Natural highs and lows

Here we are on a Friday afternoon, enjoying the fifth consecutive day of sunshine in a row. Yes, I'm still in Orkney. Let's pretend there's not a bitter easterly breeze, eh? It has been so sunny and dry and [sighs] breezy, that we have run out of things to launder: bedding; towels; and so much clothing we can actually see the bottom of the laundry basket. Unprecedented times, I tell you. Monday saw work begin on the new pond location (a subject for a future blogpost). Tuesday, a second day of sunshine, and the insects were beginning to believe in Spring! Several White-legged Snake Millipedes put in an appearance and the first hoverfly of the year was spotted, possibly Eristalis pertinax . At lunchtime, we headed out to Yesnaby on the west coast to set up a transect to monitor Plantain Leaf Beetles for the Species on the Edge Project. It was so peachy, we did two! A Yellow Dung Fly joined me for lunch, which doesn't say much about my sandwiches We saw about 40 beetles an...

I'm sure that I have mentioned previously that there are houses being built around us. Obviously this will change the variety of wildlife we see in and from the garden, but we're hoping that we will gain a few creatures as well as inevitably losing a few. In my usual slapdash way, I have been documenting, in the form of a photo diary, the construction of the house directly behind us, colloquially known as Plot 1 until the new owners give it a name. Neither the house nor the diary are finished yet, but the latest photo was taken yesterday evening, so I hope you will excuse my jumping the gun in showing you progress so far. I think you will understand why.

Blogging has become a bit of a bus driver's holiday at the moment, with my work days spent in front of a computer screen, editing and formatting technical manuals. It's not all bad, mind, as at least I can stay in the warm and dry. However, despite the Spring-like temperatures further south, any inclination of Orkney's thermometers to creep into double figures is thwarted by the windchill. But, whisper it quietly, t his week we have had a few sunny days, so yesterday, whilst Megan was recce-ing a new island for her wildlife walks, I took an hour off work to carry out the first bumblebee survey of the year. Bumblebee Conservation's BeeWalk is a national recording scheme and March probably works a whole lot better for the south of England than these frigid shores. Although bumblebees are insulated with lots of hairs, this month is certainly a tough gig for a bee. And to be fair, also for this surveyor. I took three different coats so that I could choose which one to wear ...

One afternoon, a couple of days ago, a lull in the gales tempted me outdoors for a spot of gardening. Muscles which hadn't been used in several months were cajoled into action as I pottered about in the mild air, spurred on by some actual sunshine. Between bouts of activity, I wandered around the garden collecting fallen cones from a neighbour's trees, the afore-mentioned gales having distributed the empty cones far and wide.  A few brave plants have emerged from the ground, their flowers adding splashes of colour here and there. Crocus Daffodil Dwarf Iris Some cones Lupin leaves and dew drops A Hellebore I'm not certain that we knew we had The object of the exercise, however, was to backfill the hole we'd dug a year ago, when we thought that the front garden would be the location for a pond. Remember this photo from Spring 2024?  Spring 2025 Excavating activity will presently begin in the rear garden. Meantime, when the weather's dreich and we're stuck indoors,...

It’s been a while, huh? Life has been busy in unexpected ways, and blogging just wasn’t on the radar. 16 th February At Burnbank, 2025 has been designated The Year of Sorting Out the Garden. A good friend was cutting back some Tea-leaved Willow at her allotment and kindly donated 50 or so trimmed sticks for us to begin some hedging. Now, folk close to me have a view on my level of dedication to a task, as a recent text exchange with my daughters demonstrated. However, in a flurry of activity, Megan and I managed to begin the transformation of the rear gar den. Next up is the long-delayed pond, but the cunning plan is to employ a local gardening business to provide the necessary impetus. Photo courtesy of Megan 20 th February I am most of the way back to Orkney, sat in a departure lounge at Aberdeen Airport, awaiting a connecting flight to Kirkwall, longing for the space and sanity of a windswept island. I’ll be rather pleased to see Megan too, he added hurriedly. After a whir...