Catching up- Summer of 2011

I didn't realize how much I have neglected this blog and photos this summer. I also want to apologize ahead of time, this is going to be absurdly long and not well written. I just woke up still suffering from jet lag, not that I am a good writer in the first place.

Starting from the begining; My summer started with a two week camp in central Wisconsin. Although we encountered a lot of "neature", the camp itself was not terribly conducive for photos. I did manage to get out on a free Sunday to do some photography so I headed to Buena Vista Grasslands. Nothing spectacular but I did manage to find some songbirds and a doe and yearling whitetail that gave me some shots.

Immediately after I was finished with camp my dad, brother, and I headed down to Argentina. We had an incredible week of bird hunting. I only manage a few shots in between the cycle of waking up before sunrise, sleeping, going out until after sunset, and sleeping some more. The wildlife in the country was awesome and I wish I could have spent some more time chasing critters around. One of my favorites was the many-coloured rush tyrant (first photo). They have some of the craziest colors I have ever seen, the photo doesn't do them justice.

After Argentina, I had a few weeks home before my study-abroad trip to Europe. Myself and 40 other UWSP students left July 2nd for Poland. The flights weren't pretty but we all eventually made it there. Although not too exciting, we did hike up part of the Tatra Mountains to see some beautiful scenery.

We them headed to Germany where we studied biofuels, forestry, aquaculture, and beer. Again, saw some beautiful sights and wildlife but didn't get much for photos. However, on a free weekend I traveled to Switzerland with a few good friends. We stayed near Interlaken surrounded by beautiful mountain waterfalls and vibrant blue glacial lakes. The highlight was taking a gondola up to First Peak above Grinewald and then hiking for a ways above the snow line. We managed to find some marmots and chamois ( a mountainous goat) chilling along one of the mountain faces. We weren't intelligent enough to wear long pants so it was a little chilly but the sights and wildlife made it worth it. We went and hung out with some of the lethargic but cute Swiss cows on the way down.

Lastly on the trip came Iceland. I had been looking forward to Iceland the most and I wasn't disappointed. The scenery there is unworldly and there is great birdlife everywhere. The school portion of my trip was great. We saw some of the more active volcanic areas with our beastly off-road bus and took a boat tour of a sea bird colony where we saw puffins, kittiwakes, and whales. 

The school trip had been awesome. Made some great friends, laughed a lot, and saw places I will probably never get to see again. After the rest of the group left I stayed in Iceland, that's when the real fun began.

I rented a Toyota Yaris with traveling around Iceland and using it as a place to sleep for the next week in mind. Stick shift (which I was still learning to drive) as I figured the best way to learn was to just do it. Much better to break someone else's car than my own. The second thing I realized about the Yaris was how tiny it was and how much of a problem I was going to have fitting my 6'3" frame into it to sleep. I put all of that out of my mind and after buying a comforter from IKEA I headed out towards the Northwest of Iceland were I had been given a good spot for photographing puffins. 

I managed to make it to the Látrabjarg cliffs the next day around noon. I had managed to curl up in the back of the lunchbox I was driving and sleep fairly well. I also survived traversing the one-lane gravels roads paths that wind along the sides of cliffs with a sheer rock wall of one side and a +100 foot drop to the ocean on the other. The puffins were photogenic and I got to see some razorbills as well. It is hard to describe how comical it is to watch the little sea parrots hopping around on the rocks only feet away. At one point I had two get in a fight right in front of me, both falling of the cliff after they latched beaks. Luckily they were able to recover and fly off.

I felt like I had covered the puffins pretty well so I headed to Lake Myvatn in northeastern Iceland the next day. Myvatn is supposed to be kind of the birding mecca of Iceland with lots of waterfowl and other birds nesting in the area. I arrived to the sight of thousands of ducks, geese, and swans on the lake. Unfortunately, nearly all of them were molting and I struggled to find a good spot to lay in wait for birds. While I was driving around the lake look for good spots I notice a flock of wagtails and redwings visible upset about something. I rounded the bend, a gyr falcon was perched on a fencepost close to the road so I eased up and snapped a couple of photos before another car scared it off. It was the first time I had positively seen a gyr, I was pretty jazzed.

To shorten this post up I will just lump the rest of my trip together. I spent the remainder of my time in Iceland driving back and around the Northwest Fjordlands looking for more birds and pristine waterfalls. The week I spent traveling Iceland is one of the best in my life. There is no way to truly explain how incredible of a place Iceland is.

You can see more photos at: www.ryanaskren.com/Nature/By-Location/Iceland

Thank you!