[ Runavik port information - TOTW 2010]

Vestmana Bird Cliffs

Being bird watchers, we had chosen the bird cliffs excursion.   From Torshavn this is a moderate coach drive to Kvivik where our boat started from.   From Runavik however it was a fair drive and so we did get to see quite a bit of the Faroe Islands, including the famous bridge over the Atlantic ocean (marked B on the map.) We left around 10:00 a.m., our route is shown in red and goes through a tunnel just before the bridge.   Although the bridge looks as though it is spanning a river, it is a fjord which is the sea.   The currents in that fjord can be very strong and dangerous, similar to the way the wind whistles through an alleyway between two big buildings.   Just before Kvivik, there is a tunnel that goes under the fjord to the next island Vàgar.   They have quite a few tunnels on the Faroe Islands.

It is commonly thought there are no trees on the Faroes due to the winds and the salt in the air.   We were told it was due to the sheep, which seems much more credible to me.   The Faroese use every square yard of grass to graze their sheep.   On our way to the bird cliffs we saw many sheep happily grazing the steep cliffs.   In some of the more dangerous places they do have fences to keep them from going too near the edge.   Pretty amazing since they have to take their sheep to the cliffs by boat in the spring and fetch them back by boat for the winter.   We did see plenty of sheep, and we didn't see any trees, but according to Wikipedia there are some willows, and prior to human habitation there were birch and hazel.   With all that salt to be absorbed by the grass, the sheep should be ready seasoned, so Faroese lamb should be rather tasty.

We were hoping to be just in time to see the Puffins prior to their depature for the deep ocean, and a few other species that we don't see very much in South East Essex.

HAL's excursion description

"Ride by coach to the village of Vestmanna. Here, you will board a boat and sail out to the famous bird cliffs. All your senses will awaken with the sound of thousands of sea birds, the salty scent of the sea and its cool spray on your face, the stunning, weather-beaten cliff formations and the raucous riot of squawking birds who call the seacliffs home. You’ll sail along the cliff wall, into a narrow gorge where sheer rock walls rise vertically on both sides towards the sky. The boat slowly enters one of the many grottoes, and for a moment, daylight disappears. Darkness and the sound of dripping water surround you and then, suddenly, you emerge on the other side. The boat stops for a while so you can enjoy the scenery. Take photographs to help you remember the details. After the boat trip, return to Runavík and the ship.

Notes:
Many species of birds migrate from the bird cliffs starting mid-August. Wildlife sightings are likely but are not guaranteed."

There was a gift shop/restaurant where we stopped to pick up the boat, which had the much needed loos.   While waiting here I saw what looked like terns fly overhead with huge long tails, looking them up in the book later I identifed them as long tailed skuas (long tailed jaegers) because of their long tails, a first for me.   They were in fact, as we discovered later, arctic terns, which I had discounted.   I had always learnt to distinguish arctic and common terns purely by the bill, which is difficult even in binoculars at a distance.   In reality, the tail is so much longer that it is easy to tell them apart with the naked eye.   So I didn't get a new species, but I had learnt something useful.

The boat was a small cabin cruiser with seats on top.   There were a couple of big black plastic bags under the seats that kept getting in the way, but when we got to the cliffs we found out what they were for.   They were hard hats to protect us from rocks falling from the cliffs.   The cliffs are in a constant process of erosion, fortunately slow, but every so often there is a fall.   This erosion processes is what makes the stacks, gullies and caves that we able to admire, and take the boat into!   It also provides ledges for the birds to nest on, safe from land based predators, and that is why we were here, to see the birds.   It seems that we were a bit late in the season, there were birds there; fulmars, guillemots (mures), puffins, kittiwakes, razobills, and black guillemots, but not in huge numbers like there would have been a few weeks earlier.   The guide identified the fulmars (with the stiff wings) and the kittiwakes (with the distinctive calls) and the guillemots (black with white tummmies - like little penguins) and called the tiny ones with the rapid wing beats puffins.   Although there were a few puffins there, most of them were black guillemots which he never mentioned.   You can't blame them really, the tourists only want to see puffins, so when the puffins leave and go back to sea; tell the tourists that the black guillemots are puffins, they'll not know the difference.

The sea was quite choppy and the boat rocked about a bit, but being on top with a clear view of the horizon we didn't feel any nausea.   On the way back he opened the throttle and went bouncing back across the waves, fortunately due to the speed we were back in Kvivik bay very soon where he slowed down.   A bit more of that high speed stuff and it might have been touch and go.   On the way out we had done a trip round the bay first to see the salmon pens where they are farming salmon, but on the way back we went straight in.   That was another good trip but it would have been better mid July or earlier, and it would not have been so good in the rain.

[ top ]