purple sandpipers on Birsay beach
purple sandpipers on Birsay beach
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  • purple sandpipers on Birsay beach
  • a field of buttercups by Kirkwall
  • visiting geese in flight
  • tree bark in Hoy
  • a spider lurks in the grass
  • lichen growing on a rock
  • the glorious colours of sun dew
  • seals on the beach in Birsay
Orkney Nature

With its mild climate, fertile green land and stunning coastline, Orkney is a paradise for nature lovers all year round.

Every season has its own charm and beauty from the endless days of summer with seabirds clamouring on the cliffs to the short days of winter when the land is free of visitors and you can enjoy the quietness or cosy up by a roaring fire for traditional Orcadian storytelling sessions.

Unique animals live here, including the Orkney vole, while rare plants thrive in the pollution-free air.

Nature is all around you in Orkney.

Other Websites of Interest
Orkney Community Environment Awareness Network (OCEAN)
Visit Orkney - nature

Local Businesses
Rik Hammond
Old Post Office House , 1 Front Road , St Margaret's Hope , Orkney, KW17 2SL
www.rikhammond.com
Isle of Auskerry
Isle of Auskerry , Stronsay , Orkney/7Cromwell Road Kirkwall. , , KW172AU
www.isleofauskerry.com
Orkney Pagan Weddings
Harray , Orkney, KW17 2JU
www.orkneypaganweddings.co.uk
Isle of Auskerry
Isle of Auskerry , Stronsay , Orkney/7Cromwell Road Kirkwall. , , KW172AU
www.isleofauskerry.com
Tracy Hall Watercolours
Tracy Hall, Artist , Rosebank , BURRAY, KW17 2ST
www.watercolour-artist.co.uk
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Explore Nature
Climate
Climate
Popular sayings in Orkney are that we have can have four seasons in one day AND that there are only two seasons a year.  Both have some truth in the telling.  Orkney weather can be very
 
Summer
Summer
If you are not used to the early dawn of an Orkney summer’s day, you may waken very early.  In high summer in June there is almost continual daylight.  Orkney’s latitude at 59
 
Elsewhere on Orkney.com
Agriculture
Agriculture
Farming has been a way of life in Orkney for 5,000 years since Neolithic farmers raised crops and livestock on our fertile land.  Things have changed since then of course with Orkney now a
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Diving
Diving
The sheltered waters of Scapa Flow are a magnet for scuba divers who come to Orkney in their thousands every year to see what lies beneath.  For Orkney offers more than just clean waters and
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Papa Westray
Papa Westray
Take the world’s shortest scheduled flight and see northern Europe’s oldest house on one of Orkney’s smallest inhabited islands with a big community heart.  Papa Westray is
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Seals
Seals
Orkney is an internationally important breeding site for two species of seals – the grey and the common seal.  These charismatic creatures are both friendly and inquisitive, but it's
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Orkney Nature photos from flickr
IMG_5579 bw
IMG_5575
IMG_5649 bw (2)
Boxing Day Orkney Sunrise 2011
Boxing Day Orkney Sunrise 2011
Die reine Idylle ? Idyllique
Orkney Snow 2004
Orkney Snow 2004
Orkney Snow 2004
Google News
Beluga whale sightings in SNH marine renewables report
Sightings of the species were made off Caithness in 2005 and 2007, according to information gathered for the Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) report. The review looked at the Pentland Firth and the sea around Orkney. The study, called "Abundance and ...
BBC News
Inspiring people to love
BILL Jenman has a fascination for the Suffolk coastal strip, with its soft landscape, its nature reserves and its cultural and military history. He first came to the area in the late 1980s for a heathland conference and this sparked a series of weekend ...
East Anglian Daily Times
Highland Park Launches Whisky First
With a natural strength like its namesake, drawing influence from the environment unique to Orkney, Thor is a truly elemental spirit. Distilled where sea turns to ocean, it represents a meeting point of nature's forces, exuding a dynamic and bold ...
Scotland Food and Drink (press release)
?Flight? Fails to Reach Literary Heights of Inspiration
After the school closes due to bankruptcy, Gemma becomes an au pair for the niece of Mr. Sinclair, a wealthy bachelor in the Orkney Islands of northern Scotland. She and Mr. Sinclair fall in love and get engaged, but after a treacherous act of his ...
Harvard Crimson