Natural highs and lows

Now that we were ensconced in our actual holiday location (as opposed to taking the circuitous three day route to get there), mornings were quite slow, especially as there was so much wildlife on tap at the cottage. We would wake to the dawn chorus, fall back asleep, then eventually surface once more to shuffle to the lounge to watch the bird feeders on the patio and their clientele of feather and fur. But that's a story for another day. Once such morning, we journeyed to RSPB Loch of Kinnordy, a small wetland habitat midst rolling farmland in Angus. As was becoming a holiday theme, we had to take a diversion due to some roadworks, but the place was still peaceful and quiet when we arrived. For the rest of the morning we were sensory sponges, soaking up the sights and sounds of a mixed woodland, reedbeds, marsh scrub and open water. Ospreys regularly flew over the loch, occasionally hovering and diving at fish, Marsh Harriers quartered the reedbeds, Water Rails squealed from deep c...

Balmy Autumnal days are a rarity in Orkney, so yesterday was an afternoon to savour. After several days of high winds and heavy showers, I spent the morning sorting out a satellite dish problem and installing an aerial, in glorious sunshine and with barely a breeze. I had anticipated that the job might take longer, so was pleasantly surprised to be home for lunch, which we ate outside, listening to the new soundscape. Yes, it seemed there had been a changing of the guard during the wet weekend. Gone were the Swallows and House Martins (hopefully headed for warmer climes in the southern hemisphere), and newly-arrived from Scandinavia were flocks of Redwing and Fieldfare, respectively tseep -ing and chack -ing their presence as they descended on Rowan and Whitebeam trees laden with berries. Half a dozen Skylarks burbled overhead, after scouting out a nearby stubble field, their gentle contact calls in great contrast to the extravagant ascending songs of Spring and Summer. I do like to he...