Where oh where has summer gone? It’s another strange year for weather, although is there such a thing as normal weather these days? With our second wettest winter ever recorded, back to back winter storms and much more snow than we would usually get, I think everyone in Orkney was looking forward to a decent summer…….. Well, we are still looking, but there has been the odd day of “summer”.
May started off promising with a warm spell, however it rapidly deteriorated and June has been more like February. I’ve had clients turning up with hats, gloves and thermals on, even I have been forced to put my summer hat on.
So, what does this mean for our wildlife? If we are confused, then surely the wildlife is too and who could blame them. The cold and wet June will certainly have impacted some of our breeding birds as chicks hatch and struggle to stay warm and dry. The warm spell at the beginning of May caused the sea temperatures to rise meaning that some of our seabirds could be struggling to find the right kind of food for their chicks. Some seabird ledges are empty, I’ve certainly noticed a difference with less Common Guillemots and Puffins around, but they are there if you know where to look.
Wildflowers
Some of our wildflowers are certainly confused; I saw Bell Heather flowering on Hoy on the 30th May which is over a month early, and my favourite flower, Grass of Parnassus was flowering at Mull Head on the 4th June. A flower I normally associate with July and the 2nd flowering of the Scottish Primrose.
Other wildflowers are having one of their best flowering seasons, just take a look at all the fields of buttercups that you can see in Orkney just now – aren’t they fabulous?!
Other wildflowers that I saw in June include Wild Thyme, Kidney Vetch, Selfheal and Eyebrights.
Insects
I have not seen many butterflies this year, in fact most of what I have seen would have been in May when it was a bit warmer, and I have only seen one of my favourite butterfly, the Common Blue. The cold weather is certainly affecting our insects. Having said that, I have seen some lovely moths, caterpillars and damselflies.
We had a day on Hoy when we were hoping to survey for dragonflies and damselflies, however it was a wet morning, so we didn’t have much luck with the odes. BUT, my partner did find these lovely Drinker moths which we had never seen before and a Clouded Border moth.
Here’s photos of some other insects seen in June:
As we head into July, we are hopeful that the sun and summer might appear and stay for longer than a day! I will leave you for now with a few bird photos from this month.
