Noup Head, Castle O’Burrian and Yesnaby

It’s time for us to leave Westray and return for a brief stay on Orkney Mainland. Before the ferry, we decide to drive to Noup Head - a slow journey along a very bumpy track - to see the gannets. At Bempton in May, the cliffs were full of amorous courtship rituals, but here in late June, birds sit alone in regimented rows on raised nests. G - who is becoming something of an expert in spotting wildlife - sees one gannet shuffling on her nest, and when she moves at least one chick is there, a white untidy fluff ball with those tell-the pale blue eyes and a dark beak.  Our first gannet chick - and the only one to be seen along the cliffs today. Then of course there’s the magnificent acrobatics of gannet flight - and I find myself focusing on the juveniles with their distinctive black markings diminishing with age until they reach the pure white of adulthood. 

Heading for the ferry, we detour slightly to Castle O’Burrian, Westray’s prime puffin spot. We’d hoped to go at dusk two nights ago, but I just couldn’t manage it, but even at midday there’s activity aplenty - and we have the whole place entirely to ourselves. It’s our first time to come so close to these gorgeous birds - how fearless they are, and how tiny. Just feet from the cliff path they look inquisitively at us before ignoring us and getting in with puffin business. Just offshore, on the stack itself, it’s Puffin City, so many of them flying in and out or pottering around their burrows. I wish we could stay for longer, but this magical visit is cut short by ferry timetables and we have to go - though not before I’ve taken very many shots. 

Onto a very quiet ferry and the 90 minute crossing which returns us to a warm and sunny Mainland, so we head for the clifftop walk at Yesnaby, which gives us spectacular rock formations and swirling turquoise seas. 

Of course, this leaves an even greater problem than usual in terms of blip choice. Any one of these experiences would present me with difficulties in decision making, so to have three experiences to choose from seems impossible. I’m so torn between the rather soulful puffin, the flying puffin stitch, and the glorious turquoise tumble of water over rock. Whichever one I choose, I know I’ll think I’ve made the wrong decision …. 

In extras - gannet chicks, more puffins, and Yesnaby seas 

Recovery continues, thankfully, and I’m feeling more my normal self. Thank you again for your comments, best wishes, stars and hearts!