Devil's-bit Scabious , Succisa tratinsis
Photo: © Jóhann Óli Hilmarsson

Vegetation

A wide variety of wetland plant species can be found in the marshes. The flood meadows are covered in Lyngbye’s Sedge and on drier ground Woolly Willow, Tea–leaved Willow, Common Sedge and Common Cottongrass predominate as well as various species of grass. Most of the ponds are fringed with Bottle Sedge, Pondweed, Bogbean, Water–milfoil and other pond plants. In the peat holes in the Flóagafl area you can find Northern Bur–reed, Thread–leaved Water–crowfoot and Vernal Water–starwort.
At the southern end of the reserve plants favouring half dry and dry areas become more conspicuous. Wild Angelica is easy to find here, as are Iceland Rush, Sea Pea, Lady Smock, Arctic Fescue and many more.

Two beautiful but rare flowering plants are common in the reserve. One of them, Devil’s–bit Scabious, grows in several places in the reserve and also in the marshland. This plant is otherwise only common in the Mýrdal and Eyjafjöll areas on the south coast of Iceland, where it can be found on grassy south-facing slopes. The other plant is Chickweed Wintergreen, which grows all across the reserve. This is only the third place the plant has been found outside eastern Iceland where it grows in forested area.

Harbour (Common) seal, Phoca vitulina vitulina
Photo: © Daniel Bergmann

Other wildlife on the Reserve

Common Seals can often be seen in the Ölfusá River as far as the Kaldaðarnes islands, particularly in spring and autumn. The Mink is common throughout the year. Sticklebacks are abundant in the reserve and the ditches and ponds contain trout and eel. The Ölfusá River is home to salmon and trout. There is a rich diversity of invertebrates in the marshes and ponds, including diving beetles, water boatmen, Chironomid-midges and a special type of Amphipods which lives in saltwater.