Nature – Page 7 – Geeky Girl Engineer

Hiking a Glacier

Posted on May 19, 2014 by geek

Day 5 in Iceland started with us taking an amazing hike up a glacier. We went on a tour with Glacier Guides (our guide Robin was great!), who gave us crampons, ice axes, helmets, and safety harnesses (in case we fell down a crevasse!?), and then we hiked up a glacier. I still can’t believe I hiked up a glacier. Part of the reason I can’t believe I hiked up a glacier is because I have known issues with gravity, especially when frozen water is involved. The amazing part was, that with crampons on, walking on ice was much easier than walking on snow. Anyway, we hiked up Falljökull which is located in the Skaftafell area of Vatnajökull National Park. We completely lucked out with the weather. A storm passed to the south of us, which made for some absolutely amazing photographs, but we didn’t get any precipitation. I am not one to brag about my photography, but I got some amazing photographs. I can’t really credit my skills though because with the scenery I had, I could not shoot a bad photograph. The glacier was white with amazing blues, and the sky was gray then white then blue, ever changing with the storm.

: view of glacier pools

: Melt stream on Falljökull

: Melt stream

: Melt stream

: Glacier top

: Crevasse

: Glacier top

: View from the top

: Glacier top

: Glacier top

: View from the Falljökull glacier

: Glacier top

: Hidden pool on Falljökull

: Glacier top

: Pool

: Ice cave

: Ice cave

: Glacier top

: Falljökull’s top

: Glacier top

: Water pool

: Ice cave

: Glacier top

: Glacier top

: Glacier top

: Top the Falljökull glacier

: Crevasse

: Glacier top

: Glacier top

: Glacier top

: base of glacier

: Glacier Mice

: Glacier Mice

: Glacier Mice

: Glacier Mice

: Glacier Mice on Falljökull

: Glacier Mice

Puffins

Posted on May 19, 2014 by geek

While at Reynisfjall, we hit the puffin jackpot. There were puffins flying around, presumably out to the water to catch fish. Some of them landed on the cliffs near us, and I got some great photos.

Puffin

Puffins

Three puffins

Five puffins

Puffin

Reynisfjall and Reynisdrangur

Posted on May 19, 2014 by geek

While traveling east along the Ring Road on Day 4 in Iceland, we stopped to the west of Vik at Reynisfjall and Reynisdrangur. These are two spots right on the coast that offer spectacular views. The waves were crashing, a rainbow formed, and the view was gorgeous even without that drama. Also there are basalt columns which are just amazing.

Reynisdrangur basalt columns

Reynisdrangur beach

view of Reynisfjall from Reynisdrangur

view of Reynisdrangur from Reynisfjall

Reynisfjall beach

Reynisfjall view of rock outcrops

Reynisfjall view of bay

Rainbow to Reynisdrangur

Wave crashing at Reynisfjall

Bruarfoss

Posted on May 17, 2014 by geek

While visiting the Golden Triangle, we visited a second waterfall besides Gullfoss. Bruarfoss is a waterfall that my sister found out about through lots of researching on Iceland. It is kind of hidden, and it was not that easy to find. It is between Geysir and Þingvellir Park, just east of 355. You have to go into a summer house neighborhood to get there. You have to earn the waterfall, you might say, but it is totally worth it. The blue of the water is just beautiful.

Edited to add: Due to inquires, the following is best way I can describe how to get there. Take 37 northeast until you pass 355. Right after 355, look to your left (north), and you will see a neighborhood of summer homes. In May 2014, the first two turnoffs (i.e. closest to 355) into that summer home neighborhood had gates. The third did not. Thus after you pass 355, take the third left into the neighborhood. The roads were poorly marked in the neighborhood, but basically follow the road you took in past most of the houses to the back of the neighborhood, there was a very small turnoff to the left with enough room for about two cars to park. The turnoff was not at the end of the road, and it was not marked, but it was at the edge of a grassy area with no houses. There was short foot trail to a creek. At this location on the creek, there was a short foot bridge. My camera recorded the GPS coordinates of this foot bridge as Latitude: 64° 15′ 48.372″ N, Longitude: 20° 30′ 34.308″ W. Cross this bridge and follow the trail to a larger foot bridge that overlooks Bruarfoss whose GPS coordinates are Latitude: 64° 15′ 51.282″ N, Longitude: 20° 30′ 53.322″ W.

Bruarfoss

Bruarfoss pool

Bruarfoss outfall

Bruarfoss downstream

Bruarfoss water

Frozen Potomac

Posted on February 4, 2014 by geek

Last Sunday I went for a walk across the Potomac River and around the Tidal Basin. I had never seen the water there frozen before, and it was really neat to see. The ice made for some nice and interesting photos.

Arlington Memorial Bridge and Lincoln Memorial across the Potomac River

Plates of ice on the Potomac River

Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial across the Potomac River

The Pentagon and Air Force Memorial across the Potomac River

Washington Monument across the Tidal Basin

Canada Geese on the frozen Tidal Basin

Jefferson Memorial across the Tidal Basin

Snowy Owl at DCA

Posted on February 2, 2014 by geek

Several snowy owls have been seen in the DC metro area. Many people in the area have heard about the one that was hanging out in McPherson Square and then got hit by a Metro bus. This is why DC can’t have nice things.

I had heard that a snowy owl was spotted numerous times at Gravelly Point, so today I decided to go for a long walk that included going there. I was not exactly disappointed. When I finally got to Gravelly Point, there were numerous people standing around with scopes, binoculars, and cameras with zoom lenses. I was doubtful that all of them were plane spotters, and I was right, they were birders. There was a snowy owl hanging out at Reagan National Airport. It was right next to the runways, possibly it was too warm today, and it was going to hitch a ride north. According to the birders I spoke to, the theory is that it likes the airport because the low cut grass reminds it of the tundra. I imagine the airport also has rodents. I got a few of it on top of a windsock and later what I am fairly sure is a weather station. You are going to have to trust me. That really is a snowy owl, I promise.

On a related note, you can generally spot birders easily when a rare bird is about. Birders travel in flocks like the birds with which they are fascinated. When I arrived at the park, you could say, I joined my flock. Birders are really wonderful because they are almost always happy to let you use their scope, point you in the right direction, and share information about the sighting and other sightings. The enthusiasm is infectious. While I was standing there, at least a few non-birders stopped to ask at what everyone was looking. Many were equally enthused about the rare sightings. I hope these snowy owls that have come to DC will get more people interested and concerned about nature and wildlife.

Snowy owl at Reagan National Airport

Painted Redstart

Posted on December 29, 2013 by geek

Painted Redstart

I haven’t even had time to build the warbler section of my bird page. It is going to take a long time to get it fully built. However, I photographed a bird today that I wanted to get the photos posted quickly though. While driving back from a birding trip in south Texas, we stopped at a rest area on 281 near Falfurrias. I walked around with my camera thinking I might photograph a few titmice or something. I did get them, but I was stunned to see two beautiful birds that I have never seen before. I saw painted redstarts! They are not supposed to be in that area or even Texas, especially this time of year. I saw a life bird at a nice little roadside rest area. You just never know what kind of bird you are going to see when you look.

Painted Redstart

South Texas Birding

Posted on December 29, 2013 by geek

I spent the day birding in south Texas. The area around the Rio Grande has some amazing birds to see, birds that you won’t see anywhere else in the United States. Below are a few highlights of what I saw, including some pretty plants.

White-tipped Dove

Red-winged blackbird

Prickly pear

Northern cardinal and Great kiskadee

Green jay

Plain chachalaca

Northern cardinal and green jay

Cactus

Altamira Oriole

Agave

Prospect Park in Fall

Posted on November 16, 2013 by geek

I spent part of the day wandering through Prospect Park in Brooklyn. I had never been there before, but I think I could spend much more time there. I saw several birds, but they alluded photographs. While many of the trees had lost their leaves, some trees were still in their glorious fall color.

Theodore Roosevelt Island

Posted on October 19, 2013 by geek

I spent a little time on Theodore Roosevelt Island National Park today. It is a nice little park in the Potomac River. Visually, it is hard to believe that this wilderness area is right in between the congested areas of Washington, DC and the Rosslyn area of Arlington, VA. However, as it is in the flight path of National Airport, and I-66 actually runs over the southern section of the island, you can hear how close you are to the urban areas. It is still a nice area, and as fall has come, many of the leaves were starting to show beautiful color. It also has lovely views of Arlington and the surrounding bridges over the Potomac. Also, I finally got some good photographs of double-crested cormorants.

Cattails

Red oak

Poison ivy

Mushrooms growing on a tree

Marsh area

Rosslyn

Key Bridge