Natural highs and lows

Yesterday, whilst pottering to the garage to sort out the recycling ahead of this week's bin collection, I spotted a wee creature on the paved path at the front of the house. It was about 20mm long and my initial reaction on profile and colour was "centipede".  Putting down the recycling out of the wind (I'm not making that mistake again!), I nipped back into the house for my phone and compact camera, the former to use ObsIdentify, the latter for better close-ups. Phone photo for ObsIdentify Compact camera set to Macro A vaguely in-focus antenna A pointy bum ObsIdentify gave me a virtual eye roll and said "100%, it's a millipede from the Family Polydesmidae indet ". Somewhat chastened, I recalled that I had previously photographed a flat-backed millipede in 2021, when we lived in Houton. I think this is the first one I have seen at Burnbank, but the "indet" means that arriving at an identity to species from a photo will be impossible. Looking a...

It is entirely my fault, I shouldn't have mentioned Spring in the previous blogpost. For the last two days we have been treated to some more snow and hail. Here's this morning's view of Ward Hill in Hoy. No more sign of the hares for now and, instead, the garden has had visits from Rooks and Jackdaws. The birds were very vocal as they foraged for seeds amongst the vegetation. In other corvid news, the sports page of the local weekly paper had a slightly more wildlife story than would normally be expected - large black birds stealing golf balls during play. The article mentions that they're Rooks, then crows, then quotes someone from outwith the county who has a tame Raven. The photo shows a Raven (the bird length to golf ball ratio isn't correct for Rook. Yes, I am that sad) but we're left in the dark as to whether this image is of the actual thief. Whilst I am no expert regarding the Royal and Ancient game, I can understand why a Raven or a crow might mistake a...

All through the recent and prolonged dreich weather, there have been precious few opportunities for any wildlife moments, but today the rain finally stopped and the sun made a welcome appearance. Back home for lunch after a morning of fault-finding and repairs, I wandered into the kitchen to make a cuppa and happened to look out of the window. "It's nearly Valentine's Day. Where for art thou, my true love?" A male Brown Hare was sat staring out over the valley, seemingly deep in thought. I armed myself with a camera and waited to see what would happen. All the following shots were taken through the kitchen window but, thankfully, a month of south-easterly rain has given them a good wash.  Reaching a decision, the hare proceeded to quarter the field, presumably following the scent trail of a female hare. This way... that way... to and... fro. At one point, he even managed to get himself trapped in a neighbour's garden. Fortunately, although he obviously couldn'...

With a title like that, this could be a very short blogpost, as it's not currently the weather for adult dragons and damsels, neither here in Orkney and certainly not in Northern Italy. However, against the odds, I shall attempt to segue some summery fluttering with a snowy scene in the mountains of Cortina. Currently, we're watching the GB curling team (ok, it's Scottish really) take on Czechia in their third game of the Mixed Doubles. I know that the Winter Olympics haven't officially opened yet, but such is the nature of a large round-robin competition, things have started early. Whilst we're more used to seeing Jen Dodds and Bruce Mouat in Scotland's colours, rather than the red, white and blue of Great Britain, curling is very much a sport synonymous with the area further north than Hadrian's Wall. In times past, curling was an outdoor sport with over 2500 sites recognised in Scotland, either natural lochs or specially-constructed ponds. Nowadays, with ...

If there's one thing you can say about the weather in Orkney, it is that it is windy.  And if you were allowed to venture a further opinion concerning our meteorology, you might also mention that it is very changeable. Not necessarily in the spirit of the classic Scottish "four seasons in one day", but weather that is definitely different from yesterday, and quite possibly different from that currently on the opposite side of the archipelago. In this regard, January 2026 was unusual. Firstly, there was a prolonged spell of wintry weather from the north which, whilst it was often picturesque, played havoc with the road system due to drifting snow, and affected all transport, as crews couldn't make it to ferries or staff to the airport.  For the last wee while, however, we have been hunkered down from a period of unrelenting dreichness, characterised by wind and rain from the south east. And it shows no sign of a change of heart. At least roads are now navigable, if a l...