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Scapa Flow
Scapa Flow (; ) is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray,S. C. George, ''Jutland to Junkyard'', 1973. South Ronaldsay and Hoy. Its sheltered waters have played an important role in travel, trade and conflict throughout the centuries. Vikings anchored their longships in Scapa Flow more than a thousand years ago. It was the United Kingdom's chief naval base during the First and Second World wars, but the facility was closed in 1956. Since the scuttling of the German fleet after World War I, its wrecks and their marine habitats form an internationally acclaimed diving location. Scapa Flow hosts an oil port, the Flotta oil terminal. In good weather, its roadstead (water of moderate conditions) allows ship-to-ship transfers of crude oil product. The world's first ship-to-ship transfer of liquefied natural gas (LNG) took place in Scapa Flow in 2007 transferring 132,000m³ of LNG. This occurred in 2007 by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orkney Islands
Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north of Caithness and has about 70 islands, of which 20 are inhabited.Haswell-Smith (2004) pp. 336–403. The largest island, the Mainland, has an area of , making it the sixth-largest Scottish island and the tenth-largest island in the British Isles. Orkney's largest settlement, and also its administrative centre, is Kirkwall. Orkney is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a constituency of the Scottish Parliament, a lieutenancy area, and an historic county. The local council is Orkney Islands Council. The islands have been inhabited for at least years, originally occupied by Mesolithic and Neolithic tribes and then by the Picts. Orkney was colonised and later annexed by the Kin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
St Margaret's Hope
St Margaret's Hope is a village in the Orkney Islands, off the north coast of Scotland. It is known locally as The Hope or The Hup. With a population of about 550, it is Orkney's third largest settlement after Kirkwall and Stromness. St Margaret's Hope is the main settlement of the island of South Ronaldsay. Situated off Water Sound at the head of a calm bay on the island's northern coast, it is connected to the Mainland, Orkney, Orkney Mainland by the A961 road running across the Churchill Barriers. St Margaret's Hope is believed to have been named after either Saint Margaret of Scotland (c.1045-1093), the wife of Malcolm III of Scotland, Malcolm III, or Margaret, Maid of Norway, who died in Orkney and possibly in this location in 1290. The village has a primary school, a small blacksmith's museum, a few shops and a cafe, a pub and a wine bar. Pentland Ferries run a service from the pier in the bay to Gills Bay on the Scottish mainland. It is also known for its annual Boys' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haakon IV Of Norway
Haakon IV Haakonsson ( – 16 December 1263; ; ), sometimes called Haakon the Old in contrast to his namesake son, was King of Norway from 1217 to 1263. His reign lasted for 46 years, longer than any Norwegian king since Harald Fairhair. Haakon was born into the troubled civil war era in Norway, but his reign eventually managed to put an end to the internal conflicts. At the start of his reign, during his minority, Earl Skule Bårdsson served as regent. As a king of the Birkebeiner faction, Haakon defeated the uprising of the final Bagler royal pretender, Sigurd Ribbung, in 1227. He put a definitive end to the civil war era when he had Skule Bårdsson killed in 1240, a year after he had himself proclaimed king in opposition to Haakon. Haakon thereafter formally appointed his own eldest son, Haakon the Young, as his co-regent. Under Haakon's rule, medieval Norway is considered to have reached its zenith or golden age. His reputation and formidable naval fleet allowed him ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hákonar Saga Hákonarsonar
''Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar'' ("The Saga of Haakon Haakonarson") or ''Hákonar saga gamla'' ("The Saga of Old Haakon") is an Old Norse Kings' Saga, telling the story of the life and reign of King Haakon Haakonarson of Norway. Content and style The circumstances of the saga's composition are exceptionally well understood, as they are recorded in some detail in ''Sturlunga saga'' (particularly ''Sturlu þáttr''): the saga was written in the 1260s (apparently 1264–65) by the Icelandic historian and chieftain Sturla Þórðarson (nephew of the noted historian Snorri Sturluson). Sturla Þórðarson was at the court of Haakon's son Magnus Lagabøte when Magnus learned of his father's death in Kirkwall in Orkney. Magnus is said to have immediately commissioned Sturla to write his father's saga. This was awkward for Sturla: 'King Hákon had instigated the death of Sturla's uncle, Snorri Sturluson, in 1241. Sturla rightly regarded Hákon as his most dangerous enemy, for he had ste ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orkneyinga Saga
The ''Orkneyinga saga'' (Old Norse: ; ; also called the ''History of the Earls of Orkney'' and ''Jarls' Saga'') is a narrative of the history of the Orkney and Shetland islands and their relationship with other local polities, particularly Norway and Scotland. The saga has "no parallel in the social and literary record of Scotland" and is "the only medieval chronicle to have Orkney as the central place of action". The main focus of the work is the Earl of Orkney, line of ''jarls'' who ruled the Earldom of Orkney, which constituted the ''Norðreyjar'' or Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland and there are frequent references to both archipelagoes throughout. The narrative commences with a brief mythical ancestry tale and then proceeds to outline the Norse take-over of the ''Norðreyjar'' by Harald Fairhair – the take-over is not in doubt although the role of the king is no longer accepted by historians as a likelihood. The saga then outlines, with varying degrees of detail, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Guillemot
The black guillemot or tystie (''Cepphus grylle'') is a medium-sized seabird of the Alcidae family, native throughout northern Atlantic coasts and eastern North American coasts. It is resident in much of its range, but large populations from the high arctic migrate southwards in winter. The bird can be seen in and around its breeding habitat of rocky shores, cliffs and islands in single or smalls groups of pairs. They feed mainly by diving towards the sea floor feeding on fish, crustaceans or other benthic invertebrates. They are listed on the IUCN red list as a species of least concern. Both sexes have very similar appearances with black plumage and a large white patch on the upper side of their wings in summer. The bill is also black, being rather long and slender, while the feet are coral-red. In winter adult underparts are white and the upperparts are a pale grey with the back and shoulders exhibiting barred light grey and white patterning. The birds breed in solitary pairs o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eurasian Curlew
The Eurasian curlew or common curlew (''Numenius arquata'') is a very large wader in the family Scolopacidae. It is one of the most widespread of the curlews, breeding across temperate Europe and Asia. In Europe, this species is often referred to just as the "curlew", and in Scotland known as the "whaup" in Scots. Taxonomy The Eurasian curlew was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' under the binomial name ''Scolopax arquata''. It is now placed with eight other curlews in the genus '' Numenius'' that was introduced by the French ornithologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. The genus name ''Numenius'' is from Ancient Greek νουμήνιος, ''noumēnios'', a bird mentioned by Hesychius. It is associated with the curlew because it appears to be derived from ''neos'', "new" and ''mene'' "moon", referring to the crescent-shaped bill. The species name ''arquata'' is the Medieval Latin name for this ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Shag
The European shag or common shag (''Gulosus aristotelis'') is a species of cormorant. It is the only member of the monotypic genus ''Gulosus''. It breeds around the rocky coasts of western and southern Europe, southwest Asia and north Africa, mainly wintering in its breeding range except for the northernmost birds. In Britain this seabird is usually referred to as simply the shag. The scientific genus name derives from the Latin for glutton. The species name ''aristotelis'' commemorates the Greek philosopher Aristotle. Taxonomy The European shag was formerly classified within the genus '' Phalacrocorax'', but a 2014 study found it to be significantly more diverged than the clade containing ''Phalacrocorax'' and '' Urile'', but basal to the clade containing '' Nannopterum'' and '' Leucocarbo'', and thus classified it in its own genus, ''Gulosus''. The IOC followed this classification in 2021. ''Gulosus'' is thought to have split from the ''Nannopterum''-''Leucocarbo'' clade ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Loon
The common loon or great northern diver (''Gavia immer'') is a large member of the loon, or diver, family (biology), family of birds. Reproduction, Breeding adults have a plumage that includes a broad black head and neck with a greenish, purplish, or bluish sheen, blackish or blackish-grey upperparts, and pure white Anatomical terms of location, underparts except some black on the undertail coverts and vent. Non-breeding adults are brownish with a dark neck and head marked with dark grey-brown. Their upperparts are dark brownish-grey with an unclear pattern of squares on the shoulders, and the underparts, lower face, chin, and throat are whitish. The sexes look alike, though males are significantly heavier than females. During the breeding season, loons live on lakes and other waterways in Canada, the northern United States (including Alaska), and southern parts of Greenland and Iceland. Small numbers breed on Svalbard and sporadically elsewhere in Arctic Eurasia. Common loons wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horned Grebe
The horned grebe or Slavonian grebe (''Podiceps auritus'') is a relatively small and Threatened species, threatened species of waterbird in the family Podicipedidae. There are two subspecies, ''P. a. auritus'' (Slavonian grebe), which breeds in Eurasia, and ''P. a. cornutus'' (horned grebe), which breeds in North America. The Eurasian subspecies is distributed over most of northern Europe and northern Asia, breeding from Iceland east to the Russian Far East. The North American subspecies spans most of Canada and some of the United States. A small population was cited in Greenland in 1973, but is not mapped or further mentioned by subsequent authors. The American name 'horned' refers to the orange-yellow crest feathers located above and behind the eyes, called "horns". The English name, originally 'Sclavonian', is first attested by George Montagu (naturalist), George Montagu in his 1802 ''Ornithological Dictionary'', from ''Sclavonia (other), Sclavonia'', an old ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Velvet Scoter
The velvet scoter (''Melanitta fusca'') is a large Merginae, sea duck, which breeds over the far north of Europe and the Palearctic west of the Yenisey basin. The genus name is derived from Ancient Greek ''melas'' "black" and ''netta'' "duck". The species name is from the Latin ''fuscus'' "dusky brown". Taxonomy The velvet scoter was Species description, formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' under the binomial nomenclature, binomial name ''Anas fusca''. Linnaeus specified the type locality (biology), type locality as European seas but restricted this to the Swedish coast in 1761. The velvet scoter is now one of six species placed in the genus ''Melanitta'' that was introduced in 1822 by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek ''melas'' meaning "black" and ''netta'' meaning "duck". The specific epithet ''fusca'' is from Latin ''fuscus' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
