Golden, gold and green

If you'll allow me to be philosophical for a moment, sometimes you have to take a soaking, simply to experience the zingy intensity of the light immediately after a rain shower.

Looking across Birsay Bay to the Brough, a double rainbow heralded the arrival of a few moments of a 'just washed' landscape, every rock sparkling in the warm rays of the sun. Wildlife unfurled from wherever it had hunkered down to withstand the deluge, and the bay was suddenly all a-frenzy, with ducks, waders, gulls and pipits busily feeding.

Earlier, we had sat in the RSPB hide at The Loons, watching wave after wave of Golden Plover go overhead. Eventually, curiosity got the better of me and we followed in their direction and discovered a flock of maybe 400 birds in a field behind Marwick Choin.

Back at Birsay, a pair of Goldfinches kept us enthralled for ages as they fed on thistle seeds, often hopping rather than flying between the prickly plants.

The following day was dreich, but cheered up immeasurably by some more finches, three wee Siskins beneath the bird feeder in the garden. All my photos through a mucky window, and in low light, went straight to the Recycle Bin, but here's a few seconds' worth of movie when the male bird deigned to look up from his constant feeding for a brief instant.

As I type this, there is a Varied Thrush on the tiny island of Papa Westray. This is a bird of the west coast of Canada and the USA, so it is quite a rarity. In fact, I am told that this is only the second British record, the first being in Cornwall in 1982. Twitchers are flocking from all over the UK, Papay's air service is fully booked and charter boats are being hired out of Kirkwall. It is a stunning looking bird by all accounts, but I will give the testosterone-fuelled competitive birding a miss, if you don't mind. Although I wouldn't complain if a customer on the island were to suddenly have a satellite tv fault!