Natural highs and lows

Late September in Orkney and we're still enjoying blue skies, sunshine and modest breezes. Typically, I had managed to tweak my lower back, one of those annoying muscular twinges that benefits from keeping moving rather than remaining motionless, so walking was a good remedy. Fortuitously, we were due to carry out our Autumn vole transects, monitoring activity for the Orkney Native Wildlife Project. The drive to Mull Head, even as a passenger, wasn't pleasant, but once out on the moorland, my spirits raised and we set about the first transect, recording any signs of chewed bits of grass and the digestive results of said chewing. As ever, on the march between the two transects, we stopped for lunch and some scenic views. No voles here, but there is a Harbour Seal... Also between the transects, we happened upon some ONWP staff out testing their latest bit of Stoat-spotting gadgetry, a drone with a thermal camera. Never mind invasive mammals, even during the day, with this technol...

Here's a bit of a round-up of natural history snippets from the first half of July. For 2025, I have added another bumblebee survey to my volunteering for the Species on the Edge project. The target species is the Great Yellow Bumblebee, although this Beewalk has yet to deliver one of those. The area is known as Stromness Waterworks, and I plotted a 1.7km route beginning at a track junction below the dam head. From there, a stony track leads west uphill onto heathland, then I turn northwards onto a rougher track which separates the heath from agricultural land. These two tracks have verges with plenty of wildflowers and the occasional garden escapee where soil has been dumped, all of which are good foraging for insects. Where a moorland track diverts to the north east, I follow it along a ruined stane dyke to the point where I took this photograph, behind me there is plenty of Wild Thyme and Bell Heather. The final section tracks south back across the heath, where the wildflowers h...

We had planned a Sunday trip to Hoy, not work-related, not wildlife survey-related, just Megan and I losing ourselves in Nature. Because it was mid-June, the obvious hope was for dragonflies, but the temperature was barely into double figures Celsius, with low cloud, rain showers and a chilly northerly breeze. As we drove off the ferry, most of the other passengers were either headed for the Scapa Flow Museum and its naval memorabilia or to Rackwick Bay and the scenic path to the Old Man of Hoy. This was our cue to take the quieter road in the opposite direction for a circumnavigation of South Walls, birding from the car whilst the weather did its worst. An hour and a picnic stop later, we finally headed back north with the bird list on 40 species and a pleasant Coronation Chicken aroma in the car. Despite the meteorological evidence to the contrary, we thought we would have a look at the pools near to Rackwick, just in case any damselflies were braving the conditions. They weren't...

The past few weeks have seen several gales hammer through Orkney, bringing so much rain with them that it feels as though we might have imagined the drought of early Summer. At least we can now experience dawn at a reasonable time, this photo being taken a shade after 8am, whilst still clad in a dressing gown, balanced precariously on a folding chair, and holding a camera out of the top light of the dining room window. Image captured, dignity maintained, just. At this time of year, Little Auks appear in Orkney waters and elsewhere, blown in from the Atlantic and in need of a bit of shelter. We ventured to Scapa Bay to track down a couple of these diminutive birds which are only the size of a Starling. Through most of the bad weather, our bird feeder was quite busy with finches and the like but, during the last few days, the level of seed hasn't shifted one iota. At breakfast, on Saturday, we discovered why... This female Sparrowhawk must have moved into the area and quickly figured...

On a recent trip to Hoy (not looking for dragons this time), I was obviously in close-up mode. Weather conditions were dry but blustery, so I'm not too sure why my macro shots worked better than my scenic or panorama ones. But my photos of Rackwick Bay and the Old Man of Hoy were all less than satisfying, so here's a selection of the views that were mainly at ground level. Actually, now that I think about it, for many of the flower/insect shots, I was holding the plant stem with my other hand! Ling Bell Heather Bearberry Arctic Bearberry (and Crowberry and Bearberry and Ling) Norwegian Wasp An early instar caterpillar of the Fox Moth On the path back from the Old Man, heading towards Rackwick Bay Crowberry Goldenrod Blaeberry (Bilberry). There should've been more berries in this shot, but I wasn't quick enough with my camera before someone ate them 🙄 Hoverfly, Volucella bombylans On the return route, whilst watching a couple of Small Tortoiseshell butterflies on some t...