Every year, twelve thousand birds and a few humans gather for three months in a remote Icelandic fjord, Loðmundarfjörður.

Ólafur Aðalsteinsson and Jóhanna Óladóttir embody a rare bond between humanity and nature. Ólafur is also considered one of the world’s leading ornithologists, despite having no formal training in the field. The couple has found peace and their life’s calling among their feathered friends in isolated Loðmundarfjörður, which has been uninhabited since the 1970s.

There is no mobile phone network here, and the modern world feels very far away indeed. Breathtakingly beautiful Loðmundarfjörður is quiet for nine months of the year, but as summer approaches, eider ducks return to nest, and the fjord comes to life.

For over two decades, the couple has cared for the eider ducks and built a thriving nesting ground at Sævarendi. When they began their work 22 years ago, there were only 176 nests. Today, there are around 6,000, and individual “houses” have been built for each bird family. It is like a small town inhabited by birds. To expand the town, the couple uses recycled materials and driftwood washed ashore by the sea.

Their struggle mirrors the birds’ own fight for survival. Every spring, eiders and their ducklings face constant danger from Arctic foxes, ravens, and gulls. Ólafur, once known as a fox hunter, now tries to protect the foxes whenever he can, yet at times he must prioritize his avian friends. He maintains a fragile truce with the ravens: he feeds them so that they will leave the nesting grounds in peace.

The cycle of nature reveals itself as harsh, magnificent, and moving.