A change of corvid symptoms

Amongst the many new or different experiences we anticipated upon moving home, there are also some randomly-scattered instances of pleasant surprise. For instance, back at Houton, corvid activity mainly involved Hooded Crows and Ravens, their calls of caws and cronks echoing around the hills and rooftops. Here in Stromness, the majority of corvids are Rooks and Jackdaws, who roost in the town but commute daily out to far-flung pastures to forage.  These journeys are generally northwards in the morning and southwards in the evening, so at some point not long after dawn, I am awoken by the sounds of their various raaks and chacks as small flocks of both species pass overhead. Because I am invariably snuggled under a duvet at this time of day (at least until later in the year when dawn is at a more civilised time), there isn't a photographic record of these sojourns. You could say that I am avoiding catching corvid. In the evening, towards dusk, the birds return from their day in the fields and pastures, the air filled with the sounds of their amiable conversations.

Recently, sitting outside, beverage in hand, whilst the Sun sank towards the horizon, we pondered the location of a low hill in the distance and whether it was a suitable destination for a walk. Recourse to the local OS map showed that by using a narrow tarmac road and a rough farm track, we could indeed reach the summit of Merranblo. We further ruminated on the possibility of following this track to the valley at Mousland, picking up another narrow tarmac road and then circling back home when this reached the road we started on. The afternoon we chose for this mini-adventure was hot and humid (even in Orkney), so we immediately ditched plans for the full circular route. Instead we pottered up the hill, sat and wildlife-watched for a while, then pottered home again via the same route.

A very worn Burnished Brass moth (Thanks for the ID, AF)

From front to back: Black-headed Gull, Brodgar, Binscarth Wood and Balfour Castle

A couple of Helophilus pendulus hoverflies procreating

Unknown insect exploring the flowers of Grass of Parnassus

Meanwhile, back at Burnbank a few days later, here is a photo of one of the local Rooks perched on an old concrete washing line pole, critiquing the three new galvanised steel poles which we had just installed.

A Dark Arches moth (Thanks again, AF)

Backlit grass on the building plot behind us

Clouds gently toying with the summit of Ward Hill in Hoy

A 10 spot Ladybird that visited us one lunchtime

Co-moo-nication tower

Currently, whilst we patiently wait for broadband via a landline, all our internet traffic is through this 4G comms tower on an adjacent hill. This would appear to be 25 Megabeefs per second, I think?