Work and wildlife

Another week of island hopping for work, with a bit of wildlife watching thrown in for good measure, and another survey completed. The weather's been very April, some balmy days (for here), plus some wind and lash at other times.

Whilst on Stronsay, mid-week, I had a few hours to spare before the ferry home. At the lochan of Matpow, there were plenty of ducks to be seen: Mallard, Wigeon, Teal, Gadwall, Red-breasted Merganser, Pintail, Shoveler and Shelduck. Scanning around the shore, I spotted a Snipe snuggled down out of the wind, and on a small islet were a pair of Sandwich Terns.

At St Catherine's Bay, the avian interest was limited to gulls, until four Godwits flew in and began feeding in the shallows. I struggled to keep my bins steady enough to identify which species, but fortunately I took some video as they were flying, which later allowed me to see they were Bar-tailed Godwits.

On Good Friday, I had to go to Hoy at lunchtime. Scapa Flow was like a mill pond, so I sat out on deck and kept my eyes peeled for fins. A couple of pods of Killer Whales had been reported that morning, but they didn't head my way. I did see a Harbour Porpoise though.

Again with time to spend after the job, I visited Pegal Burn to see if anything was about. The sound of the water was very mindful, and I became aware that there was a Goldcrest calling from within the branches of some burnside trees.

On the return journey (still no Killer whales), as I headed home, I took a panoramic photo of Houton with Midland Hill in the background.

Yesterday it was time for the Spring survey for Orkney Voles, as part of the Orkney Native Wildlife Project. As I'm sure I've said before, we don't see any actual voles on these surveys, we're looking for signs of voles: grass clippings and vole poo. It's a glamorous life. We walk two 1 kilometre transects, stopping every 40 metres or so to look for signs.

Megan at one of our fifty sampling points

Mull Head, Deerness, Orkney

Today the wind has picked up, so we only had a very brief walk along the bay before quickly retracing our steps. It wasn't without a wondrous moment though. A small flock of Starlings and another of Oystercatchers took off from a field beside our route and flew towards us, so that we were enveloped by a swirling cloud of alarm-calling birds. A scan of the sky revealed a female Sparrowhawk flying by, more of a threat to the flocks than we were!