Pratt/Thor Adventures: Orkney Explorations Day 3

August 6: Today, our last full day on the Orkneys, was spent "mopping up" on the last few things to visit. We first tried to attend the East Mainland Agricultural Show, which was supposed to be in Tankerness. But after driving to the area, along a one-lane road for most of the way and not seeing a single sign advertising the show, we abandoned the attempt. Instead, we drove back to Kirkwall, then went to Tingwall to visit the Iron Age site called the Broch of Gurness. It is a ruined village of pod-like homes around a central tower that had an interior stair case and room to accommodate a number of people. The tower, which seemed defensive, and the surrounding moat or ditch suggest that the community had security issues.

We spent some additional time watching the birds in the estuary between the Mainland and Rousay Islands. There were red or black-throated divers (known to us as loons) and Arctic terns. On the drive back to our B&B, we spotted a hovering barn owl, at first thought to be a harrier since it was hovering, but later discounted due to head shape and coloring. It is had a very blunt head, a large wingspan, and mostly white coloring.

A barn owl?

We had a 2:00 pm reservation for a guided tour of Maeshowe, a Neolithic chambered tomb - the best preserved one in Europe. To see the inside of the tomb, one must have a time-specific reservation, which we arranged yesterday. We met the ranger along with about 15 other people at the 'door' of the 30 foot high, conical, grass-covered mound. There is a 4-foot high entry tunnel that runs about 30 feet into the chamber, which is about 15 feet square and constructed entirely of massive blocks of stone (weighing multiple tons). There are four main standing stones in each corner that the ranger said mirrored the center of stone circles. There are 3 raised chambers on three sides of the main square where we stood. The side chambers were presumably where the remains of the dead were placed, although any remains have long since disappeared.

Maeshowe stands within sight of several other sites we visited on previous days. This particular structure was used in later eras by some Norsemen to overwinter, as evidenced by the runes scratched into a few of the interior rocks. The runes have been translated as messages along the lines of "I was here" graffiti. Also, there is a 'saga' (book) which tells of a band of men spending time in such a chamber on the Orkneys. On the winter solstice (plus and minus 21 days), the setting sun shines into the entry tunnel and illuminates the inner chamber.

The interior chamber of Maeshowe with sun shining through the tunnel

We drove back to the B&B for tea and snacks, then drove back to Birsay to walk along the coast for the purpose of birdwatching. It was a very pleasant walk along dramatic cliff sides. We spotted lots of downy juvenile seagulls nestled on the cliff faces, two eiders in the water, a pair of redshanks, several shrieking oyster catchers, and many cormorants, standing and diving, but alas no puffins.