(Post by Kay)
Today the weather was incredible. Best day since arriving. So although we both have so much work to do in the booth (me photographing my botanical specimens with the microscope and Joseph editing the sound files, both of which have been building up in abundance over the last few days), at some point we had to get out and make the most of the day. So we went to do one of the walks on our list, to Sandness.
Sandness is in the north west part of the West Mainland, with a stunning coastal walk that winds along the top of very high, steep cliffs – again with wonderful green carpets of grass that come to an abrupt end with vertical drops down to the crashing waves below. There are spectacular views of Papa Stour to the north and one of Shetland’s high points – Sandness Hill -behind.
First we came to a series of ancient ruined water mills built into a gully with a stream trickling through and around each one, and Joseph sat inside and recorded the sounds.
Then we continued on to some immense dramatic cliffs, passing a flock of giant skuas – bonxies in Shetland dialect. Bonxies can be very aggressive during nesting season, which is in the spring. They nest on the ground, and it can be quite treacherous trying to cross such terrain in season, as they dive bomb any moving thing they see as a potential threat. Anyway they are impressive creatures with a huge wingspan and beautiful markings. We walked back across the fields scattered with ubiquitous sheep to the beginning of the walk. This was the least productive walk in terms of both sounds and botanical finds. But it was spectacular!
We worked late into the night to try to catch up with the editing/documenting/blog and sound-file posting.
