The evening came out beautifully for us and the planned trip to Mousa. Mousa is a small island and home to a very complete, and impressive, Broch. Constructed in 200 - 400 BC it is an impressive structure, 44 feet high it is the only broch that is nearly complete to the top, including it's staircase between the inner and outer wall. It is built of drystone- so no motar, and this allows it to be home to part of the UK's largest colony of Storm Petrels - about 12, 000 pairs. Storm Petrels feed far out at sea and come ashore to their breeding colonies under the cover of darkness. They nest under stones and in wall crevices - several hundred pairs nest in the Iron age broch.
We left for Mousa at 10:30 and walked down to the broch in the dusk light. Lying on the grass just watching these tiny birds zoom into their nests was a priviledge. Fast and skillful, they often circled the broch before landing and then disappearing into their holes. It stayed light enough for us to walk back without torches at 12.30am. Walking back you could hear the petrels chirring away in the walls - a magical sound and a magical night.
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| Into the sun ....leaving Sumburgh. |
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| The boat... |
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| The broch... |
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| The lichen-covered broch outer wall. |
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| Midnight... |
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| Returning at 12:45. |
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