February 2022

2nd February – The current spell of winter storms has brought extremely strong winds to Orkney and some wintry showers. There was a light touch of snow on Hoy this morning and more snow and strong wind is forecast through the coming week, so we will have to batten down the hatches for that.

With the cold weather at the moment, we like to feed the birds. We don’t get a great variety of birds in the garden, mainly rooks, starlings and sparrows. But what we miss on variety, we make up for in quantity. This is a flock of sparrows attacking our seed dispenser. I reckon there are sixty five in this picture.

4th February – Our house featured (briefly) on an episode of Michael Portillo’s Great Coastal Railway Journeys on BBC2 this evening.  

5th February – We went over to Copland’s Dock for some fresh air and we certainly got some of that!!!

There’s a new arrival on the pier. The yellow cylindical thing is a 16kw ‘Archimedes Waveswing’ Wave Energy Converter that has been brought to Orkney for testing.  It will be moored to the seabed and sit under the surface of the sea to react to changes in pressure caused by passing waves.  The design enables it to continue to operate in rough sea conditions.

6th January – “And all the clouds that lour’d upon our lighthouse”.

Hoy High appearing through the murk of the wintry showers. But the bitterly cold weather doesn’t deter the Stromness Polar Bears from taking a dip. Even with snow on the pier behind them. We can see on their faces how they are enjoying the delights of a refreshing swim.

10th February – After the the recent wild weather, it’s nice to have a quiet spell to enjoy the shore path. The peacefulness and serenity, with nothing but the birds, is lovely change from the past few days.

The sharp eyed amongst you will have spotted, between 35 seconds to 50 seconds, the head of a seal swimming from left to right in the middle of the picture. OK. I admit, it’s only a pinprick but it is there!

11th February – OIC posted this view of Stromness taken from an unusual perspective. A nice way to report ongoing roadworks.

15th February – There’s no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing. A blustery day for Shorewatching at Ness Point. As long as it stays dry, I can handle the wind.

18th February – As Storm Eunice ravages the southern parts of the country, Orkney is enjoying a spell of unusually quiet weather. A big change from Tuesday (15th). For the last two days there hasn’t been a breath of wind. Here the late afternoon sun is sinking over Hoy sound, normally turbulent, it’s looking like a mill pond.

19th February – What a difference a day makes. Fresh snow and a clear sky making the view from the office rather pleasant.