My week as the station manager of Kilpisjärvi Biological Station was quite unusual: I had time to update our long-term data sets with new data collected in NW Finnish Lapland during the past summer. The summer was bad: cold and late. Bird populations were low, lemmings and other small rodents gone. Arctic charr did not like cold either: it was active only during few warm August days. Flying insects were few, too, charr searching them in vain from surface water.
My Arctic charr study pond the 28th of August, 2012. Snow falls early on these latitudes!
I believe that flowers, birds, rodents, fish and insects hope that next summer has more to offer! Of course, we scientists love both good and bad summers since variation is one of the great joys of nature.
Best wishes,
Antero Järvinen, Professor, Director
Kilpisjarvi Biological Station
Arctic Research 