Yellow, mellow and Hello!

A slow start to a Sunday meant that it was nearly lunchtime before we donned our walking boots in Burwick at the southern tip of South Ronaldsay. The car park for the John O'Groats passenger ferry was empty, as the service has stopped for the Winter, but as we admired a brightly-coloured fungus by the path, a few other cars appeared. Folk clad in outdoorsy gear made their way along the clifftop path towards the Grey Seal pupping coves, and we followed suit whilst I tried to think what a chrome yellow mushroom might be called... Deathly Lemon?... False Banana Murderer?... Egg Yolk Deathcap? The truth was a little more prosaic, as I think this is a Yellow Fieldcap Bolbitius titubans. It certainly added a splash of vibrancy to an overcast day.

As we reached the bay of Bur Wick, a quick scan of several coves showed that pup numbers had increased since our last visit, when we had recorded 4 recent births. We counted 33 this time, one already moulting out of its white fur.

Warning: Cuteness overload imminent! Another pup contentedly snoozing

A cove with about a dozen pups and their mums

One particular pup was having a swimming lesson in a rock pool, which I guess is Grey Seal for the 'shallow end'? Mum was keen for her offspring to stay in the pool a bit longer, but Junior wasn't so sure. Fortunately, once out of the water, (and I may be taking this analogy too far) it was time to visit the cafe for a hot drink.

We continued along the clifftops and our eyes were drawn from the beaches to happenings out to sea. Several groups of dolphins were heading south, some of which were Risso's, but I am not too sure about the ones I managed to film.

On returning home, we received news that a rare dragonfly had been seen in Kirkwall. Indeed, of late, many parts of the UK have reported Vagrant Emperor dragonflies, a dispersive species from the Mediterranean region and North Africa. Duty bound to respond, I downed a mug of tea, ignored the biscuits (I know!), we put our coats back on and headed into town. We learnt that the insect in question had been discovered when the family cat brought it indoors, miraculously appearing unharmed from its encounter apart from a scratch on segment 1 of the abdomen. Though cold and so not able to get airborne again, the dragonfly was very much alive, and I recommended that she was placed somewhere out of cat's reach in the hope of a spell of sunshine which would allow her to carry on with her journey.

Obviously, the outcome isn't great whichever way you look at it, she's unlikely to find another Vagrant Emperor in these parts, let alone mate and lay eggs. I guess that's the downside to the dispersal strategy which this species employs, those insects heading to the northern UK on a southerly or easterly wind are somewhat doomed. For the record, she is the fourth Vagrant Emperor to be identified in Orkney, and the first for five years. And I added the cat's name (Nyx) to the official record, it seemed only fair.