Hoy, Orkney (1 Viewer)

paulwfromtheden · Nov 30, 2005

Hi all,
I have been offered a week volunteering at Hoy in Orkney on the 3rd Setember for the RSPB. Can anyone let me know if the infamous Scottish midges are still eating people alive at that time of year, or whether it will be relatively 'midgre-free'?
Cheers in advance.
Paul

Julian Sykes Wildlife · Nov 30, 2005

paulwfromtheden said:
Hi all,
I have been offered a week volunteering at Hoy in Orkney on the 3rd Setember for the RSPB. Can anyone let me know if the infamous Scottish midges are still eating people alive at that time of year, or whether it will be relatively 'midgre-free'?
Cheers in advance.
Paul

I did a week on Hoy back in the early 90's and in April when I was there it was certainly midge free. You will have a fantastic time and if they are still using the same bothy it is brill, right on the waters edge with Great Northern Divers from the front door. Make sure you get to the bar on Friday and Saturday night, it is packed with locals that just give it hell, great memories.

jpoyner · Nov 30, 2005

paulwfromtheden said:
Hi all,
I have been offered a week volunteering at Hoy in Orkney on the 3rd Setember for the RSPB. Can anyone let me know if the infamous Scottish midges are still eating people alive at that time of year, or whether it will be relatively 'midgre-free'?
Cheers in advance.
Paul

Midges this year were still on the go until the end of Sept, including when I went to Orkney in Sept!

JP

Mike Pennington · Nov 30, 2005

paulwfromtheden said:
Hi all,
I have been offered a week volunteering at Hoy in Orkney on the 3rd Setember for the RSPB. Can anyone let me know if the infamous Scottish midges are still eating people alive at that time of year, or whether it will be relatively 'midgre-free'?
Cheers in advance.
Paul

Quite often, Shetland is midge-free all summer becuase of the wind and while Hoy may be more Scottihs, the same may well apply. But if there is nice cam weather ...

jpoyner · Nov 30, 2005

Mike Pennington said:
Quite often, Shetland is midge-free all summer becuase of the wind and while Hoy may be more Scottihs, the same may well apply. But if there is nice cam weather ...

Yeah I agree with Mike that the islands can be better than the mainland because of the wind. Certainly did get "attacked" on Orkney this year on a calm day. As far as I understand there are quite a few species of the damn beasts. The ones on the west being particularly ferocious (and they are!), and the eastern populations less so. However Speyside is definitely becoming worse than it was, the rangers on Cairngorm told me that it was the worst season they had ever known this year. There was one day I remember where you couldn't get out of the car on the ski area car park without being swarmed.
They are an absolute pest but basically if you visit anywhere in Scotland between June and October there's a chance of encountering them.
Avon Skin So Soft does work, but you need to keep applying it. You smell like bowl of Pot Pourri but who cares. Forget all these Jungle formulas etc. they love them and you'll just melt your bins to your face!

JP

paulwfromtheden · Dec 1, 2005

jpoyner said:
Yeah I agree with Mike that the islands can be better than the mainland because of the wind. Certainly did get "attacked" on Orkney this year on a calm day. As far as I understand there are quite a few species of the damn beasts. The ones on the west being particularly ferocious (and they are!), and the eastern populations less so. However Speyside is definitely becoming worse than it was, the rangers on Cairngorm told me that it was the worst season they had ever known this year. There was one day I remember where you couldn't get out of the car on the ski area car park without being swarmed.
They are an absolute pest but basically if you visit anywhere in Scotland between June and October there's a chance of encountering them.
Avon Skin So Soft does work, but you need to keep applying it. You smell like bowl of Pot Pourri but who cares. Forget all these Jungle formulas etc. they love them and you'll just melt your bins to your face!

JP

Thanks for the advice. I have also been offered a week in Insh Marshes in the Cairngorns in late April/early May and being a total coward I am going to go for that.

Hoy, Orkney (1 Viewer)

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paulwfromtheden

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Julian Sykes Wildlife

Jules Sykes

jpoyner

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Mike Pennington

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