The shrieking Arctic terns fill the sky and repeatedly dive towards the head of the man walking through their nesting grounds. It’s like a scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds. Unflinching, he strolls on, scanning the ground.  

“Here’s another one!” Óðinn Logi Þórisson calls out to his wife, Ásta Kristín Guðmundsdóttir Michelsen. He has found a new eider nest. The number of nests has now surpassed 100, confirming that the couple’s experiment with raising eider ducklings and releasing them to sea is a success. A large number of the ducklings return to nest at Vattarnes when they reach puberty.  

“We have created a pond for them with sticklebacks (a small fish), so that they have enough to eat,” says Óðinn of the nesting area currently under development. “It also attracts the Arctic terns,” he remarks. The couple doesn’t mind the terns, though, because they function as an alarm when predators approach, enabling them to take action before they wreak havoc.  

Óðinn has been around eider farming since his childhood. However, he and Ásta recently decided to start their own eiderdown operations by taking over Vattarnes farm between Reyðarfjörður and Fáskrúðsfjörður in East Iceland. In 2024, they moved there with their three children.  

Vattarnes is where Naddoddur, acclaimed as the first Norseman to have discovered Iceland, reached land, relates Óðinn. “It’s a settlement farm and many relics lie buried here,” he adds, “…and a large fishing station used to be operated from Vattarnes.” It’s also a weather observation station and the site of a lighthouse, dating back to 1957. 

Óðinn and Ásta collect the eiderdown on Andey Island as well. Initially, the eider colony there belonged to Vattarnes, but during the reformation in 1550, the ownership was transferred to the vicar Kolfreyjustaður. “They call me unforgiving, but I’ve vowed to reclaim Andey,” quips Óðinn. “I’m the farmer of Skrúður, too,” he says of the largest of the islands in Fáskrúðsfjörður, after which the fjord is named. 

Óðinn and Ásta are keen to have eiders nest closer to home, hence the incubator. When the ducklings hatch – 100–200 per year – they keep them warm, feed and care for them, until they are ready to join the grown eider ducks at sea. Their kids help out, too. “They like it when the ducklings curl up next to them on the sofa while they’re watching TV,” says Ásta. 

The ducklings are kept in a small enclosure near the farm, and grown ducks often approach the enclosure to check on the younglings. “They are happy to adopt them,” explains Óðinn. In the wild, eiders are known to adopt motherless ducklings. 

Óðinn and Ásta have 200 sheep, which during summer graze in the mountains, apart from two little motherless lambs. The adorable creatures are only too happy to play, chasing after the kids. There are also four mink dogs at Vattarnes, including two curious puppies. “They know they’re not supposed to harm the ducklings,” explains Óðinn. “The ducklings are absolutely fearless and bite the dogs if they’re in their way!”  

Mama and papa eider duck 

The couple’s goal is to have 500 eider nests on their land. They also plan to set up their own eiderdown cleaning facilities, and to offer customers the opportunity to help collect the down for their own duvets. “They would know exactly where the down came from and how it was picked – and take pride in having contributed to their own duvets,” states Óðinn.  

He and Ásta run an Airbnb at Vattarnes and have noticed the interest tourists take in the eider ducks and eider farming. “Some people expect it to be like a chicken farm and imagine that we pluck the down from the birds,” says Ásta. She is quick to explain that the eiders are wild sea birds which choose Vattarnes for nesting. They shed the down themselves, creating a brood patch, to make it easier to keep the eggs warm.  

In addition to farming, Ásta and Óðinn have full-time jobs in Fáskrúðsfjörður, she as a teacher and he as a fireman, along with several odd jobs. It’s a busy life, but eider farming feels like a break from it all, explains Óðinn. “I never get bored with this. You get addicted, going out to the island and spending time with the family outside in nature. It’s an adventure.” 