Mamas and Papas

Had a work trip to Papa Westray last week. Had to book the flights in advance and the weather forecast wasn't that great for the allotted day. I shouldn't have worried, it was absolutely peachy for a January day in Orkney.

Lichen atop a stane dyke

Double trouble Troglodytes troglodytes x 2

As the (Hooded) Crow fries

Seals at South Wick

Meantime, an apparently dead fly that had been sat on an exterior wall of home for a few days caused a frisson of excitement when I realised that it was in fact (a) alive; (b) not a fly; and (c) a female Winter Moth. These insects are virtually wingless so don't fly, leaving all that energetic kind of malarkey to the males. She just sits around, exuding pheromones and waits for him to show up.

Or maybe she has a tiny mobile phone with a dating app like Bumble (presumably developed for bees, but hey, we're not judgemental).