Natural highs and lows

Last weekend, on a whim, we decided to head to Yesnaby on the west coast to see if we could find a Frog Orchid. These small orchids are not as showy as their blousier cousins, and can be difficult to spot on the coastal heaths which are regularly blasted by gales and the Atlantic Ocean, keeping the vegetation lower than more sheltered environments. Having parked the car, we set off northwards into what was quite a significant breeze and diligently searched the Hill of Borwick to no avail. We did, however, find a few Scottish Primroses still in flower as well as some other nice things... Primula scotica with phone for scale A Stocky Mason Wasp Ancistrocerus scoticus nectaring on some Water Mint A Great Yellow Bumblebee nectaring on Devil's-bit Scabious We wandered back towards the car park to continue our search for orchids further south. After much crawling about on the ground and plenty of general chuntering of a needles and haystacks variety, we eventually managed to find one F...

The 2023 calendar has now been posted out to family, with a spread of images from our wildlife year. Most of the flora and fauna were photographed in the county, with the one exception being in the Cairngorms but of a species that is resident in Orkney. Megan has more photographs here than I, so I was allowed to donate the cover photo. You will note that we don't do dawn landscapes! Maybe that needs to be rectified before the next edition? Cover - Puffins, Birsay; January  -  Fulmars, North Ronaldsay; F ebruary -  Whitehall sunset, Stronsay;  March -  Starlings, Orphir;  April -  Mute Swan, Kirkwall; M ay -  Spring Squill, South Ronaldsay;  June - Large Red Damselflies, Glen Feshie;  July -  Six-spot Burnet moth, Flotta;  August - Grey Dagger caterpillar, Orphir; September -  Devil’s-bit scabious, South Walls;  October - Grey Seal pup, South Ronaldsay;  November -  Autumn leaves, Firth;  December -...

Time for the mooted catch up before I disappear beneath a deluge of unsorted photographs. Several weeks ago, a leisurely ascent of a local hill which I hadn't climbed in months brought some pleasant surprises. Simply visiting a place at a different time of year can be very enlightening. Bog Pimpernel A white form of Devil's-bit Scabious A wasp mimic, the hoverfly Sericomyia silentis An Emperor Moth caterpillar Whilst on the topic of caterpillars, an outbuilding wall at home suddenly sprouted this (I have no idea what it is, or when the adult insect will emerge). During the Orkney International Science Festival, I was very fortunate to go along on a promotional film shoot for one of the local live events. Orkney.com were the producers, and I was genuinely surprised how quickly the necessary footage was gathered. Although the below image (a sneaky shot over the cameraman's shoulder) looks like a scene from BBC detective drama Shetland , the actual promo film can be seen here ...