Monday 12th May
Orkney Native Wildlife Project’s Mop Up Walk
Where: Mull Head, Deerness
When: Monday 12th May 10am – 12pm
With: Orkney Native Wildlife Project
Cost: Free
Booking: https://buytickets.at/orkneynativewildlifeprojectrspb/1647531
Orkney Nature Festival Ceramics Workshop
Where: Orkney Creative Hub, Garrison Road, Kirkwall
Meet: Orkney Creative Hub
When: Monday 12th May 10.30am to 12.30pm
With: Robin Palmer Ceramics
Cost: £35 pp
Booking Required: Yes
Contact: Robin Palmer - [email protected]
Join Robin Palmer at his pottery studio in Kirkwall to try your hand at making textured pots inspired by nature. The workshop will last for 2 hours. For more information and to book, please contact Robin direct on the email above.
Woven Landscape Bookmarks
Where: Orkney Creative Hub, 25 Bridge Street, Kirkwall
When: Monday 12th May 10.30am - 12.30pm
With: Orkney Creative Hub/No 25
Cost: £10
Booking Required: Yes https://buytickets.at/orkneycreativehub/1675194
Contact: [email protected]
Join Bethan recreating Orkney landscapes / seascapes in this tapestry inspired workshop as you weave your own picture or bookmark.
Coffee, Cake and Skydancing Hen harriers
Where: The Crafthub @ The Space, Rousay
Meet: The Crafthub, Rousay
When: Monday 12th May 11am – 3pm
With: RSPB Orkney
Cost: Free event, donations welcome. Coffee can cake on sale at the café
Booking Required: No need to book, just turn up at the Café anytime between 11am and 3pm
Join RSPB staff for coffee, cake and a day of Hen harrier arts and crafts at The Crafthub Community café on Rousay on Monday 12th May. The RSPB have been working with the local youth group and have created some artwork about these enigmatic sky dancing birds of prey. The Crafthub community cafe have kindly donated some wall space for us to display our work. Please come along and help us create our display accompanied by coffee and cake and all sorts of chat about hen harriers and other orkney wildlife. If the weather allows, we may also include a short walk on the nearby RSPB Trumland reserve to try and spot Hen harriers.
For more information about the Crafthub community café see here: HOME | The Crafthub SCIO
Snorkel Safari - FULL
Where: Churchill Barriers, exactly where TBC based on weather
When: Monday 12th May
Time: 2pm start
With: Kraken Diving
Cost: £50
Booking required: Yes as limited to 8 people.
Contact: [email protected]
The underwater world is one of the final unexplored areas on the planet, with almost 80% of it still unexplored. Incredible shows like Blue Planet have helped bring the wonderful and sometimes crazy creatures that live in the marine world into the public mind. Many people focus on warmer climes such as the Great Barrier reef when thinking about the ocean, but the UK has some incredible and diverse life surrounding it.
On this snorkel safari being put on especially for Nature Festival we will be showing you around one of Orkney's finest and safest snorkelling areas to try and find some of these underwater creatures in the comfort of their own home. Whether lured in by the hypnotic sway of the kelp gardens and seaweed, or enjoying the numerous anemones, starfish and crabs there is a huge range of different creatures and colours to see. We do our snorkel at the same location as WW1 and WW2 shipwrecks so if you want you can even spend some time exploring some historical sites which now act as artificial reefs, making them a haven for sea life and birds.
All equipment will be provided, including dry suits, to keep you warm and dry.
No previous snorkelling experience is required. You can take the session at your own pace with close support from PADI Instructors and Divemasters. There is no need to be a strong swimmer as the Churchill Barriers are very sheltered, although you do need to be comfortable around the water. It should be possible to spend up to 60 minutes in the water, although there is a team on shore if you want to come out sooner.
Making Your Birding Count – Getting Started in BirdTrack
Where: St Magnus Centre, Kirkwall
When: Monday 12th May 7pm – 8.30pm
With: BTO (British Trust for Ornithology)
Cost: Free, donations on door
Booking Required: No, just turn up
Find out more about how you can help to gather valuable information on our bird life using BirdTrack. Using either your home computer or the smartphone app you can record, store and share all your sightings from wherever you are. At this talk we'll explore what you can do, how to get started and how to enter data. We'll also cover where the data goes and how it helps us look after the UK's amazing birdlife.
Evening walk- Micro Migrations at RSPB Brodgar
Where: RSPB Brodgar, what3words location ///tramps.before.linguists
Meet: Brodgar Car Park
Car parking: There is plenty of parking at the Brodgar car park.
When: Monday 12th May 7:30pm-8:30 pm
With: RSPB Orkney
Age: All welcome – anyone under 16 should be accompanied by an adult.
Dogs: Assistance dogs only
Accessibility: Accessible parking is available. Accessibility of the path will depend on weather.
Cost: Suggested donation of £5 for adult non-members.
Booking: Not required
Contact: [email protected] Migrations need not be large. Come to RSPB Brodgar for an evening walk to see the reserve and learn about the migratory species that make Brodgar their home- whether they migrate across the globe or just around the site.
Evening Snorkel Safari - FULL
Where: Churchill Barriers, exactly where TBC based on weather
When: Monday 12th May
Time: 8.30pm start
With: Kraken Diving
Cost: £50
Booking required: Yes as limited to 6 people
Contact: [email protected]
The underwater world is one of the final unexplored areas on the planet, with almost 80% of it still unexplored. Incredible shows like Blue Planet have helped bring the wonderful and sometimes crazy creatures that live in the marine world into the public mind. Many people focus on warmer climes such as the Great Barrier reef when thinking about the ocean, but the UK has some incredible and diverse life surrounding it. On this snorkel safari being put on especially for Nature Festival we will be showing you around one of Orkney's finest and safest snorkelling areas to try and find some of these underwater creatures in the comfort of their own home.
For this session, we are doing something a bit different in getting in the water at dusk to be able to see some of the creatures that come out in the dark. We will give everyone a torch to find marine life such as prawns, squab lobsters and stickleback fish that normally keep themselves hidden during the day.
All equipment will be provided, including dry suits, to keep you warm and dry.
A little experience snorkelling is ideal or, at least, being very comfortable in the water in necessary for trying something in the dark. You can take the session at your own pace with close support from PADI Instructors and Divemasters. It should be possible to spend up to 60 minutes in the water, although there is a team on shore if you want to come out sooner.