Natural highs and lows

Most of my recent wildlife watching moments have all been rather brief and haven't leant themselves to being photographable by dint of lack of a camera or an excess of wind speed. For instance, this morning we were sat on the sofa still in PJs and dressing gowns when we saw a male Hen Harrier hunting over the field behind our house. Excellent bird, excellent light, excellent view, no camera to hand, and sub-optimal attire for nipping outside anyway. However, there have been a few instances of good fortune A couple of Saturdays ago, we wandered down the hill into the town, headed for the local deli to browse their shelves for provender and maybe order a coffee to go. En route, I noticed a moth on the side of a vehicle, but only had my phone camera to capture an image. I was fairly sure I had never seen this insect before, but equally, I was quite sure that I knew what it was.  A male Vapourer moth (the female is flightless, he has to find her, hence the impressive antennae) The foll...

A few weekends ago, after several days of dreich weather, Orkney mainland was bathed in some late afternoon sunshine. Cabin fever was soothed with a trip to Happy Valley. A Hen Harrier quartering the fields, much to the annoyance of many small birds A Vapourer moth caterpillar sunning itself on a Hawthorn leaf A sawfly A hoverfly, Rhingia campestris The following weekend, during a temporary lull in lawn mowing, I found another hoverfly, Leucozona lucorum , nectaring on an Ox-eye Daisy. Through late Spring and early Summer, there were a pair of Goldfinches in the garden, the male often singing from the top of one of the alder trees in the hedge. This isn't something that usually happens, they're more of a Winter visitor to the bird feeder, so we wondered if they were actually nesting in the garden. Activity seemed to centre on this Fuchsia, but we were loathe to disturb them, despite our intense curiosity. When, eventually, a few days had passed without either sight or sound of ...