Spring is Sprung, the Grass is Riz

 and there is no need to wonder where the birdies is, because they are all over the  shop making the most appalling racket. 

Sorry for the lack of enthusiasm re birdsong there, but the sale of our house continues to be a very stressful process and it's having an effect. 

Today wasn't very spring like to be honest but we have had some lovely days recently; warm, sunny and blue so we've been tempted out for gentle walks. And walks mean photos, naturally. 

First up was The Gloup, which is one of my favourite walks, because it can be as long or as short as you like. You can do the path from the car park to the cliff edge and the Gloup itself, and leave it at that, or you can extend it by walking along the cliffs as far as you feel like. There's a lower path nearer the edge which has better views of the cliff and a higher one from where you can see further and which tends to be slightly drier after wet weather. 

The Gloup is part of the Mull Head Nature Reserve and the cliffs are a great spot for fulmars to nest. I'd say there are more pairs there now than  we've seen in many years and if I'm right that's a good sign. Orkney is still a good place for bird watching but not nearly as good as it was when we first moved here. 

Next up was a trip to Gurness, which is one of my favourite places in Orkney. we didn't go to the Broch this time ( we've been lots and lots of times as it is)  but we  had a wander on the beach which is huge and flat but sadly very smelly. 

We went via Finstown which is where Firth Park is situated - another favourite. Always something to photograph there whatever the season. 

Yesterday we went to Olav's Wood which wasn't as much fun as it usually is. This was partly because the wind was very cold, partly because I was feeling very down about the house and partly because it was a bit too early in the year for the trees to be coming to life. Still took pictures though. 

Today as I've said was grey and horrid and the only place we went was the supermarket. Where I didn't take any photos at all!!