Natural highs and lows

At this time of year, it is nigh on impossible to suppress the urge for dappled sunlight through Beech leaves. Add in a wide, shallow burn, sinuously flowing through the scene and the only option is to give in to temptation.  We found a woodland car park at the Den o' Alyth, set off on a circuitous path through the valley, with the plan to make the mid point of the walk a lunch stop in the town of Alyth itself. Dipper A female Mallard On a woodland bench, a Common Footman moth caterpillar, a teeny-tiny forager of algae and lichen Breathe... Let the tension gently subside As well as lovely views of Dipper, we had seen several Grey Wagtails, as they hunted for invertebrates along the burn. During one of our frequent pauses, letting the tranquillity seep into our souls, Megan suddenly exclaimed, "There's a Grey Wagtail up in that tree!" Stood a few feet away, I was unsighted by another tree trunk, so was initially sceptical, especially when a Great Tit flew out of the ap...

A day trip to Hoy is always a treat, and last Saturday was no exception. With no long walks planned between ferry sailings, just visiting sites around the island by car, I felt able to drag along my DSLR for a change. What a good job I did. The blustery conditions, and the subject (or photographer) constantly moving, meant that my little compact camera was not the preferred device of choice. We didn't find any big dragons but, oh my word, there was still plenty else to see. Red-throated Diver, snapped from the car whilst parked in a layby A male Common Blue Damselfly with prey A female Common Blue butterfly nectaring on Bell Heather A White-tailed Eagle which flew overhead... necessitating an emergency stop and a race for optics! Great Skuas (Bonxies) were congregating at Sandy Loch, with regular flybys over the dam head Bonxie Hoy hills panorama Another female Common Blue butterfly The wildflowers were stunning too, but difficult to photograph, so please excuse their absence. Sund...

Whilst tourist season in Orkney never quite leaves us, as we reach May things are beginning to ramp up after the Winter nadir. Cruise ships are visiting again, the island's coaches are busy ferrying holiday-makers to the Neolithic sweet spots or 21st Century craft shops (gin, jewellery, textiles and whisky) and there are walks to be recce'd for my partner's wildlife guiding business. Of these latter things, one such was a trip to Flotta, an island at the southern end of Scapa Flow which, upon arrival, is dominated by the view of an oil terminal. I suspect that this puts off folk from visiting, locals and tourists alike, unless they have a flare for miles of overhead piping and large oil tanks. Behind all the fossil fuel infrastructure lies a peaceful, gentle landscape with less than 100 residents and lots of wildlife. It's a bit of a secret gem. The waters of Scapa Flow were flat calm for the short ferry crossing from Houton on the Orkney Mainland. We sailed by dozens o...

For the last weekend of National Dragonfly Week, I had organised a low-key walk on the island of Hoy, asking any members of my local dragonfly Facebook group if they would like to join me. Several of them did, so Saturday late morning and early afternoon were spent at a couple of pools on the slopes of Wee Fea hill, west of Lyness. The weather was overcast with a cool breeze, not ideal for dragon hunting, or perhaps that depends upon your point of view. Certainly the temperature was too low for there to be much flying activity, but diligent searching in the emergent vegetation of the pools produced six species (4 of damselflies and 2 of dragonflies). Additionally, the diffuse light helped the colours of the insects stand out. One of the gang (not me!) found a roosting male Common Hawker dragonfly, and everyone had the opportunity to watch it at close quarters and take photographs. This species is renowned for being a tireless flyer, not resting when the sun is out, so this was a very s...

Don't worry, this isn't one of those ranty blogposts bemoaning the threat to wildlife from domestic pets. The weather for the past wee while has been a mixture of sunshine and showers with a bitingly cold northerly breeze, so thermal clothing is still very much in order. After last weekend's year list shenanigans, this week was a bit of an eye opener. Tuesday Reports of a Great White Egret on the Loch of Sabiston prompted a swift perusal of the local map to see where the heck Sabiston was. After heading north through West Mainland, and finding a suitable place to safely park the car out of the way of farm traffic, we headed up a track which gave a view across the small loch.  We were a long way away from the Egret, as predictably it was on the far shore, but I managed a photo of sorts. Honest, this isn't a swan! Whilst watching the Egret, another birder mentioned that there was a Common Crane in a ploughed field not very far away, so we thought we had better try to see ...