Natural highs and lows

Since my previous blogpost, a funny thing has occurred. In tiny increments, day by day, Summer has happened. Yes, really. The upshot of this unexpected development is that there has been lots of wildlife watching, either whilst working, waiting for ferries or on days off. So here's a whistle stop tour of the last fortnight. Training evening. Megan invited me along as another pair of eyes on one of her evening walks for clients. This had the added benefit of me being able to see what she does in her "office", which on this day was the clifftop path at Burwick in South Ronaldsay. It benefitted the clients too, as we found more wildlife to show them, whilst also allowing me to practise the role, should I ever need to cover for Megan. A Common Rustic moth on a Ragwort flower (Thanks to HA for the ID) Everyone wants to see Puffins (although they won't be here for much longer, as now the breeding season is over, they are heading back out to sea). Scottish Primrose outing: W...

On the 11th of July, I was due to go to a property on the island of Sanday to carry out a repair to an existing satellite dish, to install a further dish and to route some cabling to liven up previously unused tv sockets. A couple of days beforehand, the customer contacted me to say that due to personal circumstances, we would have to reschedule to a later date, and I now anticipate being out there next week. All this is to explain why I wasn't on Tresness beach the fateful day that 77 Long-finned Pilot Whales mass stranded, resulting in the deaths of the whole mixed-pod group. An appalling tragedy for the creatures themselves and the volunteers, both local and national, who tried to rescue the dozen whales who were still alive when the alarm was raised. The story was big enough and horrific enough to make the national media outlets, with this  newspaper article  being one of the more thoughtful examples. Mass strandings are comparatively rare although, worryingly becoming mor...

This past week has seen two island trips, with ferry journeys to Eday and Egilsay. Although these were working days, there were brief moments of wildlife wonder, as my inner naturalist is never really off duty. Eday was a 13 hour day, and the only non-work photograph I took was this Rabbit on the customer's drive. However, whilst I was toiling away outside, a Wren frequently sang, its accent very distinctly of the island, rather laid back and unhurried.  A pair of Hooded Crows were looking after their two fledglings, and every time I stepped out of doors, they let me know that they were distinctly unimpressed at my presence. A few days later, the Egilsay ferry trip meant calling in at another two islands first, so I had to reverse to the back of the boat whilst everyone else boarded and disembarked in Rousay or Wyre. The local Library van, Booky McBookface, was visiting Rousay Rousay stop with the postie picking up the inbound mail and delivering the outbound mail to the boat Bound...