Moon tonight

Weather Europe, Satellite Weather Europe, Weather Forecast, Rainfall, Clouds, Sun in Europe - Source: SAT24.com

Weather Europe, Satellite Weather Europe, Weather Forecast, Rainfall, Clouds, Sun in Europe - Source: SAT24.com

Impending solar storm 24th 25th

This from earthsky today...... Sunspot 1402 has spawned an M9 eruption on the sun at 03:59 UTC on January 23. It is now sending a stream of charged particles toward Earth – due to sweep past us tomorrow (January 24, 2012). Experts are saying it will be the strongest radiation storm since 2005. The eruption took place last night at 9:59 p.m. according to clocks in the central U.S........ Thats the top most storm in the sunspot photos posted below a bit...Oh boy here we go, this one looks the biz !!!

Aurora

There is a good aurora tonight and there is still an hour or hour and a half untill maximum. The computer is so full that i cant squeeze another photo in and there is nothing left to delete. Its a bit of a bummer to say the least but we are goosed!!

Sun spotting

A while ago I saw a make your own sun filter advertised on ebay. In the past I have photographed eclipses with whatever I could find to use for a filter, things used have ranged from broken beer bottles and old welding goggles to a pair of sunglasses broken in half and doubled up. All of this produced mixed results and most of those were in the abysmal end of the range. This filter kit seemed like a nice cheap way to be able to observe sunspots as it came in at only twenty quid, although on arrival it transpires that all I receive is an A4 sheet of film and some instructions for construction. Undeterred I set to with the scissors glue and double sided sticky tape (I kid you not) Eventually I managed to cobble together something that approximated the instructions. Nothing goes to smoothly tho and true to form as the last bit of tape was being put in place and we were ready to go on the scope the sitting room fell into shadow as a large sleety rain cloud rolled across the horizon. This soon enough rolled away and the sun emerged ready for a view. It took a moment to find in the darkness but sure enough there it was, focusing up on it revealed spots in the upper right hand side with two separate huge storms both with numerous satellite spots and a cluster of smaller spots near by. It was very exciting viewing all be it over quickly as the clouds once again closed things down for a short while. Time now to get the Cannon out for a shot of didgiscoping. Although its pretty obvious it hadn’t struck me till now that the moon is the same size as the sun in the sky so getting detail from such small details as the sun spots with the spotting scope is going to be a bit of a challenge but we will see how it go’s. For now though im just looking forwards to seeing regular views of the increasingly active surface!! I should add I suppose that you would have to be some sort of dumb fuck to look at the sun with binoculars or a scope with out a proper filter so don’t do it…don’t even think about it cos it WILL blind you !!

Sunspot activity

Whale tooth

This is a tooth i found on the shore by the whale carcass at Sand geo today. Its a bit of a beast!!

As an update on this it turns out im wrong here and this is not a tooth but a phlange bone, part of a fin that would be a finger in mamals like us!....tooth indeed....slips away with a mild burn going on....

Blubber lover

Kumliens gull

Kumliens gull

Marwick madness

What a fantastic afternoon!! Marwick fishermens huts has to be the hottest white wing spot at the moment. Lying along the edge of the geo is the blubbery carcass of a long dead whale. This is drawing in the arctic gulls in like a magnet. Iceland and Glaucous were joined by far rarer Kumlien gull. With such a large amount of carrion there is little desire to flee being shown by the birds and at times it was hard to tell who was drooling the most the feasting gulls or the throng of birders atop of the adjoining cliff. After the disappointment of the heron not turning out to be American and a tick(interesting bird it is tho!) another tick has come along in the same week and with some assistance today I have seen my first Kumliens gull and boy was I chuffed!!. All this aside tho the bird to be looking for now has to be the Ivory gull. Shetland has records of them and im sure they have been seen over Caithness. With this massive southerly movement of arctic gulls that looks to be gaining momentum surely to goodness one or more will find its way here. Hopefully sand geo primed with whale carcass will provide a real opportunity to see one of these exciting gulls…good hunting!!

Blue news

The year has started well with an unprecedented numbers of white winged gulls scattered across the west side. The big news now will be the Great blue heron in Kirkwall if its confirmed!!!....

Iceland gull

Shooting stars tonight and the morns night, should be one of the best falls of the year.

It isnt !

After some absolutely fascinating, informative and intense debate across the usual internet forums the consensus of opinion is now that this bird is a Desert wheatear rather than a Red-tailed Wheatear. It’s a shame that it wont be a mega but it is a particularly rare visitor and a splendid record for Orkney. It has made for an excellent weekend birding and has drawn me out of my cant be arsed funk of the last few weeks. I might even go and try for another look to day as most of the film I shot yesterday seems to not have come out on the computer. The bird is at Sandside bay Deerness, park about half way down the track and the bird is hanging about thirty yards back from the shore….good hunting.

Is it isnt it ???

Buggered if i know...But i would go with the wealth of expert opinion that viewed the bird in the flesh for all those hours over the past couple of days and plump for the red arsed mega option...superb bird whatever...fantastic find for Morris, top job!!!

Dancers wed/thurs? ?

I ken fine that these predictions are a bit hit or miss but here we go!!...Geophysical Activity Forecast: The geomagnetic field is expected to be at quiet levels on day one (04 October). An increase to active and possible minor storm levels is expected on days two and three (05-06 October) as three Earthbound CME's are forecasted to arrive.

Water Rail

Snipe

At the Loons today,

Two Reed bunting, good flocks of Teeick, a pair of Kestrel active all day, plenty of Pinkfeet and more than a few Lags, two and a half thousand Golden plover spread across Yonbell and the aerodrome, once with as many again in the air towards the windmills The sky was truly dark! The reserve flock were flighty getting put up by the day long raptor activity, they started to skine up and move off in the early afternoon. One brief Gadwall and an even briefer Water rail (twice). Two solitary Swallows. The majority of the Curlew flocks stayed done the far end but weren’t particularly active, a nice sight was a flock of small ducks extremely high coming in from the north east, looked like Teal arriving. A single Snipe sat in the cut reeds right in front of the hide, roosted fed and roosted some more and was impressively tolerant of the hide which was hive of activity today. Shorteared owls were about in the late afternoon with two in sight at the same time the best count. Peregrines made seven or eight separate appearances and perched obligingly about the fence lines. There were maybe twenty two separate Ring tail passes across the reserve. Male Harriers made nine separate appearances. Eleven folks made a total of fifteen visits and five had the sense to bring sandwiches, I was not one! Six hours of sitting on my arse looking was topped off by a half hour watch from the observation point. Short eared owls hunting in front of us and a fantastic display of Peregrine rough housing with a male Harrier before chasing Golden Plovers for all it was worth. A good way to end the day!! It was a good days sitting about but I cant help thinking as I sit here I would be feeling the bones of me arse a wee bit less with a Pallid harrier tick tho!! Ach well the morns another day.

aurora alert

things are looking good for between the 8th and the 12th!!! There is a link on the facebook page.

Things are fairly moving now. Down the fields local geese are gathering in numbers and Golden plover have reappeared in numbers. All day Saturday and until Sunday at noon saw hundreds of Meadow pipits and to a lesser extent Twite continually passing over and through the gardens. This morning saw an excellent flock of seventy plus Twite around the houses. This has to be a garden record for us. !!

Shooting stars

Its 23.21and a superbly dark night and i have counted eleven shooting stars and three bright flashes over the last fifteen mins!

Painted lady

This is the only the first painted lady i have seen this year!!

Things are fairly starting to move now and over the past week I have seen the Ruff at the Shunan, a Marsh harrier at the mill of Rango, a pair of Greenshank at the loons. The past couple of days have produced flocks of Meadow pipits in the verges and fields. The Rendell hillside yesterday held a couple newly arrived and very tired looking mippit flocks. There was also a flock of sixty Swallows hunting together over a wheat field and resting up on the hydro cables. Things are certainly warming up in the migration stakes. Today I basked in the sun at the Black Craig (shirt off it was so hot!) and although whales and dolphins were not to be seen in the fantastic conditions I did manage two Manx shearwaters. The cliff top heath provided a few Common blues and my first Painted lady of the year. The sea was pretty quiet tho with only a small flow of Gannets way out heading north to take the interest. Five Whimbrel passed. I watched them approach in the bins then held them in the scope for ages before they disappeared south heading past the high cliffs of Hoy. Heading off I was circled by a juvenile Twite that called and called, landing ahead a couple of times. Cresting the hill two more Whimbrel take off and pass over me calling as they go. I am quite impressed with this im having a good day for Whimbrel!!. Its not all over though and as I start down the hill there is a ringtail starting to quarter the edge of the heather. Its back is to me and as I stand still its unconcerned by me, I suppose the wind is taking it away and it has nothing to fear. It makes a great excuse to stop and catch my breath after the up hill down hill bash from the cliff top…..The quiet time is looking a little less quiet now!!

Heads up!!

A juvinile Pallid / Montague’s harrier on Pappy has been reported on Orkbird today. Its likely the one on Fair isle the other day so look out mainland as it is bound to come through…..good hunting!!

Swallow roost

I have been to see the Swallow roost at the loons twice this week and tonight definatly provided the best spectacle. The birds are favouring the reeds right in front of the hide for their roost at the moment which of course means super views. The Swallows began to gather from half eight and grew in number over the next half hour until there were over a thousand whirling about. The flock was so great I made my way outside and stood in the road to get a fuller view. All to soon they began too swoop down to investigate roosting sights in the reeds, eventually falling from the skies in droves to settle before all being put up by a couple of late arriving birders!!. Still this gave a chance for the entire flock to be seen as one and impressive it was!!. No sooner had they risen though than they spiralled down to settle again and were almost all down by the time the late arrivals had sorted their self’s out and entered the hide. Never mind it will all happen again the morns night wi a bit of luck. It’s a super sight and very atmospheric to be under such a flock, well worth going out for a look!! There will be a wee bit of film going on the facebook page the morn some time!

Cetacean watching

Its been a good couple of days for cetacean watching for me. Sunday
Was flat calm and slack water was about lunch time so I shot down to Hoxa for a look. Ten minutes watching produced the thrilling sight of a fin and another trailing after it. A while later and another pair appeared and disappeared. They were highly mobile and moved about from one end of Flotta to the other. These were Harbour Porpoise and they would take two or three breaths and be gone. I was fairly sure I saw at least four separate individuals, Steve Sankey who was watching further round the head thought he had seen at least seven individuals so there was plenty to see.
Monday was another flat calm day and I headed for Stromness and the Black Craig. This was to misty to see anything and I decided to return as soon as possible, that just happened to be today funnily enough. Conditions were good, nice and calm with a mild air. I could see from the jack up rig to Hoy and north to Yesnaby. Little was to be seen, a few birds on the sea and several more in the extended view from the scope. Any distant exotic shearwater shapes resolved themselves into immature gannets over and over again. When this became to much of a strain on the eyes it was back to eyes and bins looking for fins. Still nothing and as time ticked away I began to attract the attention of midges. My tolerance to the wee beasties is pretty lame and I was soon in the mind to move on and make my self a bit of a mobile target. I ended walking half way to Yesnaby and back with little luck. There had been a constant passage of Bonxies heading to Hoy and for a large part of the path I had been accompanied by families of Wheatears and more than a few Rock pipits. By the time I reached the stile below the Emec spy post I stopped to catch my breath and cool off in preparation for the final uphill path. So all peeled off and enjoying the cold perspiration evaporating in the slightest of breezes I was looking to sea thinking that was that for the day a fin cut the water and disappeared only reappear as the first sight was sinking in. This was about half way to the yellow buoy. It didn’t stay in sight for very long and once down it was three or four minutes before I could find it again. At one stage it was obvious that there was a smaller one close behind it. Eventually I lost sight and they headed towards the Jackup barge. I amused my self looking at the photos I had taken that had taken zooming in and out playing hunt the fin….with no success I should add!! My attention was grabbed with a sudden blowing sound and looking up the Dolphin is right below me just off the cliff, snatching up the bins ( I hardly need them!) I can see the back is grey, it has a bluntish head, as it dives shallowly through the water it rolls on its side as it gos down showing a white flank with a smooth line between the grey along the flank. Close in like this the, the sensation of size is large and I wonder if this is a Rissos Dolphin ( there has been one washed up out west this week and they are fresh in my head) anyway it soon is nowhere to be seen and I turn to walk back to the stile three walkers have appeared one of whom is Tim, a stalwart of the camera club. We were soon chatting about sightings and the disappeared dolphin when Tim says there was a huge splash out at the yellow buoy, as we look out there’s another and another. With bins trained on the spot we can see a pod of Dolphins out there leaping clear of the water splashing exuberantly, some clearly spinning. Counting over and over gives the best count of eight at one time although im sure there were more. It’s a thrilling if distant display but it just gos on and on. We get the scope on them and manage a few views before it all eventually gos off the boil. Its not all lost though and they reapear after a while a lot closer in, not jumping as much but still very active moving about the same area . I think these were common dolphins as you could see a dark v in the body colours lateral line (saying all this tho im no sort of expert on cetaceans) Leaving the other three engrossed I was to soon head off though very satisfied with my mad 40 mins watching…..cracking stuff!!

Field Gentian

I had a visit to the Black Craig by Stromness this lunchtime, the idea being to have a look for passing whales and dolphins. Right enough it was calm and smooth but unfortunately the sky dropped to the sea as I reached the cliff edge and began to set up. I was shut down before I started as the horizon sped towards me. With that there was little more to see than occasional razorbills, fulmars and Bonxies emerging from the gloom. I had a poke about the cliff top to keep my interest and circulation up. I am glad I did though as I wandered in to a huge display of Field Gentian. Field Gentian is one of those bogey plants that I just haven’t seemed to come across on my travels despite seeing sightings of it posted on various sites ( I even have it misidentified in a photo album on this very blog!! ) The duck was about to be broken though as I realised I was sat besides a flowering Gentian, along sides this there was another and another. It didn’t take long to see there was a carpet of Field Gentian spread before me. Its so often the way of things, you wait for a bus and three come at once. I had looked for individual plants in a couple of roadside verge sites with out luck yet here were literally thousands just breaking into bloom. This spectacular display is not alone though as there seems to have been a huge cliff top blooming of Eyebright as well, turning the cliff tops frosty white as they disappear in to the soft mist. All in all it a fine sight and well worth a look. Take the path to the Black Craig, straight past the renewable spy station and down to the cliff edge stile. Cross the stile to the right and the display starts just a few yards in. Please watch for trampling plants though!!

Orca

On our facebook page tonight...



killer whale spotted off the east side of Egilsay today in line with the Muckle green holm 12.45pm also at 3.20 from the Eynhallow ferry by the cardinal buoy.

Janet Evans

BTG

There have been a dozen or more Black tailed godwits about hands with the Breckan pools at the Harray end of the Stonyhill for the last two days.

Start em young!

Freya 5, Life list 16.

Noctulucent clouds last night.

Flight congestion !!

Two lifers in a day.

Orkbirds once again came up with the goods, Last night I was having a look before bed when I saw the report of the temminck’s stint at the Shunan. Even though it was now to dark to go it would be light in a few hours and this would be to good a bird to miss. I have been down this road so many times and come up blank with a sleep and an ‘early’ start so with it being light enough to get things together at the back of three it was a simple decision to stay up and head out first thing. I put the time to good use checking out stint id info and sky news. Time passed and by four AM I was on site at the Shunan. The whole place was buzzing with Shellduck looking after five well grown chicks, a flock of oystercatchers roosting on the far shore. Every soften three or more would chirp up get their heads down and march about pleeping. This would go on for a while and stop before another protagonist would start up again and this of course went on all the time I was there!! The foreshore at the closest point had a trio of Herons roosting. They are spooky things at the best of times so I was fairly chuffed to get parked up with out disturbing them. The ambiance was fantastic as the light levels grew, a soft breeze was enough to keep off the midges. I adopted a soft seat on the bike and concentrated on scoping out every inch of mud and stone ii could see over and over again. There were several types of duck with young, Redshanks with chicks out wading, but little sight of a tiny wee wader.
Time passed and my attention wandered from the scope to the bins and with the wider perspective the dramas of the day harried me for attention…gulls and lapwings squabbled, curlews chased each other from the good feeding areas with bubbling cries whilst others jumped in to the vacant ground. At one point a scavenging bonxie put up several gulls and came in for some serious abuse before retreating across the fields. Eventually a scope pass across a distant rock spit showed a tiny head splashing between a couple of rocks. This was enough to grab my attention, just in front of this was a redshank and it just totally dwarfed the wader. It was a distant and dull view but you could see it certainly wasn’t one of the dunlin that were a short way off. Although obscured by the rocks it was moving into view from time to time I managed to see a distinct bib and a pale looking set of legs!!! Oh yes this is the bird im looking for!! Yeeha tick!! With the scope zoomed in to the point it will start loosing resolution I follow it from left to right watching it as closely as I can when it occurs to me …take a photo dumbfuck!! This of course is the kiss of death, no sooner though and a common gull lands almost on top of the poor wee Temminck stint pushing it off its wee pool. To my horror it took to the air and showing some white shot out of sight in to the last bay on the right. It was now 4.45 and the view had lasted five minutes or less. I was all fired up now and settled in again thinking it would show again but by 5.30 there was no sight of it. Even though it wasn’t to show again there was so much activity it was hard to be disappointed. Eighteen Blacktailed Godwits striding about feeding dressed in their finest summer plumage and a pass from a male hen harrier put every thing up just as I was on the point leaving gave a great opportunity to see just how many birds the loch side area held, Needless to say I failed to find the Temminck stint in the chaos with just my bins to hand, never mind though it was off home for a bit of well earned kip…I thought the day was over!!

On awakening and a quick migraine later I jumped on the bike for another look. I spent another hour searching over and over but the best bird I could find was a Common Sandpiper that dropped in covered a lot of ground feeding furiously and headed off. I took this as a hint and headed off as well. The loch of Bosquoy is the next turn on the right heading home from there so I snap in there for a look thinking that the Temminck might just be feeding here some where. Pulling up I find Morris Rendall setting up his tripod, saying whit like and that he asks me if we are looking for the same bird. If it the stint I am then. That’s not the one he says, he is here to try to photograph the Ring necked ducks. This is another bird well actually it was a pair of birds that were reported the other day and I hadn’t looked for. I had assumed that by now they would have been on there way to where ever…..WRONG …again. Never having seen one I had a look in my Collins that I for once had taken out with me. I was surprised to see that they had no discernable ring about the neck and were to all intents and purposes a large Tufted duck with a white band on the bill behind the nib, no crest and a pronounced lump on the crown. Armed with this I turned my attention to the flock of tufties across the loch. Theres little to see but a nice Slavonian grebe it its summer splendour. The flock is nervous and a bonxie pass lifts them all up in groups. The Bonxie trys for a few of the chicks in the reed bed edge but the gulls rise from the adjoining field and it is given short shift. Another look through the flock produces nothing and the further edges of the reeds now come in for scrutiny. Then looking straight at me is a big tuftie with a white bar on its bill, I shout Morris over and he gets it as well we take shots of the scope quickly checking it out when Morris says ‘I should just get my camera’ followed by ‘wait a moment whars hid gone’ HA!! once again the C word drove the bird away. It seems that our bird had slunk away in to the reeds. We looked and looked but it wasn’t going to reappear. I took a wander up the track towards the kirk road to get a view behind the reeds but it was to little avail although it was worth a look. Returning to the bike Kieth Fairclough had arrived and after a fruitless search he tried the track up the hill a bit as well whilst I kept a look out on this side. Even with a heard of lively cattle charging down to the shore failed to get the duck out of cover (if it was even there by that time) So with Keiths return I pack up to head home. I was fairly chuffed with two lifers under my belt for the day. At home it treated to a cracking dinner of steak and chips. Does it get much better than this….I don’t think so!!!!

Orkney conservation threat. YOUR help is needed NOW!!

This message was posted by Paul Higson on Orkbird and I thought it well worth repeating here. This is a very very important subject and the threat to local habitat that looms is very real. YOUR help is needed if local wildlife habitats are not to permanently disappear.

I would be very grateful if you could take the time to read the following, and
hopefully then take action…….




An important public consultation is currently taking place over the Orkney Local
Development Plan. The Plan has policies which recognises specific areas of
important wildlife habitat as Local Conservation Sites. Over the years, more
than 220 LNCS's have been identified and surveyed for their birds and plants -
generally moorland or wetland and home to many breeding birds such as Redshank,
Curlew, Snipe etc, as well as a wide range of other wildlife and plants. In many
areas these are the only remaining remnants of natural vegetation left.

Moves are afoot to remove this protection and it is vital that we act to help
protect the wildlife rich heritage we have on Orkney for future generations.

I have uploaded a new File (in Files section)- "Orkney LNC sites". listing all
these 220+ sites - we cannot afford to lose any of them.

We need to support the draft Orkney Local Development Plan policy that protects
these sites - Policy N2 (Natural Heritage Designations).

Could I ask you to write to your local Councillor - file uploaded - "Orkney
Councillors", expressing your support for Policy N2 and Local Conservation Sites
in particular, and the how strongly you feel about the need to conserve Orkneys
Natural Heritage.

ALSO, you MUST copy your e-mails/letters to devplan@... or The
Planning Manager, Development Planning and Regeneration, O.I.C, School Place,
Kirkwall, KW15 1NY.

Your comments can help give the Council the confidence to maintain the vital
Local Nature Conservation Site designations, and this policy, that gives these
important sites some protection from development. This plan could result in the
most important nature conservation policy decision in Orkney for years - the
decision is very much in the balance, and any support you can give may well be
the support that tips the decision in its favour.

One last thought - I personally think it is best if only members who live on
Orkney or visit on holiday respond, so "interference by off island do-gooders"
cannot be used as a weapon against us.

All representations HAVE to be with the Councillors/Planning by 24th JUNE 2011 -
please beat that deadline.

PLEASE , PLEASE do everything you can to help, and let your friends, family and
workmates know about this too.

Cheers,

Paul

Many thanks for reading this, and PLEASE PLEASE help.

Dlophins

Theres a short bit of film of dolphins on the facebook page! If anybody wants to speculate on what is going on i would be interested to hear it!

Terns return to Skipi Geo

A trip over the Hillside road to Evie led to Birsay where I parked up at the Buckquoy car park where I indulged in bacon and egg rolls, coffee and photos of the recent rockfall at Marwick. With the tide rising to much for a walk to the broch I made for Skipi Geo to check out the turns. Sure enough they were loafing about claiming nesting spots, picking at the thrift and moving stones. Hopefully they will have some luck breeding here. The western cliffs are poorly filled with breeding birds and things look pretty sparse. Only time will tell if the Auks and Terns will do any better this year and for now we can only hope. Skipi Geo is one of the strongest sites around tho with the birds here gaining the advantage of food brought here by the strong up welling currents and tides. It is this food source that hopefully will keep them going if the Sand eels move off to cooler waters. For now though life in the small colony is just getting going with pair bonding, food sharing and mating all happening together. All the drama noise and spectacle is just restarting for another season. Skipi Geo is a site that should be of interest to those who have limited mobility as with care you can get a car close enough to the edge to enjoy really close views with out having to walk any distance!!!

Alfresco sex is all very well but i think its a bit close to home for this Oystercatcher!!

Things look settled but the arival of a hoodie soon has everything in flux

Volcanic ash

A fairly big fall of ash seems to have happened overnight. The car and bike have a good covering and despite the heavy showers it is coating everything. Should be good news for the garden tho!!!