2nd March – 07:30, up early and went up to Ness Point. just in time to see the local fishing boat, Carvela, returning to port. I’m not sure how long they were at sea but I bet they were glad to be home

Just glanced out of the window and noticed this wee chap coming up the garden path. I hope he’s not looking for a way in!

4th March – The Shorewatch Northern Isles coordinator, Emma Steel, was training a group of new recruits at Ness Point today. Here they are learning to take range and bearing with the marine binoculars.

The conditions were ideal with no wind and a very calm sea. Hopefully they enjoyed their session and will become regular watchers.

7th March – The forecast snow arrived yesterday and is continuing today. In a brief clear spell I caught this pic of the boats sheltering in the harbour. The snow looks nice but the roads are pretty slushy. They don’t plough in Stromness, they only spread grit, which means driving can be tricky.

I thought I’d better take precautions to protect tender young shoots emerging in the borders, these old plastic bottles make handy little cloches.

8th March – We woke up to a beautiful sunny morning, albeit -2^o C. This was the view from the front window. The low temperatures never seem to deter the swimmers and they were out in force as usual.

This next pic is the scene from the Outertown road, overlooking Hoy Sound. The early sun captures the landscape nicely.

10th March – There is still quite a bit of snow around and, as the roads are all clear now, we can appreciate the beauty of the views. This is looking along Ferry Road in Stromness with a striking view of Ward Hill behind.

This next view is one of my regular favourites, looking from Ness Point towards Scapa Flow, with Hoy High on the right.

16th March – We had to travel over to Kirkwall on business today. I had to renew my driving licence at the Post Office, which proved to be a very simple process. The only glitch was that the new photo shows an old, bald bloke, clearly a fault with their camera!

H was invited to go to the Balfour for a CT scan. They phoned at 10:30am with a 2:00pm appointment, they don’t hang about!

The Radiology Department is always very busy at the Balfour and it can be difficult to find a seat.

22nd March – The spring tides can be quite dramatic. These photos show the range between the high and low tides over six hours.

These tides can be unnerving for the residents of the houses on the piers and a high tide combined with a storm surge would flood their properties.

27th March – The days are stretching now and I’m itching to get some seed trays planted up. I took advantage of the recent dry weather to get the creel/cloches recovered and out into the garden. It is still too cold for most seeds but these little cloches get quite warm in the sunshine.

4th February – We’ve had a wild start to February, several days of gales and heavy rain, so it was good to get a clear day and be able to go to Kirkwall to help staff the Yes Orkney stall.

Here, local writer and journalist, Fiona Grahame, is recording a piece on the importance of EU membership for the farmers and fisherfolk of Orkney.

Fiona researched and wrote the narrative on the Orcadian Women’s Suffrage Society used for the award winning animation, “A Gude Cause Maks a Strong Erm”, which can be seen in the Local Heroes section.

7th February – This is a video made up of drone footage by local photographer, Graham Campbell. I’ve been whale spotting with Graham, he normally gets some good shots but not with me in tow!

https://www.facebook.com/100006279699795/videos/472581471755074

Drones can be extremely irritating, their buzzing can spoil a nice peaceful day but the video shows what can be achieved with them.

I try to avoid using too much material from other sources but thought this was worth sharing.

14th February – It just takes a couple of sunny days and the crowds hit the beaches.

This is Scapa beach with the whitewashed buildings of the Scapa distillery in the distance.

18th February – In the lull between Storm Otto and the next storm, H captured this flurry of activity, ships, boats, planes and camper vans. A lovely day but bracing ourselves for Sunday.

19th February – Local photographer, Graham Campbell, climbed Ward Hill on Hoy a few days ago, with his drone, and took this shot looking north over Graemsay towards Stromness. We are in the little horseshoe shaped bay at upper left. From here, its clear why the Vikings called it Hamnavoe – Haven Bay, tucked away and sheltered from the Atlantic.

At 479 metres, this is the highest point in Orkney. The photo shows the arctic conditions at this altitude and Graham managed to get some shots of wildlife that is unusual in Orkney, such as this mountain hare and a ptarmigan.

24th February – A grey start to the day. Streaks of weak sunlight try to penetrate a leaden sky. Across the slate-grey sea Hoy High lighthouse stands on a headland. In the foreground, the Point of Ness beacon stands guard at the entrance to Stromness harbour.

28th February – My first Harbour Porpoise sighting of 2023 at Ness Point. Hopefully we will have a few more sightings through the year and not just these wee guys.

January 2023

February 2023

March 2023

April 2023

May 2023

June 2023

July 2023

August 2023

September 2023

October 2023

November 2023

December 2023

6th January – My WDC co-ordinator, Emma, put out a call this afternoon to help recover the body of a Risso’s dolphin that washed up on Warebeth beach. Such deaths are subject to autopsies by the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS) and the bodies are collected by British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR). I and a couple of other Shorewatchers went along to lend a hand.

Not a pretty sight but that is the way of things in the wild. The bloody grazing is caused by the body being thrown against the rocks. The scarring on the flank is just visible, this is common to Risso’s and is caused by the tentacles of squid, which form a major part of their diet.

As the dolphin weighed about 300 – 400 kgs it took twelve of us to lift it off the shore and on to the trailer.

I’m hoping that this isn’t Ness, the dolphin identified from my photo in the Risso’s catalogue. See September 2022 .

Fellow WDC Shorewatcher, Marilyn, made this little clip of the recovery operation. Marilyn like a cheery tune, regardless of the subject matter.

*** Update: A post mortem was carried out on this dolphin. It was found to have a stomach full of squid, so a healthy animal, feeding well. The lungs, however, had water in them and it was concluded that it drowned, possibly as a result of being caught in a fishing net. Known as “bycatch”, fishing boats frequently catch species of sea life that they don’t want. This is inconvenient for the trawlers but tragic for the victims.

11th January – The local starlings are very partial to mealworms for breakfast, here are a few. I challenge anyone to count them!

12th January – The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. A local fishing boat being craned out of the water for maintenance. It’s a tricky operation with not much room for manoeuvre. Luckily there was no wind to hamper the operation.

13th January – H had another session of chemo today. It went well and the Macmillan team are always kind and attentive but H is turning into a bit of a pin cushion.

16th January – Here’s one for the geology buffs amongst you (you know who you are!).

The Kame of Hoy is a rocky outcrop on the northwest tip of Hoy, the snow this morning highlights the stratification of the structure of the cliff. This lump of rock is made up of, from the top, basalt, sandstone, Stromness flags and bostonite.

As I said, interesting for some, a cure for insomnia for others.

23rd January – At last work has started on replacing the en suite bathroom in the downstairs bedroom. Local plumber, Davey Prentice, has done a lot of work for us and was first choice for this project. The original room was designed as a disabled wetroom but that didn’t suit our needs so we are having it changed.

Getting rid of the waste is always a problem but we have friends with a wood burning stove so they will take the timber. Davey and his wife have horses ( see July 2022 ), so he is taking the bath to use as a water trough for them. That, thankfully, doesn’t leave much for me to get rid of.

26th January – Bloomin’ ‘eck! Looks like yours truly is going to be the face, sorry, the back of the Orkney Nature Festival again this year.

They used this photo of me on Shorewatch last year, I should be getting royalties for this!

12th December – While the rest of the country is covered in a blanket of festive snow, the white stuff is lacking in Orkney. Just a dusting on Hoy, it is pretty cold though and the roads were very icy this morning.

16th December – A few days of wintry weather have made the roads around Stromness a bit tricky. H and I have been doing odd jobs around the house, including painting the garden benches. Now, most sensible people would do this in the garden but we brought them into the kitchen! They’ve been taking up a lot of room but we will soon be finished.

The snow has given the hills of Stenness a dusting but the cold weather doesn’t stop the hardier fishermen going out.

The low sun is very photogenic but when reflected off snow and wet roads it can be blinding.

19th December – Adorning one’s home with stag antlers is common practice around highland Scotland but it seems out of place in Orkney as there aren’t any deer! Nevertheless, this set is quite impressive.

Visitors to Stromness will be well acquainted with this little train set in one of the local windows. It is on view all year round but looks particularly festive in December.

22nd December – MV Pentalina was the ferry that ran between Gill’s Bay and St. Margaret’s Hope, it was replaced with a larger vessel and has been in mothballs for several months now. It has just had some engine work carried out in Stromness and is seen here returning from sea trials.

25th December – Happy Christmas everyone.

Not a white Christmas in Orkney but a nice day and this rainbow over the harbour brightens the grey December skies.

26th December – Normally held on Christmas Day, the Ba’ is never held on a Sunday, so Kirkwall’s annual riot between the Uppies and the Doonies is on Boxing Day Monday this year. These photos have been “borrowed” from Orkney.com and The Orcadian.

It’s considered a great honour to start the match by throwing the Ba’ in to the scrum. The man seen here is a previous winner of the competition.

Here we see the two teams coming together in front of the Cathedral in Broad Street. I wouldn’t like to get in between these guys!

To the untrained eye the Ba’ seems utter chaos but the locals appear to understand what is happening and appreciate the subtle nuances of the game!

Here we can see the seething, steaming mass moving into Castle Street. All the shop windows are given timber barriers to prevent players going through the glass.

Unfortunately, only the windows are protected, breeze block walls have to take their chances and some don’t survive, this was in Boot’s car park. I assume the organisers have comprehensive insurance.

By the way, the Doonies won.

27th December – An overnight snowfall and an icy morning doesn’t deter the Stromness swimmers, I don’t think the dog is quite so keen.

This next photo shows the confusingly named Hoy Low lighthouse, which is on Graemsay. The stark backdrop is provided by Ward Hill, which actually is on Hoy. The snow highlights, nicely, the textured surface of the mountain.

31st December – As the sun sets for the last time on 2022, we are taking a few minutes to think of those we lost through the year, family and friends.

H and I wish everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous 2023

2nd November – Received a message of orca in Hoy Sound this morning but after a fruitless trip to Ness Point, I headed up to Yesnaby to see if they were travelling in that direction. It was a beautiful morning but the sea state at the foot of the cliffs at Yesnaby would keep the orca off shore.

So, no cetacean sightings but I did find this interesting piece of fossilised wood. The cliffs here are about 30m above sea level but it’s clear that this area was once the seabed, perhaps this was a piece of driftwood on an ancient ocean.

8th November – A bright sunny day here. I was on the usual Shorewatch duty this morning. No sign of any marine mammals but plenty of birds enjoying the winter sunshine.

21st November – It’s been a lean month for postings. Almost two weeks of gales and rain has caused problems across Scotland and Orkney wasn’t spared. At one point the roads into Kirkwall were closed due to flooding. The weather has restricted our travel to essential journeys only.

One sad item to report today has been the discovery of a fin whale body, washed up on Graemsay, just by the lighthouse in the above photo. This is just opposite the site where I do my Shorewatchng. The authorities have been notified and tests will be conducted to ascertain the cause of death.

22nd November – The first hint of snow this winter with a light dusting on the high ground on Hoy.

25th November – It might look quite bright and sunny but it is, as they say here, absolutely Baltic! This is a meteorological term used in Scotland to refer to a very low temperature, often enforced by a wind chill.

28th November – The patience has paid off, on my Shorewatch this morning I recorded a pod of around ten Common Dolphin. They stayed in the area for about an hour, presumably feeding.

We’ve had a good couple of days of Shorewatching, as a family of Orca passed by Ness Point yesterday. I caught up with them at Warebeth but didn’t manage to get any photographs.

29th November – It’s been a glorious day here, no sightings but whose complaining with sunsets like these.

3rd October – Solar panels are now operational and providing our electrical needs. The process was very easy and we wish we’d done it sooner. Just need to get rid of the scaffolding now.

The weekend storm has left the footpaths in a bit of a mess, with seaweed strewn everywhere. It doesn’t look much but it is incredibly slippery and easy end up on the floor.

9th October – Orkney Island Council are promoting funding available for local artists. As part of the campaign, they did a piece on Jeanne Rose with some nice photos of her working at both the Ness of Brodgar and the Ring of Brodgar.

29th October – A fiery sunrise for what proved to be a beautiful day.

Popped in to Strathborg to have a closer look at this little picnic area. We’ve passed by many times but never stopped. It’s well laid out with various heights of tables for the kids and a cute shelter if the weather turns.

Driving back through Quoyloo, I thought I saw a giraffe! Nah, couldn’t have been….

3rd September – It’s officially autumn now and September is demonstrating the fact with gusto. The month has started with gales and a lot of rain. Despite the poor weather, the Cosmos is holding up well, producing a lot of flowers and feeding bees.

7th September – I just received a link to the newly created Risso’s Dolphin catalogue for the north of Scotland. Created by WDC, these catalogues are dry reading but the scientists seem to like them.

This particular catalogue has a special interest for me as one of the photos used in the identification process was taken at Ness Point. This photograph, probably doesn’t seem very exciting, but Risso’s are identified by the scarring on their dorsal fins, so this pattern is unique.

This is dolphin number 76 and is named Ness, after Ness Point, and the pic has been credited to a well-known local photographer! He is chuffed!

8th September – This is an interesting little video from the BBC about the South Ronaldsay Festival of the Horse. Children dress up in costumes to resemble horses decorated for agricultural shows. These outfits are generally passed down through farming families but the Kirkwall Museum has a nice collection of them.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-scotland-62826900

The children have miniature ploughing contests on the festival day, in Orkney this is referred to as “plooin'”.

10th September – A delegation of Shorewatchers from around Scotland descended on Ness Point today. No cetaceans but glorious weather. Yours truly and H, far left, in bush hat and high vis.

They are visiting all the Orkney sites this weekend and, so far, have seen minke whales, porpoise and some dolphins. A reasonable trip so far and they still have two sites to visit.

A beautiful day became a beautiful evening, with the full moon reflected across the water.

11th September – Another nice day and whilst most flags are at half mast, Graemsay didn’t get the email!

13th September – Apropos of nothing, today is the 55th anniversary of the inauguration of the world’s shortest, scheduled, commercial flight route. Flying between two Orkney Islands, Westray & Papa Westray, the Loganair flight covers a distance of only 1.7 miles and it can be completed in under one minute, on a nice day.

16th September – With reports of two humpbacks and one fin whale in Scapa Flow, I had to go up to Ness Point. Didn’t see any whales but was rewarded with a pot of gold.

24th September – Phase 1 of our solar panel installation is complete. The scaffolders have erected a working platform for the panel fitters to get access to the roof next week.

It’s a shame that we didn’t do this earlier, the south facing roof catches a lot of direct sunlight.

They were able to carry out their work to the lilt of the pipes, as a lone piper practiced his art in the adjacent GMB garden.

30th September – Yesterday the panels were delivered and neatly stacked, ready for installation.

Today, this was delivered! Heavy rain with 68mph wind. Not ideal for working on a roof.

Understandably the panel installation has been postponed. However, the internal electrical work is still going ahead. But every cloud has a silver lining, as the ferries have been cancelled, the fitters can’t get off the island to go home for the weekend, so they will try again tomorrow or Sunday.

1st August – I’m not fully back on track with this blog, so I will try and fill some gaps.

Our New Zealand flax has performed well this summer and produced four large flower stems, flaxes seem to have done well all over Orkney this year.

9th August – With H and I shielding we avoid going into shops as much as possible, so we’ve been getting grocery deliveries from a well known supermarket who shall remain nameless (Tesco). We are lucky to have the local fish supplier provide a doorstep service on Tuesdays, selling excellent, freshly caught, fish.

The van jingle sounds like an ice cream van but is, appropriately enough, playing “When the boat comes in”.

12th August – After a difficult few weeks for H, things seem to be improving (fingers crossed). For obvious reasons we’ve not been out and about very much, so we haven’t had much to report. We’ll try to get back into the routine of posting in Scapa Views.

Although the past few weeks have been wet and windy our wildflower patch has done fairly well and has attracted a lot of bees and butterflies. We’ll gather the seed again this year and try and increase the planting for next year.

To add to the colour in the south end, we have the artwork in the GMB garden and the yacht club sails.

13th August – A trip to Kirkwall shows how the residents are embracing modern technological advances with the arrival, in the town, of this horseless carriage. Many residents, however, are concerned at the impact this development will have on the town’s saddlers and farriers.

15th August – The neighbouring island of Graemsay is the least populated of Orkney’s islands, with twenty-three inhabitants. It is served by a ferry of the same name, operating out of Stromness. Occasionally traffic congestion becomes too much and they have to take the other car off the island!

26th August – As it was a sunny day we went for a run up to Birsay. Known for the great views and its tidal island, Birsay is always busy with tourists. Here we see the causeway exposed at low tide making it possible to walk to the island and visit lighthouse and the ruins of the Norse church built in the 12th century.

Carrying on from Birsay, we stopped at the small harbour of Tingwall. Tingwall has a RoRo ferry which serves Rousay and some of the smaller islands in this area.

27th August – We ventured down to Burwick which is at the southernmost tip of the Orkney archipelago. From here, on a clear day, you can see Scotland. In this hazy picture we can see the multi-coloured houses in John o’ Groats, 12km away. Tacky or what?

This next photo shows the ill-fated MV Alfred sitting at the terminal in Gill’s Bay, waiting to make the perilous crossing to St. Margaret’s Hope. ( See 6th July post )

Gill’s Bay is the third ferry terminal linking Scotland with Orkney after Aberdeen and Scrabster. For reference, Gill’s Bay is 16km away (10 miles), I used a 500mm lens that needs cleaning.

31st August – A bit of excitement on Shorewatch this morning as a pod of common dolphins spent some time feeding in Hoy Sound. They are occassional visitors here, so it was great to see them.

4th July – Not an auspicious start to July. My lateral flow test is still positive, six days after the first result. The line is a lot fainter but that is still positive.

In spite of our best efforts H picked up the virus and has been really suffering. She went to the Balfour last Friday for an intravenous course of anti-virals but she is still under the weather.

Frustratingly, I feel fine but still can’t go out to the shops or meet with people.

6th July – We don’t know the full details yet but the MV Alfred en route from Gill’s Bay to St Margaret’s Hope ran aground on the island of Swona yesterday. Weather conditions seemed perfect, so it’s a mystery as to what happened.

The vessel was refloated and escorted into the Hope by the Thurso and Longhope lifeboats.

It’s not a laughing matter, as I think some injuries were sustained, but I am reminded of a landing I once had in Gill’s Bay. As the boat collided with the pier, quite hard, a local wag commented on the skippering:

” Aah, he’s done this crossing that many times, he knows exactly what he’s hitting!”

(The photos above are from the BBC website and the Orcadian Online)

14th July – Mid July and summer still hasn’t shown it’s face. I don’t necessarily want a heatwave but it would be nice to go outside without needing gloves!

Our local newspaper has summed up the mood nicely.

17th July – It’s that time of year again in Stromness, the world famous Shopping Week. Seven days of events, fun and games. Hopefully the weather will improve and attract the visitors. The week starts with the Shopping Week Hack.

It was nice to get a wave from our friends Davey Prentice and his wife Kayte as the procession passed the house.