Me Granny wis the schoolteacher in Egilsay for a time in the fifties. Me Grandfither haed been wounded in the war, but he wis still able tae fish a few creels and did some work in the quarry. Me Dad and me Auntie spent long, happy summers in Egilsay taegether as bairns, wandering barefoot ower the links, meedos and beaches. When he wis a peedie boy, Dad wis able tae identify any wan o the handful o island tractors if it drove past the schoolhoose at night, cheust by the music o hid’s engine. Most o the ferms haed tractors, but wan or two still worked ‘horse’ (the correct owld Orkney plural o horse being also, of course, horse). Dad returned tae Egilsay as a young man tae shoot horsegowks in the meedos o the ferm o Kirbist, whar the tethered heavy horses cropped perfect circles o short turf surroonded by dense longer cover. This combination, plus the horses’ rich cannonballs o dung and the invertebrates they supported, created perfect conditions for the horsegowks.
So it wis wae keen interest that we travelled on Setterday tae Egilsay for a tour o Onziebust, the neeboring ferm tae Kirbist, whar RSPB Orkney run a splendid mixed herd o Shetland and Aberdeen Angus kye. The kye are there tae graze the sward short, and tae produce dung – creatan optimal conditions for breeding Whaups, Teeacks, Shalders, Wattery-Pleeps, Horsegowks, Black-tailed Godwits, and thur fledgelings. And the fledgeling data that reserve warden Vicky and her colleagues have gathered for Onziebust is notheen short o spectacular. Careful conservation grazing management and the creation o artificial ‘wader scrapes’ – shallow, dished pools o standing watter – is paying a muckle dividend in peedie birds. On this wan green isle at the heart o Orkney, RSPB workers are daean whit they can tae reverse the catastrophic decline in the numbers o breeding Orcadian waders.
But this is also a proper workan ferm, and washes hids face financially. Stockwoman Flora explained tae wur group hoo sheu manages the herd. The kye calve ootside in Mey, and there is a dialogue between reserve manager and stockwoman regarding the needs o the kye, and the needs o the birds. The kye are excluded fae key nesting areas until the peedie birds are able tae keep oot fae under thur feet. Because they are native Scottish breeds, they hae few calving issues, and dae weel even on the weet areas o the ferm. The stock were lukkan magnificent, wae heavy fleshy cover, their black coats gleaming in the September sunshine.
The day was an inspirational one for fermers like wursaels, demonstrating beyond doot that it is feasable tae combine effective conservation wae profitable production. While Vicky’s enthusiasm for her wader scrapes was infectious, Flora’s passion for her work wae the baests was equally compelling. Future conversations I’d like tae hae wae RSPB partners would include consideration o whether a fully organic management regime might no create an exponential rise in invertebrate numbers, and therefore an even richer environment for the waders. I’d also be interested tae hear whether ecologists would recommend the reintroduction o some horses among the kye; the equine/bovine relationship is a complex one, and is as yet little understood. It haes however been proved that when horse and kye exist taegethir, the parasitic worms o both are reduced in number. It’s mibby no coincidence that those Kirbist plough horses o decades past helped tae support such a healthy population o horsegowks.
brisknortherly 