A friend invited me to Colonsay and Oronsay as part of an RSPB work party. The RSPB farm a number of areas of the two islands in a wildlife friendly fashion and there are always lots of jobs need doing, including dykes to repair. Other workers sniggered and called it a busman's holiday as we set to work. The corner of one dyke had tumbled into a gully that pitched out over high cliffs leaving a gap that allowed sheep to cross from one estate to another. I quite like my feet on the ground but the climbers roped up and leapt straight in, perching on the edge while they passed the stone out in a chain. From time to time we caught glimpses of Peregrine falcons as they hunted kittewakes from the colony below us. Packing up towards the end of the day, a group of sheep appeared from over the rise to cross in their usual place. As they got to the corner they realised that the wall now barred their way and they turned back to clamber about fearlessly on the cliffs instead.
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