness of the shag beautifully contrasts with the white violence of the water. Balancing the shag in the bottom right are the black lava rocks in the top left being pounded by the surf. While the photo is taken in full color, it is essentially black and white except for the subtle hints of green in the ocean. With the wind absolutely howling and the rain coming down, this photo really captured my sense of the mood in that moment.