Just 1.5 miles off Orkney’s southeastern coast, Copinsay emerges from the North Sea in sandstone cliffs and grass-topped slopes, uninhabited since 1958 and now protected as a nature reserve by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. In spring and summer, the island becomes one of Orkney’s most dynamic wildlife sanctuaries. Guillemots and razorbills crowd the near-vertical ledges, kittiwakes wheel overhead, and Atlantic puffins—known locally as “Tammie Norries”—nest in burrows above the sea. Northern fulmars occupy the higher rock faces, and thousands of breeding seabirds transform the cliffs into a living chorus. Autumn brings another spectacle as grey seals haul out along the shoreline to pup, the reserve offering one of Orkney’s most important refuges for these powerful marine mammals. Remnants of the island’s past remain: a lighthouse still in operation, former farm buildings, and fields once worked by families who lived alongside the birds. Today, Copinsay feels claimed by the wildlife that gathers each season. Landings depend on tide and weather, and time ashore feels especially elemental.