Two posts for the price of one

Well I've only got two and a bit weeks left on Papa Westray (where did the time go!), so here are a few more photos of birds from the reserve.

I had to dodge this fulmar (and it's chick - it's the fluffy blob that the adult is sitting on!) when going to one of the study plots. And I do mean dodge, fulmar spit a very nasty fishy oily mess at you if you get too close!

I have also had to dodge bonxies (great skuas) when out on the reserve surveying. This one was having a go at me, it was quite justified as I was looking for its chick!

I'll try and put another post up soon just before/or after I leave Papay.

Papa Westray Fun Weekend

Between the 17th and 19th of July, Papay Fun Weekend runs. It is three days of activities ranging from childrens crafts (kite making this year), BBQ, music, dance, bouncy castle, fun sports, carty races and sand sculpture competition. The photo above is of the winning sculpture, a map of Papa Westray, created by myself and Libi. Note the geographically accurate features, including the loch and the Holm of Papay.... well they didn't turn out well on the photo but beleive me it was impressive even if I do say so myself! It is a great, if exhausting, weekend and I plan to return for the fun weekend in future years.

Some seabirds

Razorbill

A few puffins anyone?

Just a couple of photos of the birds I see when studying the breeding birds on the cliff at Fowl Craig. I took these whilst perched out on part of the cliff (safely attached with ropes) and these birds just happened to land while I was there, only a few feet away.

Scottish primroses......lots of them

Scottish primrose

Counting the primroses

Last Thursday a group of volunteers came over to help with counting the Scottish primroses at Fowl Craig. The primula are only found in the Orkney Islands and the very far North of Scotland and every 3 years all the primula are counted on the North Hill. Last count there was around 21,000. Just a few then. Fowl Craig has the largest colony with, as it turns out, 8343 individual plants. Not a easy job on your own.... thank goodness I wasn't. The day was spent crawling along on hands and knees, getting sore knuckles because of the monkey crawl that everyone seemed to naturally fall in to...

Sore knees were rewarded with lemon cake, gingerbread (thanks Mum!), brownies and oatmeal & choclate chip muffins.

One colony down, only another 25 or so to go.

...and a few more

And a few more...

I've been a bit busy .... but here are some photos to be getting on with

The Bathroom

The transformation is nearly complete. The shower was replaced last winter after it stopped working and the rest of the bathroom (looking a bit tired to sy the least) was letting it down slightly. So after three coats of paint, a change of colour from a cold turquoise to the cheery yellow, eventually took place. The lino was another challenge, lots of nooks and crannys to have to fit it around and although not perfect (if anyone visits me please don't look at the edges too closely) I think not a bad attempt for the first time. It's still not quite finished, a little painting to do still and the lino still needs a bit of attention in some spots but on the whole it's looking miles better.

The Garden

The Daffodils

My veg plot

After a fairly busy first week back on the island, I decided to spend a bit of time in the garden today. The grass got cut, the veg plot was dug over, tatties planted and some seed sown. Lets hope it grows! I'm looking forward to later in the summer when I can go out and pick some salad or spinach, if everything goes well.

Back to Papa Westray

Leaving Kirkwall on the Earl Sigurd

My fire side seat

Well, today saw me leaving Kirkwall (with a very full car) and returning to Papa Westray for the summer. I was the only passenger on the ferry, so had the lounge and wide screen tv to myself as the weather wasn't really encouraging me outside to birdwatch/admire the journey. It was misty, with low visiblity and raining. I'm hoping this is not a sign of things to come.

I'm not fully unpacked and the house needs a bit of a clean but it's good to be back. I've enjoyed being in Stromness over the winter but its good to be on Papay again. A trip to the shop to gather supplies, provided comments like 'Oh it must be Spring, the Birdy Wife is back!'.

The fire is going and the kitchen is cosy.

Sunshine

It's been a really good week up here with four days of sunshine, with one (probably should have been two) sunlotion days. In March that is something of note. However in my usual style, there are no photos as I forgot to take my camera to work with me!

Ooops!

Ooops! It doesn't look to bad but it wasn't going anywhere. With a bit of digging and rocks we got enough purchase to get it out. Note to self, proceed with caution .......

Another island for a day

I have to admit that at 6.15 when my alarm went off, I wasn't full of enthusiam for my day ahead. But it turned out to be very good, however don't let the photos fool you into thinking that it was all sunshine. There was a fair bit of rain to be had aswell. In fact, at 9.30 when I got off the ferry to Egilsay, I was wondering if had misjudged things a bit. However, the sun shone for a few hours in the middle of the day, which added to the pleasure of getting paid to bird watch for the day.

Holidays!

Kings College Chapel, Cambridge.

Lode Mill, Angelsey Abbey, nr Cambridge

Me and a mad snowman, somewhere in one of the Cambridge Colleges

Well I'm back in Stromness after travelling practically the whole length of the country. The first main stop of the trip was to The Lodge at Sandy, Bedfordshire, for a work related course (very inspirational, now v proud to work for RSPB). Then I went on to London, visiting friends and spend a lot of my time being a tourist, visiting places like the London Eye. I then moved on to Cambridge, visiting another friend (ta for the photos). I then travelled back up to Perthshire to visit mum and dad. However I don't have lots of fab photos to show off, as me doing my usual rushed packing left my camera battery charger in Stromness, combined with a flat battery, equals no photos. However, I did have a great time.

I will share another act of stupidity with you - reluctant to let my orchid die, I took it with me, leaving it at mum and dads to be looked after while I was away. This prompted a lot of strange looks, smiles and comments on the ferry and trains on my way south to Perthshire, me laden with bags, carrying a plant pot. My dad kindly kept it alive when I was away on my travels and yesterday morning I remembered to pick it up when I went to catch the train. It travelled up with me to Thurso, me even more laden with bags and it went into the left luggage when I had a few hours to kill in Thurso (a challenging task even for the inventive). It and my bags were safely collected and I sat down to wait on my connecting bus in the station waiting room. Unfortunately the station was due to close before my bus was due arrive, so at the appropriate time I left the waiting room. It was only about ten minutes later when the station was safely locked up I suddenly realised that my orchid was still inside, on the other side of the wall to me, with absolutely no way for me to get it. And now that there is several miles of Pentland Firth between me and Thurso railway station, I have had to resign myself to the fact that my well travelled orchid is no more.

Fiddlesticks.