The Third Ladybird Book of British Birds – #1 The Corn Bunting
The birds of my childhood books have been almost eliminated from the British countryside in my lifetime.
The birds of my childhood books have been almost eliminated from the British countryside in my lifetime.
There’s a Small Tortoiseshell butterfly which has settled in front of me: I’m thrilled because I hardly ever see them. I took …
Leafing through my childhood scrapbooks I come across a drawing of a Common Seal. It has all the characteristics of a Common …
It’s taken me a while to identify this beetle I saw in Italy this summer. It really shouldn’t have taken me this …
Whenever I see Shelducks walking and eating in the mud I wish I could join them. Well, the walking bit anyway. Maybe …
Here’s a Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) from this summer: They get better the closer you look: If you have any children in …
A quick trip out to one of the bridges on Brunel’s Great Western Railway in South Devon means a great view of …
Here’s another of my favourite poems by Orcadian poet Edwin Muir. The Bird Adventurous bird walking upon the air,Like a schoolboy running …
Our UK Swallows are known as Barn Swallows in the USA. It’s a good name because they love nesting in barns. Here’s …
I’ve seen some spectacular rainbows on Westray. Some have been fleeting. Some have been intense. Some have been full arcs which split …
Walking in the garden at the back of Einar I can see a mess of rotten wood painted green, tangled with chicken …
Can you remember the last time you spent a day without drinking water? Without cleaning your teeth? Without washing your dishes? Without …
There’s a plant which normally grows in a place which is at the end of our walk. I’ve been looking forward to …
There’s a group of five Gadwall making a racket as they fly in ridiculously close formation at RSPB Ham Wall. Close up …
The Long Tailed Tit’s name is misleading. Just because its name is ‘tit’ people always assume that it’s related to the Blue …
The tiny hooks on the ends of Burdock burrs are waiting patiently for me to brush past them. Why use the wind …
Hawthorn – one of the gifts of autumn.
Have you ever had a close look at a Woodpigeon? They are such extreme birds. Just look at those strange features: Now …
I’m hoping to see a Hen Harrier today. I’m going to visit the Eddie Balfour hide on the mainland of Orkney. The …
There are Starlings in the sky. Their plumage sparkles like stars that twinkle in the daytime. Their green and purple iridescence is …
At Stenness stands a stone circle over 4,000 years old. The stones are surrounded by a ditch cut into the bedrock. The …
Back in July I saw a wader on the rocky coast. I didn’t recognise it so I knew I had to get …
Exhibit A: The Red-Crested Pochard: Surely this one takes the biscuit for the most ridiculous duck in the UK? The UK breeding …
When a Hen Harrier came to visit
My adventures on the fifth of five days walking the entire coast of Westray.
The Battle of Bannockburn is a famous Scottish victory in the first Scottish War of Independence. Equally as momentous is the Battle …
My adventures on the four-and-a-half-th of five days walking the entire coast of Westray.
My adventures on the fourth of five days walking the entire coast of Westray.
My adventures on the third of five days walking the entire coast of Westray.
My adventures on the second of five days walking the entire coast of Westray.