Lots and Lots of Counting

It's been stormy in Iceland this past week, and we have been stuck inside instead of going out on the boat as planned.  The main thing we've been working in is counting all those vacuum samples.  By my tally, we have finished 79 out of 164 samples, which is fantastic progress!.  I currently hold the record for most mites in one sample, but have been surpassed in most samples counted.  But to be fair, I've counted some pretty nasty samples.

A typical vacuum sample

One of my favorites, the lace bug

Collembola, the second most abundant species we find

And mites.  A lot of mites.

The record holding mite tally!

The Great Skull Debate (and the Daring Bird Rescue)

On our walk around Kalfastrond, we found a skull.  There was some debate as to what species it is - is it a bird or mammal skull?  If it's a mammal, the only thing it could possibly be is an arctic fox (there aren't many mammals in Iceland).  I may have bet a scoop of candy that it is a bird skull.  The problem is that we have no way of definitively deciding what sort of skull it is.  Anyone out there have any input?

The other bit of excitement in the house was a bird in the living room yesterday. We left the door open for awhile and in it came.  It didn't seem too happy.

Luckily, Cristina is a bird-catcher extraordinaire and saved the day by catching it in an old towel!

Walking around Kalfastrond

Just a short walk around Kalfastrond during a break in the rain:

Investigating a plant

Lava pillars from a distance

Lichen!

Ravioli Making

While there have been no grand adventures this week, we have had some everyday fun experiences.  This week we made ravioli from scratch.  It was delicious and fun to make!  I will definitely be trying to make it myself back in Madison.  We also got a bit creative with the extra dough!

I'm carving a snake.  It was delicious.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Sorry for not blogging this past week!  To be honest, there hasn't  been that much to blog.  It has been lousy weather since Tuesday evening.  We've tried to go out on the boat twice for sampling but had to turn back because of rain and wind.  So that means I'm back to counting bugs all week!

The good news is that for I think the first time this summer, we are completely caught up on counting pitfalls, infalls, and sticky cards with plenty of time before the next round comes in.  The bad news is that we have 164 vacuum samples to count.  Vacuum samples take longer to count because they are chock full of mites, nearly microscopic arachnids that are varied in function, although many are parasitic to plants and insects.  It's not uncommon to have nearly a thousand in one sample.  Even though we just learned how to process vacuum samples, I think we made good progress today.  16 down, 148 to go!

A few nights a go I went for a walk around the peninsula and a fog rolled in before I was out of sight of the house.  It was rather mystical!

More Vacuum Sampling

As I've written earlier, vacuum sampling is a way to collect arthropods from an area by sucking them up with a modified leaf blower.  We are nearly finished with vacuum sampling (at least the collection - we haven't started on counting yet).  Here are some pictures of us in action!

Lava fields aren't the best place to vacuum

The lava field is a pretty awesome site, though

A Quiet Day in Hofdi

Hofdi, as you may recall, is a park with restored birch forest and the occasional garden.  It is very beautiful and I decided to spend some of my time off there!

Those trees are my destination

Lava pillar up close

Entmoot?

.Pansies are anything but weak to grow here!

The forest was full of flowers!

Barrow's Goldeneye ducklings

The distant mountains are visible on clear days