Birdwatching
Orkney is internationally renowned for its excellent bird-watching, but the sheer number of birds which the islands support makes it one of the premier all-season destinations. For example, Orkney literally is the best place in the United Kingdom for seabirds with some 21 breeding species. The RSPB owns, leases or manages over 8,000 hectares of land in Orkney, in the interests of protecting important breeding grounds and conserving habitat. Some of their Orkney reserves are must-visit places, especially the seabird cities.
Visitors to Orkney will be rewarded for patience and care at any time of the year, with spectacular sightings of rare or shy birds, in beautiful and peaceful surroundings. The variety of habitat and the richness of the farmland, heather moorland, and coastal waters provide ideal breeding territory for a host of species, and there is always something of interest, whatever the season:
Breeding Season (April – July):
April - July is the best time to see breeding birds in Orkney. The sandstone ledges of the sea-cliff reserves on the islands of Westray, Copinsay and at Marwick Head on the Orkney Mainland are colonised in early summer by tens of thousands of fulmar, guillemots, kittiwakes, and razorbills. Great skuas (bonxies) and Arctic skuas patrol the cliff tops and the moors. Noup Head on Westray is the place to visit to see Orkney’s only accessible gannetry.
The normally reticent red-throated divers nest on the hill lochans, and the RSPB hide at Burgar Hill is an excellent place from which to observe them. The hen harrier and short-eared owl also breed in Orkney, a delightful daytime sight on moorland and meadows such as that at Hobbister.
Non Breeding Season (August – April):
In autumn and winter, great northern divers from Arctic Canada, Iceland and Greenland, and Slavonian grebes, velvet scoters, and hundreds of long-tailed ducks from northern Europe gather alongside resident eider, red-breasted merganser and black guillemot (tystie). Over 50,000 waders feed on the Orkney shoreline in winter. Whooper swans, and greylag geese graze Shapinsay's fields, whilst on the marsh at Mill Dam pintail, wigeon, shoveler, redshank and water rail can be observed from the hide provided. South Walls holds a small flock of barnacle geese in the Winter; whilst at The Loons hide a small flock of Greenland white-fronted geese may be seen.
Rarer migrants can appear almost anywhere during the Spring and Autumn months, and recent rarities have included for example a sandhill crane and a red-eyed vireo, both from North America. The annual Orkney Bird Report (available locally) gives a better idea of species, months and sites; and the website Orkbird gives up-to-the minute sightings of any unusual birds around (see details and link below). North Ronaldsay, with its bird observatory, is a particular migrant hotspot, and well worth a visit at migration time.
Contact information:
RSPB reserves: RSPB Orkney Office, Stromness, Orkney KW16 3AG
tel. 01856 850176 fax. 01856 851311 web. www.rspb.org.uk.
Places to visit:
Burwick, South Ronaldsay – seabirds in Pentland Firth
Churchill Barriers – seabirds in Scapa Flow
Mull Head Local Nature Reserve – seabirds and raptors
RSPB nature reserves - See map on nature page
References:
View our RSPB Monthly Bird Reports to gather an idea of what has been seen at different times of the year.
(Annual) Orkney Bird Report, published by the Orkney Bird Report Committee, available in local bookshops. Please consider submitting your sightings to the County Recorder – this will help others to see birds and add to our conservation knowledge.
Orkbird – local birding site used by most local and many visiting birdwatchers to share information about current sightings. Please consider posting your sightings on line – this will help others to see birds and add to our conservation knowledge - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Orkbird/
North Ronaldsay Bird Observatory - http://www.nrbo.co.uk/