16th October – Halfway through October and this is my first post of the month. Mostly the weather has been appalling and we’ve not ventured out much. But there’s no rain today and the wind has eased (a bit). Decided to do a Shorewatch, the first since June. I didn’t see anything but it was good to get out.
Went for a quick walk and to post a letter and spotted this little seal pulled out on a rock in front of the double cottages. Not sure how it gets on to this rock, unless he waits for the tide.
19th October – As Storm Babet passes by it is getting a bit breezy. We probably won’t venture far today. Although the wind on the Stromness peninsula will hit 70mph we’re not expecting the heavy rain until Saturday.
21st October – Torrential rain all day long. Possibly the most rain in a single day since we moved here. This about sums it up:
22nd October – After the deluge, a bright spell with the customary rainbow. We even managed to hang some washing out without worrying that it would end up in Shetland.
23rd October – I try to avoid using other peoples photos here but I think this is worth breaking that rule. Roger Houghton was visiting Baikies Stores in Finstown and spotted some waxwings in the bushes. This is an exceptional photo.
It’s been a brighter day today with very little wind, so the Royal Mail are able to get their drone in operation from the golf course to Graemsay and Hoy.
It seems such a lightweight and flimsy thing for the crossing but it looks like the postmen have faith in it.
29th October – The storms haven’t let up throughout October. Outdoor activities have been severely curtailed. This is the view from our window last night.
A high tide and 40mph southeasterly winds driving the waves up and across the road. There is no sign of this easing before next Thursday.
4th September – It’s Autumn now but the forecast is for a September heatwave. Hopefully that will prolong things in the garden for a few more weeks.
Stromness has an unusual visitor at the moment, a hoopoe has found its way to Orkney! Normally only a seasonal visitor to the south coast of England it has been seen on Stromness golf course. This terrific shot is by a local RSPB chap and posted on Blipfoto. Needless to say I haven’t seen it! Fingers crossed.
Hoopoe on Stromness golf course
To give an idea of how unusual this is, here is the normal extent of its seasonal range.
10th September – Bahamian registered cruise ship, Scenic Eclipse II, anchored in Cairston Roads, Stromness, today. A 17,500 tonnes vessel carrying 260 passengers, for comparison MV Hamnavoe is 8,700 tonnes and carries 600 passengers ( plus vehicles ). Note the helicopter ferrying people to and fro. Is this sustainable travel?
11th September – At the opposite end of the eco spectrum from Scenic Eclipse II, Orkney is flagged to trial two new electric ferries. Built in Belfast, these look very futuristic. If successful they could form part of a fleet of electic and/or hydrogen vessels.
1st August – This month sees the start of Orkney’s high tech postal service. Smaller items of mail are to be delivered to remote areas using a drone.
The Royal Mail postal drone.
Initially it will fly between Kirkwall and Stromness and also Stromness to Graemsay and Hoy.
Heading for Hoy.
I’m looking forward to getting my new blacksmith’s anvil delivered.
(Photos pinched from the BBC website)
6th August – August is the month for the farmers. All the agricultural shows are held around the county this month and various farming skill competitions are held such as plooin’ (ploughing). There is a tradition in Orkney where young boys dress up as the plough horses in costumes that are passed down through their families.
Doubtless the boys love participating and there are no tantrums, whatsoever, getting them into their outfits!
8th August – We had a delightful visit from a pod of common dolphins this morning. For over two hours they swam up and down in front of the house, presumably feeding. They didn’t seem at all fazed by the shipping passing through.
10th August – After a really slow start to the season, the roses are doing their thing now. We particularly like the richness of this floribunda rose, Trumpeter (Mactu).
11th August – H is creating a patchwork quilt. Here she has created about half of the required patches and is laying them out to get a preview. It’s looking good so far but she still has a lot of work in front of her.
27th August – As reports come in of a diminutive gardener missing in an overgrown herbaceous border, the Coastguard swoop in to join the search. Fortunately H rang the dinner gong and the diminutive gardener reappeared.
We assumed they were on a training exercise but it landed nearby, which is unusual, I’ll update this post if I hear different.
31st August – Tonight was a blue moon/super moon, it’s tricky to get the balance right on these pics but here it is rising over Stenness, across the bay.
1st July – A bright enough start to July. H has paused on her walk to watch birds and boats. This is the slip where the local ladies go wild swimming, the floated rope acts as a guide for them.
2nd July – Our neighbour, Marion, dropped these mackerel fillets in for us. Freshly caught by her son, there was too much for her own use. They really are a beautiful fish.
Interesting report on the BBC. OIC are not happy at being sidelined by London and Edinburgh and are looking to Oslo for some attention. Just trying to make a point, I think.
3rd July – Found this Poplar Hawkmoth in the fennel this afternoon. I’m not sure if they are common in Orkney considering the lack of poplar trees! Apparently they like willow too, which we have plenty of, so that may explain its presence.
8th July – Another nice day. A slightly different angle in this pic. Looking past the colourful art installation in the GMB garden as the Graemsay sets off on one of it’s regular runs.
News quickly gets around amongst the starlings that a new shipment of mealworms has been delivered!
13th July – About four years ago I noticed an unusual seed in Monty’s dish. Out of curiosity, I put it in a pot of compost. It germinated and started producing a lot of leafy stems and finally, this year, some buds.
Alstroemeria – Peruvian Lily
Apparently it is Peruvian Lily, the Lily of the Incas. I’m told it spreads readily, so hopefully I will get a few more.
16th July – It’s the start of Stromness Shopping Week, even the Hamnavoe is decked out in bunting. Albeit small bunting!
18th July – It’s the raft race this evening. A decent evening after last year’s heavy rain. There is a good turnout of rafts and spectators.
The French crew got off to a disappointing start, sinking as soon as they put their raft into the water.
Striped jerseys and berets – no racial stereotyping here!
But by the simple expediency of sacking half the crew, converting the raft into a canoe and paddling like crazy, they went on to win the race!
Perhaps not entirely in the spirit of the event but that’s those pesky Europeans for you!
22nd July – It’s the final day of the 2023 Stromness Shopping Week and there is the usual parade of floats through the town. This one is having a dig at the hapless Pentland Ferries, a local ferry company that has recently had a couple of unfortunate groundings. I liked the “cowboys” maintaining the engine!
The final event is the fireworks display on Copland’s Dock, we get a good view of the display each year.
26th July – There’s not a breath of wind today, Hoy Sound is like a millpond, broken only by passing porpoises. Perfect conditions for a kayak trip to Graemsay.
5th June – Another Harbour Porpoise sighting today. I’m not sure if numbers are increasing or I’m just getting better at spotting them. There were two animals passing by today but only got one in shot.
8th June – We had a visit from the entire Shorewatch team from Spey Bay and some members of the WDC management team. It was great to meet them all and put faces to names.
A doubly successful visit as three Harbour Porpoises turned up as well and cruised passed the site.
12th June – A glorious day here in Stromness and the front border is basking in the sunshine.
Nice to see a Red Admiral enjoying the nectar in the sea pinks. Things have been late flowering this year so the butterflies and bees have some catching up to do.
19th June – Our friends, Kevin and Marilyn from Stenness, were travelling to Scrabster on the Hamnavoe this morning. As they passed by they spotted me sitting on the bench and managed to get a photo. Considering it was taken through the ferry’s grubby window it’s not a bad shot.
It’s an interesting perspective as it shows a lot of the buildings at the Ness Battery, which you can’t actually see from the house.
21st June – The warm, sunny weather is continuing unabated. We were passing through Orphir this afternoon and spotted these ponies enjoying the sunshine in a field of buttercups.
3rd May – Although this photo shows a bright morning it soon clouded over and stayed that way. I’ll be collecting Heather from Kirkwall Airport later as she is visiting for a couple of weeks.
5th May – Orkney has been covered in low cloud for a few days now and quite windy. We thought we’d go to Kirbuster Farm Museum to enjoy the smoky peat fire. On arrival we were greeted by this, rather vocal, North Ronaldsay sheep.
9th May – We are still covered in low cloud, although the sun is trying hard to break through. the haar produces some nice effects, such as this image of a ghostly Hamnavoe arriving in Stromness.
10th May – Meanwhile in Kirkwall, the fog has lifted and the cruise ships are in the harbour. It’s always difficult to tell the visitors apart from the locals, they are so inconspicuous.
12th May – The Stromness lifeboat was called out this afternoon following reports of a distress beacon being triggered thirty miles west of Orkney. Fortunately it was a false alarm as the beacon had been triggered accidentally. The crew are always prepared though and do excellent work.
Nice to see Lady of Avenal back in Stromness. A 102ft brigantine square rigger, this boat takes small groups of passengers around the north of Scotland. It is a regular visitor to Stromness.
13th May – A successful morning at Ness Point, we managed to spot two harbour porpoise passing through Hoy Sound. Nice to have a sighting for Heather while she is with us.
They are very small and difficult to photograph, they vanish underwater for several minutes at a time, so they are hard to track. It’s still a thrill to to see them.
15th May – A beautiful sunny day here today. It’s so warm that the tugs have got to cool each other down!
16th May – Heather’s holiday has ended, far too quickly. We took her to Kirkwall Airport for her flight to London. A kindly tail wind delivered her into London City Airport a half hour early, so a successful holiday.
This week is the Orkney Nature Festival and WDC have been represented with Emma hosting an open session at Ness Point to highlight Shorewatch and the work of WDC. The event was well attended but unfortunately not by dolphins.
A couple passing by, unaware of the WDC presentation, had in their car an old teddy bear that they bought sixteen years ago. It had the old WDCS logo which none of the team had seen before. A strange coincidence.
17th May – It’s that time of year again, when Kirkwall welcomes our Norwegian neighbours to celebrate their Independence Day. On 17th May 1814 the Storting (parliament) signed their Constitution. In 1905, the Storting dissolved the union with their larger neighbour, Sweden. Here is their delegation marking the occasion outside St Magnus’ cathedral in Kirkwall.
21st May – Its been a glorious day here today, so, as is my wont, I went shorewatching. Managed to spot another couple of harbour porpoise, I don’t know if these are the same as we’ve seen recently.
27th May – It’s the Spring Bank Holiday weekend, the folk festival is in full swing and one young woman is undergoing a ritual blackening. Blackenings are a tradition in parts of the north of Scotland to mark a forthcoming wedding. Both bride and groom are “kidnapped”, separately, by their friends and paraded around the town covered in flour, treacle and various disgusting substances.
Accompanied by tooting horns, whistle blowing and the banging of saucepans, you always get advanced warning of an approaching blackening.
Normally only the prospective bride or groom receives the treatment but the bridesmaids here seemed to have taken more than their fair share of the messy gunge!
28th May – A coterie of colourful kayakers passing by this afternoon. The dive boat, Jean Elaine, providing the backdrop.
30th May – Today began bright and sunny but the gloom descended just in time for the arrival of Stromness’ first cruise ship of the season.
Hanseatic Spirit
Too big to berth in the harbour, Hanseatic Spirit has to anchor in Cairston Roads and run a shuttle service for the passengers into the town.
1st April – While farmers have sheepdogs, here in Orkney, the fishermen have crabdogs. Trained to seek out crab and lobster, the dogs indicate the best places to drop creels.
7th April – I’ve finally finished the downstairs shower room. I think I made a decent job of the work and H is pretty pleased with my craftsmanship.
( errm… I’d like to take this opportunity to give a big thankyou to the designer (H), the plumber, the electrician, the painter and decorator and the flooring guys for their input!)
Before and after.
15th April – A cracking morning for a Shorewatch at Ness Point. Just captured the Hamnavoe arriving from Scrabster.
There is still a distinct lack of marine mammals to record, I’m not sure where they’ve all gone.
16th April – It was a nice day, so we thought we’d have a change of scenery. We drove over to Evie and the Broch of Gurness. This is one of the Shorewatch sites, so I managed a couple of watches. This is looking across Eynhallow Sound towards the island of Rousay. Known for its abundance of archeological sites, Rousay is often referred to as “the Egypt of the North”. The only difference being sheep instead of camels.
26th April – Nearly into May and we are still getting snow! Orkney is sitting in a stream of very cold air coming from the north and it’s delivering a few wintry showers. Still too soon to put out tender plants.
28th April – Great video from local whalewatcher, Graham Campbell, of a bull Orca coming in extremely close to the pier at St, Mary’s, Holm. Whether it was just curious or scouting for seals, I’m not sure. The sight must have been thrilling for the spectators.
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 -2o 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!
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.
Scapa Beach
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.
Scapa Views 