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Brae at Delting Boating Club Day 23 13rd June
After some changes to our plans we have headed north for an extra two days. This all came about as a result of our night time bird trip taking place a day early.
Springwatch, as well as some other nature programmes, have shown films of the arrival of the Storm Petrels on Moussa Island. Now we could experience the same thing at first hand. 'The Moussa Ferry' runs from a small town called Sandwick. It is possible to travel during the day a spend a few hours wandering over this barren, but wildlife rich island which lies barley a mile off the coast. Twice a week they also run a trip at 11 pm. It is then that the birds return to their nests.
We had hoped to travel on Saturday but on telephoning to book, we were advised that they were also going on Friday night, a few hours later. So that is what we decided to do. Thus at about 9.30 pm we left the campsite for the short drive to the ferry. Dressed up as warmly as we could, the boat with its 30 passengers awaited as the sun slid very slowly beneath the horizon. We watched the seals playing around in the harbour as we waited to leave.
Two local men were to be our guides. When they spoke I found it hard to understand what they were saying. The tone and pronunciation of the words was different and new to my ear. It was a gentle lilting, a blending of English with other, northern languages, I thought, not a hard, guttural sound that might emanate from, say, German. I told they spoke the normal sound of Shetland but it was the first time I had noticed it. Then we were off!
The crossing took 15 minutes and then we had a 15 minute walk across a bare, low level headland with a vicious wind cutting through our coats. We approached a wall of stones and listened. It was then that the remarkable things about these birds began to emerge. From within we could hear the bird chatter, the mutterings of hundreds of birds hidden within the stone cracks. The next wall, a few hundred yards further on was a little nosier. The beach, strewn with pebbles and slightly larger rocks emitted similar noise. But it was still a little light - but it does not get dark for very long at this time of year.
At the Broch, a 2000 year old tower made only from stones piled up in two rings with a gap between them. It has survived for so long because, apparently, it is round so the wind whips around it. The tower stands maybe 100 feet tall; we entered into the empty middle via a doorway cut into the two walls. And birds were flitting about inside, zipping around a high speed looking for their nests. And the bird chatter was more noticeable.
We climbed the tower. This was hard as the steps were very narrow and my big feet found getting a grip quite tricky. At the top, with a few steps to go, the man in front stopped, paused. A bird was on the step. It weighs 30 grams, it is 5-6 inches long but has a wingspan of 14-16 inches. And it moves very fast - it can overtake ferries and it has been recorded at 40 mph! Reports show that it has travelled up to 350 miles and back over 4-5 days in the breeding season. Remarkable.
As we stood besides the Broch, more and more birds arrived until they were flying around us in their hundreds all seeking their own nest. The whole tower is filled with the nests of these birds and every night hundreds return to swap over with their partners. When they leave they can stay away for up to 5 days.
Cold and with the night becoming darker we set off back to the boat. As we passed the walls and the beach the bird chatter was much louder and demonstrated that the estimated 12000 pairs of birds were doing well! In the far distance to the north the last remnants of the day, or maybe the beginnings of a new day were to be seen on the horizon. Thirty adults, who in one sense should have known better, were to be seen wandering over an island at 1 am. And all were sober!!
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