Natural highs and lows

Here we are... July. How did that happen? So we had better have a June round-up of wildlifey happenings since our last blog outing. It is another insect-laden post, but with a few other things thrown in for good measure. Nearing the end of the month, we welcomed Alan, an old friend of mine from the Milton Keynes days (aka The Admiral, for those of you with good memories), who arrived for a three week holiday. Just before he drove up to the house, Megan discovered a female Blue-tailed Damselfly egg-laying in our pond. Our second Odonata species, and already ensuring that there may be more next year. In the evening, we took Alan on a wander around Stromness Loons to stretch his legs after his long drive from Englandshire. We managed to hear a Corncrake and enjoyed the light from the setting sun giving a golden glow to the wet meadows. A couple of days later, I took Alan along on my monthly Sea Plantain Leaf Beetle survey. June isn't a time of year which produces many records for the ...

Today was mainly about volunteering for Species on the Edge, carrying out March's wildlife surveys. In the morning, Megan and I went to the old Stromness Waterworks site to look for bumblebees, then in the afternoon, I went to Yesnaby on the west coast to search for Sea Plantain Leaf Beetles. The previous two days had been absolutely gorgeous, the warmest and sunniest of the year so far, leading to the appearance of two Small Tortoiseshell butterflies and a Buff-tailed Bumblebee queen in our garden. Today was cooler and cloudier, so hopes weren't high for either survey. At the old Stromness Waterworks site, some of the verges had a few Coltsfoot in flower, the reservoir dam head was liberally sprinkled with Primroses, whilst a few Daisies and a Gorse bush managed to push the nectar-providing count towards four species. Even the feral Daffodils which inhabit so many Orcadian verges weren't yet convinced of Spring's arrival. It was all meagre fare for a foraging bee, and ...

One of the beautiful things about Orkney is that the weather is borderline neurodivergent, which may go some way to explaining why it is difficult to get an accurate diagnosis forecast. Currently*, we're back to experiencing wildly different weather on consecutive days, such that the worryingly neurotypical consistent weather of late January and early February seems but a distant memory. On Wednesday last, it was more dreich than a waterfall shower after all the hot water's gone, so I was pleasantly surprised, upon returning home for lunch, to learn that Megan had been watching a Buzzard all morning. Raptors do not usually hunt during heavy rain, but the bird in question had been sat on various fence posts in the valley below, staring intently at the ground for worms and, possibly, frogs. Before changing out of my wet weather gear, I wandered down the hill, a little closer to the bird, for a grainy photo.  This particular buzzard was part of a local wing-tagging project, and w...

In a world generally full of doom and gloom, this week I discovered a wonderful snippet of good news which had dropped into my inbox. It was an email from Sam, the people engagement officer for the local Species on the Edge team, and concerned one of the rare species which we help to monitor here in Orkney. The Sea Plantain Leaf Beetle is found in only three places within Scotland: Orkney, Shetland and Loch Etive (a sea loch near Oban). As Sam explained, this latter site only had an historical record, so this year Buglife members in Argyll were keen to see if the species was still present. Happily, they found seven beetles at the very top of the loch, in habitat not dissimilar to that here in Orkney, though at sea level not at the top of a windswept cliff. The population distribution across the country is very disjointed, so the project's next step is to sample beetle DNA to see how genetically different the colonies are. Next month, Megan and I are travelling south to Edinburgh ...

Here we are on a Friday afternoon, enjoying the fifth consecutive day of sunshine in a row. Yes, I'm still in Orkney. Let's pretend there's not a bitter easterly breeze, eh? It has been so sunny and dry and [sighs] breezy, that we have run out of things to launder: bedding; towels; and so much clothing we can actually see the bottom of the laundry basket. Unprecedented times, I tell you. Monday saw work begin on the new pond location (a subject for a future blogpost). Tuesday, a second day of sunshine, and the insects were beginning to believe in Spring! Several White-legged Snake Millipedes put in an appearance and the first hoverfly of the year was spotted, possibly Eristalis pertinax . At lunchtime, we headed out to Yesnaby on the west coast to set up a transect to monitor Plantain Leaf Beetles for the Species on the Edge Project. It was so peachy, we did two! A Yellow Dung Fly joined me for lunch, which doesn't say much about my sandwiches We saw about 40 beetles an...

Blogging has become a bit of a bus driver's holiday at the moment, with my work days spent in front of a computer screen, editing and formatting technical manuals. It's not all bad, mind, as at least I can stay in the warm and dry. However, despite the Spring-like temperatures further south, any inclination of Orkney's thermometers to creep into double figures is thwarted by the windchill. But, whisper it quietly, t his week we have had a few sunny days, so yesterday, whilst Megan was recce-ing a new island for her wildlife walks, I took an hour off work to carry out the first bumblebee survey of the year. Bumblebee Conservation's BeeWalk is a national recording scheme and March probably works a whole lot better for the south of England than these frigid shores. Although bumblebees are insulated with lots of hairs, this month is certainly a tough gig for a bee. And to be fair, also for this surveyor. I took three different coats so that I could choose which one to wear ...

The considered opinion around here is that January went on and on forever, but the same cannot be said of February, which seems to be whizzing by at a rate of knots. So let's bring this blog up to date with a whirlwind round up of happenings since last we spoke (ok, typed and read). Mid month, and there was a change of jigsaw! After the 99 Bees in a thousand pieces, we thought we'd go easy on ourselves and try a five hundred piece one instead. Well, that was the theory, practise is proving somewhat different. A walk at Evie Sands a couple of weekends ago was a great opportunity for a bit of skincare and exfoliation. A very chilly wind is the abiding memory, although we did see our first Snow Buntings of the year as they foraged for food amongst kelp on the tideline, and we did happen upon a flock of Purple Sandpipers on the rocky shore. Purple Sandpiper Brown Hare activity has shown no sign of letting up, though getting close to the action is proving difficult. Here's a se...