Natural highs and lows

Normally, at this time of year, I would be leading a wildlife walk, showing folk the wonders of dragonflies and damselflies, as well as any other natural history we happened upon. For 2022, what with the weather, work and a woeful lack of preparation, it just hasn't happened. Yet. Thankfully, I did receive reports that some dragonflies were finally on the wing, so for the first day of NDW, Megan and I made the trip to Hoy to enjoy their company and some bracing fresh air. The Martello Towers at Hackness and Crockness, on the approach to Lyness Incidentally, this ferry trip was the same route undertaken by Ralph Little for the recent series of the BBC's 'Who Do You Think You Are?' He drove past wir hoos!! Once ashore at Lyness, we made our way inland, soaking up the sights and sounds of Nature as we climbed up Wee Fea. Tysties Teenage Tystie Large Heath butterfly One of the Forget-Me-Nots Bog Asphodel Upon reaching the most easily-accessible bog pools, we were soon findi...

For me, a keenly-anticipated holiday can have a bittersweet moment as it becomes a reality. Although I am always ready for some downtime, travelling doesn't usually fill me with the same sense of gladness.  This year, my grumpiness was mitigated to obscurity by circumventing a ludicrously early start and treating the rest of the day as continuous birdwatching. We booked B+B on the mv Hamnavoe, so spent the first night of our holiday berthed in Stromness harbour, which meant that we didn't have to be up at stupid o'clock to pack the car and drive to the ferry. It also allowed me the opportunity to reprise a motif from a previous blog. Although there wasn't a kitchen sink or a pen involved, I woul d like to think that Dodie Smith would've approved. After a smooth crossing of the Pentland Firth, we set off from Scrabster, on the north coast of Caithness, at a leisurely pace, and turning west, not east like the majority of our shipmates. Just before Melvich, we took a t...