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Monday, 31 July 2006

Four-day visit to Orkney

In early June eighteen of our members converged on Kirkwall for a 4-day stay in Orkney, visiting the islands of Mainland and Hoy. On our first full day (Friday) we made a circular tour of the north of Mainland, starting near the Ring of Brodgar ancient monument, then heading via various lochs and Skara Brae to the spectacular cliffs at Marwick Head. Here there were thousands of seabirds, including guillemots, razorbills, puffins, Arctic and great skuas, fulmars and gulls, with twite flitting along the cliff edges. We continued via The Loons and Loch of Hundland up to Birsay Moors (all of which have RSPB reserves), but the mist came down giving little chance of seeing whimbrel, but we did see male hen harrier.

Saturday we spent on the island of Hoy, taking the foot ferry from Stromness to Moaness and then minibus across the island to Rackwick. All the party did the 4 mile round trip on foot to the Old Man of Hoy (more spectacular cliffs and seabirds) where many saw great skuas at close quarters for the the very first time. After returning to Rackwick half of the party walked the 5 miles back to the ferry following the old Rackwick road (now a path) while the rest awaited the minibus. The walkers passed close to Sandy Loch where 150 plus bonxies lounged around (a memorable sight) and a solitary red-throated diver kept its distance from them.

Sunday morning saw us at Cottascarth RSPB where we were rewarded with excellent views of a pair of hunting hen harriers and a single short-eared owl. On to Burgar Hill (Birsay Moors, now clear of mist) where the small loch had only one red-throated diver, but a diligent member found a preening whimbrel in the grass 200 yards from the future visitor centre and we all had excellent views of the bird through telescopes. After lunch we headed south along the Kirbister road to Waulkmill Bay (part of Scapa Flow), where, as well as the breeding terns and fulmars a marsh harrier (rare for Orkney - a few returned in 2005 after a 30-year absence) quartered the hillside across the bay, eventually flapping across the water towards the cliffs below Hobbister. A short walk from the Hobbister RSPB car park yielded stonechats and a very obliging sedge warbler repeatedly doing its song flight within a few feet of us. Those members who wanted to see the Churchill barriers leading to South Ronaldsay and the Italian Chapel (all built by Italian POWs) then headed in that direction before returning to Kirkwall.

As we departed on on Monday morning many said they would be back. Although we had recorded around 80 species (including breeding goldeneye, dunlin, kittiwake, rock dove and wheatear), we had missed out on some of the breeding wildfowl and other birds - a good incentive to return. The ferry crossings were notable for good numbers of Manx shearwaters, gannets and black guillemots.