Natural highs and lows

Last week I had some work in Stronsay, so took our guest Alan along for the day, giving us the opportunity to explore an island he had not previously visited. The early morning ferry journey was spent out on deck, watching for seabirds and cetaceans. There wasn't much of anything about, which we thought was a little worrying. As it was still quite early by the time we arrived on the island, we walked along Rothiesholm beach in gentle rain, seeing a dozen or so Bar-tailed Godwit at the westerly end. As we returned to the car, passing Bu Loch, there were an astonishing 81 Shelducks, a mixture of broods of different sizes. I dropped Alan off in Whitehall Village to explore the shore whilst I went to sort out a satellite tv problem.  Meeting up again, we popped into the Stronsay Hotel for a spot of lunch before heading back out to look for more wildlife. We visited a disused quarry to check in on some Blue-tailed Damselflies, and also found several Three-spined Sticklebacks. Then it wa...

Fear not, gentle reader, for despite the interconnectedness of all things, this is not a continuation of the recent rabbit-inspired blogpost.  In the last week or so, there have been numerous trips to some of the smaller islands of Orkney, all work-related, but with the occasional opportunity for a bit of wildlife watching. My first port of call was Westray, on a cold, rainy and windy day. I recall eating my lunch in the car, parked by a pool and reedbed near the shore of the Bay of Tuquoy Bay. No photos from the day, but I did manage to add Moorhen and Coot to my year list. Next up was Sanday for a couple of satellite tv repairs. Once these were completed, I drove to the eastern end of the island and wandered along a track towards Start Point lighthouse.  I remember having driven along this track in previous years to reach another customer, so I suspect that the route to the cottage is now by a different route. None of my previous visits to Sanday have ever been at low tide t...

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 o...

Remember the Ash on the  beach from a couple of weeks ago? I was back in Stronsay recently, and took the opportunity to wander the same shore. Either someone's log pile is a bit better stocked, or Stronsay has Beavers! Now, dendrochronology's not my bag, but I think this tree must've been about twenty years old. I had barely had the little joke to myself about beavers, when I stood up from photographing the tree stump and looked down the length of the beach. About a third of the way along, half a dozen gulls were mooching about near the edge of the tide. One of these birds was very dark in colour... wasn't exactly the right shape for a gull... was a bit too big for a gull, to be honest... and had a long tail. Wait, what? Is it a beaver?! Once the creature had disappeared from view, I gleefully set off towards the spot, to see if I could find its tracks leading up the beach. Bingo! That was me for the rest of the day, grinning like a loon and occasionally breaking into f...

There follows a jumble of images from the past few days, no common thread as such, save for being outdoors with camera in hand. Friday was a pleasanter day than forecast, but by the time I had finished work and was able to go for a walk, the sun was almost completely obscured by cloud (steady, Pink Floyd fans). Here it is as a barely perceptible spot of light over the hills of Hoy, as seen from Midland Hill in Orphir. Saturday was flippin' chilly, especially so for a southerly wind, but during a walk to Swanbister Bay, it gradually abated. Front to back: Ringed Plover and Dunlin; Great Black-backed Gulls and Redshank; Bar-tailed Godwit More Bar-tailed Godwit Golden Plover beginning to come into Summer plumage A panoramic view of Swanbister Bay The awful events in Ukraine are never far from our minds. With a Russian tanker due to call in at the oil terminal in Flotta this coming Tuesday, Orkney finds itself thrust into the news. So it wasn't a huge surprise when a Navy ship appe...

Dinnae worry, this isn't an extension of the 'Love Food, Hate Waste' campaign, not least because, as the thrifty folk would argue,"Leftovers?" Nope, this is a post from the tail end of 2021, when a work trip to Stronsay left me with a long wait for the return ferry to mainland Orkney. A week or so past the the solstice, there wasn't very much in the way of daylight, and the scant amount that was available struggled with low cloud, rain and high winds. Sorry, no, that was me, I struggled with those things 🙄 It had been an early start, up at 05.30, to catch a ferry at 07.00. After an hour and forty minutes of sailing, the ferry arrived in Stronsay half an hour before dawn. Mid morning saw me departing the customer's property and parking my 'office' up at a suitably windswept, but wildlifey, location to check on emails, phone calls and the local waterfowl (from a safety-conscious bird flu distance). Behind the Bight of Matpow (for some reason, Strons...