Icelandic waters are teeming with over 300 species of fish, and many marine mammals, but they have only a handful of terrestrial wild animals including reindeer, mink and arctic fox, and 85 species of birds.
The Northern Fulmar is a pelagic bird, meaning they spend their lives at sea, and are capable of diving several meters in pursuit of prey.
They resemble albatross, and have tubular beaks for processing sea water like other pelagic birds, including albatross and petrels.
Very handsome Tufted Ducks are common breeders all over Iceland. This is a female.
Ocean swimming Greylag Geese breed in Iceland, Finland and Scandinavia, and winter in the British Isles.
The Northern Common Sea Eider is the producer of eider-down which is harvested in Iceland by special eider farmers.
Black Headed Gulls are common in Iceland.
This one is a juvenile.
Adaptable Starlings first settled in Iceland in the 1940’s, and now can be seen nesting in Akureyri and Reykjavik.
Cheers to you from beautiful Iceland and her very hardy birds~
Tag: Iceland Photographs
Waterfall of the Gods~
Godafoss, the Waterfall of the Gods, originates deep in the Icelandic Highlands.
The first cascade falls 12 meters, over a span of 30 meters, and the cascades continue for quite a distance. There is an incredible volume of water moving here, and the sound, spray and color, are quite remarkable.
It is one of Iceland’s many spectacular waterfalls.
Godafoss can be accessed from the nearby town of Akureyri, which in turn is reachable by Iceland’s famed Ring Road.
Akureyri, like all Icelandic towns is charming, and boasts the northern-most botanical garden in the world,
where you can see many unusual and beautiful plants.
We are home at The Holler now, but it is still, cheers to you from stunning Iceland~
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Living Under the Winter Ice~
Laufas is an old turf house in Northern Iceland. There are many of these partially underground historical sod houses in Iceland. The house was built between 1866-1870 and is very large and multi-level, with one floor completely underground. In this photo you can see the sod brick construction which has withstood the test of time and Iceland’s formidable winters.
Laufas house facades are made of wood which is quite scarce in Iceland.
There are underground passages,
and underground rooms.
These houses are snug,
but quite spacious,
and not at all claustrophobic inside.
20-30 people lived in Laufas House.
The houses give one a sense of communal underground living,
that was heat efficient during Iceland’s unforgiving winters.
Laufas House was a wealthy priest’s house, and some rooms are more polished and finished than others.
This was a working farm, on a gorgeous site, with a church that was originally built in 1698.
Cheers to you from Iceland’s fascinating turf houses~
