Birdlife of The Orkneys
Earlier this summer I spent some time on the Orkney islands. My goal, like many others who visit here, was to observe and photograph some of the native wildlife. In-between chasing Orca sightings, I spent a lot of time admiring the local birds - seabirds, birds of prey and essentially any other species that I stumbled across.
An attractive pair of nesting fulmar and an oystercatcher
As I’d heard, Orkney is heaven for a lover of cliff-nesting seabirds. It really isn’t much of an exaggeration to say that every ledge of sea cliff on the islands is home to something. Kittiwakes, fulmar, great-black backed gulls, puffins, razorbills, common guillemot, razorbills and shags are all present in abundance, and there are also plenty of great skua, black guillemot and gannets. The sheer number of birds at any one time will ensure contentment for any photographer or bird-enthusiast who visits some of these famed coastal sites. I particularly enjoyed Mull Head, the Brough of Birsay and Marwick Head, but there are plenty more recommended locations across the Isles.
Puffin, Shag, Black Guillemot and Fulmar - all perfectly at home on the narrow, exposed cliff face edges
Away from the coast, Orkney certainly didn’t disappoint either. One of my main targets - the Hen Harrier - was surprisingly easy to find and observe, even at close distances. These striking raptors are victims of persecution on much of the mainland UK and are therefore a rare sighting for most. Here on Orkney however, the protected moors and hills provide unimpeded hunting grounds for this majestic animal. I’ll not easily forget my first sighting of the unmistakeable male - a bright grey ghost, impossible to miss against the red and rugged moorland, fighting against the wind as it scoured the ground below for prey. I thought my luck had peaked here, but spotted 3 more whilst driving around the isles.
As well as harriers, the abundance and apparent placidity of the resident short-eared owls has to be mentioned. Travel some of the less-populated country roads at dusk and you’re bound to see some of these perched on fence posts or quartering the fields. I saw plenty on the A986 heading north of Finstown, and the roads near Yesnaby are meant to be prime owl-spotting grounds too!
A short-eared owl taking advantage of a calm and dry afternoon