The last day of September brought us sunshine and whales at last! After a tip off from the Birsay Bay Tearoom to say there were whales in the bay we set out on a mission to find them from our place.

After about half an hour we spotted gulls & gannets feeding out from our cliff & amongst them a fin. In fact it soon became apparent there were 3 Minke whales enjoying a feed. We watched these whales for about two & a half hours & got some great sights of their mouths, long backs as they circled their well earned food.

It was a wondorous sight on a calm, sunny sunday afternoon…

One Minke whale feeding off the brough of Birsay. Feeding on the newly arrived shoals of fish that could be seen breaking the surface.

1 Minke Whale travelling past Brough. 2 Risso’s Dolphin’s around Brough. 5 Risso’s Dolphin’s, 2 harbour Porpoise & a family group of 7 Orca’s travelling North from Marwick Head, beneath our cliff & around the Brough! We watched them for an hour on a hot, flat calm day & the sea was like glass… a wonderful & thrilling experience to have whales at the bottom of our garden!

5 Minke Whales feeding off Brough of Birsay.