Natural highs and lows

The last few days of Alan's holiday with us featured a run of island trips. Megan took him to Graemsay when she was wildlife guiding there, then we all went to Flotta for a day and, after that, spent the next one over in Hoy. The forecast for the Flotta trip was grim, but the rain held off until lunchtime, so we were able to see plenty of wildlife before we were soaked on the return journey. Fortunately, the community cafe was open, so we could have a hot brew and a little respite from the showers. The day belonged to Common Blue butterflies. They were everywhere, fluttering along verges and nectaring on Bird's-foot Trefoil. As the rain approached, they began to congregate in sheltered places, in ones, twos, threes, fours and fives. Megan found a few newly-emerged Six-spotted Burnet moths, and then whilst waiting for the ferry home, a Common Marbled Carpet, which had taken cover in a bike shelter. Northern Eggar caterpillar A female Blue-tailed Damselfly Three Common Blues Four...

The past week or so has seen some fairly wild weather for Summer, with Storm Floris bringing winds gusting up to 75mph, followed by a few days of localised heavy downpours flattening any garden vegetation still standing and the spirits of every gardener. Some wildlife can cope with this sort of weather, some can't, so it was with some trepidation that, yesterday, we carried out August's monitoring survey of a nearby pond at a private site on the edge of town. Usually, and for no specific reason other than convenience, any site photographs are taken from the water's edge, effectively looking across the pond. I tend not to have the owner's property in the frame as a matter of privacy, so that you, dear reader, normally have a view of Brinkies Brae, the hill behind the site. For a change, and purely because after the survey we were looking for more insects in the lee of a tumbled-down wall, here's a different view, looking across the small plateau where the pond is sit...

This weekend saw the second of two trips this Summer by the Orkney Field Club to the island of Hoy in search of dragonflies and hairy caterpillars. The weather was much kinder to us than a month ago, with plenty of sunshine and a pleasant breeze, which kept the midges at bay. Speaking of bays, here's where we began the walk after a boat journey from Stromness and the community bus from Moaness to Rackwick. Rackwick Bay, Hoy From the car park, we walked along the back of the dunes, finding Fox Moth caterpillars, my first ever (although they're common enough) Shaded Broad-bar moth and a new site for Six-spotted Burnet moths (indeed only the second site for the county). Shaded Broad-bar moth A Red Ant on a Grass of Parnassus flower Six-spotted Burnet moth Fox Moth caterpillar After second breakfast (or first lunch), our intrepid group wandered into the dunes where we found dozens of mining  plasterer bees and three Black Darter dragonflies. Mining  Plasterer Bee (later edit: BR h...

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...

If Summer in Orkney means one thing, it's more likely to be haar, than sunburn. Yes, after a few days of warm weather, we are always guaranteed a generous helping of fog. High Hoy Lighthouse on the island of Graemsay If we're lucky, by mid afternoon the haar will have burnt off, and then... ooh... I don't know... perhaps there'd still be time for some dragon hunting?   Back at the nearby pond, surrounded by wisps of fog drifting up from the nearby coast, Black Darters were busy propagating the species. Pairs were mating in the vegetation around the edges of the pool, then egg-laying in the mossy shallows. There was plenty of other invertebrate life to be seen, some of which even deigned to be photographed, or at least didn't scarper as soon as they saw me. Caterpillar of a Broom Moth Bog Hoverfly, Sericomyia silentis A Sexton Beetle (ID'd by BR as  Nicrophorus vespilliodes ) The male Black Darters were so keen to find good vantage points in the sun, they often l...

There were some days of decent weather in August but, sadly, not many of those were when  I was free to drop everything, don my wellies and head off to look for dragons. Thankfully, the last weekend of the month offered up a Saturday of suitable meteorology and we headed to a nearby site, armed with hope, expectation and a picnic. This pond is on land owned by an adjacent B&B guesthouse. Late last Summer we were invited to survey the waterbody and it was an absolute odonatological revelation, so this year we have tried to monitor it in a more rigorous way. I should say that I struggle to find sites to monitor in Orkney, not from any lack of intent on my part, but mainly due to ornithological considerations. Many pools, or the habitat they are located in, are breeding sites for rare birds and so are effectively out of bounds until at least August so as not to disturb their nesting attempts. Don't get me wrong, this is a good thing. Birds with extra protection include Red-throate...