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June 2016

Beware of Bull - photograph (c) 2016 David Bailey (not the)

Beware of Bull

Beware of Bull? That’s strange. I didn’t see any politicians on the way here.

Rock Pool - photograph (c) 2016 David Bailey (not the)

Rock pool

Westray is full of wonderful rock pools. There are over 1,000 species of Sea Anemone on Earth. This looks like Actinia equina. …

Coriolano 'Gino' Caprara, Roberto Pendini and John Muir - photograph (c) 2016 David Bailey (not the)

Making a mark

Coriolano ‘Gino’ Caprara and Roberto Pendini were Italian prisoners of war in Orkney. They helped build the Churchill Barriers which created causeways …

Coriolano 'Gino' Caprara - the Miracle of Camp 34 - photograph (c) 2016 David Bailey (not the)

The Miracle of Camp 34

I’m spending time with Coriolano ‘Gino’ Caparara. He’s now 96 and as smart and as funny as he ever was. He talks about his experiences as a prisoner of war held by the British in Orkney as if they were yesterday when “I learned English 70 years ago,” he says “And I never get chance use it.”

Bistort

Bistort

Bistort in flower in the garden at Einar.

Wheeling Steen Gallery, Westray, Orkney - photograph (c) 2016 David Bailey (not the)

Wheeling Steen

It’s a thrill to fly over Westray and see everything from a completely new perspective. I recognise the Wheeling Steen gallery below.

Groatie Buckies - photograph (c) 2016 David Bailey (not the)

Trivia – where three roads meet

The scientific name of the beautiful Groatie Buckie is Trivia arctica. Its name comes from the Latin trivia, the plural of trivium …

Three Limpets - photograph (c) 2016 David Bailey (not the)

Limpets on the edge

These three limpets are living on the edge. Their shells have been buffeted and battered so much by stones carried by the …

Pebbles and Cobbles - photograph (c) 2016 by David Bailey (not the)

Pebbles, Cobbles and Boulders

I’ve always loved the Westray beach with “The really big pebbles.” I recently discovered that a pebble can’t be any bigger than 64 mm. I think this one must count as a cobble.

Fulmar - photograph (c) 2016 David Bailey (not the)

Majestic Fulmar

Fulmars historically bred on the isolated island of St. Kilda. They spread into northern Scotland in the 19th century, and to the …

Drip drip drip - photograph (c) 2016 David Bailey (not the)

Drip drip drip

If you ever feel as if what you do makes no difference, as if you’re up against overwhelming odds or pushing against …

The Kitchener Memorial, Birsay, Orkney - photograph (c) 2016 David Bailey (not the)

Lord Kitchener wants you

I’m standing at the base of the Kitchener Memorial in Birsay on the mainland of Orkney. It’s a beautiful crenelated stone tower …

Green hair - photograph (c) 2016 David Bailey (not the)

Green hair

This limpet has the best hair colour – a green fringe of seaweed. Beautiful.
I can also see a ghostly space among the barnacles where a companion limpet used to be. Limpets live 10 to 20 years. That one has gone to its watery grave.

Jackson Pollock - photograph (c) 2016 David Bailey (not the)

Jackson Pollock

The sea spray at Grobust has an abstract expressionist moment, frozen at 1/1,600th of a second.

The Kitchener Memorial, Birsay, Orkney - photograph (c) 2016 David Bailey (not the)

“And his staff perished…”

The original inscription of the Kitchener Memorial at Birsay on the Mainland of Orkney was: “This tower was raised by the people …

Bull in field

Bull in field

The Health and Safety Executive says it’s good practice to display a warning sign telling the public that a bull is in …