Orkney weather and wildlife: when to visit

5 MINUTE READ

If you’re looking for an Orkney Islands tour and trying to decide on the best time to visit Orkney for weather and wildlife, the real question is this: do you want the long daylight hours of late spring and early summer, or the quieter pleasures of early autumn? All seasons are rewarding, but they offer different moods, different light and a different cast of wild characters.

Orkney weather and wildlife: when should you visit?

We spoke to Megan, the local Orcadian naturalist at Wild Orkney Walks, who guides our Orkney tour guests on Westray in July and Shapinsay in August and September, about how the Orkney weather changes through the season – and what that means for anyone planning an Orkney wildlife trip.

Her approach is not about racing from sighting to sighting. It is about slowing down enough to notice what season you are in and what the islands are quietly offering that week. As she puts it, she loves helping guests “go a bit slower” and tune into “the sounds of nature around you”.

Orkney in spring and summer: puffins, seabird drama and flower-rich walks

For most visitors, late spring or summer will feel like the best time to visit Orkney for wildlife because the islands are at their busiest. Seabird colonies are active, harbour seals are basking with their pups and roadside verges can be unexpectedly colourful. Places such as RSPB North Hill Nature Reserve on Papa Westray are known for puffins, guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes and black guillemots in season, with Scottish primrose flowering between May and July.

It’s the perfect place to “watch puffins peeping out from their burrows or wheeling around the cliffs in front of you, as you wait for the perfect photo opportunity,” say Megan.

This is the version of Orkney that feels most outwardly lively. The wildlife is easier to read at a glance. The days are long. Orkney weather is generally at its mildest, too, with July and August the warmest months in long-term local averages.

That is why our Orkney Island tours which departs in May, June or July head to Westray for the day, with Megan. It is the right time for puffins and other breeding seabirds, but also for those smaller spring and summer details that are easy to miss if you move too fast: flowers in the verges, insects on the wing and that sense of the islands being fully alive. Megan’s gift is helping guests slow down enough to notice all of it.

Orkney in autumn: migrant birds, grey seals and a quieter mood

By late August and into September, Orkney weather begins to change the character of the islands. The seabird cliffs grow quieter, but the wildlife does not fade away. It shifts.

Wetlands and sheltered corners become more interesting at this time of year. On Shapinsay, RSPB Mill Dam is a particularly good example: a wetland where ducks and wading birds can be seen year-round, with redshanks, curlews and other species adding interest as the season turns. The island also remains a strong place to look for the rare great yellow bumblebee.

Megan’s tip? “Allow plenty of time here to sit quietly, watching and listening in this wonderfully relaxing setting.”

Autumn also brings migration into the picture. Orkney sits on major bird routes between the Arctic and further south, which is one reason a trip to the Orkney Islands are so rewarding at this time of year. Some local guides and island organisations note that bird numbers increase through autumn as migrants pass through and geese begin returning later in the season.

For some travellers, this will be the better fit. Early autumn in Orkney feels softer and more reflective than May to July. There is still plenty to see, including grey seals and their pups, but the pleasure is less about spectacle and more about change: the first migrant birds, shifting light, quieter shores and the sense that the islands are turning towards another season. Orkney weather can feel more changeable at this time of year, adding to that atmosphere of movement and transition.

That is why our September departures visit the island of Shapinsay with Megan. It is a different wildlife day from May, June or July on Westray, and a shorter ferry trip to the island, but no less rewarding for it.

Spring, summer or early autumn: which season suits your Orkney wildlife trip?

Season

Typical daylight

Average temperature

Wildlife highlights

May and June

Around 17–18 hours of daylight, with very long evenings and twilight that lasts much of the night approaching the summer solstice

Around 9–12°C, with average highs of 12–15°C

Puffins return to their colonies, along with guillemots, razorbills and kittiwakes. Arctic terns arrive to breed, wildflowers bloom across the islands, harbour seals haul out on beaches, and chance to spot otters, dolphins and occasionally orcas offshore.

July

Around 15-16 hours on a representative July day in Kirkwall

Around 12°C, with average highs of 16–17°C

Puffins, breeding seabirds, flower-rich verges, harbour seals and pups, plus the chance of dolphins or orcas offshore

August/Sept

Around 15 hours in mid-August,, falling to about 13 hours by September

Around 12°C in August and 11°C in September, with average highs of 16°C in August and 14–15°C in September

Migrant birds, ducks and waders on wetlands, returning geese later in the season and the first signs of grey seal pupping as autumn develops

Explore Orkney wildlife with GeoCultura

If your ideal trip features puffins, breeding seabirds, long evenings and the buoyant feel of high summer, July is the stronger choice.

If you are more drawn to migrant birds, wetland wildlife, fewer crowds and a more mellow seasonal mood, late August or September may suit you better.

The best time to visit Orkney for wildlife, then, is not one fixed answer. It depends on what kind of wildlife experience you want – lively and seabird-rich, or calmer and more seasonal. Orkney weather also plays its part, with summer often bringing longer, brighter days and early autumn offering a softer, more changeable atmosphere.

Either way, going with someone like Megan makes all the difference. She knows where to pause, what to listen for and how to help guests notice the quieter details as well as the headline sightings.