1st November – There’s a definite drop in temperature now. Winter is upon us. Recent storms have stripped the leaves off most of the shrubs and the birds are finding it trickier to locate food. We had some waxwings in the GMB garden this morning looking for the cotoneaster berries, it was nice to be able to sit in the warmth watching them.
4th November – A beautiful day with hardly a breath of wind nor a cloud in the sky, nicely rounded off with this sunset.
8th November – A little article from the BBC on the possible introduction of electric aircraft for freight deliveries to the islands. They’ve used a nice photo of Stromness to illustrate the piece.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cv2k21xwk2eo
9th November – Last night (Wednesday 8 November), urbanists from across the UK and Europe gathered at the Blue Fin Building, Southwark, for the Urbanism Awards Ceremony. Following a programme of public nomination, member-led shortlisting panels and in-person finalist assessment visits, the Academy of Urbanism (AoU) announced the winning Great Place, Great Street, Great Neighbourhood, Great Town, European City of the Year for 2023.
Representatives from 13 of the 14 shortlisted places attended the event, where finalists were celebrated by poems, written and performed by Poet-in-Residence Ian McMillan, accompanied by illustrations by Artist-in-Residence David Rudlin AoU. Great Town finalist Stromness was represented in spirit, as a local event prevented in-person attendance.
10th November – The starlings in our garden are particularly tame and this pair were happy to pose for a photo so they could show off their stunning plumage. Who said starlings were drab?
Although today has been fairly calm with very little wind the sea still has quite a bit of energy in it. This breaker is crashing in past Hoy but the surrounding water is fairly flat.
12th November – A mixed bag of weather today, mainly dry but the occasional shower is producing magnificent rainbows.
15th November – It was great to have a sighting at Ness Point today, the first for a long time.
A pod of common dolphins were feeding for around an hour this morning. The sharp-eyed amongst you will spot two youngsters in the pod.
18th November – Despite the wet and windy weather, H and I were able to attend a vigil at St Magnus Cathedral to raise awareness of the terrible plight of the population of Gaza. It was well attended as were the hundreds of other vigils held around the country today.
Scapa Views 
One thought on “November 2023”