Natural highs and lows

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 ...

About a month ago, I received two separate reports from reputable observers of a small dragonfly which was red in colour. The Orkney list of resident Odonata does not include any size of red dragonfly (although we do have Large Red Damselfly). These reports came from two different islands, which lessened but didn't totally discount the possibility that what was seen was the same insect. With only brief views and no photographs to go on, an identification could not be given. For context, at that time throughout the UK, there were various species of dispersive dragonfly being reported, some possibly of UK origin, many more likely to have been migrants from Europe or North Africa. One of these species was Red-veined Darter. Meanwhile, slightly closer to home across the Pentland Firth, Caithness and Sutherland (like much of the UK) do have a resident species of red dragonfly, the Common Darter, but none have ever been reported from Orkney. I chalked this experience up to "Gah!...

Did I allude to a lazy morning in a recent blog? Well, it happened. One of those days when one's get-up-and-go has got up and gone. Umpteen mugs of tea did not bump-start my mojo, but hey, we were on holiday, so it's all good. Instead, we eventually sauntered down the hill to the Nethy House cafe for an early lunch, before tromping off into the woods for an afternoon of wildlife watching. En route to the cafe, a Red Admiral and a Small Tortoiseshell were nectaring on a roadside bush. We managed a few photos of the former, but a passing car spooked the latter before we could commit it to pixels. Still, these were our first flutters of the year, and it felt like an energy boost for us too. After an excellent lunch at the cafe, we wandered back over the eponymous bridge, past the village shop and followed a sign for the Speyside Way. This path took us by some sports pitches, then between the Millennium pools where, in a month or so, there will be loads of damselflies and dragonfli...

It's that time of year again, when our photo calendar begins to take shape. With the nights drawing in, we can spend some time recapping the images we took whilst wildlife-watching in 2023, and whittle down the shortlists we've both created to leave, hopefully, enough pictures to fill all the pages. As for last year, most of the flora and fauna were photographed in Orkney, with just one exception, although it is of a species that is resident in Orkney. For the 2024 calendar, there are two options of front cover, as one was... er... tailored... to the recipients. Of the 14 images, the split isn't quite 50/50, with 6 of Megan's and 8 of mine. The year covered the time when we moved from Houton to Stromness, and obviously the calendar reflects this. And to think I was worried that we wouldn't be able to see as much wildlife "in the town". We have tried to be varied with our subjects, rather than concentrate on one topic, so for 2024 we have landscapes, a skys...

This post is a bit of a mish mash (admittedly, that phrase could be used to uncritically sum up all of my literary output), which starts off a little gruesomely but then brightens up somewhat.  At the end of last month, a morning's recce at the Ring of Brodgar for one of Megan's walks saw us bathed in pleasant sunshine and in buoyant mood. Between the Neolithic stones and the shores of Stenness and Harray Lochs, there's a nature reserve looked after by the RSPB, which can be excellent for birds, wildflowers and the occasional Otter. It being late Summer, there were a few migrating waders around, and still some flowers in bloom, but our eyes were drawn to a profusion of moth caterpillars feeding on Angelica and Ragwort plants. Whilst watching one of these larvae, a female ichneumon wasp appeared. After sizing up her target, she used her long legs and even longer ovipositor to avoid all those bristles and lay an egg inside the unfortunate caterpillar. Yes, a parasitic wasp, w...

It turns out that the upcoming heatwave forecast to arrive on a Bank Holiday weekend isn't playing a gig in Orkney (neither is the BH, to be honest). So I was rather glad for a couple of warm sunny days last weekend. We took a trip down to the southern tip of Orkney, at Burwick in South Ronaldsay, to walk along the clifftops towards Barth Head. There were still plenty of flowers about, especially the frothy domes of Angelica, and these were attracting all manner of insects. A hoverfly, Scaeva pyrastri Small Tortoiseshell butterfly Norwegian Wasp Not a clue, but a stunning wee beastie Five-banded Mason-wasp And here's a bit of footage of a Mason-wasp collecting mud to create a pot in which to store caterpillars to feed its larva. Three-banded Mason-wasp An Eyebright Stoat Painted Lady butterfly There were birds aplenty too, lots of Gannets and Bonxies, even a Hen Harrier spotted out over the sea, but the day belonged to the insects.