Lairo Water is a surface water body known as an ayre

Ayre (landform)

An ayre is a name often applied to shingle beaches in Orkney and Shetland. The term is derived from the Old Norse wordfor a shingle beach - "eyrr" - and may be applied to ordinary beaches, to cliff-foot beaches to spits, bars and tombolos, but only if formed of shingle. It is sometimes wrongly...

 situated on the western coast of Shapinsay

Shapinsay

Shapinsay is one of the Orkney Islands off the north coast of mainland Scotland. There is one village on the island, Balfour, from which roll-on/roll-off car ferries sail to Kirkwall on the Orkney Mainland...

 in the Orkney Islands

Orkney Islands

Orkney also known as the Orkney Islands , is an archipelago in northern Scotland, situated north of the coast of Caithness...

. This brackish water body is separated by a narrow bar of land from Veantro Bay

Veantro Bay

Veantro Bay is a bay on the northwest coast of Shapinsay in the Orkney Islands, Scotland.At the head of the bay is a large stone, thought to be associated with Viking settlement of Shapinsay, known as the Odin's Stone...

. This wetland

Wetland

A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....

 is an area where a variety of bird species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 may be found. Hogan has suggested that the Lairo Water may have been a source of subsistence food for prehistoric inhabitants of Shapinsay at Burroughston Broch

Burroughston Broch

Burroughston Broch is an Iron Age archaeological site on the island of Shapinsay within the Orkney Islands of Scotland. The site overlooks the North Sea on the northeast part of Shapinsay. Slightly to the south lies Linton Bay. Excavated in the mid 19th century, Burroughston Broch has its earth...

.

Footnotes