Natural highs and lows

This is by far the most tenuous Nature Notes post yet, but bear with me. A much-anticipated trip south to Inverness finally came to fruition, despite a fraught few days immediately prior to the journey when the ferry broke down for 36 hours.  Fortunately, on the allotted day all was well, and we sailed serenely across the Pentland Firth, followed by a leisurely drive through Caithness and Sutherland. En route, we stopped off at Golspie for a bit of early Autumn colour, then Skelbo for a picnic lunch. At both sites we found the increasingly-misnamed Southern Hawker dragonfly, a woodland species which is expanding its range northwards, and one has to wonder if it will make it to Orkney before too long. The trip was occasioned by a fervent desire to see Elephant Sessions, a  band who seamlessly blend trad, funk and electronica. W e decided to make a long weekend of it and risk the company of 998 other music lovers at a sellout gig  at the Ironworks in Inverness. I could be w...

Stronsay, one of the islands on the eastern side of the Orkney archipelago, recently hosted a Citizen Science Festival. The Orkney Field Club were invited along to an informal discussion on wildlife recording, which was held at The Fishmart, a local cafe. As I have been to Stronsay several times with work this year, I was 'selected' as the designated diner. The meeting lasted a little over an hour, time for a general wildlifey chat, thoughts about what the islanders might want to record, plus sandwiches, cake, tea and coffee. What's not to love? Due to the ferry timetable, either side of the meeting was free time to nature watch and Stronsay did not disappoint. Several days of easterly winds meant that there was plenty to see in the form of birds migrating south which had been 'diverted' across the North Sea. But first, the beach... A pair of Dunlin A Carder Bee, possibly Moss Carder, on Sea Rocket A hoverfly of the Genus Eristalis , on Sea Mayweed A hoverfly, Scaev...

Firstly, a photo from the day after the last post. It had rained overnight and on going to check if the Grey Dagger and Poplar Hawk-moth caterpillars had survived the hours of darkness, we discovered this... I have no idea what criteria were used to decide that this was the place to be, but they all seemed to agree on it! Later that day, we ventured across to the East Mainland to stroll around Mull Head. The weather was kind (Summer actually showed up for a week and a half at the end of August) so, in a bohemian spirit, we walked the route clockwise as opposed to the usual widdershins direction. Corn Spurrey growing at the edge of a field Twite Wild Angelica Towards the end of the week, I had to venture to the Scottish mainland for a job in Thurso. Afterwards, there was an hour to spare before the ferry home, so I visited a woodland which I had driven by countless times but never stopped to explore. The information board at the car park hinted at several ponds alongside some of the man...