The house hunting is stretching over the water now and into Caithness. Sally and I will hopefully take the boat across to Scotland on Thursday and view a few places. The possibility of renting a cottage while something turns up in Orkney is also a strong contender and we think we have a couple of options in this area. Time will tell.

In the meantime, however, I'm using the remaining time in the house to use its finest feature - the conservatory - to best advantage. The horizontal showers of hail and snow are occasionally punctuated by prolonged periods of crisp, bright light, but still very cold weather.

Today I've been back to the 'day job' as an illustrator after the Bank Holiday and only managed a half hour in the conservatory. The drawings are from yesterday and today. I also noticed that one of the sheldrake has a colour ring and a metal one. I'll try geting a wee bit closer and see if I can read anything. I also had a cock blackbird which was ringed and I'm waiting for the information back from the BTO.