Happy on Papay!

So here I am, living and working on one of the smallest islands in Orkney - Papa Westray, known affectionately by the locals as 'Papay', and I'm loving it! Sure, I'm here on my own, living in a small, rather draughty little cottage (Rose Cottage - it's pink!), far away from all of the people I know, but it's a lovely place to be and I'm just enjoying being here!

Rose Cottage - my home until August

I'm the only RSPB staff living on the island, and I work to look after the RSPB reserve here called North Hill. It's a rather large area of land (25% of the entire island!) and is made up of a variety of habitats: squelching bogs, sheer cliff faces, boulder beaches, small pools, and the rarest of all - maritime heathland. This is a habitat seriously in decline, with Papa Westray holding one of the largest areas of maritime heathland in Europe - and it's not exactly a big island! This is the habitat that SNH (Scottish Natural Heritage - the Scottish equivalent of DEFRA) are working to maintain. This habitat is important not just because of it's rarity, but also because it is home to a wide range of species. In the summer the heathland comes to life as a carpet of wildflowers. In addition to this, many bird species like to nest in this habitat, including Skuas, Terns and a variety of waders, all of which I am required to survey and monitor in my new job as Warden here. In addition to my bird monitoring work, I also give guided tours of the reserve twice a week, maintain the bird hide and do counts of the diminutive Scottish Primrose. Only found in Caithness, Sutherland and 6 of the Orkney isles, the Scottish Primrose is one of our rarest endemic plants, and I have the task this year of surveying the whole of the North Hill reserve for these easily-overlooked little flowers. I am also responsible for looking after the RSPB reserve on Westray, our neighbouring island, called Noup Cliffs - home to 600 pairs of breeding Gannets, as well as thousands of other breeding seabirds. Since arriving here, I have been constantly busy with preparation for the coming season, survey work and guided walks, as well as with 'Bag the Bruck', an Orkney-wide event that involves removing rubbish (bruck) from the coastline. This took me days and days to complete and involved removing a variety of bruck, mostly empty drinks bottles but also rusty barbed wire, rope, cans, shoes, buoys and even an onion...

The Scottish Primose - Primula scotica

The results of 'Bag the Bruck' - there would have been 5 more of the large buoys, but they kept disappearing...

The biggest part of my job here is to survey the breeding seabirds, so that we can monitor the population and see how they are faring, which, unfortunately is not too well. Almost all seabirds are declining in the Northern Isles, due mostly to the lack of their favourite food: Sandeels. Most seabird species (Terns, Kittiwakes, Guillemots, Razorbills, Shags etc) like to eat Sandeels, and these small fish will form a large part of the diet of these birds. The only problem with that is there are few Sandeels left here, partly due to global warming and partly due to overfishing. Because of this, the seabirds have to eat a wider variety of fish, or travel further to catch fish. This is thought to be why the Gannets on Noup Cliffs are doing so well - they travel far and wide and will eat a variety of fish. However, most of the seabirds here just bring in less food, which causes another problem - Great Skuas. The Skua's feed by mobbing the other birds and stealing their food, but since the other birds aren't bringing in as much food, the Skuas are turning to another source - the eggs and chicks of the other seabirds. But the Skuas are protected - the UK holds about 60% of the population of Great Skuas so we would like to save them too, but it's difficult. What we need is more Sandeels! Or at least less global warming!

Black Guillemots (Tysties) sitting next to me on a survey of them!

But enough of the depressing stuff, I was writing about how much I'm enjoying it here! All of the birds here have Orkney names: Great Skua = Bonxie, Arctic Skua = Skooty Alan, Arctic Tern = Pickie, Sandwich Tern = Big Pickie, Black Guillemot = Tystie, Eider = Dunter etc. So if I cross over between names, you know what I mean! The people here are all lovely too, very friendly and welcoming! There's a real sense of community here, everyone helps out everyone else, and there are events throughout the week and all through the year to keep everyone together. Each week there are 2 main events: Wednesday mornings are coffee mornings (people here make amazing cakes!), and Saturday night is pub night, when they open up the pub cupboard! There's no dedicated cafes or pubs here, so it's good that they have these events each week. They also show a film every other Saturday, and in the summer there are regattas and even the Papay Fun Weekend, so I'm looking forward to a good season, filled with cake and alcohol!! 


As well as the birds, the people and the cake, people come to visit Papay for it's beautiful coastlines, sandy white beaches, and historical importance. It may seem like a tiny island, but Papa Westray has been inhabited for many thousands of years, and there are remains to prove it. The Knap of Howar is the oldest house in Europe and thought to be older than the pyramids! Then there's St Boniface Kirk, an old church which stands on top of an even older church, proving that Papa Westray was in important Christian site - used as a base from which to convert the 'heathens' in Shetland, Orkney and the far north of Scotland. There is also St Tredwell's Chapel, which stands on the site of an old broch and is named after a girl who plucked out her own eyes in order to preserve her chastity...crazy bitch. Plus, those visiting Papa Westray by plane will get to go on the shortest flight in the world - remember to ask for your certificate and bottle of whiskey (it's only a taster bottle)! So if you're ever up in Orkney, I would definitely recommend a visit to Papa Westray, hopefully you'll like it here as much as I do! Wish me luck for the season, and send some good weather my way!

The Knap of Howar

St Boniface Kirk

The remains of St Tredwell's Chapel

'Watch yae heed!' - low flying planes!