Autumn arrival

Swan wrestling

Well, I joined a very able team from the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (U.K.) to get wet and dirty catching whooper swans the other week. They are big critters, with potential to really knock you flying with their big wings and impossibly long necks... and yet once you get them in their - temporary - strait jackets they are quiet as mice.


So, here we are, with a boatload of swans after they have just been captured off the water, swans in their restraining jackets, swans being measured, swans stretching their necks, and swans being released (the best bit).

The team capture groups of birds during their flightless phase (during their moult) to put ID bands on them, and record body measurements. A few birds have been fitted with satellite transmitters so that their migration movements can be tracked. Many of these birds have now already left Iceland, and are heading south, many to UK refuges such as WWT centres (see http://www.wwt.org.uk/article/3/514/super_whooper_swans_to_be_tracked_in_new_study.html)

It was a lot of fun, and I´d do it again at a shot - wonderful birds.

We got to stay at a really amazing place in the highlands - the turf cottage where 'Independent People' was set, a novel written in 1946 about Icelandic rural life by award-winning Nobel Prize writer Halldor Laxness. It´s a living museum, with Icelandic puppies ´n´ all! (see the photo of me standing outside and juggling a kitten and a young pup at the same time - all a bit fluffybunny for me but they certainly were quite amusing wee beasties!).

Embla the horse-dog

introducing Embla the dog, not to be confused with my old buddy Embla the horse (although they are of similar size...)

(photos by Niki Durr and Thabjie)

road trips

I have just got back from holidays... firstly the wedding of a very dear friend followed closely by a reunion with another and London capers such as friends (thanks for the place to stay Yvonne!), museums, beer festivals and hot sticky weather ... then a flying (literally) visit to the beautiful Westmann Isles of Iceland... then a trip to the Icelandic highlands to wrestle with whooper swans... then a visit to Eastern Iceland to see friends and share musical moments at a live concert in a park by Eivor (a fine Faroese songstress)... then a lazy few days exploring a few glaciated mountains along the South Coast culminating in a 4-day trek through the mountains to a fabulous hotspring oasis... then I slept/didn´t sleep on a very decidedly autumnal rainy night in my Renault Clio (at this point there was a pause to the holiday-like mode, and instead it just felt darn uncomfortable)... My Holidays were polished off by a visit to friends in Grundarfjörður (the town-next-door) and immense hospitality at the Krakkan ('Raven') bar i.e. ridiculous quantities of whisky and fresh soup late at night (sounds a funny combo but it was great!)... then a meandering stroll along a deserted beach the morning after (well, deserted save my friends dear GIANT new member of the household: Embla the crazy German Shepherd puppy who is already as big as a HORSE...) and then... most finally and deliciously... Icelandic lamb supper at a friends and some more wine.

Now I´m back at work - how on earth could I have let that happen?

And I feel like I need a holiday.