It’s been an excellent autumn for berries. We’ve three main species, bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus, bog bilberry Vaccinium uliginosum (usually these two are called blueberries) and crowberry, Empetrum nigrum.




Birds, especially redwings, are feasting at the moment and if the number of people we’ve seen picking berries in the Icelandic countryside is any indication then it’s going to be a great year for blueberry jam in many Icelandic homes!

One of the delights of summertime Iceland is the lovely long days we enjoy — twenty four hours of daylight from the end of May to the end of July. Now darkness is beginning to return and there's a feeling of autumn in the air. The upside is, of course, that we again see some splendid sunsets. This was photographed from our base in Hveragerði the other day.

We've written before about the Icelandic Meteorological Service's website. It's been updated again, this time with a revised and extended section in English. Additionally the seismological section is also available in English – visitors can check on the weather and recent earthquakes before they arrive! It's a very good site and well worth a visit.

A glorious day; bright, clear with just a touch of frost. Iceland's landscapes are at their best at this time of year. The photograph is of Þingvallavatn in southern Iceland.

This account on our website answers the question from a naturalist's perspective.

For those of you who asked for Guðrún's fish recipe (you know who you are!) ...

GUÐRÚN'S OVEN-BAKED FISH PIE WITH CHEESE AND LEEK (serves four)

Ingredients
800 g cod (or other white fish)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
salt
pepper
250 g cheese
2 tablespoons parsley
1/2 leek
100g breadcrumbs
60 g butter

Method
Cut fish and place in ovenproof pan. Season with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Grate cheese, cut leek and parsley. Mix breadcrumbs, cheese, parsley, leek and melted butter in a bowl. Spread mix over fish. Bake in 175° C oven for about 20 minutes.
Serve with potatoes or rice and salad.

Enjoy!

Our last post about warm weather in Iceland clearly tempted fate and winter returned with a vengeance last week. Strong, cold northerly winds left us, and the wildlife, rather shocked. We escaped the worst of the snow here in the south of Iceland but in the north part of the country more than half a metre of snow fell and this is likely to have an affect on the breeding success of many birds. Several species have delayed nesting and many seabirds are waiting to return to their cliff ledges. However, one bird that is feeling human, rather than weather, pressure is this oystercatcher nesting just a few metres from a busy car park at a well-known waterfall in south Iceland. We'll let you know if they manage to breed successfully.

Graham Haddy, a long time Iceland enthusiast and schoolteacher from Southern England, has sent us this photograph that he took when he was on a visit with his School earlier this year. It's taken from the hotel they used near Hveragerði. When conditions allow (the most important being, of course, clear skies) we get some splendid views of the northern lights from this part of the world.

It's the shortest day of the year and at Latitude 64 N, 21 W (where I'm writing this at the moment) the sun will rise at 1116 and then set at 1528. The bad news is that low cloud prevents us from glimpsing the sun today. The good news is that the days are getting longer from now on!