Natural highs and lows

Another week of island hopping for work, with a bit of wildlife watching thrown in for good measure, and another survey completed. The weather's been very April, some balmy days (for here), plus some wind and lash at other times. Whilst on Stronsay, mid-week, I had a few hours to spare before the ferry home. At the lochan of Matpow, there were plenty of ducks to be seen: Mallard, Wigeon, Teal, Gadwall, Red-breasted Merganser, Pintail, Shoveler and Shelduck. Scanning around the shore, I spotted a Snipe snuggled down out of the wind, and on a small islet were a pair of Sandwich Terns. At St Catherine's Bay, the avian interest was limited to gulls, until four Godwits flew in and began feeding in the shallows. I struggled to keep my bins steady enough to identify which species, but fortunately I took some video as they were flying, which later allowed me to see they were Bar-tailed Godwits. On Good Friday, I had to go to Hoy at lunchtime. Scapa Flow was like a mill pond, so I sat o...

Spent the weekend trying not to think about houses. As part of the decluttering and tidying, we caught the ferry to Rousay to deliver a sideboard which Megan has been storing for friends. Thankfully, it just fitted in the back of my van. Whilst on the island, we went for a walk around the Loch of Wasbister. If you're wondering whether it's a buoy or a gull... neither, it's a juvenile Shag Faraclett Head, Rousay Harbour Seals in Saviskaill Bay, Rousay Waders in Saviskaill Bay, Rousay (Redshank, Ringed Plover, Oystercatcher) Stone circles... that is, circles on stone, not circles of stone The following day saw the latest round of HPAI (bird flu) surveys, which were much livened up by spotting some Pintails out in the bay. My first sighting of the species for 2023, and pleasingly near home. A pair of Pintail, Houton Bay

You know how it is... you get up at stupid o'clock, say 05.10, to catch a ferry to a small(er) island, once there, the job doesn't take too long and you're left with a seven hour wait for the return boat home. The financial recompense is barely adequate, but the wildlife-watching possibilities are certainly rewarding, as long as one's accountant isn't reading this. On an otherwise empty beach, I pondered whether now was the time to plant a bare root tree, as in the surf was an Ash sapling. It certainly added an unexpected twist to the old saying . Did I mention that the beach was deserted? After walking along the length of the beach, a quick traverse through the dunes brought me to a small lochan next to a farm. The lochan contained upwards of fifty Shelduck and a pair of Pintail, but my attention was soon swayed from the water to the fringing vegetation where a Short-eared Owl was hunting. Across on the eastern side of the island, a clifftop walk took in the view o...

Dinnae worry, this isn't an extension of the 'Love Food, Hate Waste' campaign, not least because, as the thrifty folk would argue,"Leftovers?" Nope, this is a post from the tail end of 2021, when a work trip to Stronsay left me with a long wait for the return ferry to mainland Orkney. A week or so past the the solstice, there wasn't very much in the way of daylight, and the scant amount that was available struggled with low cloud, rain and high winds. Sorry, no, that was me, I struggled with those things 🙄 It had been an early start, up at 05.30, to catch a ferry at 07.00. After an hour and forty minutes of sailing, the ferry arrived in Stronsay half an hour before dawn. Mid morning saw me departing the customer's property and parking my 'office' up at a suitably windswept, but wildlifey, location to check on emails, phone calls and the local waterfowl (from a safety-conscious bird flu distance). Behind the Bight of Matpow (for some reason, Strons...