Birdlife is rich, and many Arctic species nest here, as well as boreal species near the northern limeit of their range. Icelanders are direct descendants of the Norse Vikings, and their language has changed little from Old Norse. The economy is based on fishing and farming. The Scottish isles are, in a way, a geographical oddity. They lie at the same latitude as northernmost Labrador, southern Greenland, and southwestern Alaska.
Trees are a rarity on the open, windswept moors.
Ptarmigan feed on the buds of willow and heather. Seabirds such as puffins, murres, gannets, whimbrels, and skuas grace seaside cliffs and glide on the ocean winds. However, the Gulf Stream keeps the winters mild, and protected gardens may hold flowers that would wither away in other northern climes. This mildness will also allow us to visit the islands in May without roughing any extreme winter weather. The Scottish isles have always played a central role in the spread of human populations throughout the North Atlantic.