Natural highs and lows

Homeward bound. Quite a relaxed start to the day as we were already at the airport. My last transit through Birmingham had been a nightmare: the place was rammed, there were folk everywhere; the carrier did not have a check-in desk open; and queues to get into the queue for the lift to take everyone to Security. This time we were taking no chances and headed to check-in a full three hours before our flight. Consequently, there were no queues, we breezed through everywhere and had a v-e-r-y lazy breakfast. This past week has been our Summer. Orkney had not been this warm for this many consecutive days all year, so as we boarded our plane to Inverness, I took a snap of the blue skies. Once back in the Highlands, we had a brief visit to Dunelm to pick up some cutlery that couldn't be shipped to Orkney (because... knives) and then it was a couple of hours drive through Autumn to the port of Scrabster. The sea crossing to Stromness was a little lumpy, courtesy of the gale which hit the ...

Our last full day of the holiday was a whirlwind of packing, followed by another visit to Rutland Water, before heading to Birmingham to return the hire car and check into a hotel for the night. Whilst packing, there was a constant stream of raptor calls from outside. A pair of Red Kites were very vocal, perched in a tree close to our log cabin. At Rutland Water, we spotted a Weasel and four species of ode, but photos of the latter are on my camera, so will have to wait for another day. Here's dawn from the log cabin and an interesting fungi on a willow trunk at Rutland Water. The drive to Birmingham wasn't pleasant, many hold ups along the way, but finally we could hand the car back and relax. This past week has been our Summer, but tomorrow it's back to the cool and windy north.

A slow start today, before a drive south to the village of Potton and a trip to RSPB Headquarters with Ruth. The coolness of an early autumnal dawn had gave way to a pleasantly warm morning. The three of us set off around the heath, stopping occasionally to photograph the heather, flowers and insects. Megan spotted a large beetle on a pathside sign. It wasn't, as I had first thought, a shield bug, but in fact was a Western Conifer Seed Beetle. This, we later learned, was an accidental introduction to the UK (in 2007) from the west coast of North America. I found a very fresh Fly Agaric, yet to be gnawed by anything. Definitely worth a photo. We wandered through the gardens of the HQ building, and just before we returned to the car park, we discovered a dung beetle on the path. Later attempts at an ID suggested it was a Minotaur Beetle. Ruth was enjoying the day out, as little Louis was in Pre School, so we went to a pub for a wonderfu...

During the night, about 3am, we were awakened by a Tawny Owl, calling loudly from quite close. "Ke-wick, ke-wick, ke-wick." The day properly began with an email requesting that I complete a survey. As it concerned the Big Garden Bird Watch and volunteering for the RSPB, I decided to contribute my twopenn'orth. A few minutes later, I arrived at the final questions which included "Which age group are you?" For the first time ever, I realised that I was in the last group, which was a bit of a moment. Daughter Ruth and grandson Louis visited us today, and we all ventured to Fineshade Wood, a site which I hadn't previously been to. In early Summer, it is a Mecca for butterfly enthusiasts, as Fineshade is home to a thriving colony of Purple Emperors. Not in mid October though. However, we had a lovely lunch at the cafe, then wandered along one of the waymarked trails. We saw several Migrant Hawker and Common Darter dragonflies, a few species of plant t...

Today, we were supposed to have a family get together at a country park. Elder daughter, Sally, was driving down from Lincolnshire, younger daughter Ruth (plus her son Louis) would be heading north from Bedfordshire, and Megan and I would saunter across from Rutlandshire to all meet up in the Soke of Peterborough. Just as we were about to leave our accommodation, Ruth phoned to say that she couldn't start her car, so we revised the plan and all met up at her house. I behaved dadly and attempted to diagnose the problem, which appeared to be either a faulty starter motor or a dead battery. We all wandered through the narrow streets of Potton to a cafe for lunch, then on the way back I purchased a set of jump leads. With these, we were able to start Ruth's car and prove it had been a flat battery all along. Grandson kept us all entertained with his energy, songs, toys and games. We will attempt the country park again tomorrow.

Despite not having to rise early to give Mocha the cat her medicines and breakfast, I did manage to be up and about just after dawn this morning. Today we met up with good friend Alan (who visited us earlier in the Summer), at Stanwick Lakes Nature Reserve, near Raunds.  Although it was a warm day, the odes were few, but we found plenty else of interest. More birds were added to the holiday list, flowers were identified, the many patterns of Harlequin Ladybirds were photographed and we spotted three Otters, probably a mum and two cubs. There were several visits to the cafe, as is only right and proper. Alas, I am too tired to wrangle with video footage of the Otters, but here are a few views of the Reserve. The other highlight of the day was standing within three metres of the UK's loudest songbird, the Cetti's Warbler, as it belted out its "song". They sing from deep cover, so although we occasionally saw a bit of veget...