Through the Mountains

7-25-10    We drove through Iceland's only National Forest, Hallormsstaðaskógur, next to Lake Lagarfljót this morning. Although the forest was small, it was cute and a leafy reprieve after the stark, bare mountains we drove through yesterday. In the forest were pine trees, dwarf birch, blue spruce and birch trees.

Hallorms... National Forest

   We saw a pair of Redwings (Turdus iliacus) feeding their young with reddish worms. The Redwing resembles our American Robin (Turdus migratorius). They are in the same Turdus family of birds.

Lake Lagarfljót

   We also saw some logs that had been carved to look like the mythical monster of Lake Lagarfljót. Fortunately, we did not encounter the actual monster.

Lagarfljótsormurinn

Leaving the National Forest, we drove east from Egilsstaðir through lovely mountains and valleys. We saw several waterfalls along the way as well as Black-Tailed Godwits (Limosa limosa islandica) and Golden Plovers (Pluvialis apricaria). A picnic lunch at the summit of some mountain where there was a rescue hut for people stranded in the mountains. This was followed by some hot tea and coffee at a tiny coastal town named Breiðdalsvik.

Rescue Hut and Picnic Site

The drive from Brieðdalsvik to Höfn was right along the east coast of the country and went through several tidal marshes. In these areas, we saw thousands of Whooper Swans (Cygnus cygnus). Two new birds for our list today were a Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus) and a European Storm Petrel (Hydrobates pelagicus). Robert saw two Rock Doves (Columba livia) that I did not see. In Memphis, we call those "rats with wings".

The Gyrfalcon is the first raptor we have seen on this entire trip. We saw it coursing low over the hay fields in front of Berufjordhur, where Highway 1 meets 939. It suddenly pounced and landed. Several little birds scrambled to flee. The Gyrfalcon took off again and tried to swoop down on several Oystercatchers. They scattered. In all the commotion no one was hurt. The Gyrfalcon was still hungry. The smaller birds all felt lucky.

We steered into Höfn and got a room. Robert can't find his glucometer. I had the salmon. He had the lamb. Another great day in Iceland.

-Berry