Autumn aurum

Autumn has opened her colour palette and begun painting the landscape, the weather has abruptly become more blustery and showery, and birds are on the move - some to warmer climes south, others to... well, here is warmer climes for them. The dry Spring and Summer have been replaced with days of persistent rain, initially and fortunately of the vertical kind, which spent time slowly soaking into the parched ground. Today the showers have been sharp and horizontal, spurred on by a strong to gale force westerly. I tried outdoors, at least for the first two squalls, so can confirm that sitting on the sofa writing a blogpost instead is eminently preferable.

Here's a photo I retrieved from my phone, taken at the end of last month whilst working in Hoy. I was on my way back to Lyness to catch the ferry home, and encountered some sheep being moved between pastures. It was a fraught few minutes, wondering whether I would make the sailing, or be stuck on the island all night. And I believe that the collective noun for sheep is 'flock', not 'school', but what do I know?

The earlier mention of showers was a big multi-coloured flag that this post would be quite laden with rainbows. Here's a stonking double one from the front door.

Whilst this one is a little subtler, a diffuse fragment of arc seen across the Bay of Houton.

On the same walk, the Autumnal light was also burnishing the seaweed above the low tide line, and carelessly undoing the cryptic camouflage of a Curlew.

Turning for home revealed another rainbow arc, its pot of gold well out of reach, so I was content to settle for the aurum hues on the shore.

Another day, and less favourable weather, meant photographic opportunities were limited, but a Brown Hare in a stubble field is always a welcome sight.

And here's a common plant seen from an uncommon angle, the growing tip of a Gorse branch feeling all fractal and chaotic.

Whilst gazing at the Gorse, on a whin, sorry, whim, I took a couple of photos of a 4x4 having to wait for an escaped cow to decide which way she was going.

And I will close this post with a photo taken from the dining room window of the Northern Lighthouse Board vessel, Pharos, as she sailed into Scapa Flow one recent evening.