6th August 2009

My day was good, but much more significant was a phone call in the evening from excited Highland Council Ranger, Paul Castle.  He had found a Great Yellow Bumblebee worker at Melvich, on the Sutherland coast  This is a brand new site for the bee, and in the 40km gap in the records between Scrabster and Bettyhill.  Really superb news!

 

I was off to Orkney at lunchtime, so a couple of hours to check Sibster Farm, a recent Forestry Commission purchase.  Graeme Findlay had kindly provided me with maps, so I was able to have a thorough look round in, yet again, glorious weather.  As well as Common Carder, Early, White-tailed, Garden and White-tailed Bumblebees, there were two Great Yellows here too (on Spear and Marsh Thistle)!  A large, slightly worn, carder bee on Spear Thistle was possibly Moss Carder, but fell into the category of unidentifiable.  A Green Sandpiper flew up from a small pool, with its distinctive, melodic call – always a favourite of mine as they used to spend the winters on rivers where I grew up.  Just enough time to check the wetter, marshy area, and as expected there was a change in the bumblebee community.  I very quickly caught workers of both Heath and Broken-belted Bumblebees.

 

Off to Gills Bay for the ferry, stopping off to drop off a set of new BBCT ‘Great Yellow Bumblebee’ postcards at Seadrift, and a quick chat with Mary Legg, who had reported a series of spring queens this year.  I had a few minutes to wait, so went off to check a patch of Marsh Woundwort (and intermingled Stinging Nettle!).  And yes, you’ve guessed it, another Great Yellow Bumblebee, this time a worn, balding, old queen, poor thing.

 

The boat trip (on the new Pentalina catamaran) took about an hour, with a few Puffins and Great and Arctic Skuas.  Young Kittiwakes and Arctic Terns were an encouraging sign, and a single Harbour Porpoise barely broke the water’s surface.  The most surprising sight was a Marsh Harrier, outpacing the ferry, heading north to Orkney.  In Kirkwall, I picked up a road-killed White-tailed Bumblebee before enjoying the delights of the Happy Haddock, accompanied by a couple of Eiders resting at the water’s edge.