Pygmy Shrew and other mammals.

I failed to photograph the Pygmy Shrew, I'm not quick on the draw. Indeed the cameras are usually in the rucksack on my back. Anyway, it ran across the track yesterday just in front of me which was fortuitous. I rarely see live ones, sometimes hear them.

Orkney Vole, tunnels everywhere in the garden. Saw a huge adult at Yesnaby, Borwick, the other day, what a brilliant animal. If you want to know more about them Tim Dean has published a nice wee book (with my photo on the front).

Available from here: https://www.orcadian.co.uk/shop/nature/1325-the-orkney-pocket-book-of-the-orkney-vole.html

Brown Hare, they're always here, I see several everyday around the house, in the garden.

Brown Hare.

Adding a new mammal to my list this year will be a challenge. In Orkney, a bat would be a possibility but a cetacean is likely the best bet.

At the moment identifying beetles seems to be my way of keeping up with the new species a day. Sometimes the identification process takes rather a while. Bisnius fimetarius probably took the best part of three hours, closer to three and a half if including the photography process. Identified by the shape of the male aedegus.

Bisnius fimetarius, that notch on the ventral surface of the aedegus is diagnostic.

But I found a spider and a cranefly today. Currently have three beetles awaiting my attentions.

Pachygnatha clerki, thanks LJ, I nearly got there...

I thought the cranefly would be easy, its common and distinctive looking but it took a while to run it down.

Tipula lateralis.

Not much change on the bird front but I don't often get a photo opportunity with these.

Short-eared Owl.

I've created a Flickr collection to keep track of the species I've added this year, I've slightly ammended the rules and am having it run from 01/01/2022 to the end of 2022. I've got the collection up-to-date for January at the moment but now I've learned how to manage it shouldn't take too long to add February to date. It's here anyway - https://www.flickr.com/photos/107520337@N08/collections/72157720627329637/