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.
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| Front to back: Ringed Plover and Dunlin; Great Black-backed Gulls and Redshank; Bar-tailed Godwit |
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| More Bar-tailed Godwit |
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| Golden Plover beginning to come into Summer plumage |
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| 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 appeared in Scapa Flow this morning. |
| Navy patrol vessel with the Flotta oil terminal in the background |
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| A dwarf iris in the garden |
The rest of Sunday morning was taken up with beached bird surveys in a couple of nearby bays. In case you're wondering, "beached" is a euphemism for dead. This annual survey hasn't gone ahead for a few years due to the pandemic, and this year there is the added complication of bird flu, so everyone taking part was under strict instructions not to touch dead birds. |
| A panorama of Orphir Bay from the western end |
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| Herring Gull |
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| A panorama of Orphir Bay from the eastern end |
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| Waulkmill Bay |
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| Puffin |
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| Waulkmill panorama |
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| Guillemot, or should that be guille-mort? |
Hopefully, my next offering will be a little more cheerful.
I wish I was there 😄
ReplyDeleteYou're doing that Pink Floyd thing, aren't you? 😃
DeleteScenery still stunning despite the dead seabirds. I gather a lot died thanks to all the storms of late and not just bird flu. Love the Iris, spring is on its way :) B x
ReplyDeleteHi B, yes, Winter storms are a part of the normal cycle of life and death. The beached bird count also checks on any potential oiling threats as we do have an oil terminal in Scapa Flow (everyone knows this now thanks to that putz Putin). What was unusual in the last year was the huge seabird 'wreck' in late Summer throughout the North Sea region, thought to be due to a shortage of food.
DeleteNo birds on the wing there...any pigs?
ReplyDelete😄 No, but my latest post is a musical one, albeit with a tenuous wildlife link!
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