Broch of Mousa

Can you see the storm petrels?

In a way there are hundreds in this photo, but you can't see them because it took a 20 second exposure to get this shot - way too long to capture the fleeting silhouettes of the petrels as they flew in from the sea and disappeared into their nests in the broch.

This was one of the highlights of our nature holiday. The boat set off from the Shetland Mainland at 11 PM for the 20 minute trip to the jetty on Mousa. From there it was a 20 minute walk in the fading light to the broch. It was an amazing experience climbing the stairs to the top of the broch with the strange sound all around us of the petrels nesting in the stone walls.

We stood beside the broch for about half an hour watching the petrels flying in. When I took this picture at three minutes to midnight there was still a faint hint of twilight. By the time we got back to our hotel at about 1:30 AM it was just starting to get light. A very late night for us but a super way to finish our holiday.