NATURAL WORLD

Many birds frequent our shore including waders, eider duck, lapwings, oyster catchers, curlews, terns, ringed plovers, redshank, shags and fulmars. Even a sea eagle has been seen flying over the island.

Orca whales are sometimes seen during their migration, and  Porpoises and dolphins are often spotted along the coast.

There are no foxes or rats on Graemsay, however Black Backed Gulls and Skuas (known locally as Bonxies) can be a danger to new born lambs, and Merlins patrol the sky.

Corncrakes  

During the summer Corncrakes nested at a local farm, Ramray.  These birds are threatened with near extinction due to intensification of farming.  The RSPB made a visit to the island to give advice on management of the nesting site, including Corncrake-friendly mowing!  This entails mowing in September, starting in the centre of the field and mowing outwards and leaving a corridor of tall vegetation for the Corncrake and chicks to escape through.

Garden Visitors

The garden at Sandside is quite close to the shore, and sometimes the seabirds venture within our walls. Out of the caravan window I saw a curlew rootling among the snowy tufts of grass.  Often a Kestrel sits on the Byre ready to swoop upon an unsuspecting mouse.  The garden, although bereft of much vegetation does have a number of feathered visitors.  Most days Blackbirds, Thrushes, and Robins pick among the stones on the wall.  A Wren often visits the caravan, even being daring enough to fly in and sit on the cooker!  

SEALS

Common and Grey Seals are often found around the shores of Orkney.  They spend most of their life at sea, coming ashore to breed and moult.  However on warm sunny days they can be found basking on the beach at Sandside Bay, or fishing in the water just offshore.  In Orkney there are legends woven around the seal folk or Selkie as they are called.  Many tales are told of seals shedding their skins to take on human form, and stories of seals rescuing fisherfolk.

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