Getting the lowdown

When in need of some fresh air, I can breezily recommend a blustery trip to Yesnaby on the west coast of Orkney. At the weekend, there were plenty of wildflowers on display, but even at ground level the wind was making photography difficult. My Scottish Primrose pics were all blurry, same for the snaps of Sea Plantain Leaf Beetles, and I didn't even attempt a shot of the stunning pale phase Arctic Skua which gave us a close flyby.

The afore-mentioned Primula scotica is having its interregnum between the Spring and Summer flowerings, so it was even more of a challenge than normal to find any of its diminutive blooms. Predictably, after ten minutes of fruitless searching which had only yielded either old seed heads or fresh leaf rosettes not yet in bud, I looked up to see Megan waving me over to a couple of flowers. Spring Squill, Tormentil and Bird's-foot Trefoil added their vibrant colours to the floral carpet, whilst the small patch of Oysterplant was just beginning to open its delicate petals.

On the clifftops, the Thrift was looking very spectacular.

Whilst in some parts of the maritime heath, Mountain Everlasting was in full bloom. 

Male flowers

Female flowers

It was while we were scrutinising the Mountain Everlasting that Megan spotted several of the Sea Plantain Leaf Beetles. We've never seen them in May before, but ongoing research into the species is finally beginning to unearth some details of its life cycle. Only in the last few days have volunteers been able to take photographs of the larvae. 

The seas around Yesnaby Castle were lively.

Back at ground level...

A Primrose's eye view of Megan

On the heath, tucked away in tiny patches of bare earth between plants, there were orangey red 'jewels' of some kind of cup fungus. At least they weren't being bashed around by the wind.

It was whilst staring at the churning seas at the base of the cliffs that we finally spied a few Puffins taking exploratory flights from rocky ledges, out over the foam and back to terra firma again. Don't bother searching for a Puffin in this photo, there isn't one, it was about a page and half further left 🙄

As we were stood there, several small flocks of Kittiwakes flew northwards towards the breeding colony at Marwick Head. They kept close in to the cliff so we had wonderful views as they went by.