Stromness Loons: February

My blog for February comes a little bit late, as it is now the first week in March. But I would say that Spring is well and truly on the way, although there is still a niggling feeling that Winter is not quite finished with us yet.

I was joined on this walk by a good friend who is also very enthusiastic about wildlife, so we had a wonderful time spotting wildlife and 2 pairs of eyes is always better than 1!

Can you spot the Brown hare in the photo below?

Brown hare in stubble field

Woodland copse

Lesser Celandine

Daffodils in the verge

Just along from the daffodils, I spotted a bit of movement in the ditch, and to our delight an Orkney vole leapt up from the ditch and ran into the cover of the dry stone wall. It's not often you see one alive, so that was a really special moment.

We were alerted to a bit of commotion by a noisy Hooded Crow that was harassing a Kestrel. The Kestrel was carrying prey, possibly an Orkney vole, which it dropped, but to my relief a passing Hen Harrier caught the vole. So, although it was sad that the Kestrel lost it's prey, I was pleased that the crow missed out!

A rainbow

Marsh Thistle rosette

Buttercups

Flooded field

Lichen

Towards the end of the walk, we stopped briefly to watch some free-range chickens when I spotted an ermine Stoat running towards a pile of stones. 

Stoats are not native to Orkney and are an invasive species. They have had a devastating impact on our native wildlife including species like the Orkney vole and Short-eared owls. The Orkney Native Wildlife Project is a partnership between the RSPB, Nature Scot and Orkney Islands Council, and the aim of the project is to eradicate Stoats from Orkney. Any sightings of stoats should be reported back to the project as soon as possible so that they can respond quickly. 

On a brighter note, it was lovely to see some primroses with buds on them in a sheltered ditch. Definitely a sign that Spring is on the way.

Will we see more signs of Spring on our March walk?