More from Hoy

During the previous blogpost I covered the mammalian part of the trip to Hoy, so today we will concentrate on other things seen on the walk last weekend. It seems longer ago than that, mind, as the day's warm sunshine has been replaced by more wintry weather. Indeed, later today, we're attempting a beach clean for Bag the Bruck in winds approaching gale force.

But I digress.

This particular Hoy trip was to be the first from our new home without using a car, for now we can walk down the hill to the harbour in Stromness and catch the foot ferry across to Moaness in Hoy. In a foreshadowing of the wonderful day ahead, as we pottered down Hillside Road, Blu the macaw suddenly shot out in front of us from behind some houses, before being chased homeward by a confused gull.

At the pier, we met up with other folk joining the Orkney Field Club walk and boarded the mv Graemsay bound for Hoy. The crossing, in bright sunshine, gave us the chance to watch auks and Gannets who are returning for the breeding season. One of our number even managed a brief but distant view of an eagle, though it couldn't be identified to species. As our average age is toward the upper end of the demographic, JT, our leader for the day, had booked a minibus to take us across the island and drop us off at the start of the climb towards the Old Man of Hoy. No sooner had we disembarked from the bus at Rackwick, when Megan spotted a Goldcrest in a nearby pine tree, and I noticed some thrushes on the hill above. These turned out to be Mistle Thrushes on passage, and as our group watched them, a Hen Harrier glided across the hillside close by.

Having not done much walking through the Winter, the first climb out of Rackwick was taken at a very sedate pace, with plenty of stops to 'admire the scenery'. However, once on the flatter but rockier ground above, the going became easier.

DF found a large carabid beetle scurrying across the path. It wasn't keen to hang around for a photograph, but I managed one almost-in-focus image as the creature sped off.

We were surprised to find several caterpillars basking at the edge of the path. These were much smaller than I was used to seeing, as I don't usually visit Hoy at this time of year. At first I thought these were Fox moth larvae, but although the markings seemed correct, especially the orange banding, later recourse to an ID guide kindly pointed out that a Fox cat in March would be a pupa. This meant that they were Northern Eggar moth caterpillars, which overwinter as a small larva before feeding voraciously through Spring and only then pupating.

AG found a wonderfully-patterned lichen, Parmelia saxatilis, or Salted Shield Lichen. Also known as Crottle, or Crotal in Scotland, it was used to dye traditional cloths including Harris tweed.

We stopped for a picnic lunch on the clifftop by the seastack, the Old Man of Hoy. Where we were sat, the ground was covered in Crowberry, and closer inspection showed that the plants were actually flowering.

After lunch, the group split up into smaller units, each heading in a different direction to look at different things. Megan and I joined another couple of folk to walk around Rora Head, a route I had not previously travelled. It gave splendid views of the Old Man.

The clifftop path wound around the head, eventually passing this tempting-looking pool, although a different view revealed that it was actually the top of a waterfall.

We returned to Rackwick and the minibus, which took us back to Moaness, Pleasingly, the cafe near the pier had just opened for the Summer, so we were able to have a cool beverage (not driving, remember!) and a bite to eat before catching the ferry back to Stromness.

Rackwick Bay

Valley of the South Burn

A lenticular cloud above Moaness

What an enjoyable and exhilarating day. It took me 72 hours to recover 🙄