We're currently in a run of moderate but gusting westerlies which are bringing heavy rain showers into the Moray Firth which consistently miss Golspie, so to add to the low temperatures we're now seeing the ground dry up - one consequence of which is that we have heightened risk of moor fires.
When we first came to this part of Golspie the many gable ends of the new buildings were perfect places for house martins to nest. This year, we've seen no house martins building nests. In fact, we've seen precious few house martins, sand martins or swallows.
This may be connected to the insect populations. With temperatures so low - today's midday temperature was 17C....
....the insects continue to struggle, with some plants, like our raspberries, benefiting from the attention of the local bees and hover flies more than others. Sadly, our strawberries look as if they're going to produce a miserable crop compared to the raspberries.
Meanwhile, we continue to see few butterflies. I don't think we saw a single butterfly on the wing yesterday but this one, either a large or a small white, was waiting in the workshop for better weather.
As always, there is a brighter side to life. This is as close as I have ever been to willow warblers, a few feet away, my attention being drawn to them by the cajoling noises this small group was making. It turned out to be two parents trying to control and feed their noisy young.
It's good to see a family of this pretty little bird, particularly as we've had a cuckoo calling along the ridge at the back of the house for some weeks now, and willow warbler nests are a common target for the cuckoo.
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