Our walk at Deerness was full of incident, sightings of birds and other wildlife, that on Tuesday we decided to go back, and tackle the other part of the walk, to the Covenanters Memorial on the north shore. The first thing we saw was boxing hares in a field full of daisies. Ju got a marvellous profile shot of one sitting on the skyline, and I got this rather blurred action shot of one running at full pelt with its hind legs tucked behind its ears in the rush. By the side of the path we came upon a herring gull which had just died, not a mark on it and all its feathers perfect. The sound of skylarks is constant in this landscape, only to underline how rare they are in our home countryside in Argyll. Ju spotted a fieldfare hiding in a bush, and we watched lapwing and curlew too.

When we got to the monument it was a sorry and cruel tale from our history. 250 covenanters, last survivors of the Battle of Bothwell Bridge in 14 hundred and something, were being shipped across the Atlantic to be sold as slaves, when a storm caused the ship to founder here. The captain ordered the hatches to be closed so the covenanters would drown, but a crew member disobeyed and 47 of them survived. A heavy price to pay for opposing the established state religion of the time.

The path then went along cliffs, so we put Jack on the lead for safety. On Monday he had given us both a heart in the mouth moment when he rushed up to the edge of a very steep cliff, sat down and started licking a paw. If he had overbalanced.........

On the cliffs we spotted some nesting razorbills and guillemots, while there were very many fulmars and oystercatchers all over the place.

As on the previous day our van was surrounded by other vehicles when we got back to it, so we just stayed put for a while and had lunch, and recovered from two longish walks in two days.

On the way back I stopped to have a look at St Ninian's Church, and that was all I achieved, as not only was the church locked, but the graveyard was also! What are they afraid of? Viking raiders? People after the lead on the roof? Not impressed.

When we headed back towards Kirkwall we did a small detour to look at the west coast of Deerness, and it too was magnificent, gently rolling fields, isolted farms, azure sea on this totally sunny day, lovely.

We came back via the Hatston terminal, to have a look at the Hurtigruten ship Midnatsol, on a cruise including going from Stornoway to Kirkwall to Leith. Quite a lot larger than the Fram, she did have some similar features, like the aft restaurant with windows on three sides of the ship!

Then a spot of light shopping in Tesco, and back to the campsite. Another great day. Tomorrow some forward planning, as we hope to visit all of the inhabited islands during our time here. We will begin with Rousay this weekend, after Jack has his trim tomorrow, Thursday.