Parochial bits and pieces

Between Christmas and New Year, whilst all was white and wintry, the field over the road was a-throng with Fieldfares, Blackbirds, and Redwings foraging for food.

Our aged cats, one more housebound than the other, were very intrigued and vicariously re-living their youth through the window.

Into the New Year, a walk in the neighbourhood took us near to a local rookery just as the Rooks were going through their pre-roost shenanigans. [I am fairly sure that in places with more trees than Orkney, the Winter roost site and the Spring breeding site are in different woods. Here they do not have that luxury!] There were many corvids thronging in the air, but I have chosen this particular image as it contains four and twenty black birds. The reason being the rhyme.

Another day, another local walk. This view is from the low cliffs and northern shores of Scapa Flow, looking across to the hills of Hoy (Ward Hill and Cuilags) and their dusting of snow.

On the same walk, a detour through Gyre Wood, with snow melt fuelling the burn.

Today has been blowing a gale, so there hasn't been a walk (just a quick drive to town for food supplies). Many inter-island ferries were cancelled during the worst of the weather. Here's the mv Hoy Head heading for the calmer waters of Houton Bay as the winds were easing and she was side lit by a liquid silver sun.

So here we are, six days into 2023, and I'm already 20 species behind Megan in our year lists. I will struggle to salvage a draw come December, I suspect, which unbelievably was 2022's miraculous result.