At the tip of Cape May is a nature sanctuary called South Cape May Meadows | The Nature Conservancy in New Jersey. Next we dropped by the North Woods Center Cape May Bird Observatory | New Jersey Audubon (njaudubon.org) run by New Jersey Audubon. And after visiting there we ate lunch at the Cape May Bird Observation Deck near the light house.
I like to try to identify wildflowers. I use iNaturalist and the internet. The red maples are seeding and from a distance it looks like the trees have red flowers. 5 of 8 posts.
Landscapes of Jamaica Bay. The first image shows Snow Geese and Brant in flight. I wonder what the plant is. I liked the red color on the leaves.
Landscapes and spring flowers in March.
Grass in Washington Square Park with some mild processing to bring out the color and shape.
Our new house plant.
On the way out of Reykjavik on July 14 (last of my posts for that day) we passed this interesting church and I took photos of Mofellskirkja in the distance from the Golden Circle.
We stopped at Rutshllir CavesFascinating stories about the man made caves. This one has a hut with a sod roof. Details here: The Peculiar Rútshellir Cave in South Iceland (guidetoiceland.is) Hálsanefshellir Cave is by the Reynisfjara black beach is a huge sea cave located at the beach close to the small town Vík. The cave is exceptional because of octagonal basalt pillars at the cave entrance. The vertical columns are quite similar to Fingal’s Cave on Staffa Island.
In the morning we went back to black sands. There was a fellow there with a drone I’m sure he was not happy to see us as he was the only other person there and I’m sure he wanted it all to himself to take pictures of the Hálsanefshellir Cave. I stepped out to the edge to see if I could go around the point to have a look behind the cave and a wave almost caught me. I realized that these waters were very unpredictable and to try to go around that point would be very dangerous, so I didn’t. This video on shows some people getting washed out to sea by one of these rogue waves: Extremely dangerous Waves by Reynisfjara and Kirkjufjara … (guidetoiceland.is). The water is so cold that within seconds they were unable to move or stand up.
There is also a story associated with the cave about a Seal skin The Seal’s Skin: Icelandic Selkie Folktale (vikingrune.com)
The Nootka lupin was brought to Iceland from Alaska in 1945 to help to restore degraded soils which had been a serious problem since the 19th century. Although there are still large areas in Iceland which suffer erosion and desertification many feel the lupine has become too aggressive and needs to be stopped. It is especially feared that the lupine will spread into the Central highlands, permanently transforming the local flora. It is an invasive species in Iceland, threatening local plant life. It creates monocultures which can suffocate more delicate native flora. Icelanders are trying to destroy the lupine. The goal is to protect the distinctive woolly moss, known in Icelandic as graymoss, which covers the lava. It is not least the luscious moss which gives the lava field its magical aura.
Oystercatchers are seen all over, both by the shore and inland. I do not know why so many appear to like the roads. I wonder what they find there. It is a suicidal behavior that often gets them run over.
Geysir (Guide to Iceland) Geysir (Wikipedia) is a huge tourist attraction in the Golden Circle in Southwestern Iceland (coordinates 64°18′49″N 20°17′58″W). We went there on July 14, 2021. It was a very atmospheric with misty rain, clouds in the sky, and lots of steam. There are wonderful colors in the ground and water from the minerals.
Geysir geothermal area is stupendous as you can see by the pictures. It’s very touristy and there are huge buses loads of tourists coming to see it, but I didn’t feel crowded. I had to pop in and see the huge gift shop. We did not need to eat lunch there because I had bought a lovely loaf of fresh baked bread in town the day before and some cheese and butter. I had a collapsible cooler for lunch food for the trip.
The purple Creeping Thyme (Thymus praecox) is called blóðberg in Icelandic meaning bloodstone.
Sherry Felix - port4u 