Intertidal habitat

Happy Fall!

We're still catching up after returning from Iceland, so I haven't taken new photos in California yet.  But we've been talking about our Iceland tidepooling experiences and folks have had questions about what it was like.  So here are a few habitat photos from various intertidal sites in Iceland:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kentish?

  

 Driving towards Búðardalur

 

Many scenes in Iceland triggered memories of Rockwell Kent paintings for me.  I guess that's not really surprising, since Greenland is only ~186 miles (300 km) from Iceland.  (Occasionally polar bears make the crossing on icebergs!)

A couple of views from the West Fjords: 

 

 

 

 

It'll be fun to learn more about Icelandic landscape artists, too! 

 

Thunderous

We're back from Iceland but there were so many beautiful landscapes that I hope you don't mind if I share some more photos.

This is Dynjandi (and friends) -- a significant waterfall in the West Fjords.  The trail passes a series of smaller waterfalls leading up to the largest cascade at the top.  I was so entranced that I might have missed one, but this is the basic sequence from bottom to top.  [You can click on the photos for larger versions.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's hard to tell the size of this waterfall in a photo, so here's another with Eric for scale:

 

 

 

Dynjandi means thunderous, and it was!
 

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.)