Life at Lækur

Because it cannot be made faster. The eider hens come back to the same spot year after year because they feel safe, and protecting the colony is the real work.

Drone pictures of the eider colony at Lækur in October: the strips mown through the lupine in July, why we cut them – fox, nests and ducklings – and the circles that appeared on day three.

Three days of building at Lækur: the new watch hut above the eider colony is finished, a new garage door keeps the mice and the winter wind out, and the cameras come in after four years without a fault.

On 25 September 2026 the first duvet of the 2026 harvest – 140 × 200 cm, 800 g – was inspected by a sworn down assessor and given official quality certificate no. 001780.

A 1993 RÚV documentary filmed at Lækur: Zoffi, our grandmother Guðbjört, and two fifteen-year-old boys who would one day keep the watch.

We caught the last dry window of the autumn to paint the roof of the old barn at Lækur – the barn where our eiderdown is dried each summer.

Our newest project at Lækur: a small watch tower deep in the eider colony, so we can keep an eye on the nesting birds without disturbing them.

Every July we mow back hectares of lupine in the colony. It looks lovely in bloom, but the eider are much happier without it.

After a spring of watching over the colony, June and July are for gathering the down – by hand, one nest at a time.