Drifting north

  

While walking a beach near the Garðskagi lighthouses (near the village of Garður on the Reykjanes Peninsula), I looked down to see a cluster of Blue Buoy Barnacles (Dosima fascicularis) in the wrack line.

Although we knew there were previous records of this species in Iceland, it felt a little surprising to see them.  Most of the records for this pelagic barnacle are from further south.  In California, we found these barnacles in Sonoma County during the warm-water events in 2014-2016 (e.g., see "Blue buoys!" on 31 August 2014).

Here's a close-up where you can see the thin, transparent plates.  You can also see the white foam-like float that the barnacles make to stay afloat at the surface of the ocean (upper left corner of the image).

 

 

 

And Eric took this beautiful photo of the cluster floating in the water next to the beach so you can envision them in their natural habitat.  [You can also see a piece of rockweed (Fucus sp.) at the lower right corner of the barnacle cluster (look for the orange color).  The barnacles might have attached to this piece of seaweed initially and then created their float around it.]

 

 

 

Fun to find this offshore barnacle at 64° North!

sandlóa, lóuþræll, and lóa

  

A few shorebird photos from Iceland.  Above, sandlóa (in Icelandic) or Common Ringed Plovers (Charadrius hiaticula).  (I really enjoyed hearing their calls.)

Next, a juvenile lóuþræll or Dunlin (Calidris alpina):

 

 

  

And two different views of lóa or European Golden-Plovers (Charadrius apricaria).  Although they were often feeding in grassland sites, we also saw them roosting among rockweeds.

 

 

 

 

 

Northern landscapes

  

Well, we're nearing the end of our visit to Iceland.  Eric thought it would be fun to post some landscape photos, so here's a selection from a few different areas.  Above, along the shoreline of the West Fjords.

 

Below, two from Breidavik Beach:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, a scene from Lake Mývatn near Höfði:

 

 

 

Boiling mud pots at a geothermal area, Hverir:

 

 

 

 

Two from the thundering waterfall, Dettifoss:

 

 

 

Lava columns at the fascinating Hljóðaklettar:

 

 

 

 

 

 

And one with reflections from peaceful Botnstjörn:

 

 

 

Iceland has been so inspiring!

 

We haven't had much time to process our photos, but we'll be sharing more as time allows.  Thanks so much for joining the journey!

Rjúpa!

 

 

We've been hoping to see rjúpa, or Rock Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) in Iceland and tonight we got lucky.  Eric spotted a small flock of seven birds after dinner.  The light was getting dim, but I managed a few photos to share.

 

 

 

Check out the feathers covering the legs and feet!  The Cornell Lab of Ornithology says, "Their feathered feet help them to walk on deep snow and to dig snow burrows and tunnels for refuge from severe cold."

 

Here are a couple more showing several birds and some of the habitat:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tjaldur

 

 

Eurasian Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus), or tjaldur in Icelandic, along the shoreline of the Snæfellsnes Peninsula in Iceland.  It's been fun hearing them during our travels, both reminding of us home (Black Oystercatchers) but also teaching us about oystercatchers in new landscapes.

Tidepooling at 66° North

During our first few days in Iceland, we were fortunate to find some excellent tidepooling locations.  We've been taking lots of photographs, but it's hard to find time at the end of the day to write a complete post , so I'm sharing a few fun highlights for now.

 

 

Silver-spotted Anemone (Aulactinia stella)

 

 

 

 

Northern Red Chiton (Boreochiton ruber) 

 

 

 

  

A small staurozoan (Haliclystis sp.).  This stalked jellyfish was very active so the image is a little blurry, but we were excited to find a couple of them! 

 

 

 

  

A striking Daisy Brittle Star (Ophiopholis aculeata).  We found quite a few individuals all with different color patterns.

 

We've been impressed with the diversity of marine invertebrates in the tidepools in Iceland and feel fortunate to be exploring and learning more about them.  We hope you enjoy meeting them, too!

Westernmost

 

 

A couple of scenes from the West Fjords of Iceland.  In the photo below, that's Eric waving at the top of the cliff!

 

 

The fox and the cliff

 

 

A quick photo of an Arctic Fox (Vulpes lagopus) approaching a steep bird cliff.

 

 

Blue-rayed

A beautiful limpet…from Iceland!  Meet the Blue-rayed Limpet (Patella pellucida).  We’ve done some tidepooling around Reykjavik during the last couple of days and this is a species I hoped to see.  Lots of other amazing marine invertebrates to share, so stay tuned!

Layers of sunset

  

Layers of sunset, from Cotati, 23 August 2026

Butterfl-eyes?

  

Close-up of the large eye spots on the forewing of a Common Wood-Nymph butterfly (Cercyonis pegala). 

Here's the entire butterfly, perched among grasses:

 

 

Interestingly, I've observed Common Wood-Nymphs in grasslands closer to Highway 1 near the Bodega Bay Community Center, which is only about 2 miles away as the butterfly flies (if the butterfly flies in a fairly straight line).  But I don't think I've seen one on Bodega Head yet.  The photo above is from the Salt Point area.

 

Wandering by

  

If you've been at the coast recently, you might have encountered these dragonflies zipping around, sometimes in large numbers.  Wandering Gliders (Pantala flavescens) sometimes appear in our area during late summer, especially with passing weather fronts. 

They're impressive fliers, but it's harder to spot them perched on vegetation.  This morning we found lots of them roosting in a grassland, and after many attempts we were able to get close enough to one of them for a few photos.

Note the beautiful golden abdomen and the very broad wings. 

 

 

 

 

 

You can also see Spot-winger Gliders (Pantala hymenaea) in our area.  In fact, in my experience Spot-winged Gliders are usually more common than Wandering Gliders in Bodega Bay.  But something's different this year and Wandering Gliders appear to be more common at this time.  (To compare the two species, click here.)

Among the mint flowers

  

Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus), laying eggs among mint flowers in our garden, 2 August 2026. 

End of a long odyssey

For Eric’s summer class, we used a small plankton net to collect some plankton near the mouth of Bodega Harbor during a flooding tide last week.  The students sorted through the plankton sample in lab to see what larval forms they could find.  One of the students (Zack) spotted an amazing larval form.

This is a brachiolaria, a late-stage larva of a seastar, that appears to be the Ochre Seastar (Pisaster ochraceus).  The photo above was taken under the microscope, but the specimen is quite large for a planktonic larval stage, close to 2 mm long and visible with the naked eye. This larval form is beautiful and alien in appearance and doesn't look much like an adult seastar!   

A surprising feature of the brachiolaria larva is that the juvenile seastar begins developing within the transparent larval body.  In the photo above, the juvenile body is visible near the bottom of the larva and is shiny white in color.  With a closer view, you can see that the developing juvenile body already includes the start of calcareous ossicles that will become the internal skeleton of the juvenile and adult seastar!  In the photo below, the developing ossicles look like intricate snowflakes (white arrow).

 

This brachiolaria appeared to be nearing the completion of its planktonic larval phase, which can be a long odyssey in seastars.  Under laboratory conditions, the planktonic phase has been reported to last from ~40 to 228 days in Pisaster ochraceus, depending on temperature and food.  Pisaster spawns in the spring in California, so this larva likely spent at least several months at sea before entering Bodega Harbor.

When the brachiolaria returns to a rocky shore and finds suitable habitat, it will initially attach to the rock with a short stalk.  Remarkably, the transparent larval body is reabsorbed into the juvenile body during a dramatic metamorphosis. Soon after settlement, the juvenile sea star breaks off its stalk and crawls away as a tiny sea star. 

The larval phases of a sea star.  Illustrations compiled and modified from various sources.

Eric was able to capture some video under the microscope of this beautiful sea star larva.  In the video, notice the long ciliated larval arms used for swimming and gathering food from the plankton. You will also see a close-up of the developing juvenile body (white in color) and the snowflake-like ossicles.  (If you can't see the video player below in the e-mail message, click here to go directly to the video.)

With many thanks to Zack for spotting this planktonic wanderer!  And to Eric for his microscope camera skills and the helpful diagram.

P.S.  For more information about development in sea stars, see earlier posts on the larvae of the Bat Star (Patiria miniata) — "A new star(t)" in 2013 and "A profound change" in 2023.

P.P.S.  As a reminder, when juvenile Pisaster are first visible to human eyes in rocky shore areas, it's about 4-6 months after metamorphosis.  Here's an example of one that's about 4.5 mm across (between ¹/₈ inch and ³/₁₆ inch), photographed in November 2014.

 

Morning sky

  

Such interesting clouds yesterday!  

Morning view from Cotati on 22 July 2026.

Sea star art

  

Close-up of the upper surface of a Bat Star (Patiria miniata).  Those are papulae (in purple) among clusters of spines (in pink).  (Papulae are finger-like projections for gas exchange). 

Red sky at night...

 

 

...sailor's delight.  

 

A saying that certainly held true last night and today! 

 

Sunset from Cotati on 11 July 2026. 

 

Anchovies and a rock

  

I was at the Spud Point Marina docks briefly this afternoon and noticed lots of schools of what look to be young Northern Anchovies (Engraulis mordax).  [Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong!]

Also came across a nice juvenile rockfish (Sebastes sp.).  It was only ~4 cm (1.5 inches) long:

 

 

Seeing lavender

 

Sea Lavender (Limonium californicum) flowers, 7 July 2026