Natural highs and lows

In the middle of May, heralding the fact that Spring is getting into her stride, is the Orkney Nature Festival.  The Orkney Field Club traditionally put on an event for this festival, so Megan and I volunteered to lead a circular walk in Orphir, taking in a variety of habitats and wildlife. Setting off from The Bu , with its Norse and Medieval history, we headed down a grassy track to the shores of Orphir Bay, where waders were bathing and foraging at the water's edge. Heading east along the low clifftop, we looked at the many wildflowers by the path such as Bird's-Foot Trefoil, Spring Squill and Primrose, as well as the less obvious male and female blooms of Dwarf Willow. There were many insects on the wing, including Silver Y moths and a Painted Lady butterfly.   Spring Squill It was weeks later when I thought to try and identify this hoverfly, failed miserably and asked the lovely folk at UK Hoverflies Facebook group Identified as a female Parasyrphus nigritarsis, not that ...

On a recent trip to Birsay to visit Megan's parents, we had a short clifftop walk from Skipi Geo to Whitaloo Point, frequently casting our gaze out to sea in case of fins. Whilst the calm conditions (yes, really!) were perfect for glimpsing any passing cetaceans, sadly our walk was woefully whale-free. However, there was plenty of other nature to capture our interest. In the below image, can you spot the Oystercatcher chick? In the distance, the Brough of Birsay was sporting a wonderfully blue hue, thanks to a squillion wildflowers, in this instance Spring Squills. Back on the clifftop path, we noticed another Oystercatcher slink away over the cliff edge, and through binoculars and zoom lenses, we discovered why. Can you spot (a) the adult Oystercatcher, and (b) its nest? Bird's-foot Trefoil is always particularly zingy at this time of year, and as one of its colloquial names is Eggs and Bacon, I inevitably feel peckish when swooning over the deep reds and chromium yellows. Ret...

When in need of some fresh air, I can breezily recommend a blustery trip to Yesnaby on the west coast of Orkney. At the weekend, there were plenty of wildflowers on display, but even at ground level the wind was making photography difficult. My Scottish Primrose pics were all blurry, same for the snaps of Sea Plantain Leaf Beetles, and I didn't even attempt a shot of the stunning pale phase Arctic Skua which gave us a close flyby. The afore-mentioned Primula scotica is having its interregnum between the Spring and Summer flowerings, so it was even more of a challenge than normal to find any of its diminutive blooms. Predictably, after ten minutes of fruitless searching which had only yielded either old seed heads or fresh leaf rosettes not yet in bud, I looked up to see Megan waving me over to a couple of flowers. Spring Squill, Tormentil and Bird's-foot Trefoil added their vibrant colours to the floral carpet, whilst the small patch of Oysterplant was just beginning to open it...

The 2023 calendar has now been posted out to family, with a spread of images from our wildlife year. Most of the flora and fauna were photographed in the county, with the one exception being in the Cairngorms but of a species that is resident in Orkney. Megan has more photographs here than I, so I was allowed to donate the cover photo. You will note that we don't do dawn landscapes! Maybe that needs to be rectified before the next edition? Cover - Puffins, Birsay; January  -  Fulmars, North Ronaldsay; F ebruary -  Whitehall sunset, Stronsay;  March -  Starlings, Orphir;  April -  Mute Swan, Kirkwall; M ay -  Spring Squill, South Ronaldsay;  June - Large Red Damselflies, Glen Feshie;  July -  Six-spot Burnet moth, Flotta;  August - Grey Dagger caterpillar, Orphir; September -  Devil’s-bit scabious, South Walls;  October - Grey Seal pup, South Ronaldsay;  November -  Autumn leaves, Firth;  December -...

The past week has seen me on a bit of a thrash around the isles, with work on Eday, Stronsay and Westray. Only Stronsay provided any time for nature-watching, although my 'office' for the day on Eday had calling Red-throated Divers flying overhead. Arctic Tern, Stronsay Green-veined White butterfly, Stronsay Swallow, Stronsay By way of relaxation, on Saturday I helped out at an event for the Orkney Nature Festival, as the Orkney Field Club had organised a walk through Russadale. We had Hen Harriers and Redpolls to watch, whilst the air was filled with the sounds of Cuckoo, Willow Warbler, Wren, Blackbird and Stonechat.   Common Heath moth, Russadale Redpoll of some stripe, Russadale Dog violet, Russadale Millipede, Russadale Red Admiral butterfly, Russadale Sunday's meteorology wasn't particularly conducive to going outdoors, but we made the most of a short weather window (too short, as it turned out) to walk a little of the west coast of West Mainland. There are many m...

On Sunday I helped out with a recce of a walk near the Bay of Skaill. This area is famous as the location of Skara Brae, the 5000 year old Neolithic village, but we were more interested in the current flora and fauna along and around the clifftops. The coastline is cleft with many geos (pronounced with a hard 'G'), which offer nesting sites for all manner of birdlife, principally auks and Fulmars, but with the occasional corvid like this Hooded Crow. For instance, this is Yettna Geo, facing out towards the Atlantic Ocean, and brutal testimony to the erosive force of wave power. There are myriad circular structures in the Orcadian landscape, dating from many time periods, be their origins Neolithic, Bronze Age, Viking, Georgian or wartime 20th Century.  Whilst sat on a clifftop, I noticed a faint outline on a nearby headland, which didn't take too much imagination to be viewed as circular. Closer investigation revealed that it wasn't some previously-undiscovered Neolithi...

Here's a quick round-up of the last few days, beginning with a 5 mile walk around Mull Head in Deerness, across in East Mainland. Half a dozen pairs of Eider Ducks were loafing at the top of a beach. Amongst the Creeping Willow, my first Great Yellow Bumblebee of the year, a rather unregal-looking queen. The local flora continues to change the yellow hue from yellow to pink and blue, with the latest additions being Heath Lousewort and Spring Squill. A somewhat bare-crested Shag peered at us from a cliff edge. A couple of days later, and Spring turned up for 24 hours. Whilst sat in the garden, several spiders were basking on the south side of the house, including this female with a lovely blue egg sac. It isn't too much of a stretch of the imagination to think of the sac as Planet Earth, although that does mean it's a huge spider! A male of the same species was feeling quite amorous, cautiously approaching the female, whilst signalling frantically with his palps. Here's ...