Natural highs and lows

There follows a jumble of images from the past few days, no common thread as such, save for being outdoors with camera in hand. Friday was a pleasanter day than forecast, but by the time I had finished work and was able to go for a walk, the sun was almost completely obscured by cloud (steady, Pink Floyd fans). Here it is as a barely perceptible spot of light over the hills of Hoy, as seen from Midland Hill in Orphir. Saturday was flippin' chilly, especially so for a southerly wind, but during a walk to Swanbister Bay, it gradually abated. Front to back: Ringed Plover and Dunlin; Great Black-backed Gulls and Redshank; Bar-tailed Godwit More Bar-tailed Godwit Golden Plover beginning to come into Summer plumage A panoramic view of Swanbister Bay The awful events in Ukraine are never far from our minds. With a Russian tanker due to call in at the oil terminal in Flotta this coming Tuesday, Orkney finds itself thrust into the news. So it wasn't a huge surprise when a Navy ship appe...

When the Met Office issues multiple weather warnings of various and increasingly-scary hues, then it pays to take notice. Especially if I have another boat journey on the horizon. Yup, last week it was another trip to Shetland, thankfully neatly sandwiched between Storms Dudley and Eunice. In fact, both crossings were quite smooth, and the day in Shetland was dry and calm, if very icy underfoot. Back in Orkney, yesterday was more of the same, blue sky, nae wind and an almost Spring-like frisson running through Nature. It was difficult to get my head around the fact that this was Orkney in mid February, whilst much of England, Wales and southern Scotland were being pelted with very windy weather. So, we ventured outside and around the bay. Some of the local Starlings being vocal on the overhead wires An immature Herring Gull (I think? They're all difficult to ID when young) Across the bay, a large flock of Dunlin (mainly), with a few Ringed Plovers Houton Bay. Weather warning, anyon...

On my return visit to Aberdeen for a planned city break (as opposed to the previous unfortunate re-routing of a ferry), the weather was rather calm and almost dry. Whilst the point of the weekend was to catch up with family, this is a wildlife blog, so although binoculars were left at home, I did take along a small camera. My companion had a 'twitch' list which included such intoxicatingly exotic species as Carrion Crow, Blue Tit, Great Tit and Magpie, these birds being difficult or impossible to see in Orkney. The crow was easy, spotted from the plane window as we taxied from the runway to the terminal at Aberdeen Airport.  The other three species were encountered in Duthie Park, to the south of the city. View from the Mound in Duthie Park, with the Winter Gardens on the left The Winter Gardens had plenty of actual exotic! I'm not sure whether the ants were exotic or Doric Another walk, this time eastwards towards the beach, brought a plethora of waders, all feeding unconc...

After last weekend's shenanigans and a 24 hour work trip that actually spanned 4 days, I was understandably nervous about boarding another ferry. Fortunately, this particular one only plied its trade between Kirkwall and the island of Westray, a journey of a mere 85 minutes. The route was sheltered within the waters of the archipelago, so the crossing was smooth despite the attentions of a brisk westerly breeze. I was doubly fortunate, in that the satellite dish I had been tasked with replacing was actually at ground level, no ladders necessary, thank you very much. Job completed, the second mission of the day was to try to find a small flock of Glossy Ibises which had been frequenting the island for more than a month (when the first reports came in during December, I did wonder if I would have any work on the island before they disappeared again). Over the years, I had seen several of these water birds, which are uncommon visitors to the UK, but never in circumstances where photog...