South from Marwick

It can be like living in an enormous watercolour when you live in Orkney. Maybe with the emphasis on the 'water' part when there is as much rain as there has been in the last few days. I headed up to Birsay and the forecast was reasonable, but it was raining heavily when I got dropped off at the bird-hide by The Loons. I watched a male hen harrier panic the snipe, lapwings etc. and, when it became drier, I walked along to MarWick. I talked for a few minutes to one of the RSPB staff who told me the path behind the storm beach at The Choin was flooded and I found the road was too. I walked along to the fishermen's huts at Sand Geo and had coffee in comfort while more rain swept by. The colours may have been muted, but there was still an impressive range of greys and blues. This shot is from the path up to Marwick Head.

More shots here.