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Photography Group One 1st May 2024
Ten of us met at the roadside Car Park in Finstown on a day with little wind and some low cloud but with the sun trying to get through. We set off to the Community Garden where we found lots of lovely colourful flowers out as well as tree buds bursting forth. The Burn was a great source of images.
Jocky Wood was painting a new picnic bench with the appropriately titled Wood Stain! He does a great deal of the work on the garden as well as his own just up the hill opposite.
Six of us then headed for Binsgarth Woods.
The track was muddy in places but the spring flowers were out all the way. There was Pink Purselaine, Wild Garlic, Wood Anemone, and the invasive Salmon Berry. Since the tree leaves were not blanketing the light, one was able to get good photos close up. The Burn had lots of interesting tree roots and hanging tyres and ropes from the kids' dare devil antics. Then it was back to the shop for rolls and along to Tom's house for a cuppa and a nice piece of cake. Thank you very much for that Tom and all the stories too.
The next meeting will be going to Westray on Wednesday 29th May for the day. Arrangement will be made nearer the time.
All in all a lovely morning, taking time to look at the flowers and listen to the Wrens, Willow Warblers, Chaffinches and Robins singing in the woods.
Keep clicking.
Walking Group One 25th April 2024
Five hardy souls collected today at Happy Valley for the first Hill Walk of the year .The temperature was cool with a North Easterly wind blowing and a hint of rain on arrival.
Off we set heading towards Russadale Quarry, spotting a Buzzard on the way.Turning into the footpath we remained sheltered from the wind all the way to the top of the hill.
The sun was out at the Quarry and a Greenshank was feeding at the edge of the Lochan. Then it was up the Peat road to the summit with spectacular views across Stenness and Harray Lochs, plus a view of the Closed Road beyond the Watch Stone. On the other side we looked over the Flow and down towards the Oil Platform and South Ronaldsay
Then it was back down after a stop for a snack and finally a walk around Happy Valley itself. The Daffodils planted by James and others were looking lovely and the Bluebells are days away from opening. Then it was on to a well deserved lunch at the Pier Cafe, having walked 4 miles and gone up 800 feet (and down again )
The next walk will be on Friday 24th May and hopefully more hills and views.
Keep moving.
U3A Botany Group - June 2018 (2)
by Peter Slater - 20:01 on 21 June 2018
A party of seven members of the Botany group braved a strong wind to visit Graemsay on 19th June. We took the 10.00 boat via Moaness and returned to Stromness, again calling in at Hoy, on the 16.15 ferry. Fortunately, the wind abated during the day, and it remained quite sunny without any rain.
None of us was particularly expert and we made rather slow progress, stopping to examine any plants we came across and take the time to identify them where we could not do so immediately. We wended our way rather slowly up the hill from the pier, and took the long straight track south to the shore from Windbreck. A picnic table was conveniently located above the shore and here we stopped for lunch, though by this stage two of our number had retreated back north as the going was rather tough with long vegetation covering the track. Alongside the track we has passed a good stand of northern marsh orchids, with a rather perplexing orchid close by the identity of which we were unable to determine.
After lunch we went a short distance along the shore and then on the track across the island past Gorn to meet the road going north from the kirk to Sandside bay, from which we walked along the road back to the pier. While we had not covered a huge distance, we had spent a lot of time examining plants and ended up with a creditable list of 61 species. Perhaps the most striking of these was the common twayblade, quite a number of which were growing beside the road in the middle of the island. All in all is had been a rewarding and interesting day.
Plants seen: Primrose, Red campion, Daisy, Hogweed, Angelica, Rosebay willowherb, Dandelion, Sea plantain, Ribwort plantain, Birdsfoot trefoil, Creeping buttercup, Bush vetch, Northern marsh orchid, White clover, Lady’s bedstraw, Tormentil, Heather, Common dog-violet, Sorrel, Cow parsley, Red clover, Spear thistle, Silverweed, Stinging nettle, Water forgetmenot, Water mint, Marsh marigold, Common mouse-ear, Flag iris, Common orache, Sea mayweed, Meadow vetchling, Pineapple weed, Common catsear, Crested dog’s tail, Yorkshire fog, Common sedge, Early purple orchid?, Creeping willow, Marsh thistle, Marsh ragwort, Common cottongrass, Hard fern, Heath spotted orchid, Lousewort, Lady’s smockYellow rattle, Ragged robin, Procumbent pearlwort, Thrift, Cross leaved heath, Heath bedstraw, Butterwort, Common twayblade, Lesser spearwort, Curled dock, Broad-leaved dock, Meadow buttercup, Cleavers, Common spearwort, Marsh horsetail.
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