Yumpu_ May_June 2017_02

A Quiet, Natural History
A Quiet, Natural History
An Island Apart
Hoy means simply High Island, so named by Vikings who
provide much of its ancestry. It does indeed contain Orkney’s
highest peak, Ward Hill, measuring 1,578'. Here is an island
apart, with huge red-sandstone hills and impressive cliffs. At
Rora Head, in the north-west, is the Old Man of Hoy, where
you experience a wilderness dominated by black-backed gulls
and great skuas.
The whole land is wild and desolate, better suited to those
hardier than man: birds, sheep and mountain hares. There are
hen harriers, flying low over fields, merlins, peregrine falcons
and short-eared owls, all hunting for prey. It is unspoilt,
somewhere to tarry and breathe deeply, but not somewhere for
your car to break down. You might have a long wait.
I reached Hoy using a car ferry from Mainland (Houton to
Lyness) which took 30 minutes. The fact that Orkney’s main
island is called ‘Mainland’ tells you something about the
independent spirit which pervades here; departing Hoy I was
aware that I was leaving somewhere untamed and heading
back to relative civilisation.
Aspect of a Mirage
As if the waters surrounding the islands are not enough,
Mainland is also blessed with considerable lochs, the two
biggest, Harray and Stenness, a slingshot from one another
in West Mainland. It is strange to see all this water and not
see the sea. Mute swans glide across, giving the whole scene
the aspect of a mirage.
Between the lochs are standing stones, still prominent after
all this time, yet denying us their hidden purpose. Close by
at Brig o’ Waithe you might see otters. Stones may stand silent
sentinel, but there is plenty of noise from seals, grey and
common, and their pups, which ‘haul out’ on Hoy, plus a
myriad of seabirds, noisy waders and geese making their
presence felt.
Spring is a good time to see wintering birds prior to their
return to the high Arctic, whereas in summer, Westray,
Copinsay and Marwick Head become home to teeming
colonies of seabirds. Nature rides with the seasons here.
Autumn is a good time to see storm petrels, the smallest of
seabirds, which come close to shore for shelter as the seas lose
their summer calm.
Rare in Winter
Of course winter could be memorable for one thing
alone, a sight of the Aurora Borealis, very much on the
agenda this far north. The island climate makes frost and
snow rare in winter, so wintering birds like it here. Whales
(minke and orca), basking sharks and dolphins can be seen
around the coasts.
Inland there is the larger Orkney Vole, unique to these
islands, a subspecies of the smaller Common Vole. What with
‘great’ bumblebees and ‘larger’ voles there is something of the
‘elephantine’ about some of the wildlife on these islands. As
I wandered around the two islands I frequently came across
sheep and cattle.
There is much grazing land and farming has
been a way of life for 5,000 years. Today
Orkney beef is famous and its islands have the
highest density of beef cattle in Europe. The
Orkney County Show, held in August,
showcases quality livestock and attracts over
10,000 visitors.
In Mind of Human Beings
Walking the Wartime Trail at the former
Lyness Naval Base on Hoy, it was pleasing to
see bovine and ovine creatures in numbers,
but doing little, as is their wont. They
wandered about, looking a bit preoccupied
and gormless, putting me in mind of human
beings with Smartphones, well, just for a
second or two maybe.
The North Ronaldsay Sheep, is an unusual
domesticate, confined to the foreshore of
that island, existing largely on a diet of
seaweed, thereby conserving limited grazing
inland, also ensuring a virtually fat-free
meat. North Ronaldsay I did not reach, it
being one of the outermost islands, so I
failed to see any of the 3,700 odd sheep
roaming here.
Where Second World War defences lie
dormant, wildlife has taken over. At Hoxa
Head, where remains of massive gun
batteries look out across the water, it is
flowers and fungi that now call it home.
Black guillemots and porpoises can be seen
with the same keen eye that observers of 70
or so years ago needed.
Abundant Nature
For me Orkney was a welcome reminder of
what our countryside was like before man
overpowered it with noise and development.
It is a throwback to childhood when less (of
humankind) was more (of nature). Here
quiet conditions among abundant nature can
be found surprisingly easily.
I was as close as I have ever been to a
cormorant. It seemed totally unfazed by my
presence and is the variety that readily grips
the imagination. Even in towns there was
wildlife. The largest settlement, Kirkwall, has
its ‘Peerie Sea’ - small expanse of water - and
here are terns, waders and in the spring, up to
a hundred long-tailed ducks.
Orkney has a unique natural history it seems
to me. Owing to its position, it attracts a
startling variety of wildlife to a setting that is
peaceful and harmonious. Returning again to
the southern lands of discordant mobile ringtones,
booming car-stereos and citizens who
don’t appear to be able to do a single thing
quietly, I just wanted to go back.
Further Information
The Most Amazing
Places in Britain’s
Countryside edited by
Caroline Boucher
Reader’s Digest 2009
Orkney Visitors’ Guide
2014
Page 33: Roadside poppies.
Opposite: View of Scapa Flow from
Scapa Bay.
Above: Stromness with the massive
Hoy Hill in the background by Rae
Slater.
Photographs taken by the author,
Stephen Roberts.
34 SCOTTISH ISLANDS EXPLORER MAY / JUNE 2017
MAY / JUNE 2017 SCOTTISH ISLANDS EXPLORER 35