Natural highs and lows

Living within a group of islands, it's important not to take any published transport timetables as gospel truth because acts of God aren't even near the top of the list of things that can go awry. Recently, I was tasked with carrying out a repair in North Ronaldsay, one of the smaller islands within the archipelago, which is a 15 minute plane journey or a two and a half hour boat trip from Kirkwall. I was requested to attend on a Saturday and went to book a return flight which would suit. Loganair could fly me back in the afternoon, but there was no room on the outward plane in the morning. Not to worry, I could catch the early morning ferry, which would see me in North Ronaldsay by about half ten. What no-one could have possibly predicted was another ferry having a technical issue, the timetable being rejigged and my sailing being pushed back until after lunch, all of which would get me to the island just in time to catch the plane home. Oh well, let's make a new plan for ...

Here's a quick round-up of the last few days, beginning with a 5 mile walk around Mull Head in Deerness, across in East Mainland. Half a dozen pairs of Eider Ducks were loafing at the top of a beach. Amongst the Creeping Willow, my first Great Yellow Bumblebee of the year, a rather unregal-looking queen. The local flora continues to change the yellow hue from yellow to pink and blue, with the latest additions being Heath Lousewort and Spring Squill. A somewhat bare-crested Shag peered at us from a cliff edge. A couple of days later, and Spring turned up for 24 hours. Whilst sat in the garden, several spiders were basking on the south side of the house, including this female with a lovely blue egg sac. It isn't too much of a stretch of the imagination to think of the sac as Planet Earth, although that does mean it's a huge spider! A male of the same species was feeling quite amorous, cautiously approaching the female, whilst signalling frantically with his palps. Here's ...

Following Easter's icy embrace and as April progressed, Winter began to ease its grip upon Orkney. At least, temporarily. A fortnight ago, the archipelago hummed to the tune of a legion of lawn mowers, hastily unearthed from dusty corners of sheds and garages. This past week has seen some pleasant sunny days, albeit with a cool breeze at times. For a few days, there was a new visitor to the garden, a male Blackcap. Apples were quickly deployed as an enticement to hang around, but this fella was already in Summer mode and hunting insects through the bare bushes and trees. He was constantly on the move, which made photography difficult, and the salt-encrusted windows didn't help either. This week also saw some volunteer training for the Orkney Native Wildlife Project, an initiative which aims to protect an endemic sub-species of rodent, the Orkney Vole, as well as all our ground-nesting birds (for the avoidance of doubt, that's most of them). Several years ago, I had signed u...