Natural highs and lows

Usually, having spent at least a day travelling to a holiday destination, I like the first full day on holiday to not involve a car. So, having carelessly forgotten to check the weather forecast, we woke to a wet Sunday morning and immediately resolved not to be so carless. Instead, we drove to RSPB Loch Garten to see a pair of Ospreys. The visitor centre has a wall of tv monitors showing camera close-ups of various scenes. Two large monitors showed the Osprey nest and a favourite perch in a neighbouring tree. Another monitor was split-screened into four, giving a view of a bird feeder; a couple of nest cams (Goldeneye and Great Tit); and a mammal box baited with nuts which had a Bank Vole foraging busily. The female Osprey had very recently (within the hour) laid her first egg for the year, so the staff were very excited. Her mate was sat in the neighbouring tree, having just caught a Brown Trout, which he was undecided whether to offer to the female or eat himself. After watching for...

Sunday afternoon saw us pottering out and about, armed with binoculars (Megan) and camera (me). Despite a chilly northeasterly breeze, a brief sunny spell tempted us to walk across the brae to the other end of town in the hope of seeing a few migrating birds. As it turned out, we only managed a brief view of a female Blackcap, which I helpfully failed to photograph. Leaving the narrow lanes behind, we ambled downhill through flagstone alleys until we reached Alfred Street, then headed homeward along the main street with its cobbled strip. In Victoria Street, we were pleasantly surprised to find the delicatessen open on a Sunday afternoon, so we popped in for a cup of hot chocolate to warm ourselves up, as well as a couple of pistachio cannoli. It's important to support local businesses.  Stepping back outside, we sat down on a helpfully-provided bench to drink our hot chocolate, listen to small flocks of Waxwings trilling overhead, and gaze across the street at an art gallery. Cert...

It's the middle of the night, the wee small hours, and I am awake. For some reason, sleep eludes me, so I have got up and gone through to the lounge to try and do something remotely useful to pass the time until slumber returns. I fire up my computer and try to add photos and videos to a proto-post about the last few weeks since I last blogged. Blogger itself has other ideas and manages to load the photos in reverse order, a skill it intermittently exhibits which baffles and maddens me in equal measure. The bare bones of it is that there has been a trip south. Megan and I stayed in a hotel in the Inverness area for a few days before I headed even further south to visit family whilst she caught up with friends and much more wildlife than I was ever going to see. We reunited for another weekend in Inverness, took in a show at the Eden Court Theatre and then returned to Orkney. Whilst I did improve the running total of my year list, I am no nearer to catching up with Megan and may eve...