We will visit the outer Hebrides, then continue north to the Orkney Islands and possibly the Shetlands. The trip will focus on the ecology, ancient hist ory, and culture of the North Atlantic. The Scottish isles are, in a way, a geographical oddity. They lie at the same latitude as northernmost Labrador, southern Greenland, and southwestern Alaska. Trees are a rarity on the open, windswept moors.
Ptarmigan feed on the buds of willow and hea ther.
Seabirds such as puffins, murres, gannets, whimbrels, and skuas grace seaside cliffs and glide on the ocean winds. However, the Gulf Stream keeps the winters mild, and protected gardens may hold flowers that would wither away in other northern cli mes. This mildness will also allow us to visit the islands in May without roughing any extreme winter weather. The Scottish isles have always played a central role in the spread of human populations throughout the North Atlantic. Even before the time of the pyramids, agricultural people had adapted to life on these northern coasts and moorlands.