NIGHT BIRDS of Mousa island

It is night-time on the isle of Mousa, but while the clock has crept well past 11pm, it’s not yet dark. At this time of year, so far north – this small island off the coast of Mainland Shetland is on the same latitude as Stockholm – night-time is a relative concept. Locals call these twilight nights “da simmer dim”. Yet stranger and more magical is the sound issuing from the rocks by my knees: a soothing churr that ends in a breathy hiccup and then repeats on an endless, hypnotic loop.

I had come across by boat from Sandsayre Wick, with a group of other sightseers. Before we were let loose on the island, we had