Hobbister – Owls and Harriers over the Moor
A few hours.
The route
Hobbister is the RSPB's reserve above Waulkmill Bay on the Orkney Mainland, where heather moor runs down to sea cliffs, saltmarsh and the wide water of Scapa Flow.
Short-eared owls and hen harriers hunt over the moor, and black guillemots bob on the sea below. It's a wild, quiet walk for birdwatchers in good boots.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The nearest of ours is House of the Northern Gate, 25 miles away. Sleeps 18.
The day
Hobbister
Up over the heather with an eye on the sky, then out to the coast for the birds on the water.
About two hours
Hobbister
Park in the RSPB's four unmarked spaces at the reserve's southern entrance, or by the road at Waulkmill Bay. From the entrance a rough track climbs onto the moor. It's often wet and muddy, with a steep pull up a peat bank and a stile at the Waulkmill Bay entrance, so wear boots; it's no place for a pushchair or a wheelchair. Walk as far as suits you across the heather towards Scapa Flow. Short-eared owls and hen harriers hunt over the moor, and red-throated divers may be about. On the coast, look for black guillemots and red-breasted mergansers on the water, and listen for twites overhead and curlews calling. On Scapa Flow you may hear great northern divers. None of them is promised, so go quietly and keep to the track. From 1 April to 15 August, and wherever there's livestock, keep dogs on a short lead. There are no toilets: the nearest are at Waulkmill Bay, 1.5 miles west, and at Scapa beach, 3 miles east. The moor is open ground with no shelter, so go in daylight, and turn back if the weather closes in.
If it rains
There is no shelter on the moor or the coast; in rain or a gale leave Hobbister for a better day.
Where to stay
Make it a weekend
More days out in Orkney.
Photographs by Graham McFarlane and JB via Google