Natural highs and lows

This post is a bit of a mish mash (admittedly, that phrase could be used to uncritically sum up all of my literary output), which starts off a little gruesomely but then brightens up somewhat.  At the end of last month, a morning's recce at the Ring of Brodgar for one of Megan's walks saw us bathed in pleasant sunshine and in buoyant mood. Between the Neolithic stones and the shores of Stenness and Harray Lochs, there's a nature reserve looked after by the RSPB, which can be excellent for birds, wildflowers and the occasional Otter. It being late Summer, there were a few migrating waders around, and still some flowers in bloom, but our eyes were drawn to a profusion of moth caterpillars feeding on Angelica and Ragwort plants. Whilst watching one of these larvae, a female ichneumon wasp appeared. After sizing up her target, she used her long legs and even longer ovipositor to avoid all those bristles and lay an egg inside the unfortunate caterpillar. Yes, a parasitic wasp, w...

Since our house move, there's not been too much time for dedicated nature watching, as we instead navigate the peaks and valleys of cardboard boxes which seemingly fill every available space in home and garage.  Blogging has taken a bit of a back seat, so best I publish a 'catch-up' post to cover the days and weeks either side of the move. Immediately prior to completing the purchase (or settlement, as it's called up here), I was working in Shetland for a day. With a bit of time to kill before the ferry back to Orkney, I opted for a short wander in the hills near my last customer, rather than head into Lerwick and do battle with the hordes of cruise ship passengers from two huge vessels in the harbour. A once typical and increasingly rare Shetland scene because of the Viking Wind Farm project Bog Asphodel, a Sundew, Selfheal and Tormentil Sheep's-bit A species of Ragwort Possibly the warmest hour I have ever spent in Shetland, it was idyllic What I was unaware of, h...

Here at Natural Highs and Lows, the blogposts are currently about a fortnight behind real time, though 'real time' hasn't got a lot to write home about, thank you very much. What with expensive energy prices, cost of living increases, a looming recession and, generally, all the other wonderful benefits of the much-vaunted sunlit uplands of Brexit... well then, real time can go stick its head in a sewage outflow. Rant over, back to the past wildlife, and the last day of the long weekend in Hoy and South Walls from mid month. As was becoming customary, the day began with thick fog, so we reasoned that looking for dragons or birds would be a tough gig. Instead, we visited a Scottish Wildlife Trust site at the Hill of the White Hamars, which has a lovely walk along the Pentland Firth coast of South Walls. With our focus narrowed down to our immediate environs, we were able to bask in the glow of a multitude of wildflowers. We began a species list and, in a very short time, it ...